What Do Your Readers Want?

It is June 21^st today which brings the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere. If you are fortunate enough to have clear skies late this evening, go outside and witness the vast array of stars, large ones and small ones, bright ones and dim ones, famous ones and unfamiliar ones, all within your sight. It may seem that there are more than you can possibly count.

Now go back and look at your computer screen again and witness the vast array of blogs, large ones and small ones, bright ones and dim ones, famous ones and unfamiliar ones, all within your sight. It may seem that there are more than you can possibly count. Indeed, there are countless blogs available to us today.

This stark reality begs the question, which ones do you read? Why? What about someone’s blog attracts your attention? More importantly, what about someone’s blog retains your attention, keeping you returning for new information, or entertainment?

Someone once said that bloggers are writers that are not good enough to get paid for their efforts. Others consider bloggers as would-be reporters that are as of yet undiscovered. And still others consider bloggers to be reporters that simply are paid by someone other than a television program, newspaper, periodical, or publisher. Any way you look at it, there are millions of bloggers out here, certainly many thousands of whom are focused on the wonderful world of wine.

These many thousands of oenocentric bloggers love to pontificate about their various experiences, dreams, and even some knowledge. They make habit of reading each other’s work, commenting on it, critiquing it, and even lambasting it. However, I maintain that all of this information and commentary, some quite interesting and useful, remains relatively self contained in this world of wine bloggers. It does not reach the mainstream of the web-surfing population of the world.

So I ask again, why do choose to read the particular information that you do? I propose that you read what you do because you are finding the answers you seek. It is as simple as that. Unfortunately, the bloggers of the world can have a tendency to lose sight of this basic idea. They get so caught up in their own minds that they forget to ask one fundamental question of their readers, “What do you want to learn?”

The very best way for a writer to know what it is that their readers want is to ask them.

Here is my challenge to you as a writer. Devote your next issue, column, or article to the singular goal of enticing your readers to communicate back to you their learning desires. Engage with your readers. Strive to drive your blog outside of the tiny segment of your industry where it resides.

Here is my challenge to you as a reader. Provide feedback and commentary to the writers that you read. Tell them what you like, dislike, and what you yearn to learn. Make yourself heard.

The more we push ourselves outside of our current worlds, the more strangers we invite into our current worlds, the better our future worlds will be.

Scott Krueger / TheWineHub

http://www.thewinehub.com/
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