Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Five Things You Need to Know Before Starting a Business Blog

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Business blogging is a proven way to keep your website fresh, which will satisfy both the potential customers who are looking for information and help, and the referral sources that are looking to send those customers your way.

The referral sources could be friends, family members or business associates of your clients-to-be, your own network of professional contacts, or search engines. The more you blog about the topics that are important to your customers, the more credibility you will gain with these referrers.

To help you get started on the right foot with your business blog, here are five key things I like people to understand:

five leaves

  1. You must blog consistently. The biggest mistake you can make with blogging is to start and then stop. An inactive or outdated blog – I call it a “ghost town” – creates a negative impression about you and your business. So however often you decide to post, stick with a schedule that shows visitors they can count on you.
  2. A small effort brings a big reward. According to Hubspot, companies that blog just 1-2 times per month generate 70% more leads than companies that don’t blog at all. I recommend you start with that frequency and then eventually work up to once a week. Give people a reason to keep coming back to see what’s new.
  3. Blogging is marketing. Blogging and social media aren’t separate from the rest of your marketing plan, they’re additional ways to implement that plan. Ultimately a blog is another place to express who you are and what you do, in ways that also provide concrete and practical information for your visitors.
  4. Blogging can be fun. There are many different kinds of blog posts you can write – they don’t all have to be 500-word feature articles. You can incorporate other content that is enjoyable and easy for you to produce, and appealing to your audience, such as videos, interviews or book reviews. Hint: Aim to include at least 250-300 words of text in each post, even if you’re featuring an audio, video or graphic.
  5. One blog tree can produce multiple types of fruit. Once you get the hang of keeping your blog active, you can re-use that same content to have other meaningful conversations with your audience (email newsletters, social media, slideshow videos, reports, e-books, books, presentations, training, etc.). The reverse is also true; there are many way to “blogify” existing content that you already have on hand.

Is there anything you would add to this list? If you’re already blogging for your business, what’s something you wish you had known before you started?

Photo credit: Flооd via photopin cc

Ten Ways to Fill Your Business Blog

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Icon of a person in motion, holding a computer keyboardA reader named Karen recently shared a common business blogging issue. “My problem, as always, is time. I write a couple blog posts, then I miss a couple of weeks.” Sound familiar?

Donna had a similar concern, and after the Barrie Business Blogathon in January 2013 she wrote: “A whole morning, 9 to noon, all devoted to writing blog posts. I produced four blog posts that I was able to email to Linda, four feet away from me. As I wrote the next post, she improved the post I’d just sent.”

Even if you’re not registered for the Blogathon, you can still devote time and attention to your business blog this week. Here are 10 ways you can incorporate the key techniques we’ll be using at the Blogathon:

  1. Book the time – Schedule an appointment with your blog in your calendar. Choose a day and time when you typically have the creative and mental energy you’ll need for writing.
  2. Protect the time – If you’d registered and paid for the Blogathon, you’d probably do your best to show up. Consider the cost of not showing up for your business blog – disappointed website visitors, reduced credibility, decreased website traffic, nothing to talk about on social media. This is an important business development meeting that you must not cancel.
  3. Plan ahead – Blogathoners receive a customized blogging plan. When you sit down to meet with your blog, start with some big picture planning and brainstorming. Here is my seven-step blog planning method.
  4. Batch your blogging – Aim to write several posts at once, to capitalize on your momentum and make the most of your dedicated time. Donna, who you met above, holds our Blogathon record with four posts written in three hours (less, considering our introduction and wrap-up time).
  5. Draft before you edit – You’ll be able to get more blog posts written if you’re not worrying about making them picture perfect. Just aim to get all your ideas out of your head and onto the page. At this point, don’t censor yourself or worry too much about your writing.
  6. Book your next blogging meeting – Keep up what you’ve started and make the commitment now when you’re feeling jazzed about your blog. As I mentioned in #1, find an optimal time that matches your energy for doing this type of creative work.
  7. Set up for success – Set up some blank documents, folders or mobile phone notes with the titles of your blog’s themes/categories. Then keep those topics in mind as you meet with clients, browse websites, blogs and social media, and hang out with friends. Jot down anything that could be a potential blog post, then bring these notes to your next blogging meeting.
  8. Edit before you publish – For Blogathoners, I’ll edit up to three blog posts that they write at or after the event. Be sure to step away from each of your posts for a few minutes or a few days, and then come back and read it out loud. Does it sound like you? Does it say what you wanted to say? Correct any awkward sentences, typos or other errors, then publish the post for all to see.
  9. Promote and discuss your blog post – Blogathoners will see examples of compelling social media messages that encourage people to visit your blog and read your new post. I recommend you write three different messages and schedule them at various times over a few days. Include some questions to spark discussion that could even provide content for your next round of blog posts.
  10. Do it all again – Whether it’s once a week, once a month, or four times a year at the Barrie Business Blogathon, make sure to repeat this process so your blog stays active.

Blogging will keep your website fresh, give prospective customers a better understanding of you and your company, establish your credibility as an expert, and provide content you can discuss and display on social media. Like any other important task in your life, you need to set aside time to make it happen.

P.S. You don’t live in Barrie? Stay tuned for a virtual version of the Barrie Business Blogathon.

How to Find the Permalink of a Social Media Post

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FootprintsPeople are busy. If you want them to look at your content, you must get their attention, tell them why the information will be relevant, entertaining or valuable, and then make it easy to get there. Otherwise they will grow weary of clicking on your links in the future.

While it’s great to promote each new blog post by sharing a “teaser” with your social media networks, you need to be sure to provide the right link.

In a previous post about how to find the permalink of a blog post, I explained that the problem with just posting a link to your main blog page (called the “archives” page) is that this page changes every time you add new content.

If a new post has displaced the one you're talking about, it can leave people feeling frustrated, confused or annoyed. These probably aren’t feelings you want associated with you and your business!

The same is true for sharing a link from your social media page, which probably changes much more quickly than your blog. You would never say, “Go watch my latest video at youtube.com,” – instead you would link to your specific video. You need to be just as specific with Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you’re sending the link in email, on social media, or in a blog post, you need to use the permanent link (permalink) for the specific update, conversation or event that you’re referencing.

The easiest way to find the permalink for a social media post is to look for a day, date or time, move your mouse over that text, and click. A new page should open up where you see just that one status update or conversation.

Social-media-time-links

Next, highlight and copy what you see in your web browser’s address bar – that is your permalink.

FB-post-link2

Finally, paste that link into your email, blog post or social media message.

If something you’ve posted on social media is important enough to link to, consider turning it into a blog post. Ultimately, your blog is the best place for people to read your content, because they are just one step away from taking the next step to doing business with you.

P.S. Here are some tips for how to turn your LinkedIn and Facebook activity into blog posts.

Photo Credit: CarbonNYC via photopin cc

Reader-Focused Blogging: Set an Empty Chair at Your Blog

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empty chair at table

In To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink lets us in on a success secret of one of the 30 wealthiest people on the planet – Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. At every important meeting, Bezos leaves an empty chair at the table. Pink writes:

“It’s there to remind those assembled who’s really the most important person in the room: the customer.”

I often suggest to business bloggers that you write as if you’re talking to ONE ideal customer, imagining that person is sitting across the desk from you.

Here are five ways to make that empty seat as welcoming as possible:

  1. Begin again and again – If you’ve ever read a bedtime story to a child, you’ve heard the command, “Again!” No matter how many times you or others have covered a topic, your most important reader is the one who’s hearing it for the first time, or who just needed to hear it again.
  2. Answer real questions – As you picture the imaginary customer sitting in the chair, give that person a voice. Think back to conversations with current and prospective clients. What’s the first thing people said or asked when you told them what you do? Answer those questions. Again.
  3. Watch your language – Some people suggest you write as though you’re explaining your concepts to a young child. Others say your grandmother should be able to understand. The point is to eliminate – or spell out – any jargon or acronyms that will be unclear to someone new to the topic. Use the same words your clients are using when they ask their questions.
  4. Make it comfortable – Ensure your text is easy to read (dark text against a light background), and that it’s large enough for people with older eyes. Choose a clean, uncluttered layout, break up long paragraphs into lists or sub-points to create more white space on the page, and choose attractive images to go along with your posts.
  5. Provide a menu of choices – Make it easy to find other topics and information on your blog (provide a search box, list of categories, recent posts, related posts, etc.). As well, cater to different learning styles by offering your content in different formats, such as audio, video, slideshows and graphics.

There are many benefits to keeping up with your business blogging, but the most important one is the relationship you build with each individual reader. Keep that person in mind as you write your next blog post.

P.S. For more tips on reader-focused blogging, check out “How to Make a L.O.V.E. Connection With Every Article You Write.”

Blogging Alternatives for Franchisees

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Mouth-taped-shutI often hear from franchisee businesses who want to blog, but as franchisees they don’t have the same options as single location businesses.

Franchisors may have strict restrictions on what franchisees can put out there, and for good reason.

If an individual franchisee goes “rogue” and does something that negatively affects the brand, that will impact the entire company and all of the other franchises. As Nicole Norris, President of The AGENCY*, explains,

“Franchisees pay for the right to use the brand of the company, and the goodwill and reputation that brand has built up. It is the franchisor’s job to manage the brand and the franchisee’s job to manage their business.”

In a blog post about what franchising really means, Nicole writes:

“Franchising can be summarized as an agreement with a company (Franchisor) that owns a trademark and provides a license to another company (Franchisee), to use for the selling of products and services under a proprietary system of commerce. It is a business model that is governed by law in the province of Ontario through The Arthur Wishart (Franchise Disclosure) Act and has a national voice through The Canadian Franchise Association.”

As a franchisee, you may not be permitted to associate your name with the franchisor’s name or trade-marks when you post anything online, but there are still some blogging techniques you may be able to use.

  • Show your expertise – Seek out opportunities for public speaking at local networking groups, schools or at seminars you host or co-host with related businesses. You could speak about some aspect of your business, or about business in general. You can also write “how to” or top 10 articles and submit them as editorial columns to local publications such as SNAP Barrie.
  • Support your community – A blog is great forum for supporting community causes. So why not borrow a blog? The Barrie Chamber sells space in its blog, and some Chamber members use it to post details about a cause they support.
  • Gain wider exposure – Business blogger Glain Roberts-McCabe notes that by participating actively on social media, people in her network say she always seems to be showing up on their screens – and because she posts relevant, helpful information, that’s a good thing! You can build your network, credibility and community just by being you and posting from a personal perspective.
  • Keep your website fresh – Take any and all opportunities to update your website (or your local page of the franchise website) with news about local events or campaigns, staffing changes, new products or services, and community news including charity causes. Be sure to remove or replace outdated information immediately so your website doesn’t look like a ghost town.

Ideally, your franchisor will launch a blog you can submit posts to, so you’ll be able to put all of my blogging tips to good use. (In a future post, I’ll explore the many benefits of blogging for franchisors). Until then, try infusing a little blogging technique in your business and see what happens.

Whichever of these options you decide to try, please first consult your franchisor and franchise agreement to ensure you are complying with their requirements.

*The AGENCY is a boutique branding and marketing consultancy that helps franchisors and retailers build brand equity and helps businesses get their brands ready to franchise. I’ll be attending The AGENCY’s upcoming Franchise This Brand! seminar on April 22, 2013, and I’ll share my notes in another blog post.

Thanks also to Joseph Adler of Hoffer Adler LLP for sharing his franchising expertise as I wrote this post.