The truth about blogging for business
If you run a business, people will tell you that you need to be blogging about it…and if you expect me to say anything different then you’d be wrong – I’m a writer who specialises in blogging services, after all!
The thing that trips a lot of people up with blogging, however, is the need to be consistent. If you’re not, you won’t be able to build a loyal base of readers and followers. One occasional post here and there definitely isn’t enough, no matter how good it is or how well it’s written.
Be consistent, and people will reward you by following you and your company. They’ll start looking forward to hearing from you every week, fortnight or month…you could end up becoming someone’s favourite regular columnist!
It can be hard, however, to remain consistent with blogging after that first flush of optimism you feel when your shiny new website is released to the public, along with a brand-new ‘Blog’ section you can’t wait to fill up with exciting posts…
…until work starts piling up, and you’ve got meetings to go to, and you can’t think of anything to write about next so you leave it for just that week, and then that week turns into another, and another, and another….
Is this a familiar scenario? If so, you’re definitely not alone, and I’ve come up with a few tips to help you get past that eye-rolling “hasn’t updated their blog since 2014” sense of disappointment!
Keep an ideas list
Trust me, it’s easy to think you’ll always have something to write about, but on busy days sometimes even the greatest of ideas can get lost forever if they’re not written down.
When I get a quick flash of inspiration I often open a Word document, write down the blog idea and a title, then save it to a dedicated ‘Blogs’ folder. This means that when it comes round to ‘weekly blog time’, I’ve got a selection of ideas ready and waiting for me to pick from (and then you get to read the results every Thursday…aren’t you lucky!)
If you can’t think of a selection of topics, how about a recent client case study, or introducing a member of your team? The name of the game with blogging is to build an audience and show them the friendlier side of your business – so anything goes, as long as it’s relevant and interesting.
Get into a routine
It doesn’t matter if you post once a week, fortnight, month, or even quarter – as long as your followers understand when they’ll be hearing from you next.
Posting occasionally and randomly means people won’t be keeping an eye out for your next post, and you’ll run the risk of forgetting about your blog completely, or simply abandoning it when things get busy. Commit to making blogging a regular habit, and you’ll be more likely to stick to it.
Don’t worry too much about length
Google “ideal length of a blog post” and you’ll find a lot of scarily scientific articles explaining that if you go over 1,500 words, for example, then you’re basically committing heresy.
Generally, people read blogs for a distraction over coffee or while they wait for delayed public transport, hoping they might learn something vaguely useful while they’re there. Give them something well-written, entertaining and informative to enjoy with their hot drink of choice or their driver announcement, and they’ll come back – even if your word count totals 1,501.
Spell words right!
Yes, blogs are less formal than standard web copy and white paper content, and OK, you don’t claim to be a professional writer, but it won’t matter – your professional reputation will fly right out of the window once people spot any spelling mistakes in your content.
Spelling is probably the easiest thing to get right, so why get it wrong? Get someone else to read through your content if you’re not sure – and don’t rely on spellcheckers, which won’t pick up any instances where you might have used “your” instead of “you’re”.
Good luck – and remember, if you’re too busy to write your own regular blog posts, I can write them for you in your own style. Simply contact me for a chat.
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