Wednesday 20 July 2016

Blogging Tips for Small Business Owners

“Yes, but what am I going to blog about?” That’s usually the answer small business owners usually give when suggested that they start blogging.
“Why do I need a blog?

You’ll want a blog as another source of information you can distribute to customers through your marketing channels: website, emails, newsletters and social media.
“But who on earth is going to read my blog?”
Your customers, of course! And anyone else interested in the type of service you offer. You can write about anything you want – as long as it’s informative, relevant and (even) entertaining.
People like content that gives them valuable information: Whether it’s information helpful for daily life, “how to” guides, preventive tactics to help avoid needless replacements of parts (such as: auto repair, plumbing, etc.), and of course, the popular holiday gift guides, topical suggestions (prepare your home for winter), and so forth.
As a small business owner, blogging gives you a valuable channel to provide valuable tips to your customer, insight about you and your service, stories and anecdotes and customers will start to look to you as an expert in your field.
A good blog can also go a long way in supporting your other online marketing efforts: email and social media. It provides you with additional content for your newsletter (or email in general) as well as material for your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
When you write your blog, remember to…
Be consistent:
Whether twice a week or twice a month, try to send them out on a regular basis. That way, your customers will slowly begin to expect your blogs on certain dates. If you stop blogging on those dates you set, you may start to lose the audience you worked so hard to get. Make sure you have an extra blog or two in hand, so you can schedule it to post when you’ll be too busy to write.
Share real-life stories about your business:
Blog readers aren’t interested in “what ifs” scenarios: that’s for advertising. Blogging allows you to personalize your business; telling inspirational, real-life stories or anecdotes, mostly involving you and your service, and how it helped solve a problem.
Add photos:
Images and photos are a big boost to social media posts, and that includes blogs. Images add emphasis to the story you’re telling, adding a compelling, visual reason why the reader should order a service from your business.
Stay current with events and seasons:
Holidays, natural disasters, elections, change of seasons – these are just some topics you can touch on in your blog, showing that you’re keeping in-touch with what’s going on in the country.
Be relevant:
If you know your customer, you’ll know what interests him. That doesn’t mean that, for example, you always have to write strictly about photography, if you’re a photographer. However, travelogues (with photos) can be of interest, camera buying guides, anecdotes you can share from events you photographed – those are all fair game.
Customer time is valuable, so your posts need to provide content of substance. Irrelevant topics will keep customers away, as well as posts that are obviously not edited or proofread.
Do you own a restaurant? Recipes are a great way to get new customers – people are always on the lookout for new recipes.
Personal trainer? With so many working longer hours or even at home, tips for keeping in shape and taking breaks are always welcome.
The short and the long of it:
Your blog should start at a minimum of 300 words or more, though for SEO purposes, go for 500-600 words. The more the merrier – if your content is relevant.
Keep an eye out for responses:
Don’t expect an avalanche of comments, but it’s worth keeping an eye out so if you do get a comment or two, you can reply to it immediately.
Write as if you’re talking:
Writer just as you would if they walked into your office. A blog is not supposed to be a thesis in physics: Let them know how your service can help make their lives easier.
Don’t forget about keywords: Yes, it’s a blog and not an ad, but nevertheless, keywords can be very helpful for SEO purposes. Try to include them in your blog’s:
1. Title
2. Your heading, and subheadidng if you have
3. Opening paragraph
4. Concluding paragraph
5. Anchor text (text you hyperlink to other related pages on your website, if the blog is on your website)
Remember though, as with all things, do not overindulge with keywords – meaning, filling your content with so many keywords that it becomes difficult to read. Not only will this irritate your blog followers, it will also get you penalized by Google. A couple of strategically placed keywords will do the trick.
Use social media to broaden the reach of your blog posts. As a small business, you may be utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or other social media sites to create connections with potential and current customers. Why not promote your blog content on these sites for even more web exposure? Free programs like Hootsuite make it easy to post links to your latest blog post on all of your social media sites with just a couple of clicks. You can even schedule your posts ahead of time!

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