4 Reasons You Should Be Writing Business Blogs
With all the things on your to-do list, writing a business blog never seems to be the priority. But if you’re struggling to keep clients coming to you, then a business blog could be the answer you need to let your content do some legwork for you.
4 Reasons To Start Investing Time in Your Business Blog
If you aren’t at the stage of your business when you can afford to outsource your blog and content creation, then you’re going to have to invest some time. It’s one or the other. To attract people to you and your services or products, you have to be producing content online that draws them in, helps them out and keeps you top of mind.
1. Business Blogs Do the Marketing For You
I don’t think I need to tell you this, but content marking is HUGE. Every company and personal brand worth its weight is creating content to market their business. Marketing has shifted tremendously over the last decade because people don’t watch commercials on tv or stop to read the advertisement in the newspaper anymore. We watch tv on-demand, without interruptions, and we scroll past any and all ads in our social media feed.
In order to engage with customers, you have to provide them value, and it has be given in a medium that clients can access at their convenience. You’ve probably also heard that a million times, but what does it actually mean? It means writing blogs that:
Help customers solve a common problem
Educate customers so that they are better informed before making a purchase
Inspire clients and provide authoritative advice and mindset shifts to help them in their lives
Entertain them with humour, stories or transformations
Teach them the things that you know which could also help them be better at their jobs
The beautiful thing about business blogs is that once they are written, you can continue to put them to work. Sharing your blogs across social media platforms is critical so that your followers read up on what you have to offer. And you can most definitely share the same blog more than once. With today’s algorithms, people don’t see all your posts, so don’t be afraid to recycle.
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help make your blogs more accessible on search engines like Google (more on that later). You can also take snippets of your blogs to share on social media, cutting down the amount of writing you need to undertake.
2. You Can Build Your Expertise through Business Blogs
To you, what you do daily in business is second nature. But to your clients, it’s completely foreign. Sharing what you know, how you do things and the ways that other people can build the same skills all build up social proof of your expertise.
If, for example, you are a copywriter, you could be sharing on your blog your signature process for helping clients create content that sells. You could also be sharing where you learned your writing skills, how you sharpen your sword (uh - keyboard?), and any new trends or tips that emerge in your industry.
Before anyone is going to commit to working with you and is ready to transfer you the cash, they are going to need to know, like and trust you professionally. So why not create blogs that explain the ins and outs of your zone of genius? You’ll be helping someone to learn something new and improve (win!), or you’ll be showing your next client that you have the chops to help them succeed (also win!).
3. Blogging Is Your Chance to Help Everyone
You can’t work with everyone one-on-one or even in a group setting. Some people won’t be ready yet, and some won’t have the resources to work with you. But because I know you and I know you want to help everyone, there is a way for you to increase your impact.
Solve common problems for your audience or teach what you do in small bite-sized blogs. These can be the freebies you send out to your email list, or you share on social media to drive people back to your blog. Think of it like a podcast but in the written word. It’s free to consume, but the more useful it is, the more loyal your audience will be.
Plus, you’ll be able to help the more people with the limited time you have. Even one blog every two weeks will keep your target market engaged. The key is consistency. Set a blogging schedule that you can comfortably stick to and then release your knowledge gems into the world each week or month.
4. Save Time by Writing Blogs as Part of Your Content Strategy
Do you get asked the same questions all the time on social media or from your friends? Rather than repeating yourself, write a blog on the answer and share that link with anyone who asks. For example, I get asked all the time what I use to podcast, so I wrote a blog called How To Launch Your Podcast for $200 with the exact equipment, software and setup I use.
You can do the same thing to describe the steps in your program, the transformation offered in your mastermind, or even what tools you use to do business (think: blog platforms, planning apps, organization or tech tools).
And, this is worth repeating: repurpose this content!
Take paragraphs of your blogs, or small sections and share your written content on social media. You do not need to come up with original content for every single post you make. First of all, you’d be exhausted from the volume of writing you’d have to do. But second, no one is paying that close attention to all your channels, so please, make your life a little easier and learn to chop up bigger pieces of content to extend shelf life.
Use Business Blogs to Maximize Your Impact
Writing a blog can take anywhere from 40 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on your focus, planning, and how you’re feeling on that particular day. So there is still an investment required on your part to get words down on the page, edit the blog and post the content. You can outsource this to a copywriter if you have the means and just do not have the time anymore.
But even if you are doing all the things on your own, one or two hours to write a beautiful, helpful, inspiring blog will pay you back in devoted followers, building up your trust with new clients and saving you time answering questions in your DMs or email. It is a long game, though. To build a business that has staying power, you have to put in some work and commit to delivering content and value consistently to your tribe.
