Why do we struggle with writing regular, interesting blog posts? Like most small business owners, I find it's often because we get too busy in the office or we just don’t enjoy writing or simply “life” gets in the way. Understandable! As a result, priority goes down and our good intentions have to simply “wait another day!” In order to help us avoid being caught out, where do we start?
These are a few simple guidelines I've found useful to help me get more productive. Many of the following seven simple blogging tips can help us blog and connect with our readers more than you ever imagined.
Never underestimate the power of imagination! Sprinkled with the right amount of willpower, these guidelines may indeed help us implement a strategy that will add colour to our writing and bring connections with target markets to life:
1. How consistent are you?
Do you post daily, weekly, monthly? A blogging schedule is important. Most bloggers recommend a minimum of weekly blog posts. So choose the frequency that suits you and your timetable best, then put time aside to write and just write. Don’t be distracted; do not answer the phone, look at your messages, talk to the dog. Just research and write. If you’re like me, you write better on some days! Keep these posts as backup material for those times when you’re not inspired. But post consistently, this breeds familiarity, which breeds trust - good for your business.
2. Do you know why you are blogging?
All your blogs must be written for your target market. What products do offer your customers? What services do you provide to your clients? If you know why you are in business, you will know why you are blogging; you will know who your target market is and what they are interested in? If you know what they are interested in, you will know what to write about. Voila! Hang out where they hang out – network, both online and offline. Look for ideas and write them down – or record it on your laptop or cell phone so you have plenty of ‘blogging notes’ to fuel future posts.
3. Is your content relevant and interesting?
Write about controversial, interesting and universal topics but try and address your target market who will align themselves with your main theme. No use blogging about the change in real estate prices in the US when the focus of your services is small business owners in the fashion fabric industry. Your content must be relevant. If your blog posts offer content which is of direct value to your readers, you will notice an increase in traffic to your site with targeted prospects who are interested in what you offer. So where do you find interesting material on a regular basis? What are your readers struggling with, what will help them, what do they enjoy? Ask for comments; your readers will tell you what they’re interested in!
4. Are you inspiring social interaction?
Comments are a powerful marketing tool. Not only are you inspiring social interaction and relationship building, you are also learning from them. There are many ways to inspire social interaction in blogging, but few more powerful that becoming interactive yourself. Get involved in the blogging world and start commenting; find out what hot topics are trending, and what people are interested in inside your niche. Remember to link comments back to your own blog and soon you will reap the rewards from interacting with others in your target market who now consider you an expert!
5. Do you have a clear call for Action?
Establish whether you are blogging for Cash or Interest? If you’re looking for new clients, do you have a clear call for action? Are you writing for interest only with a view to offering your perspective, viewpoint or shared experiences on a mutually inspirational topic of interest? If you want your readers to take action, make it clear, inviting and of immediate benefit to them, not just to you! People today expect instant gratification, so offer something of value to them as a reward for taking action. Make it inviting, beneficial and ask like Nike – just do it!
6. Is your blog inviting?
Blogging is wonderfully creative and a canvas ready to be filled. Make it easy on the eyes, with focused content, and posts which can be easily navigated. Don’t get too complicated or try and impress people with language and vocabulary that people cannot understand. If the content is purely written to impress rather than communicate, your readers will soon know and leave. However, be sure to maintain a professional standard with good web-copy and clear, concise sentences which are free of grammatical errors.
7. Can your blog be found?
Help people find your blog. Establish yourself as an expert with your own comments on other blogs in your niche market, with a link back to your own blog. Use keywords that will SEO your content and offer to Guest write for other blogs. Find someone who has your target market and ask if you can write a post for them. Link your blog to all your social media sites – FB, Twitter etc. and share this with your friends. Share other blogs as well, the more reciprocal the better. Be generous, help others, network inside your niche market. Submit to blog submission sites and market your blog constantly on social media events at every opportunity.
I hope these 7 blogging tips will reward those of us who apply them (myself included) with a steady stream of material to attract targeted visitors. A tiny step for us today in building our business, but a giant step if you look at the long-lasting benefits these valuable blog-posts bring to both business-owner and reader. Working tirelessly both day and night, blog posts help us expand our networks, connect with ideal clients and network with like minded entrepreneurs across the world.
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If you need help with writing blog-posts for your business, please feel free to contact me at www.admin-vantage.com. TRAVEL blogging is a particular passion of mine so if you're starting up a travel-related business and need some help with writing to attract more customers world-wide, I would consider it an honour to work with you to grow your readership.