If you are a small business blogger, does the statistic in the image scare you? Credit
If it's shaken your confidence, you need these blogging tips for small business people.
We'll start with the two basic skills a blogger needs to escape that 81% trap.
- Have a good level of writing skill
- Able to compose / find interesting content or they will soon lose their readers
Everyone makes the occasional grammar and spelling mistake – no-one's perfect. But in the age of spell-checkers etc there's really no excuse for multiple errors. They reflect badly on the professionalism of the author.
That's not to say I don't read and enjoy some “less than word-perfect” blogs – but the personality of these bloggers must really shine out to make me forgive more than a minimum of errors.
Beyond these absolute basics are tips and tricks that professional writers use to “super-charge” their writing.
Blogging Tips for Writers
I found an excellent post from Liz McGee that shows how: “With just a few writing tricks you can create blog posts that are reader friendly, get attention, hold attention and are more focused.”
There are 8 tips in all – here is just one of them. I think you'll enjoy the rest too.
Everyone likes examples. They illustrate what you’re describing in a way people can relate to. For instance I wrote a post on how to create an article resource box. In the post I gave lots of examples that readers could use for their own resource box. Today it’s still one of my most accessed blog posts. Credits:
Blogging Tips for Business
It's not just career “bloggers” who are blogging. Traditional businesses are turning to blogging too, as a way of building relationships with their clients and prospects.
A quick digression to explore why blogging has come to prominence – especially in the light of the above statistic about bloggers!
The traditional marketing playbook is broken. Almost everyone – 91 percent, to be precise – has unsubscribed from email lists. Two-out-of-three people (68 percent) who record TV content do so to skip advertisements and, according to DoubleClick, the average click-through rate on display ads is only 0.2 percent. Credits:
That refers to Motorola in 2012 – so neither a small business, nor a recent statistic. What about 18 months on? If a company the size of Motorola isn't finding a decent return on investment for their adverts, how much worse will it be for small businesses with much smaller marketing budgets?
So, when traditional marketing methods are failing to deliver, the smart business person looks for another way to attract and engage their clients.
Blogging Tips For Small Business
It's said that a prospect will need exposure to your marketing message at least seven times before they trust you enough to buy from you. But, instead of having seven low conversion adverts that appear briefly and then are gone, how much more pleasant to receive an interesting newsletter (or in our terms, blog post) into your in-box, with a subtle call to action / special offer embedded?
And remember that newsletter will stay online to attract customers for the rest of its life.
One successful “product” blogger is Tanya Burr. Tanya uses her sumptuous blog to attract millions of viewers with their opinions about beauty and cosmetics products.
The beauty, fashion and lifestyle blogger and vlogger trained in make-up and worked on beauty counters in department stores, but would record YouTube videos after work, using it as a creative outlet to play with all her products. Credits: Beauty bloggers reveal their secret tips to business success – The Guardian
Another top tip is to stay newsworthy, with posts use relevant and trending keywords.
Here's what the Business 2 Community blog has to say:
Stay on top of the news. If there is any news brewing in your industry, you want to comment on it. That way, when consumers take to the search engines to look for information about that development, your blog will be among the results. Credits: 10 Tips for Blogging Success – Business 2 Community (blog)
Blogging Tips From Bloggers
In addition to those using blogging as a secondary aspect of their business – for example Bob the builder posting DIY tips – there are bloggers whose sole aim is to make an income from blogging.
To clarify – Tanya and Bob (above) were running their business first, then added on a blog as a marketing tool. Bloggers such as myself decided to earn an income online and chose blogging as their primary marketing tool.
Among this category of bloggers, my favorite tips are from:
Harleena at Aha!NOW: 5 Basic Steps To Create Your Own Blog
Enstine Muki shows: How 15 Top Bloggers Make Money
Ryan Biddulph has a series of books about blogging on BloggingFromParadise.com/ebooks
Did I Miss Your Best Blog Tips Post?
I'm bound to have missed out several great bloggers – so apologies in advance, and just know that when I next read your blog I'll be kicking myself and thinking – oh no, I missed out xxx.com. So, do us ALL a favor, and if you have one, leave a comment linking to your own “best blog tips”.
Failing that, please comment and share which of these tips is the most important for a successful blog.
Do YOU Want To Make Money Blogging?
On first sight, this looks a bit of a negative post – but let's think positive.
With so many failing bloggers, given time, they're going to quit. Not this week, maybe not this year. But they will quit.
YOU, on the other hand, have persistence and the drive to learn to become a successful blogger.
Follow the tips above and rise above the 81% of bloggers who make less than $100.
Top 100 Blogging Tips For Small Businesses
So, did you count them and find exactly 100 tips?
Duh – you spotted my “fib”. Some of them are double-counts and there weren't exactly 100. Sadly some of great blogs I used to follow have disappeared – but with Ryan Biddulph's ebooks, I'm sure I've delivered more than 100.
You know what it's like….. I had to have an eye-catching title 🙂
