What Impact Will Blogging Have on Your Business?
You've heard it before: blogs can help you promote your business, leading to increased sales, happy customers, and your own private island in the South Pacific.
Okay, so that last part might be an exaggeration.
If you're not sure how a blog could actually help your business, you're not alone.
A blog can help you reach out to potential customers, partners, and the press.
Ideally, a blog should say something new and say it better than any other source could.
That's what will help your blog have the right kind of impact on your business.
As with many things in life, this is easier said than done.
Some People Shouldn't Blog There's some controversy about using a blog as a business tool, as it demands commitment, time, and a willingness to be at least somewhat transparent about your work.
Business blogging is not for those who can only post once a month, or those who are secretive or reluctant to share their point of view.
What Makes Business Blogging Successful? Blogging is most successful when 1) It's done regularly 2) the blogger possesses valuable inside knowledge of the business or industry and 3) the writing is clear, consistent, and compelling.
Who Should Blog, and How? It can be difficult to find all three of those criteria in one person--someone who has time to post regularly, has valuable things to say, and knows how to say them.
To address this challenge, you can have multiple employees in your company contribute to the blog, with a main point person to make sure that quality and message are consistent.
Alternatively, you can hire a ghostwriter to collaborate with you so that frequency doesn't become a burden and the style stays consistent.
This individual can take your ideas and work them into blog posts that will successfully promote your web traffic and your business, and may also help you generate additional ideas for posts by asking questions from an outsider's perspective.
Before You Begin If you've decided to start a blog for your business, it's a good idea to maintain a document that lists all of your potential post ideas.
Once you begin, you may be surprised at how often you can come up with new ideas, but to begin with, you should have a few dozen post ideas as well as several full-fledged posts.
This will ease the pressure and allow you to post frequently at first; as time goes by, you can add information that's time-dependent or pertinent to a current news item.
Keep a log of your ideas handy at all times; you never know when you might need to record a fabulous post idea.
Also, take a look at some successful business blogs in your industry and identify what makes them successful.
Note their focus and post frequency; do they blog solely on news items? Discuss new initiatives? Reveal company methodologies? Meditate on broad industry questions? A blog can do all of this and more to retain reader interest.
If comments are allowed on the blogs you're reading, check to see what kind of posts draw the most responses.
Finally, read up on the finer points of blogging.
It's not rocket science, but you'll want to pay attention to your users by crafting thoughtful headlines, avoiding excessively long posts, and choosing a focus that's of benefit to your readers.
With the right preparation, the impact of blogging on your business can be positive for you and your stakeholders.
Okay, so that last part might be an exaggeration.
If you're not sure how a blog could actually help your business, you're not alone.
A blog can help you reach out to potential customers, partners, and the press.
Ideally, a blog should say something new and say it better than any other source could.
That's what will help your blog have the right kind of impact on your business.
As with many things in life, this is easier said than done.
Some People Shouldn't Blog There's some controversy about using a blog as a business tool, as it demands commitment, time, and a willingness to be at least somewhat transparent about your work.
Business blogging is not for those who can only post once a month, or those who are secretive or reluctant to share their point of view.
What Makes Business Blogging Successful? Blogging is most successful when 1) It's done regularly 2) the blogger possesses valuable inside knowledge of the business or industry and 3) the writing is clear, consistent, and compelling.
Who Should Blog, and How? It can be difficult to find all three of those criteria in one person--someone who has time to post regularly, has valuable things to say, and knows how to say them.
To address this challenge, you can have multiple employees in your company contribute to the blog, with a main point person to make sure that quality and message are consistent.
Alternatively, you can hire a ghostwriter to collaborate with you so that frequency doesn't become a burden and the style stays consistent.
This individual can take your ideas and work them into blog posts that will successfully promote your web traffic and your business, and may also help you generate additional ideas for posts by asking questions from an outsider's perspective.
Before You Begin If you've decided to start a blog for your business, it's a good idea to maintain a document that lists all of your potential post ideas.
Once you begin, you may be surprised at how often you can come up with new ideas, but to begin with, you should have a few dozen post ideas as well as several full-fledged posts.
This will ease the pressure and allow you to post frequently at first; as time goes by, you can add information that's time-dependent or pertinent to a current news item.
Keep a log of your ideas handy at all times; you never know when you might need to record a fabulous post idea.
Also, take a look at some successful business blogs in your industry and identify what makes them successful.
Note their focus and post frequency; do they blog solely on news items? Discuss new initiatives? Reveal company methodologies? Meditate on broad industry questions? A blog can do all of this and more to retain reader interest.
If comments are allowed on the blogs you're reading, check to see what kind of posts draw the most responses.
Finally, read up on the finer points of blogging.
It's not rocket science, but you'll want to pay attention to your users by crafting thoughtful headlines, avoiding excessively long posts, and choosing a focus that's of benefit to your readers.
With the right preparation, the impact of blogging on your business can be positive for you and your stakeholders.