Thousands of Highly-Shared Business Blog Posts Have This One Thing In Common

If you are getting 500+ shares on every one of your blog posts and dozens and dozens of comments daily, you can go ahead and close this post. You do not need to read it.

But, if you are like the 87% of struggling marketers who write and write and write and produce blog post after blog post after blog post and you still can’t’ seem to crack the secret code on how to get some eyeballs to notice your content…you may want to keep reading.

Let’s face it, it’s competitive out there. Everyone and their mother is telling you to blog. They say it’s vital for your business. You won’t be competitive if you don’t. It’s essential for inbound marketing. So you blog and blog and blog and what do you get out of it? Crickets.

What’s wrong?

Well, I don’t have a magic crystal ball to tell you exactly what you are doing wrong as there are multiple elements that go into creating and promoting a share-worthy blog post. But, what I can tell you after working with hundreds of clients, some with hundreds of thousands of people coming to their blogs a month and some with less than two shares a post–most of the highly shared ones all have this one thing in common…

…Transparency

Transparency is one of those words that can make you cringe just thinking about it. Be open? Let people into my deep thoughts and feelings? Uncomfortable doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I’m not asking you to reveal your innermost thoughts and feelings in your blog posts. Being transparent is more about making a vital connection with your readers. With so much competition on the web vying for your readers’ attention, making an emotional connection is essential. And one of the ways you can allow your readers to feel a connection is by being transparent.

What does it mean to be transparent?

Let’s say you were super nervous about presenting a webinar and you were afraid you were going to blow it and you wanted to talk to someone about it. You have two friends you go to for moral support.

Friend #1 tells you to “buck up” and just do it and that you will be fine. He tells you it is easy for him to speak publicly so you shouldn’t be nervous at all.

Friend #2 tells you that he has dealt with the same fears and empathizes with your issue and tells you that it is okay to feel that way. Everyone faces fears at some point and it is perfectly normal to feel afraid. He then takes you through a mock presentation so you can work out your fears together.

Which friend did you connect to more? The first one who is aloof and disinterested? Or the second one who showed empathy and was transparent enough to reveal his own similar issues?

The second friend realized the power of transparency and its ability to connect people together. Blogging should wield this same power as much as possible. It is a necessary element to stand out above the rest of the boring content out there on the web.

How do you become more transparent with your content?

Well, if you are that shy-ish person who was scared to give the webinar, maybe in your next post you can tell the story of how you went to your friend and he helped you out. Weave these moments into your posts to make them more human.

“I am a business, how can I tell sappy stories if I have to keep it professional?”

It’s fine to weave personal stories into professional content. In fact, it makes your brand more approachable and human, and this goes a long way to establishing trust with your customers. Trust is necessary if you want to build a successful business online.

However, you also don’t need to tell sappy stories to be transparent. Have you ever used a strategy that worked for your business? Have you ever done anything that made you feel like a champion? Do you have any business losses or failures? Any strong wins? Don’t be afraid to reveal what worked and what didn’t and what you learned in the process.

Foundr magazine created this blog post on how they got thousands of Instagram followers in only a couple of weeks. They revealed every single strategy they used, step-by-step and didn’t leave anything out. The post went viral and continues to be shared even three years after its release. In the post, the company was completely transparent with its results and what they did to get them and held nothing back. It’s this kind of epic content that gets shared and noticed.

Need some inspiration? Here are some of my favorite bloggers who are always transparent and give supreme value in their blog posts:

Goinswriter
Buzzsumo
Neil Patel

Review their blogs and notice how they share more than the average boring blogger does. They give away a lot of value by being transparent.

Got something deep inside to share? Go ahead and blog about it. Your audience is waiting to connect with you.