Encouraging Opinion Posts and Seeking Feedback

Welcome to day 19 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge and episode 19 of the ProBlogger Podcast. Today, I’m issuing you a challenge. It’s a challenge to write a blog post, but not just any blog post. Today, I want you to write an opinion post. This is freaking some of you out who like to keep your opinions to yourself, but don’t worry, there are gentle ways to express your opinion.

Today, I’m going to share why opinions are important, but also give you some tips on how to do it, different types of posts that you might write depending upon the niche that you’re in. You can find today’s show notes at problogger.com/podcast/19, where you can also leave a comment to share the post that you write today so we can see it and you might get a little more traffic to your blog. Let’s get into today’s challenge.

Hi, this is Darren from ProBlogger and welcome to day 19 of our 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. Today is another writing challenge and it’s to write an opinion post. Some bloggers are going to have no problem with this one. You have lots of opinions. You don’t mind sharing them. In fact, some bloggers perhaps go a little bit overboard on that, but that’s another podcast.

For many bloggers—myself included—sharing your opinion is something that you might not find comes naturally to you. That’s the way I was brought up. I was taught to keep my opinions to myself, so I worry naturally about what others are going to think when I share my opinion. What will they say? How will I be perceived? These are all things going on in the back of my mind as I sit down to tackle today’s challenge.

Here’s the thing. When you add your opinion to a post, it’s actually something that your readers want. It has the potential to set your blog apart from the pack and become more useful. Opinions make your blog more useful. Readers are not just looking for news or what’s happening, they’re looking to see how that news impacts their situation. If I’m looking to buy a product, I don’t want to just know the features of a product, I actually want to know what someone else thinks about that product, for instance.

Opinions also make your blog distinct. There are probably hundreds of blogs in your niche, maybe more. Your experience, story, and most of all your opinions are what make you and your blog unique. Don’t be afraid to share them. I remember my first camera blog—doesn’t really exist anymore—I used to report on the news of new digital cameras being released. That was interesting to people, but the problem is that over time, there became more and more blogs doing exactly the same thing.

It was only when I started to not only say, “This is a new camera that’s been released with these features,” but I started writing things like, “This is what I think this camera is for,” or, “There are some features that I think are missing,” or, “Here’s another camera that has better features.” That’s when people started to pay attention to my blog when I added my opinion about the news.

Opinions also draw people into conversations. If you’re lacking comments on your blog, adding your opinion can sometimes stimulate more comments. When you share your opinion, it draws others in. That’s just the way we’re wired as human beings to have a conversation. Someone shares their opinion, we share ours. When I started sharing my opinions of the cameras being released, I found that often led to all kinds of conversations on my blog.

In the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook, I write this, “Expressing opinions on your blog is like adding seasoning to food. Without opinion, your blog could end up quite bland; blending into the crowd. Adding your opinion helps to give your blog a unique flavor.”

Today, I want you to write an opinion post. The whole post doesn’t need to be an opinion. The whole post, that is, doesn’t need to be a rant. It could just be adding your opinion to something else that you’ve been writing. It’s going to be easier for some of you than others, both based upon your niche but also your personality and what you’re used to, but give it a go.

If your blog is about products, go beyond writing about a new product and tell people what you think about it. Another great technique that I use regularly is to compare two products and give your verdict on which one suits your readers’ needs best.

If your blog’s about books, write a review of a book that you’ve read and what you thought about it, what you feel about it. If your blog’s about nutrition, share what you think about a popular diet. What’s good about it, what’s not so good about it in your opinion? If your blog’s about tech startups, talk about why a startup succeeded or failed. If your blog’s about travel, share why you think a destination is a great place for your audience to visit. You get the picture. You might need to work a little hard on that depending on what your niche is but give it a go today.

Just a few quick tips before I finish. Firstly, you don’t have to write a rant. You don’t have to even write on a hugely controversial issue. Those topics are sometimes good because they can lead to all kinds of conversation, but they can also lead to barn fights happening on your blog as well. Choose something that’s relevant to your niche, something that’s relevant to your readers that will be interesting to them. Particularly pay attention to opinions that can help your readers to make a decision that they’re making.

The second tip is don’t be afraid of a bit of controversy. Sometimes it’s actually important to go there. There’s nothing wrong with a diversity of opinions. A little controversy can actually bring some life to your blog. Just keep it relevant. Also, pay attention to this third tip: write with some grace. Maybe it’s just me but there’s almost always a way to be a little bit inclusive, gracious, and constructive even when you’re talking about something that you feel really passionate about, something that you feel quite black and white on.

I personally find that there’s no real need to be highly divisive, use confronting language, or be attacking to get my opinion across. Maybe that’s just me. In fact, just saying, “Maybe that’s just me,” is one way that I water it down a little bit and try to be a bit gracious. Using that kind of line gives people permission to take another opinion and to have another experience.

The last tip I’ll give you is to invite other people’s opinions. One of the best ways I find to be gracious is to actually finish your post with an invitation for people to share what they think. To actually say, “I’m sure other people think differently to me,” gives them permission to feel something different but also to share that. Sometimes when you do that, it actually kicks off a conversation where your readers and you may actually learn something and have your opinions changed. That’s okay, too. You set the tone for your blog. Most times your readers are going to react in the way that you write. Share your opinion but be a little bit gracious and see where the conversation leads.

I hope you find today’s challenge a good one, not too hard. I really look forward to seeing your opinion posts today. Make sure you share them with me.

It’s time to get writing your opinion post. I hope you’ve got some inspiration as a result of this episode and ready to do that. Once you’ve written it and have published it on your blog, please head to today’s show notes. They’re at problogger.com/podcast/19, where you can find a summary of today’s podcast episode, but you also got the opportunity to leave a comment. What I love about this 31-day challenge is that people have been sharing the posts that they’ve written and commented on each other’s posts. A few of you have even been sharing one another’s posts on social media, which has been great. Hopefully, everyone’s blog is improving as a result of the interactions that we’re having.

Do share the link to your post today. Also, share how you found creating an opinion post. Is it something that you normally do or is it something a bit new to you? You can also find the coupon code to get your 50% off the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook over on those show notes as well.

As we’re getting ⅔ of the way through this challenge, if you have a moment to leave us a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever you’re listening to this podcast on, we would greatly appreciate it. It does help us to grow the podcast and also (more importantly) helps me to get a feel as to how this podcast has been helping people. I really do read every review and take note of the things that you say because that then will feed what I do in the future episodes.

I look forward to chatting with you tomorrow on day 20—we’re into the 20s now—of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. I’ll talk to you then.