This post is an excerpt from the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook
Your task today is another writing oriented challenge and is all about expressing an opinion.
There are many factors that set great bloggers apart from the rest but one that I’ve seen continually cropping up over the last few years of interacting with successful bloggers is that they often have and are not afraid to express strong opinions.
While other bloggers in their niche ‘report’ news it is those who express opinions about the news and current events in their industry that tend to be the blogs that get linked to by others, that generate more comments and that people look to as thought leaders in a niche.
Your task today is to write a blog post that expresses an opinion.
This might seem easier for some niches/topics than others but I think it probably applies to most of us.
- If your blog is about politics – share your own personal thoughts on what a politician is saying
- If your blog is about cameras – don’t just report that a new camera has come out – tell your readers what you think of its features and who you think it’ll be useful for
- If your blog is about Britney Spears – don’t just show us her latest haircut and outfit – tell us what you think about it.
- If your blog is about food – don’t just share a recipe – tell your readers what you love about it and what occasion you’d eat it at.
Your post need not be a highly emotional one that rants and raves about your topic – to express your opinion all you need to do is add your own thoughts and feelings about the topic you’re covering.
Why Opinions Matter
You probably won’t find it suitable to share opinions on every post (although on some blogs this may be appropriate) – but when you regularly add your opinion on your blog you’ll find that it can have a significant impact.
- When you share an opinion it often draws out others to share theirs (in comments or on other blogs). Often opinion posts draw out interaction and productive conversations.
- When you share an opinion you help your readers to translate news and to understand information and how it applies to them. This makes your content more useful.
- When you share an opinion you show your readers that you’re going beyond just reporting news but are yourself engaging with and interested in the topic you’re writing about. This is infectious and will draw your readers in too.
Expressing opinions on your blog is like adding seasoning to food. Without it your blog could end up being quite bland and blend into the crowd. However when you add it you will find that it helps to give your blog unique flavor.
Your task today is to write a blog post that expresses an opinion about something related to your blog topic. Once you’ve written it come back, share a link to it and tell us about the experience.
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
I shared my opinion on vlogging today. And got a really nasty e-mail about it. Lovely.
Here it is:
http://www.scarymommy.com/to-vlog-or-not-to-vlog/
seems out of 45 post of my blog none is related to opinion. seems I have missed this completely. Thanks for post, I am gonna work on it now and post my blog in comments.
Well as promised, I wrote my opinion post, and here is the URL if any are willing to have a look and leave a comment.
Is outboundlinking worthwhile? Does it increase pagerank? @ http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog/EntryId/213/Is-outbound-linking-worthwhile-Does-it-add-to-PageRank.aspx
Cheers
Thanks for the opportunity to rant a bit today, I needed that:-)
Seriously, see what I wrote on my political blog by clicking on my name, and it’s okay not to agree, that’s what opinions are all about:-)
Have a happy weekend, and thanks for keeping us going with wonderful ideas, Darren.
Claudia
http://twitter.com/happynutrition
Hello everybody!
This post is very helpful. I read some comments also and want to say: It’s very easy and logical to express your opinion, it’s the clue of blogging, It’s not forum. it’s must! ok sometimes there is nothing to say,but mostly blogger must show why he is posting about certain thing and not other .
It’s like in market, you can’t just put your products and go inside your shop and sleep, and people must like you and your shop will fill full.and the most important they will never come back because they weren’t attracted.We must keep in mind that like our blogs they are million, and what we are chasing after is to be different. And this is the clue of success. Don’t shame to say your point of view, wwhatever it is, think this is your clue.
My blog is about fun and humor, you know i’am posting pics and vids and other things.Here ofcourse i must not have “la parla”= a lot of talking, this breack the fun somehow. i want people to see the fun with there way without influancing them. So i have few words generaly.
The second blog is about gattering lists of usefull links about blogging, so here also, i must not talk a lot, other way the meaning of my blog is lost. I’am just giving you some example of when you must or must not bla bla.
Regards
http://3arabax.blogspot.com/
http://gooblogle.blogspot.com/
This was a fun one, as many of the assignments have been. Thanks! Here is my opinion on home school vs. public school.
http://kitandcaboodleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-home-school-better-than-public.html
Oh, this is an easy one, that’s all I express in my blog……my opinion!
http://www.riaanimereview.com/?p=5454
And… if you are controversial, it could be great! People like the controversy because we live in a world where traditional media agree with the establishment most of the time and sometimes people feel the real truth is very different to what the media say. So, if you can add an opinion, which is not so common and obvious, you definitely can get additional attention.
I think that opinion posts are a great way to find your blogging voice. I think it is an important exercise to communicate your thoughts in a way that is conversation and natural.
Opinion post are always i have blogged … they are the best to get your viewers interacting i have seen.
So,
Today’s 31DBBB Task of writing an opinion post goes hand-in-hand with something that I did earlier today. I watched a movie called “I Am a Sex Addict” so instead of publishing a blog post that I planned a few days ago, I decided to save it for another time and do the 31DBBB task today, combining the movie with the blog challenge.
I wrote a movie review on “I Am a Sex Addict” that was not as complete as many other movie reviews, but focused on a certain aspect of the movie and compared it with another movie that I also watched recently. I’m not sure if that falls in line with your “Opinion Post” requirements but hopefully it does.
A review lists out opinions, right? This was a fun 31DBBB task to complete, and it probably would not have been easy if I didn’t watch that movie today, because I don’t really have any opinions about much at the moment.
Here is my post:
I Am a Sex Addict – Getting Dirty with Caveh Zahedi
Its great fun throwing opinion posts into the mix now and then.
Twitter Releases Second Album, Fans Disappointed
What an awesome idea – Love your posts, ProBlogger – you really clarify thoughts and ideas I can use every day.
James Hofheins
@jwhof
Service is the Action Form of Love
http://serviceafol.blogspot.com
Opinion post are always i have blogged … they are the best to get your viewers interacting i have seen.
I coerced myself to write an opinion post last week [Stop Trying to Photoshop Our Sporting Heros (Or, Michael Phelps got it Wrong but not as Wrong as Kellogg’s)]
I found during the entire process I had to stop trying to balance it out too much in order not to offend anyone. Maybe because I’m a libran I am into balance but also, I think attracting criticism is scary.
I like BIG BUTs. BUT – there’s no getting away from it pleasing everyone makes for so boring I’m snoring copy.
Sometimes I’m aware that when I swear in my posts or am less than reverant about certain topics I may upset or lose some of my audience, but I continue because that is the nature of my blog – to accept and embrace the less than perfect parts of yourself while trying to do your best.
By the same token, the other day I was set to write a par that was probably going to illicit a few laughs but I stopped myself because I realised it would have been cheap humour that went against my blog motto that flaws are the best part.
Maybe in this exercise I’ll turn that topic around …?
That’s all my blog is. Lots and lots of opinions.
Great encouragement Darren. I have generally not added too much opinion to my articles or podcasts for fear I will alienate my audience, however, I certainly have strong opinions and this was a great place to start. I seriously doubt our major supermarket chains actually know what the word FRESH means in fresh produce. http://victoriahansen.com/archives/253
Darren, I did a opinion post just a few days ago, so maybe now I can catch up with many of the other tasks still half done.
My opinion is centered around celebrities on Twitter and other social media and the recent race to a million followers.
Many celebrities have an urge to not be considered shallow and therefore get involved in various types of charity. This is a great resourse to lobby for conservation non-profits…
and that is why I write an open letter to Ashton Kutcher explaining my opinion to him!
Lobby Ashon Kutcher for Conservation
By some strange coincidence I shared my opinion about mountain hiking in Kansas today. Now there’s an oxymoron!
Are there any mountains in Kansas?
Ha ha Darren, I find this funny because I didn’t do your task yesterday about the sneeze post because I already had a post scheduled and planed to do it today.
Turned out that that post was the opinion post you are asking me to write now!
Here’s my opinion post: “Can We Survive the “nofollow” Blackhole?”
http://www.nicolasprudhon.com/google-seo/google-nofollow-blackhole
Here is the opinion post that got me the most hits ever —
http://www.thisoldbrain.net/2009/04/chris-brogan-please-dont-praise-this-post/
Darren:
Thank you for all of your help in getting my blogs and writing straightened around. You’ve given invaluable advice.
This is my first ‘opinion’ post in Modern Living – Cybercafé, Internet Café, Net Café eMagazine Life “Sometimes On The Edge”©, as I age this year, into my retirement years (65 years in July).
[ http://sometimesontheedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/young-vs-old.html ]
I’ve certainly gained new insight as I age. And, to the extent that I have had input from others in the 31 DBBB Forums, I will likely change the emphasis and focus, and possibly even the name of my blog(s).
This exercise has provided me with the opportunity to gain fantastic outside input from knowledgeable people; and given me the imputes re-focus my efforts.
I do very much appreciate everyone’s input and insight.
Thank you.
Stan Webb
I also think it can be crucially important to write your own opinions..First if it’s realy controversial, then you can get some replies or comments (which can ben either positive or negative). Also, some readers re-visit because they are interested in reading your own opinions rather than just simple facts. :)
I think that giving an opinion is not so much an optional extra but something which adds value. After all, if in my blog I merely reported that, say, some new educational guidance had been published by the government, my report would be not that different from the official press release.
Somke commenters seem to think that an opinion is something definite that you express. I think it can be expressed in the form of a question or thinking aloud, such as:
“Whether this latest initiative will prove to be better than the last one remains to be seen/depends on how far…”
I also find that it can be quite effective to be quite dogmatic sometimes, eg:
“Some people think that ….. They are wrong.”
All good fun!
My blog is mostly humor-oriented but has a good deal of sports and current events in it….with LOTS of opinion pieces. Occasionally, the opinion pieces have been in satire form but what I had to say came through loud and clearly.
Here’s one example. I have no love for Notre Dame football. So here’s how that opinion piece was written:
Notre Dame Football: When Losing Helps Everyone
I wrote an article opining about how difficult it is to be a technology leader because it requires a diverse skill set.
Techies typically do not like the softer or business skills, but it’s my opinion that they are required and they key to success.
If it gets read by the target group, it should generate some comments.
For some people this task is easy, but not for me, sometimes I feel shy to give my opinion moreover if the post little bit controversy, but I have to do it, make little bit changes in my blog :)
There are some really good opinion posts in these comments. I found this quite hard – in fact it’s taken me a lot of time and a lot of editing. The problem is my post may be quite controversial, and I’m a little nervous of getting some stick. But here goes:
“What sales pages don’t work”
http://www.mikeslife.org/content/sales-pages-dont-work
It’s seems easy to do, but is actually hard when you don’t know where you really want to start. There are a lot of subjects out there, but if you can’t put together your thoughts, it’s all useless.
@blog4movie: Don’t be afraid to blog about your opinions. After all, it’s yours. Yes, you might run into controversies, but as long as you’re not crossing the line, it’s okay.
@opinionatedant
Unfortunately I have to be very careful when advising in favor or against specific treatments or medications since that would be both unethical of me to recommend any type of treatment over the other, and also without looking at a patient and recommending a treatment, I may endanger people…
I think that expressing an opinion is essential in writing a good post and I try to express one whenever possible. I write what I feel about all sorts of topics, some educational, some about Abruzzo, some much more personal. I sometimes ask my readers for their opinion on what I have written but I must be doing something wrong as replies are not usually forthcoming…
You have a point there. Yes opinions matter a lot. But one must be able to express oneself clearly. Thank you.
I am a retired person with poor computer skills. I don’t know how to provide a link to a site.
I actually did this before reading this today. Opinions invite controversy which then draws readers.
Yes, I agree to that. I think one way of establishing an online blog presence is by being open with out thoughts. By being respectfully honest is good. But I also think that it would be best to remain ethical at all times, refinely honest!!
thanks for that lesson,
Jason
Well, I did it. It took a long time.
Here’s my post on why using pesticides in your yard is harmful to you, your children, grandchildren, pets, and the environment.
http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com/the_survive_and_thrive_bo/2009/04/pesticides-are-harmful-to-you-your-children-grandchildren-pets-and-the-environment.html
Are you convinced?
Finally, after much brainstorming I have come up with my opinion post! Yahoo! I gave my opinions about Twitter. The title of my post is Love is Twitter the 2nd Time Around.
http://teachersodyssey.blogspot.com/2009/04/love-is-twitter-2nd-time-around.html
Wrote about how my company restructured this week and what it meant to be
http://commoncentsmom.com/2009/04/25/corporate-restructuring-can-leave-unprepared/
@opinionatedant
Ask yourself this question, are your writing a post to give information or to express an opinion. Opinions are different from facts. Facts are true while opinions can either be true or false.
Cheers,
Miracel
I hope I achieved the purpose of this post.
For my personal site: top 5 tips on how to be good Rockstar Wife
http://newlifeasnewwife.blogspot.com/2009/04/top-5-tips-to-be-kick-ass-rockstar-wife.html
For my wedding planning site, the age old “Do I need to invite +1 for my single guests?”
http://ahotpinkpetticoat.blogspot.com/2009/04/etiquette-hpp-guest-1.html
I find with my business blog, it’s more difficult to be completely honest with my opinion “on-line” as it may possibly push away potential clients.
Is there a way to successfully be opinionated in emotionally-driven field?
One way I find inspiration for opinion pieces is to set up Google News Alerts for political causes I feel passionate about. When a news story arrives that gets me fired up, I have a concrete news event I can wrap an opinion piece around. Opinion is often a reaction, so I like to have something to react about. Here’s the procedure I use to find this type of story.
http://www.alertrank.com/mrgooglealerts/2009/04/25/google-news-alerts-are-the-paul-revere-of-the-21st-century/
Yeah, do this a lot ;) – here’s a good one (IMHO) about why Twitter is not about what we had for lunch. http://www.diaryofareluctantblogger.com/2009/03/twitter-is-not-about-what-we-had-for.html
@Roy
I did wonder about that after i posted my comment!
it’ll be interested to see what you come up with.
@Miracel
Thanks for clarifying it for me, facts are something I rarely deal with. :)
Here is my opinion post. It is about what the celebrities are missing out on by NOT following people on twitter. They are missing a great opportunity to make a difference and it won’t cost them anything other than a little bit of time.
http://spreadingjoycorp.blogspot.com/2009/04/oprah-and-ashton-are-on-twitter-but.html
It took a while to think of the theme for this post. Finding something related to writing that I hadn’t already posted on was a challenge. Then I thought about a book I’m reading on writing and Good Writing – It’s Not Complicated was born.
Hi Darren,
Opinion articles are great for mixing things up a bit, adding, as you call it the “seasoning to food”. Another great lesson. I just wrote an opinion article on “Airline ancillary revenue”. Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/c24f8a
Cheers,
Keith
Opinions make compelling reading, especially if its written 100% neutral.
Hmm…
This post reminds me to have one question:
How many kind of posts should be written on a blog?
Darren, could you please clear me this question?
Thanks,
I decided to talk about food additives and kids. I like to avoid them as I can, although I’m not too stressed.
http://www.greensahm.com/avoid-food-additives-coloring/
Even though none of the examples at all relate to my niche, mine is one that is easy to be opinionated about. I’m an artist, both fine art and art jewelry. I’m an independent and everything I create is made by hend with the best, most appropriate materials for the work. I’m going to be writing my opinion post on why people should NOT settle for the slave labor made imports found at Wal-Mart, Target, and even some supposedly high end shops and boutiques.
Wow, a comment post already, eh.
;)
Patricia
I’m very new to blogging and I found this assignment a little challenging, but I did post an opinion post. I have no comments yet only reactions.
Here is the link to my opinion post.
http://eves-journey.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-percentage-on-your-food.html
Thanks!
Evelyn