STEP ONE: JUST WRITE IT!!
This sounds obvious, but it can be challenging! Where do you start and what do you say? Making the decision to get started is a big part of the battle. Here are some tips to help you be successful when you “just write it!”
Know Who To Talk To (Your target audience)
- What’s their age, gender, job?
- Do they have family, expendable income?
- Where do they like to get information?
- What are their concerns, questions and pain points?
If you can answer these questions, you know who your blog is talking to. Focus your content on answering their concerns and questions. Whenever possible, help reduce the pain they are experiencing or worried about.
Create Great Content
- Stick to a single topic related to your client and industry.
- Remember this is about them – not you. Answer an important question or address a particular concern or motivation. Offer insights and helpful suggestions.
- Plan your topics around keywords you want to rank well for.
- Sharing your knowledge helps your customers and positions you as an expert.
- Here’s an article on how to keep great content going.
Be Personable
- You not only want to provide information but establish a relationship.
- Use a voice/tone that’s appropriate to your audience
- Encourage conversation (both ways!)
STEP TWO: DRESS IT UP!!
Make the content easy to read and interesting by using:
- Subheadings
- Bullets or numbered lists
- Pictures or infographics
- Line breaks and bold fonts
- Block quotes or captions
Don’t forget the TITLE. Make it interesting – even catchy as along as it actually represents the content of the blog and contains the keyword phrase you are optimizing for.
Make sure you give credit to sources. Linking to them is beneficial.
FINISH WITH A CALL TO ACTION (CTA). Offer something that will be of value to your current or potential client in exchange for their information. Make a point to give them a clear indication of what to do next. CTAs often start with words like: Download [insert offer], Start a Free Trial, Contact us, Sign up, Get a free [insert offer]. (hint: there’s one at the bottom of this page!)
STEP THREE: POST IT!!
If you’re like me, every time you read your own writing, you see something that could be better. It’s important to remember – a blog that’s never posted is only read by you. Settle for great content and give up the perfection syndrome.
STEP FOUR: STAY IN TOUCH!!
Staying in touch with your readers (or viewers) is very important to nurturing relationships and leads. There are many ways to stay in touch after a visitor finds your blog. Make sure you’re offering several options for engagement and continued contact.
- Offer RSS feeds for the blog
- Offer email subscriptions
- Offer social sharing links
- Participate in and monitor social media channels
- Encourage comments from readers and respond
- Encourage reviews
- Follow up with email or even calls as appropriate as people ask questions or request additional information.
STEP FIVE: DO IT AGAIN!!!
One down – many more to go. Consistency is key to gaining trust and a following. Blog on a set schedule, at least once a week. Schedule time to work on blogging. Put it on your calendar, and prioritize it. Try to block a time when you won’t be interrupted; but if that doesn’t work, write anyway!
Plan and Prepare. Make a list of topics you have been asked about. Jot down ideas when you get them in a notebook or spreadsheet. Refer to them for inspiration when it’s time to write. Keep a file of interesting articles you read to refer to or quote. When you encounter a situation that clearly displays a pain point and how it was resolved, you may have your next blog.
The main thing is keep going. Don’t give up!
Happy Blogging!
