This post is the third in the 6-part series “How to Create Bite-Sized Content Your Readers Will Devour and Share.” For other posts, see:
- 6 Steps to Instantly Connect With Your Blog Readers
- How to Write Killer Blog Content Without Spending Countless Hours Staring At Your Computer
Even brilliant connectors with engaging content can stall their blog’s growth if they don’t follow one cardinal rule: instant gratification.
If you’re like me, when you sit down to write a post, you probably have more than one idea you’re itching to share. But instant gratification isn’t about ideas. It’s about how you deliver them.
Think about the last Facebook post you clicked on. How long did it take you to hit “Like” or comment? One minute? Two? Three?
A few seconds, at most.
The fact is, as soon as I post something juicy on Facebook, it gets two or three times as much exposure as the average blog post. So the question is, how can you make your blog posts as instantly gratifying as that last Facebook post?
RULE #3: INSTANT GRATIFICATION
Unlike instant rapport or relevance, instant gratification is all about style over substance. Even the strongest content needs to be delivered in a neat package. Trying to cram everything you can think of might have saved you on a college exam or two, but it doesn’t work in a blog post.
If you want to instantly gratify your readers, don’t try so hard.
Instead, try to develop instantly gratifying content with these two simple techniques.
Technique #1: Stay off the “tangent train.”
Just because you’ve got five ideas doesn’t mean they belong in one post. Today, people want to read something great, grab onto one idea or action item, and then walk away, as quickly as possible.
The instinct to go off on a tangent is pure self-indulgence. Reserve the urge. Hold back and develop just one of those ideas—the other four can wait.
CASE STUDY: Seth Godin’s Blog
Seth Godin’s blog is one of the best examples of bite-sized, tangent-free content on the web today—period.
Besides being the king of modern marketing, Seth is also the king of simple, idea-driven blog content.
Clearly, he’s doing something right: on this post alone, he has 802 retweets and 2,108 Likes. And this is it. He blogs almost daily, and this is his whole post – short, value-packed and to the point.
Godin sticks to ONE idea per post. He might throw in a narrative or story and a few examples, but that’s it. In the space of one or two minutes, you walk away with a single, punchy nugget or idea to mull over—not 10 or 12.
Seth never, ever gets on the tangent train.
Plus, Godin’s posts show that even talented writers don’t have to be long-winded. Singularity, relevance and digestibility are far more important than length.
Technique #2: Chunk it out.
One of the most valuable lessons I learned while working with Tony Robbins was how to chunk content.
This picture is from my last big trip with Tony where we filmed his final infomercial.
If we had five or ten different things going on, Tony would teach us to take all of that stuff and chunk it out into different compartments.
Here’s an example he uses:
Let’s say you want to lose weight. You start describing your plan to your husband or wife. You say, “You know, I really want to lose weight. I’m going to go buy some running shoes at the store down the street, maybe grab a heart monitor too and then I’m going to get a gym membership. When I get a gym membership, I’m going to get some gym clothes. Once I go to the gym, I’m going to try this machine and that machine, and then I’m going to do some nutrition research, and…” blah, blah, blah.
There are a million different things you want to do in order to achieve this one goal, and they’re all jumbling together.
Overwhelming, isn’t it? Just ask your spouse, who stopped listening five minutes ago. (harsh, but true!)
But what if you took that same plan, and divided it into chunks instead?
- I need to get the right equipment first.
- I will start eating better foods.
- I will exercise more at the gym.
Suddenly, it all seems manageable and clear. This same principle applies to chunking content—breaking it up helps readers, and you, get some very gratifying clarity.
CASE STUDY: Chris Brogan’s Blog
Chris Brogan’s blog isn’t just insightful and thought-provoking, it’s visually attractive. Brogan singles out ONE thought and carries it throughout the entire post, using clever formatting to compartmentalize his thoughts. He’s a master chunker.
Take a look at this screenshot, from his post, “Organize Your Business”:
Brogan’s content is long—probably five times as long as Seth Godin’s. But it’s still instantly gratifying. Why?
- He starts with a big, bold image we can all relate to.
- He breaks up long content with white space, numbered lists, clear subheadings and bullets.
Long content practically requires chunking, but even a shorter post can benefit from a Chris Brogan-style makeover. Formatting a post well introduces a visual logic that’s easy on the eyes AND the brain, allowing readers to skim and focus on the parts that matter to them.
Brogan follows the first principle of instant gratification—staying off the tangent train—but he still packs in a lot of information, simply by chunking it out into digestible, attractive pieces.
CASE STUDY: What Not to Do
Now that we’ve looked at two content marketing masters, you’re probably wondering, Am I doing this right?
Let’s look at another blog post—one that none of us will be sharing any time soon.
Length-wise, it’s not so different than a Chris Brogan post. But you’d never confuse the two. Here’s why:
- There’s an odd picture with no immediately obvious context.
- Very little white space between paragraphs.
- No lists or subheadings in sight to help us figure out what we’re supposed to “get” here.
Now, take a good look at your own posts. How would you rewrite them, knowing what you know now?
Instant Gratification is All About Restraint
Remember, the captive audience is dead. In its place are scores of fidgety readers who are actively scoping out other blogs for a laundry list of criteria, including value, relevance, and of course, SPEED!
By instantly gratifying your blog readers, you make their lives easier. They get to walk away more knowledgeable, instead of suffering from information overload. And if your content is good enough, they’ll return the favor—with an RT, like or comment.
Are you a master chunker, or do you get hung up on a zillion different ideas? Share a link to one of your posts in the comments—I’d love to see these techniques in action!
