The first time I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich in French, I received one ham sandwich and one cheese sandwich! Then I discovered the Croque Monsieur, the French take on a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. It makes a tasty lunch – and can be a great nonprofit marketing recipe for writing blog posts that attract attention.

Here’s the recipe for an effective blog post, Croque Monsieur-style:

  1. Cheese on top – title of article
      • Hook searchers quickly – keep it short with a maximum of 70 characters
      • Make it interesting with a question, surprise, provocative statement, or creative idea
  2. Toast – first paragraph
      • Short – three sentences or less and add an interesting picture or icon
      • Include a search term to further your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  3. Meat and more cheese in the middle
      • Tell a story
      • Use questions, bullet points, photos, graphics, videos, relevant links, numbers, because people scan rather than reading in detail
  4. Bottom toast layer – closing paragraph
      • Include a call to action – for a nonprofit this could be a request to donate, volunteer, participate, share the post with friends and family (vary this and include educational blog posts without a call to action to retain readers) 

That’s it. Naturally, if you’re Julia Child, you’d brush the bread with butter, so think of ways to tell your story in an entertaining way. Hope this helps you write your next blog post and, if you get hungry, here’s a link to Julia Child’s original recipe for this French favorite:

Julia Child’s Recipe