Why You Should Never Blog for Your Group

Your groups are thriving and you love coaching groups, right?  But your blog…. ehhhh… not so successful. You're writing great material. You think it's gold! You've been sweating blood over your posts. How can you be giving away so much great content and not getting stronger responses?

Because you shouldn't be writing for your group.

People hate being addressed as groups. With the possible exception of members of weird cults. If you're a cult coach, stop reading now. For the rest of us, our readers are individuals and they crave being understood as individuals.

It's one of the most common mistakes that I see as an online presence coach. When you write like you're talking to a group, you'll probably find yourself talking to an empty room.

Happily, it's easy to fix. Just back away from the blog podium and take your reader out for coffee instead.

Want to write a bigger, better blog with a more devoted following? Write for one person. Counter-intuitive, I know.  But effective AND less stressful. Not only will your blog speak to more people, I can guarantee you'll have more fun writing it.

I like to think very specifically about my ideal reader.

For this post, it's Andrea. She's a coach who wants to cultivate an audience for her group coaching practice.  She's a 45-year-old, irreverent corporate refugee who wants her coaching groups to empower others to consider life outside the corporate realm. Her personal motivation is to create a flexible lifestyle to accommodate her family and her business. She coaches three groups a week and creates information products from the results of her groups.

I can feel more comfortable writing when it's just a chat with Andrea. The details of her practice don't necessarily color the content of my post but they help me feel connected to her.

And isn't blogging really about connecting?

Who is your ideal reader? What's her name? What's her job? What's her goal? What motivates her?

How would feeling her presence change how you blog?

image credit: fredjk

Laurie Foley, Blogging Expert

Is your online presence energizing you or overwhelming you? Laurie Foley is an online presence coach who helps people and organizations thrive online. With more than 25 years of technology experience and 15 years as an entrepreneur, she is a resourceful and intuitive guide for those who want to establish a strong personal brand and learn the vital social media skills to flourish in a rapidly changing environment. Besides writing as Group Coaching Mastery's Blogging Expert, you can find Laurie at http://lauriefoley.com and on Twitter as @lauriefoley.