4) Research and connections are invaluable. Your introversion must be telling you to forget about political blogging after reading this subheading. If you like staying in your shell and prefer online research without any legwork, it’s feasible depending on how resourceful you are and how you angle your political blog. If your forte is political opinions, you can search through the websites of regional and national government agencies for information. If, however, you’re writing a “hot off the press” or “special coverage” type of blog, fieldwork is necessary. You don’t write about poor housing conditions in the South Bronx without interviewing some of its residents.

5) Embed news posts. News agencies like Reuters and United Press International are your best friends. Successful political blogs incorporate stories from videos or clips courtesy of news agencies to back up their story. These agencies deliver well-balanced news that you can use and, at the same time, cover any part of the story that has been left out. Think of embedding news clips as your spark plug that provides ignition to your piece.

6) Pictures paint a thousand words. Photographs can tell their own stories, which is why Life Magazine became so popular. If they can tell their own story, imagine the magnification they can lend on your written piece! You don’t have to spend money subscribing to photography platforms for your photograph sources. As a taxpayer, you can take advantage of using photographs from governmental websites. Just be sure to credit your source. By providing your audience with both written and visual experience in your blog post, you give them the desired optimum effect of absorbing a political issue and its relevance.

7) Persuade without being a hard sell. Your goal is to win people to your side, not antagonize them. It doesn’t benefit your political blog to earn haters because it defeats the purpose of marketing and winning customers, or in your case, driving traffic. When you come to finishing your first draft and start to work on your rewrite, here are a few questions to consider in winning your audience:

Have I used the right voice to convey my message? If you’re writing with a sense of humor, then be witty. If you’re telling it straight or unadulterated, then tell it as it is.

Are you writing to bash or harshly criticize an individual or institution that you don’t like? Even a political opinion blog must maintain a sense of fairness. Avoid any emphasis merely based on your judgment that appears to make other opinions wrong. Something in the line of, “This is true despite what you hear in the capitalist press that refutes this claim.” Give your readers the chance to analyze and formulate their own conclusion.

Acknowledge other’s opinions. In a country that fosters the true meaning of democracy, everyone has the right to be heard in the same sense that no one has the right to tell someone what to watch or read. If your audience is presenting comments that are weightier based on facts, accept and respect it. No one has a monopoly of correctness when it comes to ideas.

May this article help as you begin to embark on your political blogging journey. As always, writing is a continuous process, and you can always do more research on the subject to sustain your learning.