PART II: How to Blog
With a bit of creative writing, a small business can have big results from a blog. Many of my clients often ask, "What do I blog about?" and to this I have a question for them, "What are they interested in?" Below are other ideas to spark that creative writer hidden within all of us.
This is a continuation from Part 1: Why you must have a blog if you own a business
What to write about - a mini-brainstorming session
- Future developments in your industry
- Newsworthy (industry related) items that affect your clients directly
- Ways you are incorporating "Green Living" into your life or business (studies show internet buyers are most interested in purchasing/doing business with people who are environmentally conscious).
- How is your business different from your competitors? Quality? Variety of Services? Price?
- Articles that address ways your product/service can help/benefit your customers
- Broadcast sales or promotions
- Announce new services
- Share links about your industry, new products in the industry, etc
- Include photos and descriptions of your [new] products
Just to give you an example: A friend of mine is starting up a business for her husband who does carpentry, building furniture, etc. I told her she should put a blog on her site and received the typical, "Why, what would we write about?" My reply was this. If someone is looking into a reputable carpenter for building furniture, I would want to know more about the furniture, his skills, what makes his furniture of the quality I would want, or how his is different from something I could purchase at IKEA. This definitely was an "ah-hah" moment for the client.
Promoting your blog
- Post each new blog on your site, then spread the word to Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Here you can create an account and post a link back to your website blog article. Email your friends/contact that you've posted it. This gets the visitor to your site to continue reading, to help your SEO.
- Add an RSS Feed to your articles so readers can stay abreast of new postings.
- Monitor what people leave for comments too. Comment on their comments. Keep the communication going.
- eMail (eNewsletter, eVite) Marketing can also be a valuable way to get out informational and educational blog articles out to potential clients. Start the article in your email and link back to your site for them to continue reading.