Forming a personal connection with the reader is one of the easiest ways to form a bond between you and your reader which will turn them from a one-time visitor into a long-time reader.
The only issue here is that doing so means that you need to write in a relatable way, and this means talking about yourself….a lot.
To some readers, you may come across as very egotistical and self-indulgent because all your doing is talking about yourself in every single post.
But this may be acceptable since it’s the general theme of your website.
You might literally have a website that is ‘YourName.com’.
So of course it’s going to be all about you.
But this really doesn’t mean that it won’t turn the reader off, although there are techniques that you can adopt right after reading this article to ensure that you don’t come across as self-indulgent in your future posts.
And instead, your readers actually enjoy your content and they get as much out of your writing as you do.
1. Ensure That Your Writing Has A Purpose
One of the obvious tips that we can give you is that your writing should have a purpose, there should be a reason as to why your reader would ever want to read the words you type beyond just getting to know you.
And this reason might be different than the reason you’re actually writing it in the first place.
What we mean by this is that;
You may be writing for the purpose of getting a fascinating story out into the world that you’ve been desperate to tell.
And your reader may want to read this fascinating story because it helps them;
Overcome a problem they’ve been having
Learn a new piece of information which helps with heir development
Entertain them for a while
Both you and the reader are getting two different things from this article, but you’re both satisfied because there is a purpose behind the words on the screen.
Beyond you just want to tell your awesome story.
2. Write To Entertain
The fact is, the majority of the content which we consume is now done so through video, meaning that we no longer have to read words on a screen or ퟀ�be active’ when it comes to taking in information or being entertained.
Instead, we can put on a video, and be visually and audibly entertained whilst we listen to the words said to us.
Now, this is of course awesome for everyone, so you get to learn in a much more fun and entertaining way than before, but this becomes a problem if you’re writing for a blog.
Because it’s now even harder to ensure that your reader keeps on reading to the very end.
Though, one of the ways you can retain the reader’s attention is by entertaining them.
And this is typically done in the way of telling them a story.
Instead of teaching them a life lesson by simply saying what they should be learning, such as.
‘You should always pay your bills on time’
Instead you can make this much more engaging, by telling them a story, whether it’s made up or not – to get your point across instead.
So you’re delivering information (which is what they are there for in the first place) and also entertaining them (which will help them stick around long enough for them to enjoy your writing AND get the information they’re looking for).
Though make sure your story is realistic and gets the point across.
3. Be Relatable
You’re only human after all, so there is only so much anyone can expect from you – and this goes the same for your writing.
If you’re trying to connect with the reader on a realistic level and you’re trying to get your point across, don’t overly praise or be hard on yourself – because this comes across as inauthentic.
No one is truly this way, it’s all about combining them both if you need to.
Be nice to yourself sometimes, and critical of yourself when it calls for it.
Don’t write as if you’re better than the reader or that you’re even worse than them – you want to build a connection with them after all.
so you’re going to want to position yourself in a way that makes them believe you are JUST LIKE THEM so that they stick around, read and trust what you write.
4. Know Who You’re Writing For
There are some cases where the act of self-indulgence actually doesn’t come across as too bad of an idea, especially if you’re writing in a niche that requires you to come across as the expert; which helps readers trust what you’re saying.
Say if you’re writing in the gaming niche; you’re going to have to praise yourself heavily or talk in-depth about your achievements so readers know they’ve found someone who can help them with their gaming-related issue.
Essentially, It all comes down to assessing who you’re writing for and what they are looking for and using this information to change up your general writing style.
5. Make Sure Every Word Has Business Being There
The fact is, you know all of your wins and failures, but does your reader need to know about them too?
At first, this may seem like a dishonest thing to do; hold off information to your reader.
But the reality is, they may not get anything from you revealing such information, it may rub them the wrong way and turn them away from the page or it may paint a bad picture of you in your writing.
This is obviously a no-no if you want to have long term ‘fans’.
So, assess every word you write and ask yourself before publishing;
“Does X thing have business being here?”,
“Does the reader get anything from reading this?”.
Ultimately in your writing, it’s more than okay to talk about yourself if it makes sense to do so, if you’re trying to act relatable and you’re giving a story about what has happened to YOU so you can relate to the reader, then go right ahead.
Though, you need to do so in a way that entertains and almost proves that you are just like the person reading your blog
You understand their struggles (because you’ve been through them yourself) and in most cases, you have a solution to their issues (again because you’ve acquired the information first hand already).
But don’t write about yourself if there is no purpose, or at least don’t do it too often because you’ll look too self-indulgent and come across as if you really don’t care about the reader and their problems.
You’re just using your platform as an excuse to talk about yourself.