content strategy

Why Start A Blog? 4 Great Reasons

Sure, you’ve heard of blogging.

Maybe you’ve even tried it once or twice.

With everything else you have on your plate, however, you’re probably thinking it’s a waste of time.

The truth is, starting a blog is one of the best marketing tactics for your business. Blogging has tons of great benefits, from increasing your conversion rate to connecting with clients on a more personal level.

Why start a blog indeed. Still not convinced? Let’s look at some of these advantages in detail.

Advantage #1: A blog helps you find clients.

Have you ever needed something and didn’t know where to look?

Chances are, there are hundreds of customers looking for a company just like yours. By starting a blog, you’ll be creating a new way for these clients to find you.

The key to making this process work is search engine optimization. If you place keywords strategically throughout your blog posts, search engines will be more likely to send ideal clients to your website.

Sharing your blog posts on social media is another good way to generate leads. According to Neil Patel of KISSmetrics, a blog can increase inbound links to your website by over 90%. With blogging, you can tailor content to your clientele, making it more likely that they’ll purchase a product or service.

Advantage #2: A blog leads to more sales.

Static content, such as a contact page on a company website, tells your readers important information.

More often than not, however, webpages don’t ask the reader to do anything.

That’s why the call-to-action page is so important. Without it, potential customers won’t take that next important step—finding out what your company can do for them.

By starting a blog, you’ll be able to issue calls-to-action on a regular basis. This can be as simple as inviting your readers to leave a comment. You can also take it a step further and ask them to join your email list.

Without a call-to-action, your readers will have little incentive to check out the rest of your products and services. According to Mashable, the average bounce rate for websites hovers around 50%.

With a blog, you have a cost-effective way to increase client retention and ensure your audience is always engaged.

Advantage #3: A blog lets you show your expertise.

When your car breaks down, you visit the mechanic. If you get the flu, you make an appointment with the doctor.

Why do we rely on certain people to solve certain problems?

The answer is simple: we see them as experts.

To launch a successful business, you must be able to prove that you’re an expert in your niche. Blogging is an excellent place to start because it reaches such a wide audience. For example, the total monthly readership for blogs on WordPress.com is over 400 million people.

Even if you’ve never written a blog before, it’s easy to get started. What you write should clearly reflect your strengths as a business. For example, a content writing service could blog on time-saving techniques for writers. A graphic design company could produce infographics to enhance its blog posts.

You should also consider guest blogging on another website in your industry. When readers see that other experts have given you their seal of approval, they’ll be more likely to see you as an authority.

Advantage #4: A blog lets you put your business into your own words.

How often do you get a chance to tell people what your company is really about?

If you’re like most businesses, it’s probably not often. Outbound marketing techniques, such as sales calls, are often brief and impersonal. You don’t always have time to convey your services in the way you want.

What if there was an easy way to put it all out there?

Blogging could be the answer you’re looking for. With a blog, you’ll have the freedom to put your company into your own words. Whether your business is brand new or something you’ve been working on for years, blogging allows you to put a personal touch on your public brand.

Experts agree that highlighting your company’s personality increases customer loyalty. For example, Forbes writes that business storytelling helps create a meaningful connection with clients.

The next time a customer asks about what you do, point them to your blog. They’ll appreciate having such an approachable, informal window into your company.

Start Small, Dream Big.

You’ve learned about the advantages of blogging. Now, it’s time to get writing.

As in any new business venture, it’s OK to start small. Try setting up a publishing schedule—like one post a week—and sticking to it.

Over time, you’ll reap the benefits of more sales for your business and higher customer satisfaction.

Good luck with your blogging journey, and remember to have fun!

How to Write a Content Marketing Plan in 7 Steps

Once you’ve established your business online with a website, it’s time to start advertising to your audience. The Internet is a huge space with vast amounts of pages and information, so it is unlikely that customers will just happen to stumble upon your website and engage with your business. You have to be the one to put it out there and draw customers to your site. The best way to do this is by using a content marketing plan.

Instead of traditional advertisements that tell audiences what to do, the new and better way to attract customers is to show your audiences what to do. To do this, you need to create informative content that shows readers the benefits of your product or service without directly telling them to buy it. Given the growing number of businesses using content marketing plans, this is clearly a very effective way of making your business known and increasing its sales.

So how do you write a content marketing plan?

1. Set a goal

Figure out what it is you’re trying to achieve with your content. Are you trying to get traffic to your site? From what source? How much? How often? Be specific. Once you have an objective in mind with your content marketing plan, you can create content to fit this goal.

2. Figure out your audience

There is going to be a certain type of audience you want to reach out to. It’s called your demographic. Before you write your content, make sure you have a clear picture of your ideal customer so you can direct your topics and writing style to this potential reader.

3. Find out what’s popular and trending

Check out what other businesses are doing with their content marketing plans so you can get ideas for your own strategy. Try to figure out the types of articles that most customers are reading, and what kinds of content businesses are publishing to become popular. Then write about relevant topics that will interest your audience.

4. Write a good variety of content

When writing your content, make sure to vary the type of article, the topics, and the medium that you use. With the Web full of fast-paced, interesting content, customers will get easily bored if you constantly publish the same articles. Offering different types of content will attract different types of customers in your demographic and increase your following.

5. Write with SEO in mind

A great way to get your content seen online is to use search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your ranking on search engines. To improve your visibility in searches, use specific keywords and phrases in your content that will direct searches to your website. But please, make sure your content is well written and interesting, because articles will be flagged and punished by search engines if they are stuffed with keywords. Writing and publishing SEO content properly will attract readers to your content while maintaining your website’s integrity.

6. Share on social media

Social media are hubs for news and information and have become a popular way of finding content. To spread your content among all of your customers and reach out to other circles, you need to make sure you have a constant presence on social networks. You can achieve this by publishing your content on multiple platforms.

7. Evaluate metrics and use them to improve

Once you’ve published the content from your content marketing plan, you need to ensure that it’s achieving your initial goal. The best way to figure this out is to look at the metrics, such as how many customers have engaged with your content by taking actions like sharing on social media, visiting your website, or purchasing your product or service. You can then use this information to improve your content marketing plan.

Press Releases: The Astonishingly Easy Way to Boost Your Business

Press releases are dead, right?

Yes . . . and no.

If you’re a solopreneur or even a small-to-medium sized business, writing a press release is not an effective way to get the attention of major media outlets. There are just too many press releases and not enough journalists, so only the very important releases from really big companies ever get read.

Press release writing can sometimes be effective for communicating with your local, small market media outlets, especially if your release has a local news angle. But there’s an even better way to use press releases, and that’s to talk directly to your potential customers… online.

How can a press release help you talk to your customers?

Let us count the ways:

1. A history of widely-distributed press releases provides something for your customers to find

Let’s face it, you’re going to get “Googled” by your prospects. It’s natural for them to want to know more about you before doing business with you. So why not give them something to find?

Older press releases will demonstrate that your company has been around for a while, and reassure the customer that you’re not a fly-by-night outfit. And being written up on other websites, even when the customer can plainly see that it’s a press release, does still lend you a (tiny) bit of credibility.

2. It helps you to craft your image

Before you go firing off several press releases about how you updated your website from version 2.01 to version 2.02, have a good think about how this kind of thing will look to customers right now and many years into the future.

A press release is an opportunity to tell your story, or at least help frame how customers perceive you. A series of meaningless updates will be seen as just that. But stories that announce things like how you donated to a particular cause, or how you received an award for excellence in the service you provide will help you build your brand over time.

Pro tip: never, ever, ever fake this kind of thing, and never do something for the potential PR value you can get out of it.

3. It keeps your website fresh

One of the many factors search engines use in determining where to position your site in search engine results is how “fresh” or how frequently updated it is. By regularly updating the News section of your site (and you do have one of those, don’t you?) with a version of your releases, you’ll improve your search engine rank. This is critical if you want your customers to find you and your products or services.

4. The web works in mysterious ways

There is a crazy amount of value in just putting something “out there” and seeing what happens. For example, a story about how you and your staff adopted a highway might be seen by someone who works for the local roads department, who has a brother who needs exactly what you sell. And this could happen when you first put out the release, or, because it’s the Internet and things like this stay available almost permanently, a year later.

Press release . . . like a boss

Press release writing isn’t something everyone is familiar with, since it is a specialized skillset that isn’t taught universally in school. You can outsource it to professional writers if you don’t want to deal with it yourself. If you want to try your hand at press release writing until then, however, read on for a few tips to guide you along.

Spend time on the headline

Titles and headlines are what bring your reader in, and it’s no different for press release writing. For that reason, these need to be crafted to quickly grab your reader’s attention. Short, snappy headlines are best. Make sure it’s to the point and accurate, too. As soon as your audience sees the headline, they should know what the press release will be about.

On that note, if you do email it to various news sources, make sure the subject line of the email is as snappy and informative as your headline. This could be the most difficult part of press release writing, so don’t let it fall by the wayside.

Keep your reader engaged

In the same way that your reader doesn’t want to be bogged down by lengthy headlines, they don’t want to hunt through paragraphs to get to the point. In the digital age, when information is transmitted and internalized in a split second, you want to make sure your reader has the basic, important information in the first paragraph. Most of the time, readers will only skim the rest of the article, so you don’t want to let them skim over the good stuff. The first couple of sentences should contain the things you most want your audience to know.

Press release writing should be concise

Lose the flowery language! Keep it concise and grounded in facts. Don’t worry about getting creative with your writing because that isn’t the point. A press release conveys information, numbers, and evidence to support your assertions, and that’s all you need.

And since you’re avoiding the fluff, your press release should be one page. Two pages is the absolute longest a press release should ever be. The shorter, the better.

Don’t forget contact and relevant information

You’re sending out a press release to grab attention, so you need to include some contact information. There isn’t much use to a press release if the reader has no idea how to contact you once you’ve piqued their interest. The email, telephone number, and the name of the person who is the main contact for press release queries should be included.

Don’t forget to include the website for your company. This saves the journalist the hassle of searching Google when researching your company. This will immediately improve your connection with them, which is a positive consequence for the future. It shows that you’ve been thoughtful and comprehensive in your press release writing, and the journalist will appreciate that.

Don’t forget the little details

Good press release writing is in the details. This includes both content and style. Double check that your press release doesn’t have any grammatical mistakes. It’s also a good idea to have an outsider or a professional look over the press release before sending it out. This looks more professional.

Finally, a very important detail that is easy to forget is the human aspect. If you can, incorporate a quote from a customer or employee. This provides a bit of personality without subtracting from the concise, fact-based quality of your press release writing.