Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How to Schedule Your Business Blogging Time

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Have you ever noticed that what gets scheduled, gets done? The same is true for your business blogging. In my latest post at SteamFeed, I reveal the scheduling tool and method I use to keep my blogging on track.

It’s called Wunderlist, and it’s absolutely free (they do have a paid version, but you won’t need it to implement the suggestions I offer in this post). I use Wunderlist in virtually every area of my life – client work, business development tasks, my own blogging, household chores, health reminders, shopping lists, travel planning and more.

As I was writing about the ways I use Wunderlist to increase my blogging efficiency, I realized there was actually a broader set of steps that anyone could apply – regardless of what task management system you use.

Read the post at SteamFeed to learn:

  • Why scheduling is important for business blogging
  • The benefits of Wunderlist as a blog scheduling tool
  • How I use Wunderlist in my business blogging workflow
  • Three steps for scheduling your business blogging tasks

The SteamFeed blog is now closed, but you can read this post here at Content Mastery Guide.

Five Things Not to Do When Restarting Your Business Blog

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© bluedesign - Fotolia.com
© bluedesign – Fotolia.com

I recently had my own blogging slump, which as you can imagine was not something I wanted to talk much about. I am, after all, a business blogging expert who has written a plethora of posts about how to keep your business blog updated.

While I wanted to be authentic, and most of all to share my lessons and strategies with you, I wanted to be sure to avoid any of the classic mistakes people make after a break from blogging.

Your business blog doesn’t come with voice-overs

You know how television shows often begin with the words “Previously on…” and then a few clips that provide context for what you’re about to see? The same isn’t true for your business blog.

People arrive at your blog from all sorts of directions, with varying levels of context. Some are brand new to you. Others have read some of your work, but in a different order than you posted it. Super fans read almost everything as soon as its published.

A blog post is forever. The person reading your first post after the restart may not have any idea that you ever took a break from blogging. They may not see or pay attention to the dates on your posts.

People are on your site to get information about a specific topic, and to form or solidify their opinion of you as an expert in that area. Keep that in mind before making one of these common mistakes when restarting your blog:

1 – Over-explain

This is a habit that goes way beyond blogging. Over-explaining usually stems from the false belief that you can either predict what someone else is thinking, or control what they think about you.

If you were disappointed by my break from blogging, or it changed your opinion of my credibility, I’d rather try to win you back through action, not words. Besides, any explanation I give probably won’t make you feel any more valued as a reader (which you are!).

Instead: Make sure you explain to yourself what happened, so you can understand and avoid the same pitfalls in the future.

2 – Promise

I see this one a lot: “From now on I will blog X times per week/month, at 7:30 a.m. on Thursdays. Watch for it!”

Again, words can seem empty when you’ve just abandoned your blog and its readers for a time. This kind of ultra-specific promise can also create undue pressure on you while you’re getting back on track with your blogging workflow.

Instead: Put your own internal blog publication calendar in place. Make a promise to yourself and maybe an accountability buddy, business coach, or small group of supporters. When you’re feeling more confident, you can start to promote that schedule to the public.

3 – Apologize

Even though you may feel guilty or embarrassed because you haven’t posted as regularly as you hoped or promised, it didn’t do anyone real harm. And for a first-time reader of your blog, an apology will seem completely out of place.

Instead: If you’ve also been sending a regular newsletter on a set schedule, you could include a simple apology there. Email often makes a more intimate connection, and this will let people know how much you appreciate their trust in continuing to receive your messages.

4 – Overcompensate

Whatever got you fired up about blogging again, you may find yourself in a posting frenzy, with new ideas spilling out more quickly than you can capture them.

The problem is that if you double or triple your posting frequency, people may feel let down again when you return to your regular schedule. They may even wonder if you’re taking another break.

Instead: Keep writing – blog every day if you want to! Then schedule those extra posts to publish according to a manageable schedule you’ll be able to keep up with. Even if you don’t finish all the posts, outline your ideas so you can easily fill them in later.

Also, be sure to stay focused on your blog’s central topics – the things your ideal clients are most interested in.

5 – Raise the bar

Similar to overcompensating on frequency, after a blogging break you may also feel pressured to put out an epic blog post – one that’s very long, very detailed, or guaranteed to go viral.

Instead: Choose a blog post that will be easy for you to write – answer a customer question, introduce one of your local customers, or share someone else’s content and explain why you think it would be valuable to your reader.

If you’ve gotten waylaid on your business blogging journey, let go of your letdown and start again. Just don’t confuse your audience or damage your credibility when you do!

Get More Marketing Juice Out of One Blog Post Idea

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How To Spot A Good Series Idea For Your Blog

Why stop at one post when you’ve discovered a juicy topic that could help your ideal customers in multiple ways? In a guest post at SteamFeed, I reveal:

  • Five signs that an idea is suitable for a blog post series
  • Five steps for bridging the same topic across multiple posts
  • Five ways to position a blog post series for maximum readability and visibility on your blog and across the web

http://www.steamfeed.com/spot-blog-post-series-idea/

© MR - Fotolia.com
© MR – Fotolia.com

 

Three Keys to Effective Business Blogging – Lessons from the Top Business Blogs of 2014

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© nanuvision - Fotolia.com
© nanuvision – Fotolia.com

In early October, Social Fresh published their list of the top business blogs of 2014. If you’re looking to start or improve your own business blog in 2015, take the time to visit each of these blogs to learn from their examples.

What I found even more instructive about the Social Fresh post were the three criteria the judges used to rate each of the finalists. We can all apply these to assess and plan our own blogging efforts for 2015 and beyond.

As I was writing this post, I also came across a business model based on a three-legged stool. I found helpful synergies between those concepts and these three blogging standards from the Social Fresh post:

  1. Calls to action

Is the blog actively trying to convert a user in some way? This might be an email signup, a white paper download link, or even a simple CTA to watch, share or comment. Is there a clear business strategy being executed?

I love that this was first. It really speaks to the marketing part of content marketing. If each and every blog post isn’t trying to advance your relationship with the reader, then why bother?

Note the last sentence: Is there a clear business strategy being executed? Why are you blogging in the first place? What business goals is your blog serving? How will you know you’ve reached them?

The first leg of the business stool is money – there needs to be a clear path between reading your content and becoming a customer – even if that journey takes a long time and involves several steps.

For example, asking someone to sign up for your newsletter can create an opportunity to build a trusting relationship that leads to a later sale or referral.

Action: Make it clear and easy for your reader to follow through with an action that will lead them closer to doing business with you. Your call to action may appear at the end of the post, somewhere else in the post, and/or as part of the site design of each page.

  1. Content quality/consistency

Is the blog actually providing value? Is the content good and appealing to readers? Is the company regularly producing content?

Quality content is the purpose of the Content Mastery Guide blog and all of my work. While I personally strive for a weekly publication schedule, I would rather leave a hole in my calendar (and that definitely happens!) than post something that feels rushed, incomplete or sub-standard.

The second leg of the business stool is infrastructure – in this case whatever you do to consistently produce high-quality content on your business blog. This may include using an editorial calendar, managing your blogging time, and editing your work before you publish.

Action: Define a clear plan for your blogging success and revisit often to stay on track. Commit to whatever you need to start doing, stop doing, or keep doing in order to blog well and blog often.

  1. Audience engagement

Are there any comments? Are there a lot of social shares? Are people online talking about the content? Is there an audience engaged with the content?

I’ve never used comments as a measure of business blogging success (after all, would you rather get blog comments or calls from customers?). Today there are so many other powerful ways to interact with you and your content.

The third leg of the business stool is people – if a blog post publishes in an empty forest, does anyone read? Your blog needs a community of readers who see, reply to, like, comment and share your posts.

You may also find that you need different people to take on the many tasks involved in business blogging, whether that’s assigning a team member to coordinate and edit submissions, or outsourcing the whole process to a business blog writing service.

Action: Use social sharing buttons that make it easy for readers to promote your post to their networks. Share the posts widely across your different social media platforms. Reply graciously to all feedback and mentions. Build a blogging team to support your efforts.

To learn from 2014’s top business blogs, ask yourself whether your blog has the business strategy, consistency and quality, and audience involvement it needs to succeed in 2015. Start with these simple actions and let me know how it goes!

Business Blogging Etiquette: How to Properly Use and Share Other People’s Ideas

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© Minerva Studio - Fotolia.com
© Minerva Studio – Fotolia.com

So you’ve started a business blog – congratulations! Now you can provide valuable information to prospective customers and keep your website fresh with new content. If you’re like most of us, though, you may sometimes struggle to come up with that content.

One strategy I recommend to business bloggers is to continually read industry news as well as other blogs about your topic. This is bound to spark new ideas for you to write about and share.

When you use someone else’s post as a springboard for your own, you help your readers connect with new ideas. You’re also building strong connections with other bloggers – experts in your field – and these relationships can lead to more content, referrals to your business, and more exposure for your blog.

Whenever you’re using someone else’s material, remember these basic etiquette tips:

  1. Include a link to your source – This helps your readers get more background information on the topic and further their learning. Linking to reputable sites increases your own credibility with readers as well as search engines.
  2. Use the permalink – That means linking to the specific page for that particular blog post or article, rather than the home page of the site or blog. Otherwise you risk confusing or frustrating your audience, who may not be able to find the content you’ve described.
  3. Comment instead of copy – Summarize some of the ideas in the original article in your own words, and then hone in on what you think is most meaningful and relevant to your particular audience. If you choose to include any quotes, keep them as short as possible to adhere to fair use guidelines.
  4. Respect images as well as words – When it comes to photos, assume you do not have permission to share an image you’ve found on the web, unless you have purchased reprint rights or used a royalty-free image site.
  5. Connect on social media – While it used to be the norm to have dialogue in the comments section of a blog, that trend is definitely changing. As Jeff Korhan explains, social media is a better place for comments, and for conversation. If you’ve mentioned, quoted or linked to someone in a blog post, tag them (@username) on social media. As a bonus, the person may turn around and share your post with their network.
  6. Look for win-win-win options – If you find a blog post you’d really like to copy to your own site, try this instead: Contact the author and request an interview about the topic. That allows you to co-create fresh content that’s specifically suited to your readers and their needs and interests.
  7. Have someone interview you – There is nothing unethical about hiring a ghostwriter for your blog. After all, they are still your ideas, you’re just outsourcing the process of polishing, publishing and promoting them online – in a way that attracts new customers to your business.
  8. Keep your promises – While none of us can or will do this perfectly, aim to set and keep a regular blogging schedule. After all, how you do anything is how you do everything, and when you blog consistently you demonstrate your commitment, discipline and desire to help.

Even though you can publish a blog post in an instant, pause first and make sure you’re using ethical practices and building good relationships across the web.

For more tips on using other people’s materials in your blog posts, see: How to Share Great Content Without Plagiarizing.

For personalized help in applying these techniques on your own business blog, book a one-on-one blogging consultation with Linda Dessau.