Title, Image, Teaser, Jump, Question

If you've been following Daily Pie regular-like (and really, why wouldn't you?...don't answer that...), you've maybe noticed a trend lately.

The structural trend in the title, in fact: most posts now have a post title, an appropriate image (usually top left), a few lines or short paragraphs, a jump link ("Click for more pie..."), and a question (or several).

Why?

Find out after the jump!

Okay, that was cheesy. Admitted.

But what I'm going for is consistency, one of the hallmarks of branding. When people know what to expect from a company, or author, or band, or blogger, they start to trust them. Then they come back and read more. Then they tell their friends. And pretty soon, that company, or author, or band, or blogger has a platform.

From which to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!

Kidding. Well, sometimes.

Anyway, part of finding my eventual reading audience is building a platform now, before a publisher's sales department says, "Whaddya mean, you don't have a blog?!"

So it's all about money?

No.

I'll admit my ultimate goal is to write fiction for a living, but frankly...shouldn't it be? I enjoy it and grow through it, and maybe someone else will, too.

At any rate, I want to be totally transparent about my obvious maneuvers here, and to give shouts out to the folks I'm emulating. They are two:

For always using a good image, a teaser, and a jump link, I credit Leo Babauta at Zen Habits. It's a really attractive blog, and the three tools I listed serve it well. The main page is always attractive and never cluttered. I rarely have to scroll down to tell if I want to keep reading. (If you follow a link to a Daily Pie post from Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you'll see the whole post; the jump links only show if you land on DP's main page.)

For always asking a question of the reader, I credit Beth Revis at Writing It Out. She asks questions, then responds to the answers, and I, for one, appreciate that. I've always responded to all comments on this blog (spammers notwithstanding), so I just decided to make it official and be an active conversation starter. I really am interested in what you think, so if a post resonates, speak up. Agreement, disagreement, whatever. We have opinions for a reason: we've earned them (I hope).

So thanks, Leo, and thanks, Beth, for setting great examples!

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What do you think? :) Do you like consistent blogs? Or does predictability breed contempt? What are some of the features of your favorite blogs? What have you done with your own blog to give readers more value?

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