One of the things that makes your business really unique, one of your standout competitive differentiators is, well, you.
Your experience, your expertise, war stories, your advice all make you unique. Here’s a quick guide to what makes a business blog successful.
The topic.
Let’s be brief. It’s got to be relevant, timely and important to your customers, and it must arise from your practice. Our advice is to make a list of these topics, and some notes on what you’d like to say. The scary term for this is an “editorial calendar”. The helpful part is it keeps you focused on providing value over time.
The headline.
It’s got to be quick, catchy and give a reason to read the actual post. Humor works. Wordplays work (see above). A brief sentence of why the post is important also works.
Body copy.
Shoot for 350 – 500 words, or no longer than a 3 minute read. Some hints:
- Subheads that allow the reader to skim, if they wish, and still get value
- The 4 line rule. If your paragraph is longer than 4 lines, it’s too long.
- Bullets provide visual relief and focus attention on important points.
A call to action.
This is business. You’ve invested time in creating and shaping the value and you’re entitled to the call to action. Consider something gentle that offers engagement, like “if you’d like to discuss how this affects you and your business….”
According to The Guardian,
A business blog is one of the most cost-effective and easiest ways to promote your business. Done right, it can drive traffic to your website, increase your sales, establish you as an authority in your industry and also help you to reach new markets. Unfortunately, many small businesses are yet to wake up to the benefits of this tool. Valid reasons range from lack of time for writing the blog posts to a lack of ideas for quality posts.
What about you? Should we talk?