The EMDC blog is new but we represent a large community of experts and explorers in new technologies and techniques. This post is written for newcomers and experts alike and covers the Five W’s. These are sometimes also referred to as the six W’s (adding “how”) to the list.
In other languages they may start with different letters but the concepts are the same. We need to ask basic questions whether writing a blog post, designing a site, or creating any content.
Who?
Who is our audience? It helps to have a clear idea of who you are writing for. This is written for an EMDC blog audience. Our audience comes from many countries. They are involved in Christian ministry with a heart for seeing people encounter Jesus and grow in faith and confidence. They are men and women mostly aged between 25 and 65. Some are younger, some older. Many are comfortable using English but it certainly isn’t everyone’s first or only language. Some of our trainers have high levels of expertise in technology but many in the community are simply people using these ever changing tools, not because you love technology but because you love God and love people.
Who else is reading? We need to be aware that when content is public it will be seen by some people who don’t share our interests or beliefs.
Why?
Why are we writing (or creating other kinds of content). What is our purpose and motivation, and equally important what is our audiences reason for clicking on a link or reading beyond the first line.
What?
What is our content? What is it we want to see happen? What is the next step? There are a lot of “what’s”. What else can you thing of?
Where?
Where will our content be seen? Where do we need to promote? Where are our audiences already looking?
When?
Is some content time specific? (eg a post about planning for Christmas or Easter needs to come out a lot earlier than a post aimed at people during the celebrations). Are there better days of the week, times of the day to post or promote content)
How?
The technical aspects of ‘how’ to do something are important. Great plans can fail if you don’t know how you will carry them out. That’s why EMDC focuses on teaching practical skills as well as theory. What do you need to learn? What do you know that could help others?