We've got a ways to go before we fulfill my vision of an orchard full of blogging trees (business blogs) here in Barrie, but let's take a look at how we're doing so far.
Branding yourself as an expert
For an example of how to use a "how to article" as a branch that stems from the business goal of establishing yourself as an industry expert, check out Carole Schaefer's article, Five Tips for Better Video.
Carole's tips give readers practical solutions for common video mishaps, and demonstrate that as the owner of Sugar Productions, she knows her stuff! Readers will be pleased to improve the quality of their do-it-yourself video attempts, and they'll definitely know who to turn to when they want professional quality videos. Plus, they're only one click away if they want to see samples of Carole's work or find out more about her.
Listening for blog ideas from your audience
For an example of a business owner who is catching ideas as they rain down from her audience, check out this post from PC Service on Site about hacker emails. It shows that co-owner Meredith Skinner (with husband Peter Skinner) is listening to what people are talking about. Then she provides practical solutions for dealing with the problem.
The team approach to blogging
Another way to lighten the load of weekly blogging is to take a team approach like Barriston LLP. These busy legal bloggers also provide examples of how to spread the word about your blog, with individual bloggers like Joanne McPhail setting the wind in motion with tweets to her network about the latest posts.
Giving your own expert slant on relevant content from around the web
Cesia Green from Wall-Armstrong & Green taps into the visual power of infographics by linking to one about the extreme rise of funeral costs. She could have even opted to embed the image right into her post (instructions are at the bottom of the page where the infographic is hosted). Cesia also demonstrates how even when you're linking to connective content that someone else created, you can still highlight your own expertise by including your own personal slant on the topic. She lets the reader know precisely why the material will be relevant, interesting or entertaining for her audience.
Making a personal connection through video blog posts
We'll end this blog post where we began – by talking about video. This time we'll use Kirk Evans and his company Fast Solution as our example. Kirk has begun posting "how to" videos on his site, including one where he speaks directly to the camera – giving prospective clients the chance to get to know him. Even though the videos are not officially part of his blog (Kirk, if you're reading this, please take this as a constructive suggestion), he could easily turn them into individual blog posts with descriptive titles, along with at least a few sentences about which problem is being solved in each video. That way he won't lose the people who prefer to read rather than watch (like me!).
I would love to feature more Barrie business blogs here at Content Mastery Guide. If you'd like to improve your blog and be featured as a case study in your very own post, apply here for my free blog topic offer.
