We all have moments where we want to learn how to do something new or how to do something better. Whether it’s How to Make Chicken Marsala or How to Find a Home Improvement Contractor, we have an innate desire to learn. Learning provides us fulfillment. It makes us more capable as human beings.
The challenge is how do we best learn how to do things? How do we share our knowledge with others more effectively. One way is to author a How-To article, intriguing post or video. Have no fear, it’s really not all that difficult. By following a few steps and ideas, many of you can start offering some of your unique knowledge by writing your own how to tips. To get started, I thought I’d share some tips with you on How to Write a How To Blog Post. Enjoy.
Be the Subject Matter Expert
Before you can write a How-To blog post, article or email, you have to know what you are talking about. You have to “own” that topic. If someone wants to learn about golf or how to play golf like Tiger Woods, they want to learn from Tiger Woods, not someone who read a book on how Tiger Woods became Tiger Woods. Real life personal experience matters.
Have a Focus
Narrow down your How-To tip or advice to something specific. If you’re a Foreclosure expert in Orlando, Florida, a good idea might be share tips on How to Buy a Foreclosure in Orlando, Florida.
Become a Storyteller
People love stories. A How-To article or blog post is like a short story. Learn how to get your point across quickly and effectively. Take a workshop from a master storyteller where you can learn the art of storytelling. It will help you put your words and presentation together better which ultimately helps your audience digest your content better.
Create an Outline
Take a moment to highlight the key steps and points you’d like to share. By organizing your thoughts in a rough draft, you get a chance to visualize the flow and content. Use bullets, headlines and images to help make a better presentation.
Think Like a Publisher
Mainstream media, magazines and newspaper publishers are masters at getting our attention. They use creative headlines, images, video, etc. to attract us. You can too. Make sure that the content flows and that it’s scan-able and easy on the eyes.
They are also sticklers for proper grammar and punctuation. Ideally, you should be as well. But no one will bite your head off if you “misss-spelll” something 
So focus on content and delivery.
Create a Killer Headline
The headline is one of the most important if not the most important part of a How-To blog post, article or video. Before anyone can read or see the great How-To tips you put together, they have to be interested first. You need to create a headline that will get someones attention. You only get a short window to do that. Make it memorable and intriguing.
How-To vs. How
Experiment by using different forms of “How” - you might get different results while peaking a persons interest. A How-To title may be for a post that’s more of a step-by-step guide where a “How” title may be more appropriate for a combination of a how-to guide that includes real life examples of what actually worked or didn’t work. Experiment to see which works best for you.
1. How to Sell Your Home in 30 Days In Orange County, California
2. How I Sold My Clients Home in 13 Days In Las Vegas, Nevada
3. How Not to Market Your Clients Home
Show Tangible Benefits
How will this help me? Highlight the benefits a person will get if they follow your How-To tips. Immediate gratification is something people want when reading how to articles or watching how to videos. Walk them through each step and explain why each step is important.
Share Real Life Stories - Walk the Walk
Be real. If you are going to talk about how to use Facebook to get real estate business or how to use Trulia Voices to connect with real home buyers and sellers, share some real life experiences where you have done that.
Provide Closure
Close the deal. If they follow each step, they will get “x” or understand how to do “y”. There is no magic bullet. We learn through others and through our own personal experiences. How to tips are meant to help you learn how to do things yourself and how to do them well.
Good luck and have fun.
Trulia Pro - How To Create a Spotlight Ad and How to Track your Stats
How-To screen-casts such as the one I created above or videos are another great way for you to get your message across. It’s takes some more work and tools but can help those that are visual grasp your message better.
Are you ready to How-To?
- Pick a subject or topic that you are an expert in and you think consumers want to learn more about - e.g. How to Buy a Foreclosure, How Do I Pick the Right Neighborhood for Me and My Family, How to Best Negotiate Home Prices, How to Renovate My Home to Double its Value, etc…… You get the idea!
- Write the post on your Trulia Blog and select the “How To” category
- Comment on THIS blog post and share the link to your blog post here too
You have until April 15th to publish a new original ‘How To’ blog post on your Trulia Voices Blog and notify us by commenting on this post. We will hand pick top three how to tips and promote them at the weekly consumer newsletter which reaches thousands of consumers on the last week of April.
It’s a great opportunity for you to shine!
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Rudy! Man, I’ve just started to pound out a how-to white paper for some of my Realtor clients! This post couldn’t have come at a better time!
Blog Post titles are so key… and this is where I spend a lot of time working with Realtors to improve their SEO efforts. It really is amazing what a great Title can do. Copyblogger’s tips on the subject are awesome - and they work. A Google search for Copyblogger and Top 10 Titles provides access to this excellent tip sheet. (I keep it handy when writing posts!)