11 content secrets for bloggers—from newspapers

Gain and retain readers through focused writing and a captivating presentation

Newspapers have more in common with blogs then they care to admit, despite what many purists think. They rely on advertising, classifieds and volume of subscriptions to stay in business. They are crumbling due to the proliferation of “free” as the currency of the internet and content models lacking a brick and mortar infrastructure. Thus, most newspapers are facing bankruptcy (or are already bankrupt) as a result.

Currently newspapers are only good at one thing: providing content. Over the years editors and writers have learned plenty of great methods for creating content that sticks.

Remember: Newspapers aren’t losing readers; they are losing their business model.

Content never goes out of style, especially when it is sticky, well written and extremely well targeted. Therefore, we can learn plenty from old-school media when it comes to content creation:

1. Editorialize. You need to have an opinion and speak about it passionately. Otherwise, who would be interested in reading your work?