How to start your blog post so that your reader stays with you.

“It drives my wife mad.”

Your ears have pricked up, haven’t they? What exactly drives her mad? And why is the narrator being so open about it?

Honesty and a hint of drama.

You’re probably reading this because:

• you sense there is some sort of dilemma. You’re human and you want to get to the bottom of it;
• all good stories, from the oldest folktales onwards, have a testing situation at their heart. That’s what draws you in;
• the remark is made in a straightforward, candid way. You get the feeling you’re being allowed behind the scenes. Again, you’re human. It’s good to know that someone trusts you enough to show you the inner workings of their life.

Spilling the beans over lunch.

That combination of candour and challenge is why I’m looking forward to interviewing Richard Skerritt, founder and MD of a financial success story in the south east – Skerritts Wealth Management.

As you’ll see, if you click here, he’s disarmingly direct about how nerve-racking he found the first six years of his entrepreneurial life. He felt he’d started on the wrong foot, with no clients, in the aftermath of a disastrous financial crash.

So the plot thickens. How did he manage to keep going, reaching 25 successful years and accumulating more than 25,000 clients?

Tantalise your reader with a half-told tale.

If you’d like to hear the whole of Richard’s story, then make your way to Brighton on Wednesday 10^th February and book your place on the ‘Business in the City Lunch’.

If you can’t make it, I’ll set aside some column inches next time, to reveal what it is that drives his wife mad. It’s not that bad – and it’s partly the reason why Richard has managed to drive his business forward, despite the roller-coaster pattern of the financial markets.

If you’re stuck on how to start an article…

…put an intriguing sentence right at the top. Resist the temptation to start at the chronological beginning, such as the date.

Test it yourself, with these two sentences. Which is more intriguing?

“This Wednesday, 10^th February, Richard Skerritt talks about the highs and lows of setting up and growing his business”.

Or:

“It drives my wife mad”.

Let me know. And come back soon. Find out whether this lunch-time tale has a happy ending.