intro to blogging for small business

Intro to Blogging for

Small Business

Catherine MorganBusiness Consultant | Career Transition Expert

Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

Starting your blog

Why have a blog?

• Thought leadership

• Differentiation

• SEO

Tell your story

• Manage your message

• Attract ideal clients

Differentiate your business

• Why are you different?

• Why are you better?

Answer FAQs

• What questions are you always answering during the sales process?

– Create content around these topics

Your team, the face of your business

• When possible, use the real faces of your team – not stock photos

• Showcase individual team members

• Add pictures to executive bios

Rank for specific terms

• What do people type into search?

– Example: job search vs. career transition

Maintaining your blog

Anatomy of a blog post

• Short form – 450-750 words

• Long form – more than 1,500

• Posts should always have a great picture

– Posts with pictures get shared more

– Some experts suggest multiple pictures

• Think about your key word(s) and incorporate into text several times

– But not so many that the reader can tell!

Compelling headlines lead to clicks

• Lists

– Top 10 Tips for Staying Productive at Work

– 3 Reasons to Quit Your Job Right Now

• Don’t do this

– How to Irritate a Podcast Host

– “Didn’t Get the Gig? Maybe It’s ‘Cause Ur Illiterate.”(By Catherine Morgan)

• X things not to do

– Don’t Do These 3 Things If You Want to Be Rich

Include hyperlinks

• Are you referencing someone else’s content? Make sure you link to it!

– You can include links to your own content as well

Online writing best practices

• Enable visual scanning

– Pictures

– Subheads

– Bullet lists

– Short paragraphs

• 1-4 lines – no more

Are you stuck for topics?

• AnswerthePublic.com

• Hubspot’s blog topic generator

• Chris Brogan’s 100 blog topics

• Your inbox

– What questions are your customers asking?

Content calendar

• Commit to publishing dates

• Spread out different kinds of content

– Small business content example:

• Marketing

• Selling

• Customer service

• Social media

• Mindset

• Productivity

Switch it up – embed media

• Embed podcasts or videos

– Google owns YouTube and may rank posts with videos higher

Guest blogging – sharing the wealth

• Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media always says you shouldn’t blog alone

– “Guest Blogging: The Right Way to Pitch a Blog Editor” (by Catherine Morgan)

Posting your content elsewhere

• Can you syndicate your content?

– Related websites? Article databases?

Getting the word out

Promote more than you think

• Derek Halpern of Social Triggers says:

– Create 20%

– Promote 80%

One possible promotion schedule

• Twitter

– Tweet 2-3 times the first day 8-12 hours apart (says Guy Kawasaki)

– Continue to promote periodically going forward (if evergreen content)

• Facebook

– If you have a business page, pay $5 (or more) to promote FB post so people actually see it

• Organic reach is ~ 10% (!)

– Share it on your timeline from your page

Reposting on LinkedIn

• If you’re a thought leader:

– Post first on your blog

– Wait 3 days (so it gets indexed by search engines) THEN post on LinkedIn Pulse

– Promote it both times (and promote again periodically, if evergreen)

– Include a short bio at the end of your post on LinkedIn for people who aren’t connected to you

Promotion pro tips

• Reach out to people who create similar content and target a similar audience

– Ask them if they would share your post

– Remember to return the favor with their stuff

• Team up with others and support each other on an ongoing basis!

– That’s a big win-win

• Tag people if you have a relationship

Repurposing content

• Social media posts

• Memes

• Short videos

• Podcasts

• Interviews

Questions?

Catherine Morgan

Business Consultant | Career Transition Expert

Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

877.672.5333

Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/pointatopointb

Twitter @PointA_PointB