If you want to write ‘sticky’ content that readers remember, here’s my secret:
Start at the exciting bit.
Readers are an unforgiving bunch. You only have a line or two at most to grab their attention.
When you “start at the exciting bit”, you fire up your own energy about your post or blog and that shines through.
Here are two examples from my business journalism days:
- It was a herculean brief, but media agency UM Australia accepted it. In the face of the dire and tenacious decline of newspaper circulation, News Corp Australia challenged UM Australia to turn the tide and to boost the daily circulation of its newspapers.
And this ‘How-To’ story:
- Promotion is an essential element of any retention strategy. We all want some challenge and development, and promotion is a recognition and a reward for effort. It’s easy to get wrong, however.
If I had started that how-to story with: ‘Paul Hilgers is the CEO of share trading company Optiver Asia Pacific’, I would fall asleep, and so would you, my dear readers.
Of course, the start of any story is the hardest part. It takes practice. But once you know the principle of starting at the exciting bit, just give it a crack.