Blogging Basics
PART 1: Why Blog?
I don’t need a blog. What would I talk about? Who cares what my business has to say?
Sound familiar? If so, it’s time to get up to speed. Blogging is a valuable marketing tool for every business .
Why blog? Here are just a few reasons:
- Feed search engines more of the content they’re looking for
- Keep your customers up-to-date on information that matters to them
- Wow prospects with your expertise
- Help create a sense of community for your employees
- Give customers and prospects alike a reason to come back to your website
The #1 Reason – Your Blog Drives Leads
Your blog fuels your social media and SEO. According to research, companies which blog generate significantly (67%) more leads than those who don’t.
Ready to start working on your blog? Let’s go!
ASSIGNMENT
Watch the short video and listen to the brief podcast episode
Then download the the workbook and planner.
Answer the questions in the Blog Basics Workbook
VIDEO: Blog Basics
Resources: Blog Basics Workbook
Blogging for Business Workbook Companion guide for this class will take your through the steps to plan a successful blog program.
Resource: Blog Post Planner
Blog Post Planner – A successful blog is filled with a steady stream of keyword rich, well written, relevant content that is properly categorized. Sometimes, writing the post is the easy part. This checklist will help you manage all the other steps
Podcast: Your Blog Gives You Fuel
PART 2: Create Content
Blogging inspiration is easier to find than you might think. When you are hard-pressed on blog topic ideas, here are a few questions to get you over your writer’s block.
What questions have you answered recently?
FAQs (frequently asked questions) are the foundation for many great, informative and successful blog posts. Take a minute to reflect on some of the questions about your business, industry or product you’ve answered in the last month or so.
It might be a question from a customer, new employee or coworker. If one person asked, there are probably lot more people out there wondering the same thing. As they go looking for answers, they will find your blog post.
What’s new in the industry?
Industry changes may positively or negatively impact you and your customers. These changes are usually worth talking about even if it is simply to inform readers about the change or elaborate on the consequences or implications of the change
Introduce your team
People by from people they like, so use your blog to introduce your team to potential customers. These posts will almost always be some of your most popular on social media.
VIDEO - And More Questions
Resource: Content Calendar
Worksheet: Content Calendar
Having an overall content plan helps. Use the content calendar to map out your year. Then you won’t be scrambling when you need to create a new post.
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Podcast: Successful Blogging Takes Time
PART 3: Curate, Cultivate and Distribute
it is your blog, but you don’t have to do all the writing. Curating and cultivating techniques can help reduce the burden of churning out new blog posts on a regular basis.
Why curate?
Even for the most accomplished writer, creating an effective blog post takes time. So how long does it really take to write a blog post?
- Research (1 hour) – Maybe you are writing from your own experience, but in many cases, you will need facts or data to support your arguments.
- Writing (1.5 hours) – These days your average blog post should be 500+ words. If you have a good outline, you should be able to knock out the post in the time allotted.
- Editing and SEO (.5 hours) – Assuming the post is fairly well written, editing should be just a few minutes. Then you will need time to check any links, write the meta description, and confirm that the headings and titles connect to the relevant keywords.
- Graphics (1 hour) – If you are going to share your blog post on social media (and you should) you will need a strong graphic for each post. Whether you use stock photography or create unique custom graphics, it will take time to select and edit the image to just the right size for your post.
- Scheduling social shares (.5 hours) – If you want people to find your content, you need to promote it on social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. You don’t need to be everywhere, but you need to be consistent wherever you are.
VIDEO: Curate, Cultivate and Distribute
Podcast: Who is Your Blog For?
Who is your blog audience? Now, if you have a personal blog and you’re documenting the days of your life, you’re writing for yourself. But if you have a business blog then you are writing with business objectives in mind. Those objectives are directed towards a specific blog audience and you need to write for them.
Are you writing for your customers or your referral partners who will pass the information on to your customers? Does your target audience have a high level of expertise or are they primarily novices?
Once you decide on a target audience, it’s easier to figure out what you should be writing and where you should be promoting them once they’re written.
It’s fine to have more than one audience for the overall blog, but individual posts should focus on a specific group or section of your target population.
PART 2: Create Content
Blogging inspiration is easier to find than you might think. When you are hard-pressed on blog topic ideas, here are a few questions to get you over your writer’s block.
What questions have you answered recently?
FAQs (frequently asked questions) are the foundation for many great, informative and successful blog posts. Take a minute to reflect on some of the questions about your business, industry or product you’ve answered in the last month or so.
It might be a question from a customer, new employee or coworker. If one person asked, there are probably lot more people out there wondering the same thing. As they go looking for answers, they will find your blog post.
What’s new in the industry?
Industry changes may positively or negatively impact you and your customers. These changes are usually worth talking about even if it is simply to inform readers about the change or elaborate on the consequences or implications of the change
Introduce your team
People by from people they like, so use your blog to introduce your team to potential customers. These posts will almost always be some of your most popular on social media.