Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Five Ways to Blogify Existing Content to Attract Your Ideal Customer

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Small_2438119817 Your business probably already has a goldmine of potential blog material at its fingertips, whether you realize it or not.

For example, you might have: training manuals, instructions, sales scripts, company descriptions, service/product descriptions, customer feedback and questions, meeting notes, presentation slides, Facebook page activity, LinkedIn group discussions, handouts, memos or emails.

With a few simple adjustments, you can turn that content into blog posts that will attract prospective customers and help them see if you’re a good fit.

If you or your staff are constantly referring to something during client calls or sales meetings, if you’re often sending it as an email attachment, or if you’ve ever heard, “Thanks, that was helpful!” after replying to an email, chances are you have the beginnings of a good blog post.

So this might make a good blog post – now what?

Here are five elements that will help turn existing content into an effective blog post. Hint: Follow the embedded links for more information about each topic.

  1. Length – I recommend that your blog posts are between 250-500 words. In some cases you’ll need to pare down what you’ve written. Other times you’ll need to expand on what you’ve written (often just by adding an introduction and conclusion). Also check the length of each sentence and paragraph. Online writing requires more white space to give your readers’ eyes a rest.
  2. Links – As Debbie Weil says, if you can’t link to something, it doesn’t exist (that’s why we’re getting your content onto your blog!). Links are how you give credit to those you’ve mentioned, build relationships with other experts, and add more value for your readers. Linking to your own blog content also breathes new life into your old posts and gives people reasons to stay on your site and come back for more.
  3. Language – Tweak your language to stay consistent with your brand. Use the same words your ideal customers use – especially in your blog post title. Apply any keyword research you’ve done for search engine optimization.
  4. Love – Building blog posts out of real customer interactions shows that you’re thinking about your readers first and your marketing goals second. Delivering consistent, high-quality content shows how much you care about the people you serve in your business. Try to write each post to one person as if he or she were sitting across the desk from you.
  5. Logic – For each blog post, pull out one key message from your content. There may be plenty more where that came from, which is good news if you want to be a weekly blogger.

Transforming other types of content into blog posts means that:

  • You can easily share the content in a way that brings people to your website, where they’re one click away from doing business with you
  • You can link to and promote the content on social media sites
  • You’ll keep your blog fresh with new content, which will impress both your website visitors and the search engines
  • Because this piece of information is directly related to a real customer concern, there’s a good chance people will be searching for it online

Photo credit: digitalmoneyworld via photopin cc

Should You Date Your Blog?

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This post was originally published at Build a Better Blog.

calendar In his October 2011 post about why you no longer need a blog (in the traditional sense), John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing predicts that soon our content will “no longer be consumed in chronological fashion.”

When Jim Connolly of Internet Marketing Jam explored the question of why people remove dates from their blog posts, he came to the conclusion that marketing blogs need dates, as do blogs in any industry where information changes quickly. [Update: This paragraph was updated on Apr 24, 2017 when I discovered that Jim had refreshed his original post.]

What are the pros of blogging without dates?

What benefits did Jim Connolly see? People were spending more time on his site, and older posts were getting more views, comments and social media mentions.

His feeling was that people are sometimes turned off by seeing that a blog post is “past due,” whether to them that means it’s a week old, a month old or six months old. They simply won’t click through to read it.

Removing the dates, he says, allows your blog post titles and topics to stand on their own merit without that filter. It puts all the focus on the content and makes it easier for your readers to find what they need.

Dateless blogging also gives you more freedom to update existing posts – simply treating them like any other page of your website.

What are the cons of blogging without dates?

“A blog is really a public chronicle of our evolution as writers, marketers and entrepreneurs. While some older content may make me cringe and wish I’d known then what I know now, I try to celebrate my learning and how far I’ve come.” – Linda Dessau, in Is it okay to go back and edit your published blog posts?

By presenting an online journal of your evolving views, suggestions, theories, personal insights and business practices, you’re inviting your readers – and prospective clients – right into your business, heart and mind.

By forcing each post to stand alone with no context of who you were when you wrote it, you remove some of the personality from your blog – some of your personality.

The best of both worlds

Consider how U.S.-based supermarket chain Wegman’s organizes content on their site. They have a separate area for “fact sheet” articles about the core issues they know their customers care about.

Then there is the consistently updated Fresh Stories blog, where Wegman’s staff post personal and timely food and lifestyle tips. In this article about healthy strategies for the holiday season, they reinforce a core concept from the fact sheets (“half-plate healthy“), but make it current for the season.

Will you keep dating your blog?

If you choose to keep dating your blog, there are still several ways that readers can discover your older posts, including:

What do you think? Will you keep dating your blog? Will you pull together your content into fact sheets? Or will you go completely dateless?

If You Start a Business Blog, Keep Posting or Risk Losing Credibility

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When you start blogging and then stop, it leaves a worse impression of your business than if you’d never started blogging in the first place.

Have you ever had this experience as a website visitor?

  • Click. Services. This looks good, this might be just what I need!
  • Click. About. Hey, you really seem to know where I’m coming from. You look like someone I’d like to do business with.
  • Click. Blog. Hey, wait a second. All I see is a few posts from last month/year – what happened??? Are they still in business? Is something wrong with the website? Why didn’t they fix it? Did they just stop writing? Do they leave other things unfinished?

Here’s a video where I speak more about this issue:

Like it or not, a blog that’s turned into a ghost town raises doubts about you, your commitment and your capability.

Will your blog turn into a ghost town?

Only time will tell, but check for these three risk factors:

  1. You started with no blogging plan. You had the best intentions to blog every month or every week, and assumed that would just happen. Maybe you’ve planned out some of your content, but did you make time in your schedule for the brainstorming, drafting, writing and editing that are all part of the writing process?
  2. You’re a perfectionist. You’re not sure your posts are good enough, so you don’t post them. Are you pressuring yourself to produce brand new, mind-blowing original ideas in every post?
  3. You’re brand new at this. Blog writing is a skill like any other. It takes time, effort and practice, and so you can either study (this Content Mastery Guide blog is a great place to start!) and apply what works, ask for help or hire someone to do it for you (hey, we do that!).

Do any of those sound like you? Check out my Ten Secrets for Blogging Consistently and keep your business blog alive!

Top 10 Small Business Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

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“When it comes to blogging, what are the ‘don’ts’?”

OopsThat was the first question I heard at a recent blogging presentation to a group of small business owners. (Blogging hint: Questions are a great source of blog post ideas.)

I know that if one person asked, others are wondering the same thing – no one wants to look foolish, make mistakes, damage their credibility or waste their time or money.

She asked. I listened. Here they are:

#10: Setting up a blog that’s separate from your business website. For consistent branding, your blog must look and feel like your website. More importantly, when people read your content, you want them on your site, where they’re one click away from doing business with you.

#9: Blogging for therapeutic release. A business blog must be more than a diary. Notable exceptions are wellness practitioners or business coaches, who naturally bring their own life/business lessons into their daily work with clients. Otherwise, focus on providing valuable, relevant and practical information.

#8: Adding too many new categories. When tempted to add a new category (and please don’t choose “uncategorized”), consider whether this is a topic you’ll have more to say about in the future. Better still, plan your categories from the start.

#7: Leaving your excerpt to chance. Your site’s blog archives page displays, by default, the beginning of each blog post. This will be cut off after a certain number of words (on search engines it may be as few as 25 words). Write your own brief excerpt that gives people a reason to click through.

#6: Publishing your first draft. It’s natural that as you write you’ll clarify your ideas and think of new ones. That’s why it’s crucial to review your post to make sure you’re making one clear point, and that your title, introduction and conclusion still apply.

#5: Trying to be everything to everybody. Write every post as if you are talking to one person – the ideal client you want to be doing business with. If you have more than one client group, you can use categories or tags to help people find their relevant posts.

#4: Being too generic. Prospective clients want and need to see some personality in your blog posts. Ideally, you want the experience of reading your blog to mirror the experience of doing business with you. Write authentically in your own voice, and be clear and strong about your opinions.

#3: Waiting to start blogging until…(insert myths and excuses here). Blogging seems like an easy thing to drop off the list when you get busy. What if you were to put blogging at the top of your list instead of the bottom? How many blog posts would you have under your belt if you’d been blogging consistently this whole year?

#2: Posting too quickly. While point #6 was about reviewing your content, you must also proofread each post before publishing. Ideally you will have an outside editor (hey, we do that!), but the next best thing is to walk away from your desk, come back with fresh eyes and read your post out loud. Listen and watch for typos, awkwardly-worded sentences and whether or not it “sounds like you.”

#1: Starting a business blog only to abandon it later. When people see a “blog” button on your website, or a few articles in your sidebar, you create the expectation that there will be fresh content. How you do anything is how you do everything. If people see that you haven’t followed through with your blogging, they may wonder if you follow through with other things. So plan before you start, and keep it up!

Be careful – making any of these small business blogging mistakes will defeat the purpose of spending any time or effort on blogging, and will keep you from seeing any of the benefits of blogging.

Linda Dessau is the founder and creative director of Content Mastery Guide, offering hands-free blogging services to businesses who want to reach and connect with more clients and customers online. Follow her on Twitter @lindadessau.

On Your Business Blog, Content Comes First

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No matter how good your content is, if people can’t read it you’ll fail to build a relationship with them.

Peaceful Transition, Inc. is an alternative funeral home in Barrie, Ontario, and a [former] client. I’ve shared an image from their website to highlight some good practices for the layout of your blog.

Peaceful-transition-sidebar

  • Use language your readers will understand. While we did call the blog a blog in the top menu, on the sidebar we used the phrase, “Trusted Guidance,” so website visitors would know where to find reliable answers to their funeral questions. Then instead of the heading “Categories,” we used, “More Articles,” which would make more sense to a general audience. We also chose categories that represented the subjects people are most concerned about when they need funeral services.
  • Think twice before adding social media data. Instead of busy social media widgets that show latest updates or number of fans or followers, Peaceful Transition has graphic icons where people can instantly connect on the social media platforms they like. Best of all, the icons are unobtrusive for those visitors who have no interest or experience with social media sites.
  • Display your older posts. Whether you link to older posts within the current post (as I’ve done in this one) or you use a tool like LinkWithin or Yet Another Related Posts Plugin, make it easy for your readers to find additional helpful content and have a longer visit with you.
  • Craft an effective excerpt. When a preview of your post pops up on search engine results pages, your main blog page or your social media posts, by default this excerpt will be the first few sentences of your blog post. Take charge of this and write a compelling summary of your post and why your ideal readers/clients would want to read it.

Good blogs don’t just happen. Make conscious decisions about how you’ll display the content on your blog, and keep your readers in mind when you do.