Business blogging, or what has now been coined as content marketing, has increasingly become a good source of networking for businesses. As I sit here, ready to write my first blog post of 2014, I am aware of how difficult it is to constantly provide valuable information that will be relevant for 3H’s target audience and potential business partners.
The 3Hhoopla Blog and content generation was our priority for the year 2013. We have achieved a visibility among peers and that was no easy task. Creating content was at the forefront of our initiatives as was leveraging that content on our Facebook Page and Twitter community…. and more specifically our LinkedIn group. This took time and effort, but well worth both.
Here are some good business blogging blockbusters that have enabled us to overcome the forever blinking cursor waiting for the start of a thought! Hope these help!
Be mindful:
Be ready to note ideas… anywhere… anytime. It used to be that you needed a pen and notepad by your bed, just in case you had a great idea. Not so today. Mobile devices and the ease of note-taking has never been easier. Be prepared and open to see anything from a conversation to a client question to an internal discussion with colleagues as material for blog content. Be prepared to also capture those thoughts somewhere…anywhere for future reference.
Develop a process:
It’s important to develop a process in which you prepare yourself to write. Writing isn’t easy for everyone… so why make it any harder? Create an environment which you will be able to get down and write with limited amount of interruption. Yes, this does sound like meditation and in fact, I do believe it is. Once you create a process and environment which you initiate a few times, your mind will be aware of the cues, making it easier for you to focus and write.
Create thought paragraphs:
When you do start writing, allow yourself to go off on tangents.I know this goes against many other recommendations: you definitely need to establish the premise of your content, however, sometimes by letting go and writing instinctively, a blog post will write itself. Create what I term to be “thought paragraphs”. Thanks to technology, it’s easy to copy and paste and juggle thought statements to develop a cohesive blog post.
Checklist your keywords:
Content creation for brands and businesses must be focused. It’s not just about writing. It’s about establishing your business, brand or product on the horizon of the internet. It’s about getting found. Establish your basic premise and focus on the keywords that speak to the basic premise of your business. List them and always go back to these words and create a list of secondary keywords that are relevant to the primary keywords. This will enable you to establish a checklist to evaluate each blog post to make sure that they build on your overall content marketing strategy.
Hopefully these tips will be handy for your business content in 2014!
In today’s competitive market, businesses must get found. Once found they must be perceived as keeping up with the ever-changing business environment. Business content marketing enables businesses to have the right first impression.
Striving for top of mind business and brand awareness is critical within an increasingly fragmented media space. Social Media has allowed everyone to become a publisher of content. So to keep pace within this competitive environment, businesses must publish content.
However, it’s difficult for most businesses that offer services to feel “comfortable” creating content that provides a valuable ROI. Business content marketing is no easy task. More often than not, it requires skill sets that some businesses don’t typically use.
Here’s a 5 step process that will help you maximize your efforts for business content marketing:
Think about your business.
Yes, this sounds simple. But the actual process of writing down the services you offer and why clients should choose your business will help provide you with a business platform. This platform will be the basis for all your business content creation.
Think about your sales process.
What are the concerns and questions that your potential clients and customers ask? What are the major roadblocks that your sales process currently faces? Often, the day-to-day sales operations offer a wealth of relevant subject material. When broken down, it can provide content creation ideas. It has been my experience that just one question can garner two or three different content references on the same subject.
Find the key phrases and keywords.
Within the questions that potential clients ask, there are a substantial number of keywords that you can access for search engine efficiency. Armed with these keywords or key phrases, assess them with Google Keyword Planner or other keyword search tools. Google Keyword Planner, or Market Samurai (which is the one 3H uses), provide information on monthly keyword searches as well as other related, relevant keywords on the subject. Choose a maximum of five words to be included in each article written.
Hire a writer to create content.
It is essential to have a well written article to place your business above that of your competition. It’s about all about establishing credibility and expertise. Remember to enrich business content creation with keywords to increase the efficiency of your efforts. Not only will you be providing good content, but you’ll be adding strength to your SEO initiatives. In order to create relevant business content that also promotes SEO, hire a professional.
Double up on your efforts.
Make sure that the article written aims to establish a rapport with those reading your business content. Lastly, be sure to include a call to action at the end of each article. This will aid in lead generation and creating an integrated sales approach.
I remember the days when WordPress was young and Matt Mullenweg was just starting to kick out one of the most exciting and user-friendly ways to run a blog and self-host it. Then it got real beautiful and super exciting because the open source community embraced it. Developer and designers a-like, believed that if you enhance a platform for the love of it and to improve it for all, more people will use it. They were more then correct on that assumption, they were dead on. WordPress has evolved into a robust CMS (Content Management System) which is being utilized by a variety of different businesses and individuals. I personally have grown up using it, developing and deploying it for clients and I am a huge supporter of the WordPress movement. It was great to hear one of the co-creators share on the history and future of the platform. To read and see the address head over to WordPress – State of the Word 2011 or view it below.
