Written by Sacha Greif

Personally, I think that the main feature of good content is that it teaches the reader something new. Sadly, I think the vast majority of online writing fails to meet that criteria. It seems that for every new idea you'll encounter online, you'll find nine other similar articles that simply reformulate the same concept in a different way.

So how do you make sure that you're not falling into that same trap? Simply put, you have to create value first. If you have years of experience in your field, that value can simply come from your own knowledge. But even if you're just starting out, you can still create value by doing research, compiling stats, translating a text, or interviewing someone.

In other words, don't think about writing as the goal in itself. Instead, think of it as merely the medium that delivers the value you've created to the reader. So focus on how you'll create that value first, and I promise writing will come naturally!

(Although I'll admit that yes, that's a lot more work than simply telling the world why you hate iOS 7!)

Sacha Greif is the creator of Sidebar and Folyo, as well as co-author of Discover Meteor .

You can find him at sachagreif.com