If you're a content marketer or a writer, sooner or later you'll need to produce blog posts.

Coming up with blog topics is straightforward. But turning a topic into something people actually want to read can be tough.

For writers, discovering no one is reading your stuff can be a real motivation killer. For marketers, unread blog posts mean wasted resources and uncomfortable questions from bosses or clients.

APPSA is a 5-step framework for blog posts that don't suck.

A = Audience. Identify your audience. Name them in the blog post you're writing for them.

P = Problem. Name a problem your audience has. You're going to solve it in this piece of content.

P = Pain. Remind the reader why it's a problem by describing the pain it causes — emotional, financial, whatever.

S = Solution. Describe the solution. It could be as simple as "three steps to solve your problem." Or it could describe a more complex process or product and explain why it works.

A = Action. Tell the reader the next step to take. This might be simple: "Try this next time you have this problem." It could also be a formal call to action, such as "Download this checklist to implement this."

Next time you write a blog post, try the APPSA framework. Let me know how it works for you.