There are a great many reasons to start a blog for your business. It is a great way to offer value to your client base, it is a fantastic way to attract new customers, and it is a dream for SEO purposes. If you’ve decided that a blog is a fit for your marketing strategy, then great; but know that it is not without it’s potential pitfalls. Here are Bush Marketing’s six tips for effective business blogging.
Ensure That Your Posts Are Meaningful
Posting just for the sake of posting is not a good strategy. People are taking the time to come to your site and read what is being written. If there is no value in the content you are writing, if you are writing without purpose, then you will lose them. Better to not post than to post something with no value.
Be Patient
It is important to remember that blogging is a long term commitment with long term goals. It takes time to build up a base of readers so prepare for the long haul. Once you have that base readership though, you will reap the benefits. Just don’t jump ship after the second month if little is happening!
Adhere to a Schedule
Some bloggers post daily. Some weekly, some monthly. Any of these may work for you and it is up to you to determine how often you wish to post. You must however, be consistent about that schedule. If you show lapses in your blog post schedule it shows a lack of commitment and reflects poorly on your business. That’s not the message we’re trying to send!
Write Something Substantial
Again, we are trying to offer valuable content to our clients and a quick two paragraph blast is not effective. 150-200 words doesn’t not a blog post make. Take the time to consider what you are writing; give your customers a reason check in with your blog. For example, I am 308 words into this post and I’m only on the fourth tip. Try to aim for 500+ words and you should be good to go.
No Selling
The purpose of a blog post, generally speaking, is to inform people of something that can benefit them. This may come in the form of a guide (like this), sharing a life experience, etc. What it is not for is to deliver a sales pitch. This can be a tricky temptation to resist, as selling your product or service is essentially the point to doing all of this in the first place. A blog, nor any social media for that matter, is not the venue for that. If you want to mention services related to the post in a quick, italicized sentence at the bottom of the article that is OK, but don’t sell.
Relax!
Blogging is a friendly and social practice. Relax, grab a coffee, roll up your sleeves and write your blog posts in everyday language that is relatable to your customers. This isn’t the time to dust off the ten cent words in your vocabulary and put them on display. Just write something fun and useful and the people will come.
524 words. Whew… made it.
Andy Bush, President
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