What is a blog?
The term “blog” was coined twenty years ago by Jorn Barger, one of the first in a long line of influential bloggers. He meant it to describe the process of “logging the web” collecting links to information he found along the way. Over the last two decades, blogs have gone through many transformations. What started as simple logs of links became personal online journals. Later as businesses began to blog we saw simple news updates give way to more fully integrated communications which serve as the core of a company’s online marketing program.
Do I need a business blog?
The simple answer is yes, yes and yes. Why? Let me give you three very good reasons
- Your customers have lots of questions. A business blog is a great place to answer those frequently asked questions.
- You have news. As your business grows and changes, the blog is a terrific place to share those important company updates.
- Search engines like information. Google is always looking for new information as well as content which explores niche topics in more detail. Your business blog will contain posts can do that.
Write for Someone
This is your blog, but if you want people to read it, then you need to start with a clear picture of your readers. Who is in your audience and what are their reasons for reading your blog? Unlike the early days when it was ok to write about what you had for breakfast, a business blog has a purpose. You are trying to communicate something of value to customers and prospective customers, so who are they and what do they want to know?
Writing for a well-defined audience makes it easier to select topics and decide how you should promote them once they’re written. It is fine to have more than one audience for the overall blog, but individual posts should focus on a specific group or segment of your overall community. The more specific the topic, the more likely it will be well received by that narrow niche. While not everyone will care about that post, people with a specific issue are more likely to bookmark and share the niche post.
Remember the objective of a business blog post is to inform, persuade and encourage the reader to begin a discovery process which will eventually lead to a sale. Each post should have a clear next step, possibly another post or a workbook, or maybe a podcast like the one below. This is a recent episode of More than a Few Words, where I had a chance to talk to professional write Susan Toth about her blogging strategies.
This is a recent episode of More than a Few Words, where I had a chance to talk to professional write Susan Toth about her blogging strategies.
