Much like you do with any other part of your blog post, you should make your blog post outline all about your readers too. It’s time to think about your readers’ takeaways.
And yes, this early in the content lifecycle.
You want to tackle all the pain points your reader might have in relation to your blog post topic. And brainstorming or freestyle writing on possible reader takeaways will get your writers right where they need to be.
In your readers’ minds.
So, here’s how to go about the second stage of outlining your blog post. It’s pretty simple.
Ask yourself what you want your reader to know after reading the article.
Remember, you’re not structuring your post at this stage. You need to let go of that superego critic at the moment and let yourself be swamped by an avalanche of ideas.
Now, we’ll use an article outline example from our own archives to showcase the process to you. Here’s the article title: How to Make Your Office Entry More Inviting.
So, you start with a couple of questions:
- How to strategize with their seating area
- How to combine furniture with accent walls
- How they should keep outside areas clean and tidy
- Where they can find branded office mats
- How to maintain their paved areas
- How to choose a colour scheme for their office doors
- How to spruce up their garden area
Quite a mish-mash of ideas, huh? No worries. Your outline will get more sensical and coherent as you follow through with the next steps.