Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Blog Planning 101 – Let Your Senses Guide You

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A comprehensive blogging plan is the foundation of blogging success. Why not let your senses guide you through the process?

Look – Is your blog built right into your website? If so, you've probably already made your decisions about colours, design and layout that will just carry over from the website to the blog. If you're planning a blog that's separate from your website (as some people recommend), just make sure it's not too cool to read.

Feel – Look at some of the blogs you like and notice their tone of voice, language and approach. Determine your own ideal balance between expertise (positioning yourself as an expert with "how to" articles and thought leadership pieces) and experience (sharing relatable stories – either your own or those of your clients). Decide what you would like your readers to gain from visiting your blog.

Listen - Who are you best suited to help? What are those particular people looking for? What are they talking about? What questions are they asking you? Focus on the most relevant topics and write every post as though you were speaking directly to one of your ideal clients.

Taste – Give prospective clients and referral sources a taste of the valuable content you have to offer. Post teaser questions on your social networks, along with links to your blog posts. Help them get to know you better, by writing authentically about what you know best. 

Woman-holding-nose-bad-smellSmell – How can you make sure your blog doesn't stink? Here are the two most important ways:

  1. Keep posting new content (hint: try these 10 secrets to blogging consistently). Even the best ideas will start to rot if you let them pile up in the corner. 
  2. Take pride in what you post on your blog so that it represents your business professionally (hint: you can let go of perfectionism while still saving some blogging time for the editing stage of the process).

The Truth About Your Business Blog

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True-or-falseWith another Barrie Business Blogathon approaching, this is a good time to do a health check on your blogging habits.

True or false?

  1. You feel embarrassed to send anyone to your ghost town blog because you haven’t posted in so long.
  2. You’re bubbling over with new blog post ideas and just haven’t had the time to develop any of them.
  3. You’ve been staring at the same unfinished post for longer than you can remember or care to admit.
  4. You read about new writing skills but then forget what you’ve learned by the time you’re sitting down to write your next blog post.
  5. You don’t know what to blog about, so you don’t blog at all.
  6. You made a New Year’s resolution to blog more this year – but you haven’t.
  7. You get writer’s block every time you sit down at your computer.
  8. You start to work on your blog but end up distracted by other things.
  9. Your blog always ends up last on your to do list.
  10. You get a lot more done when you can work at a relaxed pace and focus on one thing at a time.

If this quiz revealed any unpleasant truths about your business blogging habits, I dare you to attend the next Barrie Business Blogathon! Spaces are limited, so click here for all the registration details. I can’t wait to see you there!

How to Keep Blogging, Whatever the Weather

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Blogging-tree-sunshine-rainBlog writing is a skill like any other. You can learn how to do it, and the more you do it the better you’ll get. But only if you keep doing it.

If you don’t keep up with your blogging, it can turn your website into a ghost town that reflects badly on you and your business.

In today’s post, we’ll wrap up the Blogging Tree series with a look at some of the ways you can keep growing your blogging tree and welcome plenty of new clients to your orchard.

A strong blogging tree needs the right climate

Here in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, we enjoy four seasons every year. Not every day feels pleasant (though I do believe in the old adage that there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing), but each season gives us something of value – even if that’s just more appreciation for the season coming up!

Your blogging tree needs different weather elements in order to grow strong. In my last post, I explained how wind spreads the seeds of your blogging tree. It also needs rain and sunshine, and here’s why:

Rain – For your blogging tree, rain represents the ideas that you’ll turn into new content for your blog. Once you get yourself into the blogging mindset, you’ll see these ideas all around as you carry out your day-to-day work with clients, and even on your personal time.

Over time, you’ll hone the skill of creating blog posts out of frequently asked questions, client meetings and other things that you see and read – both online and in the real world. And if you’re already getting the hang of sharing other people’s content on social media, you’ll be relieved to discover that sharing certain types of content on your blog is just one step further.

Note: Be sure to set up a rain barrel – I call this an idea catcher, where you can capture those ideas when you get them. Carry a notepad (whether it’s in your pocket or on your smartphone), have a designated folder on your computer or simply store ideas as draft posts in your blogging program. When you constantly feed your idea catcher, you’ll never have to face a blank screen or empty page again.

Sunshine – Your blogging needs your time, energy and attention (sunshine) in order to flourish and continue to attract new clients to your business. Once you’ve decided to include blogging in your marketing mix, you need a plan for how that’s going to happen. As we discussed in another post in this series, the trunk of your blogging tree – your plan – must include:

If you’ve heard enough about the benefits of blogging, such as its power to:

  • Position you as a trusted expert
  • Educate your clients about how you can help them
  • Deliver more value to everyone you meet
  • Gain wider exposure to your website
  • Keep your website fresh

then be sure your blogging tree doesn’t dry up and wilt. Keep it growing strong by giving it the elements it needs to succeed.

You don’t have to do any of this yourself! There are plenty of resources on the Content Mastery Guide website and elsewhere on the web. You can also hand your blogging over to someone else who can make this all happen for you (hey, we do that!).

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She offers ghostwriting, editing, training and consulting.

Branching Out on Your Blogging Tree with Blog Categories and Feature Articles

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Word-cloud-by-Wordle.net
In a series of blog posts, we've been exploring the parts of the Blogging Tree, which are all the various elements of a successful blogging practice. If you've been following along, you've already clarified your business (and blog) goals and mapped out your blogging plan. Now that you know what you want blogging to do for your business, let's look at what your blog will do for your readers. 

Naming your blog categories

Your blogging tree will have 5-7 large branches, which are how you'll start to reach out towards your readers. These branches are your blog categories (I pared mine down to eight before I published this post). Your category names are an important way to organize your blog, plan your writing and guide your readers to the information they need most.

When considering your categories, identify the most pressing problems of your prospective clients. Consider topics that are broad enough to give you some variety and options, but specific enough that they'll be relevant to the exact people who are your ideal clients.

Blogging will be most enjoyable and sustainable for you if you find the intersection between the biggest concerns of your readers and the topics that interest you and that you know the most about. By writing about those themes in your own authentic voice, you will attract your perfect clients.

Balancing out your feature articles

Once you've named your categories, plan feature articles that will cover each topic. With my weekly blogging method, you're only writing one feature article per month – that means you only need to come up with an article for each category once or twice a year!

In the first post of this series, I told you how to match different styles of blog content with your particular business goal. For example, if one of your goals is to establish yourself as an expert in a particular field, write some "how to" articles that teach your reader something they can do on their own. They'll remember who to come to when it's time for professional help! 

If you're also trying to educate your clients about what you do, share some of your clients' success stories and describe your role in their success. You'll find more sample goals and corresponding article styles in the original post.

Are you starting to see how your blog will come together? In the next post, we'll dress up your tree with more attractive features that will draw in your prospective clients. 

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She offers ghostwriting, editing, training and consulting. If you want better results from your online writing, contact her today to learn how she can help.

A Blogging Plan You Can Wrap Your Arms Around

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“Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.” – Napoleon Hill

If you’ve decided that blogging makes sense for your service-based business or wellness practice, you need more than the desire to do some blogging and get some traffic to your site. You need a blogging plan.

Girl-hugging-blogging-treeOn your blogging tree, your plan is the trunk. It grows up from the roots (your business goals) and supports all of your blogging efforts.

Before you create your own plan, search online for 3-4 blogs in your industry (sometimes it’s wise to go outside your field as well, as long as you can apply the learning). Identify the elements that you admire and would like to model on your own blog. Also make a note of anything that you think detracts from the blog.

Seven elements to include in your blogging plan

  1. Goals: What are the ultimate business goals you are trying to accomplish with your blog? The first post in this series has some examples. Make sure that some of your goals are measurable (e.g., every month you want to book two speaking gigs, sell six books or receive eight emails from prospective local clients via your blog’s contact form).
  2. Categories: What are the broad themes that cover the most pressing problems of your prospective clients? Choose 5-7 categories for your blog. We’ll get into this task in detail when we “branch out” in our next post, and we’ll cover the others in the following weeks.
  3. Feature articles: Plot out one feature article per month for the next six months. Aim to write about a different category each month. If you’re stuck for ideas (and even if you’re not), try the Top 10 article approach.
  4. Connective content: Decide how you will build on each feature article with fun, creative content that comes naturally to you, whether that’s audio, video, storytelling or reviews and recommendations.
  5. Social media: Consider in which social media environments you and your ideal client are most comfortable and active. Where and when will you be willing to spend some time?
  6. Schedule: When will you publish your new posts each week? How will you shift your schedule to get your blogging done? What are your best times of day for creative work, detailed work and social connection? Who else’s schedule do you need to consider (e.g., a blog editor, hint, hint!)?
  7. Editorial calendar: Put it all together and you’ll see how your blog could take shape over the next six months. At any moment, a quick glance will tell you which topic you should be focusing on as you brainstorm and collect ideas throughout your daily adventures in business and life.

Blogging takes time, and so does planning. If you don’t have time to plan, are you sure you’ll have time to blog? If not, then maybe you should wait. Otherwise, your blog is at risk for becoming a ghost town.

If you are willing to use these tips, I guarantee your blog will be better for it. It may even hug you back.