How Your Advice Column Can Build Loyal
Readers
BY RIX QUINN
Last year while researching a
book on memorable speeches and essays, I stumbled across an
ageless writing technique that continues to captivate readers.
Advice articles first appeared
several hundred years ago. Some were submitted to papers and
magazines anonymously. The question-and-answer format probably
appeared a little bit later.
While opinion articles have
been around for years, few develop the loyalty and following
of advice columns.
Test this for yourself by
gathering newspapers and magazines from the last several
decades. My guess is: you’ll find the old question/answer
columns still ageless and vibrant.
Advice features generate
return readers. Why? Maybe it’s because people love to share
problems and possible solutions.
Want to start your own
“advice” column? Here are three simple ways to begin:
-
Survey your readership for the two or three industry issues
perpetually discussed.
-
Find out all you can about those issues.
-
Prompt questions from readers about those issues, and answer
them regularly in a column.
Current popular syndicated
features, for instance, offer advice on personal
relationships, do-it-yourself projects, and travel.
In a professional or trade
magazine, your question/answer feature might cover the history
of your profession, provide an open forum where readers share
information, or follow a how-to format. That’s your decision.
Personal note: Lots of times I
get questions whose answers I don’t know. That’s when I ask
the advice of an expert in that field, and ask for his/her
permission to include their response and name in the answer.
If I don’t know the answer, I tell the questioner I simply
don’t know.
 Bottom
line: If you want to connect better with your readers, you
must also give them the opportunity to reach you.
Rix Quinn wrote the new book
Words That Stick: A Guide to Short Writing with Big Impact,
which offers lots of writing tips for professionals who hate
to write. Rix can be contacted directly at 817-920-7999.
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