Wondering why it’s SO DARN IMPORTANT for your website to have a blog?  Well there are many reasons that I will tell you towards the END of this particular blog.  Now, I’d like to give you a little advice on Effective Business Blogging  – I’ll tell you how to do it RIGHT and then tell you why you should do it at all ;)  Carriage BEFORE the horse for a change.  It’ll be fun, I promise.

Effective Business Blogging should be:

1.  INTERESTING   2.  INFORMATIVE     3.  RELEVANT      4.  UNIQUE      5.  CONSISTANT

I know.  That’s sounds like a lot to ask, but RELAX…  if millions of other people can do it, so can you!

CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU’RE  PASSIONATE ABOUT     I can’t stress the importance of writing about something that means something to you, as your emotions are what ultimately come across to our readers.  Writing about a subject that, quite frankly, bores the crap out of you, will never make a good read.  Think about what gets you excited, angry, frustrated or even sad.  Most importantly, make it REAL.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt if it relates to your business, but it doesn’t always HAVE TO.  In fact, cut loose every once in a while and completely separate yourself from your industry with something interesting.  Your audience will be much more diversified if the information in your blog is!

 ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS WHENEVER POSSIBLE   The majority of us read an blog because we want to expand our knowledge about a particular subject or area of our lives. Knowledge is power.  Wherever possible, try to relay some answers to the most common questions about your blog topic, or at least some speculation for further discussion and, where possible, a follow-up posting.

KNOW WHEN TO STOP    Aurthur William Radford once said “Half of art is knowing when to stop”.  When writing your blog, it’s so important to know when ‘enough is enough’ and to draw your post to a close. Despite your passion, sometimes the reader really can have ‘too much of a good thing’ so, as a guideline, try to keep your posts between 400 and 650 words whenever possible. This will hopefully result in your creating an approachable blog that’s easy to find the time to enjoy and to pass on to others. If your subject is one that simply cannot be covered in one relatively short post, then consider breaking it down in to several smaller posts.

AND FINALLY…REMEMBER TO FORGET      Most importantly of all, when you’re blogging with creative abandon, remember to forget the rules, to forget the keywords and to forget the length of your piece until it has ended. Let the creativity flow first and then edit it afterwards; hopefully with a big smile of satisfaction on your face at your final draft.   Let all of your worries and concerns go and blog as if your very life depended on it!

And now for the horse, ah hem, I mean the reasons why you SHOULD be blogging for your business.

  1. If you’re a business owner, it’s a great way to connect with customers. Blogging is a personal, down-to-earth method of keeping your customers informed and in-the-know about not only your latest product offerings, but your internal culture as well.
  2. bloggingFinding new clients. In the same vein, don’t discount the marketing advantages of blogging. If you do it right, it will really drive people to your website and increase the exposure of your business exponentially. Many businesses chalk up a large percentage of their revenue from blogging and blogging-related activities, and you can have a piece of that pie.
  3. Getting more done. Just because you’re writing every day on a blog doesn’t mean other things won’t get done. Blogging is an activity that can literally happen anywhere. Wake up early, go to bed late, whatever–blogging doesn’t usually take long, and you can press pause whenever you like. The “Getting Things Done” mentality happens as you start writing that first sentence–you’ll find yourself invigorated, energized, and motivated by the words you’re writing.
  4. Getting better things done. Once you start realizing what exactly it is you’re going to offer to people through your blog, you’ll start to prioritize your day differently. You’ll have comments to respond to, emails to answer, and social media promoting to do, but all of this is building a pipeline of targeted leads to your business.
  5. It’s creation. Period. You’re creating stuff. Stuff can be bought, sold, added to, reworked, and changed, but most importantly this stuff is a form of asset–an asset you own and control. No word ever published online has a negative value.
  6. Blogs are the news vehicle of the future. This one might receive some flak, but oh well. I truly believe that blogging–at least the general, broad definition of content-creation by the lay person–is the new form of news delivery. We’ll still have reporters and journalists, but the news and noteworthy stories of the day are now in our hands–it’s our job to be the first-hand eyewitness accounts of the current goings-on.
  7. Blogging can boost productivity in unforeseen areas.  Blogging helps keep the “idea bucket” full, and it transfers into many other forms of content, not just blogs – Copywriting, taglines, social media content and more!
  8. Accountability. This one’s simple. Blogging is usually a public-facing event that we engage in with the sole purpose of gaining readership. These readers, while sometimes harsh, are for the most part very truthful. They’ll keep us focused on our published and public goals, and that alone is worth the asking price.
  9. Because everyone else is. Okay, I didn’t want to use this “cop out” reason, but there it is. If you’re a business owner without a blog, you’re already behind. If you’re an individual with something to say, get started saying it. You may not realize it, but there’s at least one other person in the world who needs the kind of expertise you have, no matter how trivial. Everywhere you look, there’s a blog, video feed, or YouTube channel dedicated to the obscure and random. Do us one better and create something worth sharing.
  10. Online Exposure.  This is the most important one of all!  Sure many businesses pay to run digital ads that drive traffic to their websites, but many can’t afford to.  Blogging is a way you can EXPOSE your business online over and over again and have search engines seeing you and letting people know you’re out there.  Even if not one person shares your blog post, it will live forever (well, almost) on Google for people to find.  The impact is worth it.  As Donald Trump would say, IT’S HUGE!

Maybe I’ve convinced you, maybe not. But you won’t change my mind–the benefits of blogging (creating content and sharing it online) far outweigh the downsides and work we need to put in to it. This is why you need a blog.  If you need some further advice or assistance, please feel free to contact Creative Juices Marketing at denise@creativejuicesmarketing.com.  We also ghost blog for our clients if they can’t find the time to do it themselves but want the benefits.

HAPPY BLOGGING!!!!!