Content Marketing with Blogs: Fishing for Business, or Catch-and-Release?

I had the best grilled salmon last night in one of my favorite restaurants here in Ajijic…which got me thinking about fishing…

I view business blogging as an attraction strategy, rather than an activity that earns income via ads. A blog is like a fishing net that you throw out onto the World Wide Pond to catch new leads, who nibble on your words like fish on bait.

I believe a blog is a powerful client magnet when done the smart way. It reverses the client chase. But few bloggers have a grasp on how to write effective posts on a business blog and what kinds of content make sense for their readers.

Content is key, of course. It’s the bait that beckons a fish to the hook. Your words — when you’re using keywords right — will attract the very people who are looking for the solutions you write about on your blog.

The tricky part is this: asking for business. You can do a bang-up job of attracting readers, but at some point you must ask for action. Otherwise, your blog is a catch-and-release system:

"Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog, here's some great information to solve your problem, have a nice day!" ;-0

In the 4-point CODA blogging system for optimizing a blog for business results, I write about these four essential areas that must be addressed on your blog if you want marketing power:

Content
Outreach
Design
Action

The least understood of these areas, and the one area where I see many business professionals fail, is #4, effectively calling readers to action.

Every blog post should have a call to action. It isn't always for a sale, however, and I believe you're far more savvy now days and already know that. But here are suggested things you should remember to do before ending a blog post:

Ask readers for their opinions, experiences, questions, ask them to leave a comment
Ask readers to subscribe to your blog if they like it
Ask readers to go to other pages (linked, of course) where they can read more on your topic if they wish
Ask readers to "retweet this" if they like it
Ask readers to download a free report, if they wish
Ask readers to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

What else can you ask readers to do? The more you can interact with them, the more knowledge you'll have about your readers and their challenges. You'll be better able to deliver content they can use.

And your blog will become a resource for your readers, a place they can come and get well-fed with their favorite fish food!

(Please excuse the overuse of fishing metaphors. No fish were harmed in writing this piece, and I really don't think of you guys as fish to be hooked and captured!)

Please leave a comment, subscribe, retweet, download, and let me know other good ideas for calling your blog readers to action!

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