Blogging Your Business
When you run a blog for your business, it is a world of difference from running a personal blog. You not only need to engage readers but you need to provide them with content that is relative to your goal of promoting and/or selling products and services, be it for your own offerings or otherwise. You also need to be consistent, a regular voice and regular postings, and encourage comments. Comments generate a feeling of community for your company’s blog, provide proof that the blog is being read, and frequently contain useful information for your reader.
In order to stimulate your company’s blog, keep the following objectives in mind.
1. Ask questions.
End your posts with a question or an invitation for readers to comment on how they approach the subject. People are more likely to post a comment when requested and it one of the best ways to invoke a discussion.
2. Focus your postings.
You should create focused postings with useful content, not ramblings or personal interpretations; it is a business blog. Keep your postings focused on one precise subject and try to write more on subjects that have generated greater response from readers.
3. Link out.
By providing links to other sites, ideally your own satellite sites, you “share” with the reader. Even if it is just an interesting piece, your readers will appreciate it and your blog can become more relevant to them, and thus more frequently read and talked about.
4. Recognize comments.
If one of your readers leaves a comment with interesting information or a keen insight, comment on it. You may also want to circulate the comment through social media, such as Twitter or Facebook. Doing so shows your readers that you actually care about their comments and may generate new readers for your blog.
5. Never force it.
Inasmuch as your postings should be regular, do not make the mistake of posting just to fill your weekly quota; it is obvious and unprofessional. Instead, post when inspiration strikes. If your inspiration happens to strike several times in one day, write the posts and save them for the next day, week or whatever your trarget posting frequency is.
6. Mix it up sometimes.
While you should keep your blog focused, remember there are several areas of focus that are relevant to your business that you could discuss. You do not just have your business; you have the industry it operates in, the products or services it offers, the administration of your business, the unique uses of your offerings, consumer trends relevant to your offerings, etc. Think about reading the news; there are a variety of topics that are relevant to you and your business. By broadening your focus, you provide readers with a spherical view of your business and its place in the market, not to mention a wealth of issues to comment on.
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I agree and disagree. You want to engage your readers on a personal level like you do in your own blog. The fact that your profiting shouldn’t drive you to using trickery to get them to return. If it’s interesting, they will come back. Thanks for the well written article.