My interest in blogging is reignited. One reason is because I’m working with a coach who is challenging me to produce more content. (My fab marketing mentor is Ilise Benun.) Now that I’m spending more time writing to promote my business, I want to get more bang for my blogging buck. Get More Bang For Your BLOGGING Buck.
Blogging (let’s call it what it is: writing) takes time. And I have other things to focus on, like do great marketing work for my clients, attend networking events, hang out with my awesome husband, watch Dateline, play bunko with my neighbor gal-pals, find a reason to text my son … and just live my life.
I’m here at my computer on a Sunday, distracting myself with Facebook and also scrolling through Instagram on my phone. And I’m also thinking about the busy week that’s coming up. I need to choose between what I’d like to do this afternoon vs. what I should do. If I could go into the new week with a fresh blog post under my belt, that would feel darn good.
OK! Now I’m motivated to ignore social media and turn my top-of-mind blogging thoughts into a post. Should be easy, right?
Maximum Value From Business Blogging
For several months now, I’ve been striving to get more value from my business blogging (and this time, let’s call it content development) — and this is how I’m doing it:
1. Spend more time writing but in less time. I need to write more regularly this year. That’s a given. But I also need to be efficient with my time. Today, I want to get my writing finished in about an hour. Using a list format for this post should speed me along. (I wrote about my love of blogging via a list format here). With a bulleted list format, I won’t need to think too hard about transitions from paragraph to paragraph. And online content looks more appealing to a site visitor when it’s bulleted and easy to skim. A win/win!
Think about how you can creatively cut corners and save time (without sacrificing quality) the next time you develop content for your business.
2. Keep target audience in mind when blogging. One of the marketing services I offer is writing. As I’m writing this (and we’re getting kind of meta here), I’m thinking about what you — as my client or soon-to-be client — would like to know about business blogging.
I’m betting you want:
- Free advice and an example or two you could implement right away
- Something to motivate you to develop more content for your business
- To know more about me and my writing skills
Your business should be blogging and developing other types of content on a regular basis. You can get more bang for your writing buck by trying one or more of my value-driven tips.
Some companies worry about “giving away the store” on their website. They’re reluctant to share too much free advice there — or too much detail on their products and services. I don’t have that same fear. And as Ilise, my coach says, “Generosity is a marketing tool.”
3. Be relatable and compelling. Earlier, I mentioned things I enjoy. You feel like you know me a little better now, right?
You know that I:
- Believe I do great work for my clients. And I’m confident enough to call it great.
- Spend time networking. I’m still pretty new to the Phoenix area and want more business contacts. And, business, too.
- Am married. My hub and I are polar opposites, by the way. But he’s my rock.
- Play bunko. It’s a dice game that’s more about socializing with friends and eating snacks.
- Enjoy Dateline. I don’t love violence, but I do love a good crime story. In another life, I’m sure I was a crime scene investigator.
- Have a son. He’s states away in college getting his PhD. He doesn’t need me as much as he used to, which I refuse to acknowledge. (Joking. Kind of.)
To know me better is to begin to form a mental picture about me and what I’d be like to work with. Maybe you’re even starting to like and trust me … and this blog post could mark the beginning of our great business relationship.
Blogging for your business will help people — clients, prospects, potential partners and future employees — know more about you and your company and what it stands for.
4. Acknowledge the SEO benefits and go after them. Even if you don’t fully understand search engine optimization, you likely know it’s important for search engines to show your website to people searching for what your business offers. Blogging about services and products gives the lovely spiders at Google, et al, newer content to crawl. And “they” say search engines give preference to regularly updated websites. So there’s that.
When I create a new blog post that includes my business’ keywords, like content development and business writing, it makes my website more search-friendly in the eyes of Google. And for the real-deal people who visit my site, it reinforces what I offer.
When you add new content to your website on a regular basis, you get SEO benefits — and web visitors will see your site isn’t stale and you’re more than just open for business.
My Hour is Up
I made a deal with myself more than an hour ago (eek, almost two) that I’d write as quickly as I could and not let myself get distracted. Time’s up now, so I’ll finish my writing, proof this a couple times and then shift my focus to my DVR. (No recorded Dateline to watch, sadly.)
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas on how you can get more bang for your blogging buck. For me, I can now cross the “write a second blog post this month” off my to-do list. (Here’s what I wrote about earlier this month, Marketing is No Joke(r), if you’d like to check it out.)
If you and I keep writing blog posts and developing content, we’ll do great things for our businesses. Our words and ideas will resonate with clients and prospects, and we’ll stand out online. Win/win, again!
And if, by chance, you’d like to outsource your blog writing and content development, you know my number.
