does your small business need a blog? {creating quality content}

Welcome to part two of our new series, “Does Your Small Business Need a Blog?” Throughout this series we’ll explore the ins and outs of blogging for your business. Last week we considered WHY a blog might be good for your small business. This week, we’re answering another important question:

What will I write about on my business blog?

Basically, you can write about anything your customers or clients might find useful relating to your services and products and how they use them in their lives!  

Think about what kind of questions they ask you or about the type of client you want to find.

What information are they looking for?  What sort of resources do they need?  Social Media Examiner has a great post  of 21 quick tips about writing a great blog post.  Number five on their list is identify how you can help them (your customers).

This is where you need to be realistic and match what you and your business are good at to their problems.

The key is this, make the content both useful and interesting.

Now, just like any other form of writing, when you are writing a blog for your company, you want the content to be interesting and informative. People use blogs to gain information and sometimes look for new ways to apply the information they have learned. Successful Blog Writing for Your Business

Understand how blogging fits into your total marketing plan.

A blog isn’t the answer to every marketing question but it can be an excellent part of an effective and long-term marketing strategy. Utilizing multiple methods of marketing and learning to build on each of them is the key to building a solid marketing plan for your business.  Blogging is one part of that foundation. Other components include social media presence, offline marketing techniques, and building word-of-mouth credibility.

Quality content will have to be shared and share-able.

Yes, what you write matters. But you will have to do some work after you hit publish on your blog post. It’s how you share your content and make it easy to share for others that can propel your blog into a highly profitable tool for your business.

According to Hubspot.com, companies who create, optimize and promote their blogs get 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those who don’t. As many say, content is king, but it’s what you do with it after that will make all the difference.  How to Get Eyeballs on Your Business with a Blog

Develop a list of blog post topics and brainstorm to create a message calendar.

We’ve previously shared 3 ways to brainstorm blog post topic ideas. In fact, using the first of these suggestions is how this series began. Ask yourself what topics your clients are interested in and make a list of potential blog posts you could write from those topics. For example, a housecleaning business owner may develop several blog posts on cleaning methods for different areas of the home or on natural cleaning products. As you develop a list of post ideas, look at your calendar to determine when the best timing for each would be. Sticking with our housecleaning business, posts on deep cleaning in the home would be best shared in March or April as people are planning for spring cleaning.

Creating quality content will require time and effort on your part. But building a blog as a solid part of your website and marketing plan can yield many benefits for your business.

How do you develop content for your blog?