Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How FreshBooks Connects via their Blog

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In the recent "How to Write a Blog Post" webinar, I highlighted these four blogs as examples of the four different types of blog posts you can write:

  1. The Wegman's Fresh Stories blog, for this example of a "how to" post
  2. Southwest Airline's Nuts About Southwest blog, for this example of a personal post
  3. The Coaching4Clergy blog (my client J. Val Hastings), for this example of a thought leadership post
  4. The FreshBooks blog, for this example of a connecting post

FreshBooks are innovators in the field of online invoicing, so it's no wonder that their blog is so creative and entertaining (they can even sing!).  

Freshbooks

Connecting posts, like this customer portrait of Kristel Yoneda, take the pressure off the blogger to always be dreaming up brand new topics or material (making it much easier to be a weekly blogger).

In this case, the majority of the post comes from an outside source (Kristel's responses to a set of interview questions). Yet the post author's personality still shows through; in the title of the post, in the flavour of the interview questions and in the brief introduction (I might have also added a conclusion).

Client stories are a great way to demonstrate your product or service in action, and will be an interesting read for everyone who visits your blog – people love stories!

Here's another benefit to this type of post: Any blog post that features a client, blogger, author or expert can nurture your relationship with that person - be sure to call the person's attention to your post using my tips in Trackbacks, Reactions and Link Love.

P.S. Did you notice that this post itself is a connecting post? Not only did I use the FreshBooks customer portrait as my central topic (adding my comments and teaching points to make it useful and relevant for you), but the lesson itself was borrowed from the webinar I delivered last month. Now that's how to make blogging easier!

Blogging Makes Being a Local Celebrity a Celebration

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PaparazziBlogging can feel like an ego-driven pursuit, especially when we get too caught up in the numbers: how many "Likes" do I have on Facebook, how many comments am I getting, how many people are there on my mailing list?

When I talk about how blogging makes you a star and the "go to" expert in your industry, I see some people shy away from that idea. They say they don't want to be a celebrity; they just want to help people and earn a good living.

Maybe it's time we redefined what it means to be a celebrity, and why it's an admirable goal for any service-based business.

What if becoming a celebrity was actually a celebration? Here are five ways that blogging can make it so:

  1. You can use your blog (and your celebrity status) to give back to your local community. 
  2. Blogging builds your confidence and helps YOU see just how much of an expert you are. After all, it's easier to plant your flag of expertise on top of a mountain of content.
  3. Your celebrity status can be an inspiration to others in your local community, and shows them what is possible.   
  4. Blogging is a way to express the meaning behind your business – why you do what you do. So as you blog, celebrate your passion!
  5. Your celebrity status will attract a tribe of people with the same passions and interests, and your blog can be a forum for them to celebrate as well. They may comment (or they may not, and that's okay, too!), or simply show their affinity by sharing your content with their own tribes. 

Have you been shying away from your celebrity status? What's one way you could celebrate it, starting today?

How Passive Blogging Can Inspire Active Conversations

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When I say in my bio that I have attracted nearly 100% of my own clients through content marketing, that doesn't mean that I never go out. 

I learned early on that there are two forms of marketing: passive and active. As an introvert, it's no surprise that I prefer marketing in the comfort and quiet of my home office – passive marketing activities like blogging, upgrading my website and scheduling social media updates.

I also know that to market my business I need to have real conversations with real people. Here's how my blogging efforts support me during those conversations (and vice versa):

Clients: It used to baffle me when clients would ask a question that I had already answered in a blog post. Then I remembered that they have full lives and businesses and – gasp! – don't always read my blog posts or newsletters.

Does that mean my blogging isn't working? Hardly! Do you think those clients are impressed when I have a well-written answer to their question right at my fingertips? Absolutely!

And the other side of that coin is when I'm able to take a client's questions and draft my answer in the form of a blog post – benefitting that client, as well as other people with the same concern.

Networking contacts: As I describe in this blog post about using your blog to follow up with networking contacts, conversations with other business owners are easier when I take the time to discover their blogging questions. Then I can follow up by emailing them a blog post that addresses that very concern.

Social networking contacts: When I alert my networks about new content on my blog, that helps me get the conversation started. Sharing my content is what turns social networking into business networking.

That's only the start, though. From there, it's my job (not something to outsource) to nurture my connections by responding to comments or starting new conversations about what other people are up to. 

Audiences: I often use content from blog posts as the basis for my training webinars or when I speak as a guest at someone else's event. If it's a new audience, all of the content is new to them, so why not use my best material? If they're regular readers, they appreciate the reinforcement of my core message.

Referral partners: Through all of those other activities, I've built a network of people who know me, stand behind my passion for what I do, and trust that I will take good care of whoever they refer.

I stay on their minds by publishing consistently, being active on social media and by reaching out via email. By striving to produce quality content, I show them that I have expertise in a very specific area so it's clear what types of referrals would be best. Who will they think of first when someone expresses a need for blogging support? 

When you put the effort into creating high-quality content for your blog, you'll feel more confident about your expert status. That confidence will shine through all of your conversations, attracting your ideal clients as well as the people who will refer them to you. 

Tap Into the Possibility of a Team Blog

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I mentioned in an earlier post that when it comes to blogging, many hands make light work. Blogging with a team has five key benefits:

  1. Less work – Keeping a blog fresh with weekly posts is much easier when there are more contributors.
  2. Lower costs – Team members can share the blogging costs of domain name registration and hosting, as well as editing and blog management (hey, we do that!).
  3. Higher credibility – As long as you hook up with other trusted professionals, your combined qualities will boost your individual clout as well.
  4. Shared network – Each team member can promote the blog to their professional and personal contacts, creating a much broader audience.
  5. Greater momentum – When a group of like-minded people put their heads together, creative ideas flow more freely. This is bound to impact the rest of your business as well.

If you’re a solo practitioner or business owner, you may think there’s no way to tap into these benefits of team blogging. Yet consider these possible teams:

  • Co-leasors of an office space, office building or strip mall
  • Independent service businesses with complimentary specialties
  • Networking groups
  • Business associations

Who can you get together with to make lighter work of blogging?

If you have a team that’s ready to start blogging for business, contact us today to find out how we can help!

Should You Call Your Blog a Blog?

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blog-letters-centrodigitale.com-400-322Titles and names are important. As we know, people skim when they read online and titles help them decide whether to keep reading.

So when people land on your main website and you want to lead them to your blog, what do you call it? “Blog” seems like an obvious choice, but it may not necessarily be the right fit for you.

If your particular readers don’t understand what a blog is, or what they’ll find there, they won’t click on it. So they’ll never see the high-quality content you’ve worked so hard to produce (unless, of course, you’re also sending email newsletters).

When you’re setting up your blog and choosing the names of your navigation buttons, consider one of these names for your blog: Free Tips, Health Tips, Career Tips, Articles, Resources, Musings, News, Journal or Updates.

I have one caution about using the title News: Be sure you’re delivering on your promise by posting current industry news or announcements about your business. Also, make sure to publish new posts frequently, or it will seem as though nothing is happening or that you’re not on top of things.

When a blog is a blog

As I was brainstorming about this post, I reflected on what I’m looking for when I click on the name Blog. Not as Linda Dessau the blogging consultant, but as Linda, a consumer looking at hiring a prospective service provider.

Here’s why I click on a blog named Blog:

  • To see how active the business or clinic is, and what’s going on with them
  • To observe how they communicate with their clients and prospective clients, before I take the next step of joining a mailing list or speaking to them directly
  • To get to know the voice and personality behind the business – who is the person (or people) I’d be receiving services from?
  • To learn tips I can use to improve my business and my life
  • To assess how knowledgable the service provider is

When you’re deciding whether to call your blog a blog, consider what your audience is looking for on your site, and what terminology they’ll be using.

[This post was updated on August 26, 2016.]