Archive for content marketing with blogs – Page 7

4 Common Blog Writing Stumbling Blocks

Business-Blog-BlocksThere are many reasons to have a business blog but the most important is that it’s great for retaining clients and customers. Business blogs offer insights into your services, product updates, and compelling relevant content that solves the problems of your clients.

However, blog writing can be tougher than you might think. It’s important to keep posting fresh new content, in order to get readers coming back (thus increasing your visibility and site traffic). Here are some potential stumbling blocks that you might come across on your road to building a successful business blog, and their solutions:

1. Problem: Not enough time in the day

You may find that you just can’t carve out time in your busy schedule to write blog posts. Or, you don’t have a designated day or time to do your writing. This can lead to sporadic posting and going too long between posts, causing readers to lose interest.

Solution: Consider setting aside a specific portion of your day to dedicate to your blog. Think about when your head is most clear and you can focus. This will allow you to simplify the process and save you valuable time.

2. Problem: Figuring out the right schedule to publish

How often should you publish posts on your blog? If you don’t post often enough, you risk losing your reader base. Posting too frequently can also be problematic, as you may overwhelm your readers and yourself by constantly having to come up with new content. (Hint: It depends on your field or industry: some require daily postings, but others only once or twice a week.) Read More→

Content Marketing with Blogs:
6 Steps to Writing Awesome Fresh Content

Blog-by-renjith-krishnanWhat private Hell do you go through to write fresh blog content? How do you pick a blog topic that will score with search engines AND solve a problem your target audience frequently has? Do you scour the dungeon of your mind for new slants on old stuff?

I don’t know any business professional who doesn’t struggle to keep up a fresh supply of awesome content for their readers. It’s part of content marketing with blogs, but it can be easier and more fun if you make it so.

Here’s my typical blog writing experience: Up early when brain is freshest, check ESPN for tennis matches. Watch a 5-setter at Australian Open. Drink two large mugs of coffee. Check email. Find a blog feed that could interest my readers (small business professionals who do content marketing with a blog). Seek inspiration, find it, and start writing directly into WordPress blog platform.

First paragraph focuses on the problem using keywords important to my readers. Second paragraph either expands on the problem, or diverges off into a small story or personal anecdote. By the time I get to a third paragraph, I’ve often sparked a memory or an idea that could be useful to my clients. Then I make a list of solutions or suggestions.

Then the last paragraph is a call to some sort of action. I may ask readers a question or suggest a ‘next step.’ This may include a link to contact me or call me or download a special report. Read More→

5 Ideas for New Business Blog Topics for a New Year

Content-Matters-Blog-Writing-TipsLet’s face it – Business blogging can get repetitive. It seems as if there are only so many blog topics out there for your readers, and you’ve exhausted them all. We know the key to a successful business blog is fresh content, which brings more reader who might be potential new clients.

But what exactly does “fresh” content entail? New topics or a different perspective on a problem, or an innovative tip – these are all good. Swapping guest blog posts with another business also infuses new life into a blog. Sometimes hiring a new writer can help bring new ideas, views, and topics to a blog.

Covering new topics is one of the best ways to get new readership as well as appeal to your current audience.

Here are some ideas for new blog content for the New Year:

  1. Guest bloggers – having a guest blogger can breathe new life into your blog. Guest bloggers offer a fresh perspective and new topics. Consider asking a guest blogger to contribute a whole series of posts rather than just one.
  2. Cover current events – instead of just focusing on what is going on with your business specifically, scour the web for business news articles that are related to your area of expertise. You can put a personal spin on the story as well as offer tips or advice that are related. Read More→

2013: No Marketing Goals This Year, Just One Word

Goals-by-Stuart-MilesNo goals for 2013. I’m not setting any marketing goals this year. Goals are bad. I am not kidding, and there’s research to prove it. This isn’t just me trying to avoid feelings of failure when I’m not seeing immediate results.

Here’s an excerpt from Peter Bregman’s blog Consider Not Setting Goals for 2013 on HBR:

It’s not that goals, by their nature, are bad. It’s just that they come with a number of side effects that suggest you may be better off without them.

The authors of a Harvard Business School working paper, Goals Gone Wild, reviewed a number of research studies related to goals and concluded that the upside of goal setting has been exaggerated and the downside, the “systematic harm caused by goal setting,” has been disregarded.

They identified clear side effects associated with goal setting, including “a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.”

Here are two of the examples of goals gone wild the authors described in their paper:

  • Sears set a productivity goal for their auto repair staff of bringing in $147 for every hour of work. Did this motivate employees? Sure. It motivated them to overcharge on a companywide basis.
  • Remember the Ford Pinto? A car that ignited when it was rear-ended? The Pinto resulted in 53 deaths and many more injuries because workers omitted safety checks in pursuit of Lee Iacocca’s BHAG goal of a car that would be “under 2000 pounds and under $2,000” by 1970.

And here’s another, via the New York Times:

  • Ken O’Brien, the former New York Jets quarterback, was throwing too many interceptions. So he was given what seemed to be a pretty reasonable goal — fewer interceptions thrown — and penalized financially for every one. It worked. He threw fewer interceptions. But only because he threw fewer passes. His overall performance suffered.

It’s practically impossible to predict the negative side effects of a goal.

On the other hand, I got a great idea from reading a book review on Amazon. What if instead of setting business or personal goals for the New Year, I picked One Word to focus on? And no matter what I am doing, I think about implementing that word, in every way I can? Read More→

5 Reasons to Hire a Content Marketing Writer for Your Business

Content Marketing-Hire-Writer-for-your-businessContent is king.Bill Gates said it, so it must be true.

Gates uttered this one-liner way back in 1996, but the flurry of updates to Google search algorithms during 2012 has ensured that his words still resonate.

Most businesses (be they blog owners, start-ups, or established brands) now know that if they want a competitive advantage, they have to keep information-hungry customers in a ready supply of fresh, relevant, and interesting content. Depending on the type of the business, content might also be expected to be awe-inspiring. No pressure, of course.

One of the biggest problems with content is finding someone to write it. Even if you’re a great writer, or have people on staff who are, it takes time and skill to craft an article, blog or newsletter appropriate for both your audience of potential customers and the search engines.

Could the answer be to outsource the writing to a freelancer?

Let’s consider the benefits of doing so: Read More→

Tips for Better Blog Outreach and Blog Marketing

helpfultipsHow can you make the most of your blog marketing and outreach? Here are some helpful tips so that your business blog attracts more readers, and you get found, get known, and get clients.

Small business owners know that a well-formulated blog with consistently fresh content can improve brand image, customer interaction and overall revenue. Blogs are so powerful, in fact, that their Web pages are prime real estate for outside companies that are hoping to improve page rank of their own.

In fact, a key tactic for SEO ranking is the practice of guest blogging with links back to the author’s site.

Back linking programs are becoming a standard operation of business blogs in all industries and of all sizes. The pro for blog owners is quality content written by someone else. The obvious benefit to outside companies is the ability to add a link to increase their own online credibility.

But such practices are not without peril. If you are thinking about allowing other writers in your blogging space, but unsure of how to maintain creative control and authority, follow these steps for the best outcomes in back linking and blogger outreach programs:

  • Agree to terms upfront. You put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that your blog accurately represents you and your brand image. Though an outside company may have good intentions, it does not have your vision or know your blogging goals. Take the time to explain who your audience is, what types of posts do well with readers and what topics are completely off limits. If your blog is about B2B technology, make sure outside bloggers do not send you posts about B2C topics. Come up with a regular deadline and a workflow. Read More→

My Business Website: Content for Customers… or SEO?

Should my business website focus on keywords and getting search engine results? Or quality content for customers?

Perhaps a more important question is “How do I make the most of each of my web pages so that my business and I get found, get known, and get clients?”

The challenge:

You want to make sure that your business website is fresh, attractive and informative. People visiting your website want to see something that piques their curiosity in you and your products and services.

Or put another way, you want to satisfy readers who ask: “What are you going to do for me that will… (Fill in the blank).”

Always keep that ideal customer in mind when crafting your message. The content must be relevant, new and, of course, SEO “friendly.” This last requirement can seem the most daunting, especially for non-technical professionals who are less familiar with websites and online content marketing.

The “SEO Friendly” site:

For good SEO results, each page needs to be both keyword-rich and current. That means pages are updated frequently with good (relevant) content that is keyword-rich and unique, and appeals to what customers seek. You need to make your keywords obvious.

Do not use a template or basic page format and tweak the content. Search engines will not know which page to rank for what keywords. Similarly formatted content can easily be classified as duplicate content and you risk being penalized or ignored by the search engines. Read More→

Are Infographics Becoming Too Complex?

There’s no doubt that infographics are an extremely useful internet marketing tool, and as such, they’re becoming ever more commonplace when trying to gain new blog readers. There’s  no better way to attract new customers than with a clever graphic.

The problem, however, is that we’re seeing more and more that are overly complex, and are simply a waste of time. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, would this infographic be better if it were shorter, simpler, or even as text?

The main advantages of infographics, and the main reason they’re used, is that they can convey information quickly and concisely in an eye-catching way. Boring processes and masses of statistics can be explained quickly through the use of a great image, and people love this.

If you’ve got a great product for instance, you can explain some of its main features in a graphic. It’s much better to get a series of facts from an infographic than a large body of text, but if the infographic itself becomes overly long and complex, the point is lost.

Get Your Point Across Read More→

How Blog Readers Find You – A Diagram

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  a business blog is the best way to get found online, the best way to connect with potential clients, and the pathway to turning readers into clients.

So, what’s your favorite excuse for not blogging for your business?

I keep hearing the same reasons, over and over.

Top 3 Excuses for Not Blogging:

  • “I don’t have time to blog.”
  • “My clients aren’t surfing the Web reading blogs.”
  • “Oh, that means I’ve got to write about my business every week?”

There are over a billion people connected to the Internet. I’m willing to bet my lunch money that quite a few of them fall into the category of “your ideal clients.”

It’s not likely they go online looking for you, your business or your blog. I’m not saying that. But they do go to search engines and they type in questions with keywords.

And they do go to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Here’s what this looks like, how readers find your blog, in this Smart Draw diagram I did:

How Readers Find Your Business Blog

Read More→

Blog Writing: 5 Tips to Break a Blogging Rut

Business blog writing is tough. No matter how long you’ve been writing on your business blog, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself in a blogging rut. How do you break out of blogger’s block?

There are many reasons that people blog – the most important being to convey their personal message in a clear, concise way.

Here are other key reasons blog writing is key for your business:

  • Building an online base of targeted customers
  • Reaching customers on an individual level
  • Improving your “findability” through online searches

Whatever your blogging motivation, one thing is vital for traffic improvement – blog writing consistency.

Posting content for a business blog on a regular basis sounds easy enough, but seasoned bloggers know that it is tough to keep posts fresh and meaningful to their audience. Sometimes there is just not enough motivation – or coffee – to get the creative juices flowing and break writer’s block.

Instead of staring blankly at a computer screen, or giving up completely, give these ideas a try to keep your business blog writing consistent: Read More→