One reason we’ve been able to regularly update TBM for the last 2.5 years without feeling burnt out is because we went into this whole thing open minded. We didn’t mean to do it this way, but being freelancers and having other blogs when we started, we just wanted The Blog Market to be a community, not necessarily a blog with a ton of expectations. Therefore, we’ve made sure to stay positive and uplifting, and it truly inspires us even when we’re not feeling so great. I think it’s super important to maintain an inclusive community on a blog like this, so I wanted to show you how you can do it too.
Be intentional with your voice
Simply put, use language that includes people. There’s no one way to write a blog, and language is a big factor in how you’ll come off from the very beginning. Instead of making big sweeping statements about what the smartest, most successful, or best people do, we make a point to empower our readers. Even if a post is meant to empower, some language on blogs these days comes off as a little harsh for me. It’s intimidating! We honestly just want to say that you can do something rather than have to. It’s just the way we’d want to be spoken to, easy as that.
Know your audience but don’t make assumptions about them
In order to provide quality content to readers, you probably want to know who those readers are. But unless you’ve connected with each one on a personal level, you don’t know their entire story. One way we stay inclusive is by avoiding writing as if someone knows or has a certain level of knowledge. If all our readers were pro bloggers this would be different, but they have all levels of experience with blogging. We always try to provide a little background for each post and helpful resources in case someone who comes across it is totally new. At the same time, we want to provide enough information for those who have been following for years and aren’t exactly beginners.
Invite feedback
Inviting feedback isn’t just posting a question at the end of each post, though that’s a great start (see below!). It’s about setting up your blog in a way that lets readers know you’re listening. You can do this by engaging with users on social media, adding a contact form to your site and replying to inquiries, replying to comments, and more. I think this is especially important if you offer tips or tutorials, because it means you really rely on readers to take in that information. Make sure you’re open to improving it for them, too!
Do any blogs come to mind as inclusive and welcoming? We’d love to hear your examples!
Caitlin Cheevers says
Yessss I love the point about knowing your audience. I recently watched a makeup tutorial video (I’m DEFINITELY a beginner when it comes to makeup) and she kept saying “obviously” throughout the video. It made me really self-conscious because it wasn’t obvious to me! I’ve been trying to catch myself before I write anything like that in my blog posts since that experience.