Category: Fairly random

Blog posts can often form the bedrock of a content marketing strategy but when you are choosing your tone of voice you need to make an important decision about whether you are going to show a little of your personality or not.

Some of this comes down to technical aspects such as using the first or third person when you write.

Using “I” instead of “we” makes the content much more personal and in my opinion, human.

Some of it comes down to including things like jokes, personal stories and life experiences all of which let readers know who you are.

So should you add a little personality to your posts?

Read on and find out

In this post:

• What do you want to do with your blog?
• What do we mean by personality?
• Is it the right decision?
• Why you need to add personality to your blogs
• Practical ways to add personality
• The pointlessness of pretending

What do you want to do with your blog?

Here’s the first port of call and it really determines how you deal with your blog and the thorny issue of personality.

To a large extent it is all about understanding your customers and understanding your business.

For example, if the outcome of your blog is just to have a place to vent your spleen about things that are concerning you then personality is the way to go.

But if you are looking to build credibility as the face of a professional organisation then the choice is less clear (see below).
Understanding your desired outcome is your starting point, then you can build on this by deciding how much, or how little personality you inject into every post.

What do we mean by personality?

So what do we mean by personality?

To me this comes down to how much of you is in the post.

Now unless you get someone else to write the post then there are always going to be bits of you in there but personality can come down to

• Photos of you, your cat, your family
• The tone of voice you adopt
• Saying I and Me
• Including opinions
• Including a sense of humour
• Stories about your life
• Writing as you talk
• Changing the rules of grammar

Of course legally, companies are separate entities in their own right so your business can develop its own personality, especially if you have strong brand guidelines.

Is it the right decision?

This is a good question and this really comes down to your target audience.

In general, if you are looking to portray a corporate look and present your business as one that is perhaps larger than a one-man-band then you’ll tend to go for a third-person style, using “We” and “Us” a lot.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a personality all of your own and it doesn’t mean that when your staff author blog posts that they have to be devoid of personality.

If you are developing a brand that is about you, perhaps you are a consultant, advisor or someone who runs a copywriting business then I’d say yes personality is absolutely required.

Why you need to add personality to your blog posts

People like to buy from people so when they read about your personal journey in your blog, it tends to make a connection.

Blogs that have a bit of personality tend to exhibit better engagement and shareability.

But there’s also a more practical reason why showing your personality in your blogs is a good idea.

Take me – I have zero ambition to work with people I don’t like, none, nessun, zilch.

So putting a little of my personality in my posts acts as kind of a filter. Essentially people who hate humour and aren’t willing to treat writers as human beings won’t like my stuff so they won’t book me.

But often people book me because they ‘get’ me and they also want to work with people they like.

Practical ways to add personality to your blog posts

So how do you go about inserting some of this mysterious thing called personality to your posts?

Here’s a list of my top 6 ways to put personality into blogs

1. Tell a story – one of the best ways to get people on your side when you are training is to start with a story. It hooks people in and gets them to think of you as a real person. The same is true of blog posts.
2. Use your own voice – don’t try to be something you are not.
3. Write about things that you care about – people can spot a phoney
4. Have an original thought – don’t just rewrite what other people have written, look for a different angle.
5. Don’t be afraid to voice an opinion – if your blog posts are too vanilla then they’ll never appeal to anyone.

The pointlessness of pretending

Personally I think it is a waste of time pretending to be something you are not.

Firstly, you’ll get found out eventually and the greater the pretence, the greater the fall from grace.

But more importantly no competitor can replicate what you have or your personality.

So if you customers are buying from you because they like you, no amount of free gifts and special offers are going to tear them away.

So trying to pretend that you are something else could actually end up losing you sales rather than gaining them.

Want some help with your marketing strategy and blog posts?

I’m here guys.

If you need help setting your strategy, understanding your target market or even just writing blog posts then I’m your man.

Clicketty clicketty

If you are anything like me then over the years you’ve probably taken part in charity runs, sat in baths of beans and maybe even done a charity skydive (yep I have).

But charities need more than just money – they need skills and this is where you can help out.

I know that many of my clients and followers are professional people and my mission today is to persuade you to get involved.

I wanted to finish the week by sharing some of my experience of working with charities and let you know what you can expect to get out of it.

Doing it all for charidee mate

So I’ve been involved with local charities for quite a few years now and before you accuse me of humblebragging I can promise you I get much more out of it than they do.

I’ve worked as a volunteer, a consultant, have donated training days and am currently a charity trustee. All of these are very different positions and all of them have given me satisfaction, experience and a new perspective.

So what can you expect to get out of your involvement with charities?

The mercenary bit

There are so many reasons why you should get involved with a charity today that I can’t believe I am even having to tell you, but I will.

I’m going to start off with the mercenary advantages of working with charities for no other reason than I wanted to get it out of the way.

The first benefit I got out of it was that I had charity experience. This meant that in my day job as a finance consultant I could legitimately be put forward for charity and nonprofit jobs.

Acting as a trustee or Community Interest Company director also gives you board level experience that is attractive for future employers as it shows the level you are able to work at.

I also think that being on the board of a charity gives future employers and clients a sign that you are more interested in the world around you. A rounded personality if you like.

I’ve also increased my network of professionals, many of whom I am still in touch with and have worked with subsequently.

The touchy-feely bit

So that’s the money bit about serving as a volunteer but what about the feel-good factor?

Well, being part of something important, and being able to contribute, even if it is just in a small way is a great feeling.

This is especially important if you are a contractor or self-employed worker as there are times when you’ll find yourself without work, which can be tough mentally.

I find that in private industry, nobody is surprised that you can do your job well because you are expected to be brilliant. Consequently, it is rare to receive genuine thanks or appreciation.

In the charity sector, people are much more appreciative of your time, after all you are giving it for free. You also find that advanced skills are in short supply, so when you add your knowledge and experience to the mix, you are able to massively improve things for the better.

I’ve worked with some pretty crappy private businesses and I have always found that helping out with a charity is almost a way of restoring Karma a bit. Ying/yang in balance you might say.

One of the best days ever was when I was working with a mental health charity and we had an away day with trustees, management and service users and listening to the stories of how the charity had made their lives better was inspiring and lives with me today.

I’ve learned a huge amount as a result of working with the charity sector from technical stuff like SORPS, board governance and even simple legal and HR aspects from my fellow trustees.

Working with charities gives you confidence, inspiration and helps you retain a sense of perspective on what things are really important in the world.

After all it’s difficult to get massively worried by the fact that you used the wrong font in the monthly management accounts when you are also helping distribute food parcels in the evening!

Get involved

Get involved!

Choose a cause that is dear to your heart because you’ll be giving your time for free, decide what time you can give and what level you want to work at and then make contact.

If you have a charity that you particularly want to work with then make contact directly. Don’t get upset if they don’t answer immediately, time follows a different path in the voluntary sector but if you don’t get contacted after a while then reach out again. (I hate that phrase).

If you are looking for charity roles or to work as a trustee then why not check out the REACH website.

They have a listing of charities that are actively looking for help and you can set up an account and get notified when roles matching your interests turn up.

You could also look at Third Sector that has a combination of paid and volunteer roles that is constantly updated.

The Cranfield Trust is an organisation that provides project, consultancy and mentoring support for charities and you can apply to become a consultant and then work on shorter-term projects with a wide variety of different charities.

Go on have a look now. I promise you’ll get so much out of volunteering for a charity that you will never look back.