Get Your Blog On – The Power Of A Business Blog
Before we get started, check out these stats from a 2021 HubSpot post:
- Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t blog.
- 80% of internet users interact with both social media sites and blogs.
- Half of the top 200 Fortune 500 companies had a corporate blog in 2018.
- Marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that did not in 2019.
So why aren’t you blogging?
Or, why aren’t you blogging more? Odds are that you don’t think you don’t have time. Let’s discuss some ways to handle that.
Delegate, delegate, delegate. If you want your company to post six to eight posts a month, assign some of the posts to two to three other staff, preferably people who are experts in their areas. Have each write two posts at the beginning of each month. If you write two as well, you have hit your six to eight post per month target. Just be sure your expectations are realistic.
Hire a freelance writer. If you don’t have the time or inclination to write, but you have no problem explaining your company’s services, products, innovations, and ideas, this is the perfect solution. In this day and age, hiring a writer to produce as few or as many blogs as you want is easier than ever. Also, the increase in business leads that result, will more than offset the cost of hiring a writer. Upwork is a great website you can use to hire freelance, content writers.
Tips to Help You Get Started
It is part of the business of doing business. Like answering a sales call or sending an email, producing blog posts is part of the job. Before you blog, or if you are struggling to start blogging, here are a few pointers.
Accumulate Topics
Stockpile your blogs and your blog ideas. Before you launch a blog, have at least a month’s worth written. Before your first month’s blogs have been posted, start working on next month’s. Do not try to write them week to week — that’s how blogs dry up and vanish.
Often, when you start writing about a topic, you discover that you have a lot to say. Say too much, and you might lose your readers. Better to break those extra-long entries into two to three blog posts. Before you know it, you have hit your blog-per-month target.
The same goes for ideas. Keep an idea folder on your computer or smartphone. There are many online sites where you can find out what topics will perform best. SEMrush is one we like to use for trending topics, although it does require a subscription. You can also use HubSpot’s free blog generator to come up with ideas based on the broad topic you enter. When you read an article that would be of value to your clients, write a blog about why it is an important story and include a link to it. When you field questions from clients, make note of what they are asking. Other clients wonder the same things, and your blog is a perfect place to answer their questions.
Let Everyone Know
Don’t expect readers to come to your website to find your blog. You must fire it out to the world via social media. If your company has a Facebook page, post it there. Tweet the link on Twitter. Post to LinkedIn and Instagram. Wherever potential customers and readers might be, make sure you are there too. Be sure to also post as an update on your Google Business Page as well.
Don’t forget an effective call to action. Tell readers what to do when they finish reading your post. Should they fill out a form? Email you with questions? Provide some guidance so that you don’t lose them after the last sentence. If your content has value to readers, they will like it, share it and comment on it and your reputation as an expert will grow.
Commit
Make a commitment to blog a specific number of times per week or month. If you are starting out, I recommend keeping it in the four to eight blog-per-month range. This is a manageable number that will allow you to provide quality content without feeling overwhelmed.
Integrating your content marketing plan is an important first step to setting goals for what you want to sell. It’s helpful when beginning with a clear vision of the desired outcome, then creating engaging, and fun-to-read posts, that support this goal!
Setting up Google Analytics for your blog is a helpful way to know who is reading your blog, where they live, where they came from, and what topics they are interested in. What good is a blog if you can’t track its success?
Get a fresh perspective
Often, it takes someone outside of our business to make us see that what we do is interesting and significant. Suppose you are seated next to someone on a plane who wants to know about what you do. As you explain, they ask questions. These are the same questions a prospective client would ask. So if you don’t have a flight in your immediate future, sit down with a significant other or a friend, and ask them to ask you questions about your business and what it does. You are sure to generate some great ideas through these conversations.
Hopefully, you found these tips to be valuable. If you would like to learn more about blogging for businesses let us know. We love to hear your feedback!
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