Just had a great Startup Grind event and want to tell the world? We'd love to hear about it - but often, the medium is the message. If that medium is a clever, well-structured, easily consumed, and informative blog post (usually 300-750 words), you're likely to do great. However, most pieces on the internet aren't like that: they don't draw in the reader's curiosity or make an emotional appeal, they don't set great expectations on why reading on is valuable, and they don't use their best assets - in our case, the quotes and videos of our speakers!

The piece below, on everyone's favorite anti-hero Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne, is written as if he was a guest on Startup Grind in Gotham City (AKA New York City). Large headings in Bold break up the major sections of advice about writing a blog post: the headline, the picture, the introduction, the body of the piece, and the conclusion, and comments in italics are my advice on how you should write a great piece.

Wondering about tone? Write as if you just learned something interesting, and are trying to explain it to your startup's cofounder. Write to a human being, not a screen.

Want a second opinion? Try Hemingway to grade your writing. Aim for an 8th grade level or under.

Questions or feedback? I'd love to hear it at content [at] startupgrind.com

The Headline

First, brainstorm some titles: 80% of readers will never get past just that, even if it’s good.

Bruce Wayne’s Secret Strategy is “Equal parts brains & brawn”

When in doubt, use a great quote. Write it down as your speaker says it and use it in the headline. Notice the use of power words like “secret,” (emotional reaction) and keywords like “strategy” (great search engine term). Additionally, note the use of the founder’s full name - a great way to add credibility to the piece if he or she has some renown, but also causes your interview to show up in search alongside his or her name - like we do for Patrick Collison.

This is Why Wayne Enterprises Spends 20% on Research & Development, says Bruce Wayne

Alternatively, tell us something new and unexpected about the company, or promise to reveal a strategy that seems unorthodox. Notice the “curiosity gap” - I haven’t actually told you why, so you’ll have to read the piece. Notice the use of the full company name, founder's name, and specific percentage. Keyword includes “research & development”

3 Hard Earned Strategies for Work-Life Balance from Bruce Wayne (Wayne Enterprises)

If there’s concrete advice, you may use a headline like this one, formatting it kind of like a traditional blog post. The specific number (3) is helpful to readers, letting them predict about how much time they’ll need to spend reading - though usually between 7 to 13 are the hottest numbers. Notice, again, use of full name and company. Keywords: strategies, work-life balance.

The Picture

Next, let’s talk about the picture: if you don’t have a high quality picture from the internet like the ones from the Startup Grind Global Conference, it’s better to use a picture of their business, or your city, or the founder who’s speaking pulled from the internet, or of their product at work.

The Introduction

“When I lost them [my parents] at such a young age, I committed myself to fighting the crime in this city,” Wayne said of his personal purpose, “not through the law, but through creating prosperity.” And as a leading industry pioneer of our time, Wayne has - for himself and thousands of his employees and shareholders, all while becoming a leading philanthropist focused on education, health, and criminal justice reform. Though he’s no Caped Crusader, he shared his own brand of justice with the Startup Grind audience, inspiring us to “always be getting stronger” and “make bold moves… both in your life, and business.”

Start with some type of emotional invitation, or invaluable lesson, especially if you can share it in the speaker’s own words as a quote. The entire purpose of your opening - these very first 3-5 sentences - is to make the reader care enough to read the whole piece. Besides making me want to read the whole piece, this opening should also give me an idea of what to expect in the following paragraphs (which I do here through the last sentence) and create an incentive to keep reading (because he’s very successful and prolific, which I prove in the second sentence). Add a little humor, like I did by making the Caped Crusader joke, where you feel it’s appropriate: try to strike the tone you would use if you were explaining something you learned or read to your cofounder. It would be conversational but informative, to the point but still enjoyable to listen to.

Bruce Wayne is the Chairman of Wayne Industries, a leading Gotham City conglomerate operating in engineering, chemistry, and logistics valued at $31.73 billion. He joined Startup Grind in his beloved city to share his personal journey from orphan to oligarch. Watch his full interview and read our highlights below.

The second paragraph is your chance to present a short bio, introduce what this piece is about, and tempt me to read it by showing the credibility of the founder, hinting at an important lesson, or revealing an inspiring story. Appeal to my ego, curiosity, or empathy. Link his/her name to the event page (typically something like https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-Gotham-City-presents-Bruce-Wayne-Wayne-Enterprises), and if an interview is available, link to the YouTube video.  

[Embed YouTube Video here by pasting in the link - it'll automatically embed]

The Body of the Piece

Split your piece into sections based on the key lesson you want to make in each paragraph. Remember: one idea per paragraph, so try not to squeeze all the takeaways into one short section. Instead, you can just write shorter paragraphs - as short as 2-3 sentences! Over each section, apply an H2 heading.

Always Be Learning

The difference between an employee and an entrepreneur is clear, suggests Wayne: no matter the stage of the business, a founder will “use every day and every challenge” as an opportunity to learn and improve. “I’m always talking to Lucius [Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises] about new industries, seeing where the next opportunities are.” Wayne is both an informed mentor and hungry student, investing his days in advising Wayne Enterprises and remaining involved in city affairs, but spending “most nights researching and reading… about, say, space colonization or material science - it’s really interesting!” A founder’s education is never done, but when you love learning, it never feels like work.

Be More Than Your Business

In the subheading, try to follow the same pattern as above: summarize a key takeaway in 1 or 2 sentences, and support it with a quote from the speaker or a link to outside research, and finish with an example or a link to another article to prove your point if you can. If a quote feels incomplete, you'll notice I [use brackets] to clarify the point the speaker was trying to make.

Dominate Your Opponents

In the subheading, try to follow the same pattern as above: summarize a key takeaway in 1 or 2 sentences, and support it with a quote from the speaker or a link to outside research, and finish with an example or a link to another article to prove your point if you can.

The Conclusion

Though Bruce Wayne serves as Chairman rather than the CEO, his work is still never done. His dedication is to continue improving as an advisor and lifelong learner, and to bring this knowledge to his philanthropy as well as against his biggest rivals. “I might not be the hero Gotham City deserves,” Wayne concluded, “but I can be the hero Gotham needs.”

In the closing, summarize the takeaways in a sentence or two, and if you have one, end with a clever quote that leaves the reader with a sense of positive closure.

How are you a hero in your business? Let us know in the comments.

It’s great to end with a question or point of discussion, as it gives readers a way to get involved.

Join us for the next Startup Grind Gotham City event with Tony Stark, Founder of Stark Industries.

If you’d like to use your blog posts to promote your events, make it easy by linking to them! It’s best practice to put this at the end of the piece in bold, and use the format above, with a link to your Chapter Page (http://startupgrind.com/city-name) and a link to your next event attached to the name of your speaker and his/her company.