Blogging for Better Business

September 25, 2012 by

For the small business owner, there is not a more valuable tool than the internet. Despite the nature of your business or the scope of your small operation, it can benefit from the opportunities that the internet provides. Some of the most sought-after advantages of syncing your small business operations with the internet include an increase in visibility to your target customers and the availability of affordable and sometimes even free marketing tools. One such popular route that businesses of every size are taking is that of blogging. Internet blogging has become a common ‘go-to’ method for marketing products and services online which is why it’s unfortunate that so many small businesses are still apprehensive to take the leap and start a business blog. Some of the most frequently used reasons (AKA: excuses) are below:

  • Business owners don’t believe that they have the time or resources, so they completely write it off since it seems too time consuming and overwhelming.
  • The technical aspects that are presumed to be involved in blogging are a bit scary.
  • The process of creating, developing and maintaining a loyal and engaged following of readers on a business blog may seem challenging, especially when the blog is focused on one topic or industry.

Brian F PrinceThese excuses are all easily blown out of the water when you realize that most of the fears are unfounded. With the sophistication of tools and availability of comprehensive, user-friendly information to explain how to use these types of tools online, literally anyone can start and maintain a successful blog – regardless of how busy or inept they think they are. A good example of the success of a business blog for someone who is extremely busy is the Brian F. Prince Blog. Not only is the author of the blog exponentially busy, he has garnered the use of a free blogging portal to help promote his business successfully. So, tell us again, why haven’t YOU?

Creating and maintaining a blog could not be easier and if whatever reason, you are STILL on the fence, here a few reasons you should start blogging for better business today:

  • A business blog is an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert in your particular industry.
  • Through continuous development of original and dynamic content, you will be able to create and maintain a loyal community of customers.
  • Where sales are concerned, repeat business is of paramount importance. A blog is a great way to establish personal communication with your existing customers and thus encourage them to re-purchase with you now and in the future.
  • If potential customers are uncertain that they want to place trust in you, your blog will inspire confidence. As you continue to upload content, your wording won’t just market your product or service, it will market your integrity as well.
  • Having a blog builds respect and much needed support from other leaders in your industry. You will be able to socially network with fellow business people and keep abreast of developments in your industry, all in real-time.
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Easy Steps to Draw More Traffic

June 27, 2012 by

Ad revenue not what you hoped? Here are some ways to turn it around.

Trying to earn money from a blog can be a discouraging proposition; many bloggers create quality content with attractive design, but never see the ad revenue they’re anticipating. Thatedeguy has already outlined excellent services to monetize your blog, so we’ll focus on drawing traffic, which will determine your success regardless of the monetization strategy you choose. If you’re not implementing these simple strategies, you’re missing out on easy ad revenue.

Get Specific

Not that Kind of Traffic! img credit: © by epSos.de

Your blog’s niche determines who your competitors are, how big your readership can be, and how much work it will take to get noticed. The idea here is to have as many readers as possible, with as few competitors as possible. Let’s suppose you want to write a generic “car blog”, for instance. If you Google that phrase, you’ll see that your front-page competition is Jalopnik, Autoblog.com, and Car and Driver—big blogs with big SEO budgets, who will make sure your little blog stays in the wasteland of page 12 on the Google rankings for all eternity. Narrow your topic down until the front page results for that topic are small but successful blogs—the kind of competition your blog can handle.

…But not too specific

You want to make sure your niche is something readers care about—so take a look at Google Insights to see who is searching for key phrases related to your blog. If there are only one or two people searching for those phrases in a given day, you might want to consider broadening or even switching your niche altogether. If you’re dead set on covering your chosen topic, recognize that those one or two visitors are the only shot you have at making money, so you’ll have your work cut out for you.

Maintain a consistent content stream

Nothing kills readership like erratic updates, so commit to updating your blog on some kind of regular basis, even if it’s just weekly. Loyal readers (the kind who will share your posts and expand your readership) enjoy the “ritual” of checking for updates, so don’t disappoint. You can undo a lot of hard work with just one or two missed posts.

Keep your content web-friendly

Successful bloggers know that writing online is not like fiction, or school essays, or even print journalism; people read online content differently, so you need to know how to write differently. Attention spans are shorter online, so keep your content clear, concise, and well-organized. A few ideas:

  • Unless you’ve got a very dedicated audience, 1000 words should be your ceiling for a single post. If you can’t say what you need to say in that space, consider narrowing your topic or publishing it as a series.
  • Clearly subdivide your content. I chose bolding and bullet points for this post, but don’t think your blog is too good for “top ten” or numbered posts—Cracked.com and other heavy hitters have built online empires on that format. It’s easy to read, easy to write, and numbered titles grab the reader’s attention.
  • Include visuals. Buying images for every blog post might be prohibitively expensive (and using images that don’t belong to you is a bad idea, obviously), but for a post you’re particularly proud of, seasoning it with a couple great pictures can really help users stick with you.

Don’t try to go it alone

This is probably the biggest mistake that keeps amateur bloggers ‘amateur’. If you want to make money blogging, understand that networking is part of the job. Find successful blogs in a related (but not competitive) field, contact the author, and offer to guest post. Include a link back to your blog in your bio—as I’ve done below—so that their readers can find your blog. This will also help search engines notice that your content is solid and authoritative, which will help your rankings. Never stop building your network, and don’t be afraid to offer your best content—if you want someone besides Mom reading your blog, guest posts are the way to make it happen.

 

Tiffany Gantt is a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a website dedicated to the love of cooking and looking good while you do it! You can often find her getting creative in the kitchen as she whips up something yummy in one of her flirty, color coordinated aprons.

 

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The ONLY Rule in Blogging

March 7, 2011 by

Darren “Problogger” Rowse put up a post on the 11 definitive rules of blogging.  I think I can easily add them here, without risking his ire, or that of his lawyers.  The 11 definitive rules of blogging, according to Darren Rowse:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

He argues that there aren’t any set in stone rules of blogging. Each niche, blog, and blogger has their own way of going about things and each needs to find their own way to getting to where they want to be.  And, while I completely agree with that train of thought, there is one definitive rule of blogging that must be adhered to for real blogging success.  (sadly, it’s also one that I break rather regularly.)

The ONLY rule in blogging: You’ve got to blog.

That’s it.  If you don’t follow that rule, you’re blog will cease to exist, any traffic that you’ve had built up will dry up, and all those links you amassed will age and lose their search engine luster.

Now, I know that Darren was likely making that rule an assumption in his post, but for some, it’s more than an assumption.  It has to be a rule.  I do my best to not break it too often, but as you’ll likely notice there are several gaps in the archive timeline here.  I can vouch for the effects of the broken rule all too well.

If you want to be a successful blogger, follow Darren’s advice and find your own way to the blog you want to be.  Write your style, your content, and make your blog your online home.  Be comfortable in it’s skin.  But, follow this rule.  You’ve got to blog.  People don’t come back because you have great archives.  They come back because you have fresh content, regularly.

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Is There a Best Time to Publish a Blog Post?

May 3, 2010 by

Depending on which blog you’re reading at any given time, you will likely read a completely different opinion on when to publish a blog post.  Some will argue that you should post right away in the morning so that you’re front and center when all the coffee drinking, early risers are opening up their morning reading tabs.  Others will say you should post late at night so that you get in front of the “oldest first” queues for those same morning readers.  Others might say you should publish several posts a day for different time zones around the world.  Yet more might say that they only post at the end of the week and over the weekend when the competition is lighter and they can command more attention.

But, this post isn’t about what others might say.  It’s about what I say. (It’s my blog, I can do that.)  And, here’s my take on publishing times.  It’s completely up to you.  Only about half of my posts are, like this one is, published in the future.  The other half are usually published when I finish them, so they are at whatever time of the day that inspiration hit for the day.  Of the ones that I future post, a majority of them are published mid-morning.  For me, that works better.  I find that if I post too early (<10am Central) the traffic is much lighter.  I think this is likely because the post gets buried under all the 8-5 west coast bloggers who are posting stuff right away in the morning.  If I post late at night, it also seems like traffic is lighter.  My theory there is that many people read their blogs and such at work.  (Shhh.  I won’t tell.)  Which is why I don’t like posting on the weekends either.

If I do future post, I tend to post somewhere in the middle of the day.  Somewhere between 10 am and 2 pm is where I usually put them.  And that seems to work quite well for me.  But, results may vary.  You may find that your readers are predominantly east coasters and like to read in the early morning before work.  You may find that your readers are overseas, in which case their schedule will be drastically different from yours and you may want to future post late at night or very early in the morning.

What I’m trying to say is that there is no hard and fast rule about when you should post.  You can’t template your blog to someone else’s blogging experience.  You’ve got to forge your own path and find the methods that work best for you.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t listen to some one else and try what they suggest.  That’s how we all learn.  But, in the end, what you do with your site may be different.

P.S. if you want to read a great post on some blogging rules that are not worth following, check out Lisa Barone’s post on The 5 Blogging Rules Killing Your Readership.

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