Blogging for Business: Six Tips to Help You Start (and Keep) Blogging on a Regular Basis

by Suzanne Lieurance

By now, everyone knows the power of blogging for business.

Yet, many entrepreneurs and other business professionals have trouble blogging on a regular basis.

Does this sound like you?

To develop a readership for your blog, you need to post at least 3 to 5 times a week.

People won't want to come back to your blog regularly if they can't expect to find new content there all the time.

Here are six tips to help you keep up with your blog and post on a regular basis:

1.      Decide from the start WHO you want to attract to your blog.  

            That is, decide who you want your readers to be. 

  The reason this will help you post regularly to your blog is because you'll always       

  have it clear in your mind WHO you are writing for. 

  And that will make it easier to focus on the content you need for your blog.

2.      Decide from the start HOW you will serve your intended readers. 

            Many beginning bloggers set up a blog with no real purpose or intended readership 

            in mind.

            It's no wonder they find blogging difficult or they just don't keep up with it.

 Their blog posts tend to be rambles, or daily accounts of their business activities, 

 which don't serve readers in any way (unless these accounts are particularly 

 humorous, or also offer something for the reader to consider regarding his or her 

 own life).

Develop a purpose for your blog.

What will you post each day that will be of use to your intended readers?

3.      Develop a regular weekly schedule for posting.

            It's much easier to keep up with your blog if you decide right away that you will 

            post only 3 days a week, for example, and those 3 days will be Mondays, 

           Wednesdays, and Fridays.

           You won't have to feel guilty the other 4 days of the week when you aren't blogging   

            either.

4.     Develop categories for your regular blog posts.

           If you know you're going to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, set up 

           categories for each of those days.

           For example, you might blog about new products or special offers on Mondays.

           On Wednesdays you could post tips that would be of interest to the people who use 

           your types of products and/or services.

           On Fridays you could post answers to questions you receive from customers or   

           clients.

5.      Plan ahead whenever possible.

            Once you have established a regular blogging schedule and developed categories 

            for your posts, you'll find it easier to plan ahead.

            You can even enter your articles ahead of time and have them scheduled to post on 

             the days you want.

             When you do this, it makes it much easier to keep up with your blog as well as 

              your other business activities.

              You can post your articles to your blog over the weekend, then not have to worry 

               about blogging again until the next weekend.

6.      You don't have to write every single post for your blog yourself.

             Your blog should be a resource to serve your readers.

   However, that doesn't mean you need to write every bit of the material posted at 

    your blog yourself.

    As long as you provide helpful, accurate information, your readers won't care who 

    wrote that information.

    So, try to feature the work of guest bloggers periodically.

    Invite another business professional who writes about your topic of interest to 

    supply a post for your blog

    If this person can post a link to his/her site within the post, he/she will probably 

    be more than happy to provide you with content for a day.

Try these tips and see if they don't help you keep up with your blog on a regular basis!

And, for more writing tips, be sure to visit writebythesea.com and get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge. 

Once you're a subscriber, you'll also have access to a Private Resource Library for Writers.

Suzanne Lieurance is the author of over 40 published books, a freelance writer, and a writing coach. 

 

 

 

Tips - Blog Content Worth Reading

Outlining our message is a good way to prep a post; creating a strong structure and focus for what we want to say. It enables us to cut the excess and to stay on point more readily—just what we need to keep readers on our page rather than moving on to another website.

Second, write an introduction that grabs the readers’ interest.  Are you addressing a question or problem a reader brought to your attention?  Is there a story or antidote to tell? Offer a strong lead-in to simplify, empower and support.

The what, why, where, when, who, and how formula is a guide that never grows old. Keep content relevant and meaningful. Consider making your posts 300-450 words for a quick read.

By using these tips, we craft a well thought-out post, podcast, or video. Add links to your social media pages driving folks to your blog for the rest of the article and more.

Can this message be the first blog post of a series? How can we test an idea for a series of articles? I have listed a few points—please add to the list via comments.

·        Is it evergreen or is it trendy?
·        Is it relevant to what the reader needs/wants?
·        Do you have enough to say on a subject to write several articles?

If not, consider one piece and a sequel, or a mini-series of three articles.

·        Which graphics help support what you are presenting?

Let’s break out our writing journal and explore the series, dream, and discover what works and what doesn’t work.

Deborah Lyn Stanley is a writer, artist, and editor.  She is a retired project manager who now devotes her time to writing, art and caregiving mentally impaired seniors.  Deborah writes articles, essays and stories. She has published a collection of 24 artists’ interviews entitled the Artists Interview Series.  Careful editing preserves the artist’s voice as they share their journey. The series published as monthly articles for an online news network, can also be found on her web-blog: Deborah Lyn Stanley - WritersBlog.  Her “How-To” articles have appeared in magazines.  

“Write your best, in your voice, your way!”

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6 Tips to Grow Your Readership & Manage Your Content

We’ve talked about knowing your audience, delivering inspiring topics, creating value and gaining the readers’ attention consistently.  Our writing should always be focused, personable and authentic.  As we manage our content well, our readership will grow.  Let’s consider a few more tips.  

1. Invite post feedback through comments and linkup with other bloggers in your field.  It’s a good habit to respond to each comment.

2. Deliver present & timely content as well as evergreen content to your viewers.  Make it practical and useful.  Paying attention to your blog’s theme and your readers’ feedback is key for future posts.

3. Create tags for each post.  Using three relevant tags is a good practice and will facilitate your audience returning to search your archive.

4. Create a motto that is meaningful to you and memorable.  Use it consistently.

5. Invite a colleague to write a guest post for your site.  Or post an interview you have conducted with a colleague.  Be sure to include links to their website and ask them to link to your site as well.

6. Images and graphics are key attention grabbers making your message stronger. Use at least one image with each post.  Some bloggers elect to use the same graphic per recurring theme.  Would that work for you? 

We always appreciate your feedback.  Do you have questions or tip requests for me?  Thank you very much for reading!  deborah

Deborah Lyn Stanley is a writer, editor and artist.  She is a retired project manager who now devotes her time to writing, arting and caregiving mentally impaired seniors. 

She has independently published a collection of 24 artists’ interviews entitled the Artists Interview Series.  The series was also published as articles for an online news network and on her website: Deborah Lyn Stanley - Writers Blog.  Deborah is published in magazines.  She is a blogger who has managed several group sites including ones she founded.

 

“Write your best, in your voice, your way!”

6 Tips to Increase Your Blog Traffic

1. Who is your audience? 
Why are you writing?  To give them the goods, to make it worth their while to come to your site and spend time there.  If they find value for their time spent, they will come again.

2. Be Consistent.  Get in front of your audience often and consistently.  Keep on getting out there!  As soon as you publish a post, publish a teaser to your social media pages: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.  Each teaser draws traffic back to your blog so be sure to include your Web URL address. 
 
3. Stay focused on your post topic and keep it relative to the theme of your blog.  Write about inspiring, empowering topics.  Staying on point will make it more powerful.  We only have a few moments to grab and keep our reader’s attention.  Go for it and capture those moments! 

For longer posts use the ‘read more’ function when drafting your post.  Blogger calls this function a “Jump” break.  WordPress calls it "insert read more tag". Using this function will not change your post; rather it creates a link to a separate page for your complete post.

4. Write your best, in your voice, your way.  Write to personally connect with your reader.  Write as you speak and use personal language so that the reader senses you are having a conversation with them directly.
 
5. Ask for comments.  Leave a question applicable to your post or a “What do you think?”  “Anything to add?” question at the conclusion to your post.  Questions generate reader comments as many want to respond to the conversation you have started.

6. Always proof your post before publishing.  I often revise my posts to remove passive wording and to be more concise.

Do you have a tip or question?  Please share it in comments; we all want to hear.
Thank you for reading - see you next time.  Together with you in this writing endeavor and wishing you the best!  deborah  Deborah Lyn Stanley - Writers Blog 

You Don’t Have to Be a Great Writer to Have a Great Blog

Guest post by Michele Netten

3 Mindsets Bloggers Should Have and Not Have To Be Successful

I’ve been thinking lately about what can help – or hurt – writers who wish to write a blog. When considering my own writing goals, I feel mixed. I have a strong desire to write about things of importance, yet also trepidation that I won’t say what’s on my heart in a way that resonates with readers. If I let myself dwell on the fear of failure, I’ve found I can effectively talk myself out of writing anything.
And that’s the real ogre standing in the way, right? Fear of failure.

Each of us writers has a calling that is different from any other writer. If we don’t write our message, no one else ever can. Yet, most writers (artists) wrestle with a fear of failure. I’ve come to believe fear may even simply be a companion that accompanies us on the journey whether we like it or not. Still, though, other writers have conquered and we can get past writing fear too, one little step at a time.

Hence, my tips for getting around the fear blockade!

3 Mindsets Bloggers Should Have and Not Have To Be Successful

DON’T…

1. Don’t think you have to be the world’s greatest writer. A good subject, some reasonable preparedness and research if needed, and a good spell checker is enough to get started.

2. Don’t give up. If you start something, commit and keep going. Don’t post an article or two and then stop. You ‘ll look like a flake for all the world to see.

3. Don’t be discouraged by the initial technicalities of the setup process. Websites, WordPress, SEO plugins, etc.. The entry into this arena is challenging at first but there is a lot of quality and generous help out there to get past this.

DO:

1. Write from your heart. Express things that are important to you that will inform, help, or entertain an audience appropriate for you. If something is important enough to you to write about, there are people out there who agree and will be interested in what you have to say. (If you’re starting from scratch as I am, finding that particular audience takes effort and patience, and is the subject of more articles). Be consistent in offering value and be generous with your thoughts and giveaways -- your audience will grow in time and with effort.

2. Choose a subject you can write with passion about. This may go without saying, but if you’re deeply interested by your topic, it will show (and the flipside is if you’re not, that will show too and no one else will be interested either).

3. Read. Read. And read some more. The more you read, the more you’ll want to write and the better a writer you will become from doing both. Going back to the beginning of this blog, if you have ever been inspired by the way an author has chosen to tell a story or shown a character’s heart and courage, simply reading more and more brings tremendous benefit with no downside! It’s one of life’s major gifts. Reading is our best teacher and the beauty of it is learning comes as a byproduct!.

In closing, ponder what you’re passionate about. Commit to the journey, perhaps with a friend who feels as you do. Then, fill up your tank on the words of others and emulate the process in your own writing. When you do, it will be the start of your own beautiful story.

About the Author

Michelle Netten is a lifelong fan of books and storytelling and reads and writes stories every chance she gets. She earns a living as a hi-tech writer (content-on-demand) and her true heart is always in books, literature and stories. Her children's books and blog can be found at her Cheer-ebooks website: http://www.cheer-ebooks.com

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5 Reasons Why You Should Use Content Curation as Part of Your Blogging Strategy

By Karen Cioffi

Content curation has been around for a while, but many bloggers don’t realize the advantages or benefits it offers. This strategy allows you to post more often with less work and less time.

This form of marketing comes in various forms throughout the internet. Of those variations there is one common thread: content curation is related to article marketing. You can think of it as one of the strategies under the content marketing umbrella, the same as content aggregation.

If you’re wondering whether content aggregation and content curation are the same, they’re not. A Forbes article by Susan Gunelius explains that the primary difference between the two is that content curation offers “the human element.”

What does this mean?

Well, content aggregation is simply finding and linking to hot topics, trends, and other news or information worthy content from your site. Some sites use all sorts of topics and others use content that is focused on their platform.

Content curation on the other hand offers more. While linking to the information source, those using this strategy add their own spin on the information, or enhance it with personal experience or additional information on the topic.

The information used for content curation is targeted and so is the audience it’s prepared for. As an example, if you have a health site on alternative medicine and alternative health options you would search for and use information/content on that topic or niche. You obviously wouldn’t use sports content on your site. It’s treated as any other niche marketing strategy – it must be focused to your platform or brand.

Content curation offers a broader view and understanding of a particular topic by providing your own input, along with that of the source content.

Now on to the five reasons you should use this blogging strategy.

5 Benefits to Content Curation that will Boost Your Blogging Efforts

1. Simply put and most importantly, it brings your readers more ‘bang’ for their stop at your site. Rather than offering a single view of a topic, or one site’s experience, you offer your reader the world and a broader information experience.

The reader will appreciate having more information to work with and this will motivate him to appreciate and trust you. That’s the beginning of a great relationship.

2. It’s a source of ideas for your blogging. Find current trends, hot topics, and new information in your niche. The content is already there, you simply add your spin on it in a paragraph or two and voila, you have new a new post.

3. It’s a time saver. Using tools like Google Alerts, you can quickly find relevant information to blog about. And, like ‘number two’ above, it’s ready made content you simply add to.

4. It can support or enhance your own blog posts, adding more value. Even if you write effective and engaging articles, the reader will find it helpful if you supplement it with additional information.

5. Linking to quality sites is an effective search engine strategy. When you link to a site that ranks high with Google, you’re noticed. It can help bring more traffic to your site and help convert visitors into subscribers. And, that’s what online marketing is all about, the ‘golden’ list.

Content curation will boost your blogging efforts. You don’t have to use it for every post, but you can switch it up a bit and offer your reader something extra.

So, why not give it a try and add it to your existing content marketing strategies.

To see this strategy in action, check out:

Email Marketing – New Canadian Anti-Spam Law May Affect You


Reference:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/07/05/5-ways-to-use-content-curation-for-marketing-and-tools-to-do-it/

P.S. If you like this post, please share it!

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Don't Put a Limit on Your Imagination

The stories and articles you can write about are limited only by your imagination, ingenuity and persistence. And your ability to dig deep into and write well about a potentially good story or article can make you a published writer.
You can write about many things and here are a few of them:
Your Life. No two people have had the exact experiences. Each of us goes through life and experience things that are unique only to ourselves. Your life experiences are fodder for good personal experience articles. To start writing this type of article, brainstorm about unusual, unique, scary or even dangerous events you have experienced. From your list, think of an angle or an interesting way to present your experience.
How-To Articles. Do you have a special talent, skill or knowledge? Why not write instructional articles? Articles of this type are commonly known as how-to articles and are regularly published in magazines because of their popularity among readers. How-to articles are usually written in a step-by-step manner, using bullet or number lists.
Profiles. Personality profiles or sketches feature subjects who are more or less famous -- celebrities, sports heroes, politicians or someone who is recognized in his/her field. Ordinary people who have done extraordinary things are also good subjects for personality profiles. For profile articles, look within your community and see if you can find and interview local celebrities. Usually, profiles are in the form of Q&A so you need to come up with interesting questions for your subject.
Inspirationals. Stories that inspire, motivate and/or move people to tears or laughter fall under this category. Religious or secular articles are also forms of inspirational articles. If you're new to writing, submitting inspirational pieces for church or religious magazines is a good way to break into print.
Jaunts. Travel articles appeal to practically everyone, even to those who have never traveled. Have you been someplace where you found the sights, customs, food, habits or culture different and interesting? If you're a frequent traveler, start taking down notes of the best place to stay, where the interesting sights can be found and how to get to those places. Keep a travel notebook and log your travels. Write your impressions of places, people and cultures.
Special Interests. A few special interest subjects are parenting, child nutrition, home and garden and health. There are certainly thousands of publications that cater to special interest subjects. If you have been gardening for years, you can write articles for gardening enthusiasts. Specialize in your area of interest. Over time, you will establish yourself as an expert in that area.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com