How many blog posts have you written, or had written, for your blog? Are you seeing conversions from the blogging? Are your numbers going up and showing a higher time on site rank? Are readers clicking through, buying your project, reacting to your calls to action? We have tips on how to build an effective business blog — we have some things you should do, and mistakes to avoid.
Blogging isn’t a new-wave thing. Blogging is here to stay and can help amp up your authority in your business niche.
Here are blog steps to take:
Post frequently and consistently. Choose how often you will post, and on which days, then stick with it.
Use searchable headlines.
Make sure you know what your keywords are and use them strategically. Don’t keyword stuff, but use those keywords and key phrases for which you want to rank and use them.
Use images and graphics in your blog posts. Readers have short attention spans so use images to highlight the text and use bullet points, subheads and numbered lists to make the content skimmable.
Proofread your content before it goes live.
Share your content in your newsletter and on social media.
Here are blogging mistakes you will want to avoid.
Not being consistent in your posting.
Posting about topics that don’t relate to your business. Don’t jump on a trending topic if it has nothing to do with your business.
Make sure your blog posts and your website are pleasing to the eye.
Make sure your blog and website are mobile-friendly.
Don’t write a blog post that is 2,000 words long if what you’re saying could be said in 300 words. A lengthy post is all right, if it sticks to topic and if it is all relevant information. Your blog post should be at least 300 words in order to rank on Google, though.
Give your blog posts a once over or ask a trusted colleague to look at them and see if you’re on topic, relevant, readable and are consistent enough in your posting.
What is your social media strategy? Have you ever wondered how to have an effective social media strategy? Posting without a strategy is like throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks. Whether it sticks or not, it’s still a mess, right?
You don’t have to be a wizard to get the most out of the social media posts you’re sharing on your pages, but you do need to have a strategy.
Who is your audience
Why do they come to you? What’s your niche?
What do they want? Not what do you want to share, but what do they want… truly want?
How To Have An Effective Social Media Strategy
Once you’ve narrowed down what social media platform your ideal clients interacts on, you can put together an effective strategy to interact with them, connect with them and grow your business.
Here are a few different types of posts you will want to consider to up your social media engagement.
What would you do? Ask for advice.
Who could you refer for XYZ issue?
Share content from your blog
Make a graphic to highlight individual tips from a blog post
Ask for a referral for a friend or colleague
Fill in the blank questions, “The best day in my business was…” “The worst bit of business advice I received was…” “What’s your favorite ice cream…”
Share breaking industry news
Share an inspirational quote
Share a funny meme
Share “insider” information — something you’re only sharing with your followers. Offer a coupon or a beta test of a product.
Be authentic.
What kind of content do you gravitate toward when you’re on social media? Share that content with your followers. What kind of content do your followers interact with the most on your page? Share more of that. Ask them, “What would you like to see, or know or hear more about?”
If you’re an entrepreneur, maybe you’re considering starting a blog or a newsletter for your business. Maybe you already have a blog or newsletter for your busienss but you may be wondering how to write better business content. If you’re not getting engagement on your blog posts or your social media posts and if no one is opening your newsletters, you may need to look at your process.
Writing is an art, but you can learn to do it — if that’s what you want to do. Many entrepreneurs perfer to focus on their core competencies and hire professional writers who can create content for them. Regardless of how you go about creating content here are some tips to help you along.
How To Write Better Business Content
Write frequently. The more you write the better you will be. Just as athletes understand that the more they practice, the better they will get at their sport the same goes for writing. When you get into a writing habit you hone your skills and it will come more easily to you when you do it.
Read often. If you don’t read you will have a harder time creating content. Also, reading keeps you up on current events — if you read newspapers. Reading books and blog posts or other content in your industry keeps you current on the trends. You should always stay as informed as possible.
Understand your reason for writing for your business. Do you want to be seen as the go-to expert in your field? Do you want to get speaking engagements based on your content? Are you looking to make sales? Know why you want to write then craft your writing strategy for your business based on that.
Choose topics wisely. Remember, you cannot be everything to everyone. Choose what you write about and why. When you choose a blog topic, stick to one topic. It is easy to get off topic. When you do that, make note of the topic you veered off on and use that for a blog post at a later date.
Read it aloud or ask for a friend or colleague to read it for you. Even though you can easily go back into a blog post and make changes, it’s best to put your best words forth.
Do you write for your business? Do you need to write, but just haven’t or don’t know where to start? Let me know, I can help!
Are you sending cold emails to potential clients? Are they getting any response? Do you wonder if you’re sending to the correct email? Why your cold emails aren’t getting opened is a question and concern many entrepreneurs face. Why do you keep sending emails if they aren’t gaining traction?
Is there a better method you should be using to reach out to cold contacts? Do you need to employ a different aka better marketing strategy? Before you stop all email marketing, we have a few ideas you can try to potentially see better results with your cold emails.
Why Your Cold Emails Aren’t Getting Opened
Know whom you’re trying to reach. If you sell dog products and you’re marketing to cat owners, you don’t have your buyer persona dialed in. Know who your ideal client is before you send that email.
Are you A/B testing your subject lines? If not, start. Your email may be going to spam or the subject line may not resonate. This will impact open rates and responses.
Drill down and segment your audience. Don’t send an email that is a “one size fits all” because in the marketing world there is no such animal. Segment and market specifically to that segment.
Use an email signature. Remind people who you are, what you do and why they should believe what you say in your email. Your signature is valuable space on your email – use it wisely.
Be clear and be brief. If you need to send and email that is 500 words long, you’re not honing in on your message. Be clear – here’s my product, this is how it will help you, here’s how you can buy it. If you want to expand upon your message, offer calls to action. “To learn more about our product, click here.” “Want to know how our product is helping others who are dealing with the same things you are, click here.”
Is email marketing part of your overall marketing strategy? Don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall and hope some of it will reap success. Have a strategy for all the marketing upon which you spend your time. If you’re struggling to get your message heard, reach out to use, we can help.
Just as people change and grow, so too does your business. Where you were ten, five, or even two years ago may not be where you are now. You and your business have morphed and expanded. Should you rebrand? It’s a question many entrepreneurs ask themselves at one point.
It’s not an easy question to answer, especially if your clients have come to know you as Brand A. Will they stick with you when you’re Brand B? Is there a way to meld the “old” you and the “new” you? When you’re looking to rebrand, it’s best to speak with a graphic designer or a rebranding specialist who can help you make the transition a smooth one — for you and your customers.
You don’t want current customers to get scared you’re changing and won’t be the company you once were, but you don’t want to let fear of that hold you back. You need to tell your current customers why you’re changing and how they fit into the “new” brand.
Should you rebrand?
What is prompting the need or desire to rebrand? Here are a few reasons to consider:
There’s been a sea change in your business and your current logo and brand feel don’t seem to fit. If the business management team has changed that may prompt a rebranding.
Are you going in a new direction with your business? That new direction may mean you’re going after new clientele and the rebranding may be what you need to appeal to them.
Your logo may simply look dated. It may be using colors that are either outdated or are so prevalent in other industries or businesses that you feel your identity is getting lost. If you started out your business by selling widgets and now you consult with others who want to sell widgets, the brand image may need to be retooled to show the new direction.
When, or if, you rebrand you can use that as a way to “relaunch” your business, have social media events or even an open house to introduce the new you to the business community.
Have you gone through a rebranding? Have you considered the fact that you should be rebranding? What is stopping you? What made you jump into rebranding?
Just as you need to find your niche when you start a business so too do you need to find your blog niche — this is especially true if blogging IS your business. If blogging is going to be your business and you love to write, you are on the right path toward being an entrepreuer.
Find Your Blog Niche
What are you passionate about? In fiction, the maxim is “write what you know.” Will your blog be about something you know? Something you want to learn more about? Something you’ve always been curious about and now you’re going to dive in and take your reader along for the ride? That is one way to go, for sure!
When you’re looking for a niche, don’t be too narrow, but don’t be too broad. For example your niche might be “cars.” Now that’s a broad topic. You could blog about “blue cars for teenagers.” That seems awfully narrow, right. You could come to a happy medium and blog about, “cars for soccer moms and beyond;” that niche would take you past the kids in soccer and onto your empty nest, for example.
Here are tips to find your niche.
Blog about something you enjoy. If you’re looking to make a long term commitment to blogging, you don’t want it to be about something you don’t enjoy. There will come that day when writing your post will feel like a slog through quicksand, but that will pass… as long as you’re blogging about something you love.
Do your research. Don’t jump on a trending blogging topic just because “everyone is talking about it.” If everyone is talking about it you may get lost in the conversation. Before you chose a blog topic or your website URL, do keyword research and see what else is out there.
If you want to make money, from it look for possible ways to monetize before you lay out a lot of cash. Sure there are business ideas that seem like they will be profitable and long term and they can’t sustain themselves. So do your homework and put together a business plan that makes sense.
Are you blogging for your business? How is that going? Is it sustainable? Are you enjoying it and are you being consistent with it? If you’re not or you’re not sure, let me know. Our team can help!
