Ideas for building a blog for your business

Our blog has been operational now for a year and have seen our readership grow consistently over time. From a few readers a week to tens to hundreds. It has taken us some time to discover why our viewer statistics would roller-coaster and growth was not consistent. Here is the little we have learned so far.

1. Have a theme…You are trying to reach current and potential customers or specific groups then the topic should be something that relates to their field or industry. We look at general business, economics topics as well as industry specific trends. This is because we target business leaders and the pipe and fitting industry.

2. Blog often…You want readers, make sure you give them something to read and you must be consistent. A few weeks ago we had a large amount of visitors and did not blog consistently. This was seen in a quick decline in our site statistics.

3. Promote your blog…We use our website, facebook page and linked-in for example. It is important to not just highlight the blog in general but also specific articles. Make sure if you are posting to groups you post to the right groups as well.

4. Edit your blog…Take the time to re-read and look for errors or poor grammar. If you do not your readers will and they will quickly let you know your errors. This reflects not just on the writer but on the business as a whole.

5. Be personal and professional…You are representing a business but readers want to hear from you and your experiences. Yes it has impacted the whole business but your reader is an employee, leader and person and they want to know how you dealt with the issue as well this gives them a more personal insight on an issue they may have to or had to face themselves.

6. Be open but be careful…To be interesting you must share something personal but for the health of your business you can not share too much. Trade secrets, business opportunities and other high level information could be deadly to your business, do not provide your competitors with an advantage because they are likely reading as well.

7. Be a salesmen not a pitchmen…Yes the reader knows you are a business, but they come for information and not just a sales pitch. If they want to buy something then they will go to your website or call. Use your blog to provide more then a product, instead offer an experience.

There are so many other items you need to run a success blog that is part of your business, but remember the readers are customers and your articles are their product. If you have other items to be add we would be happy to hear them

Cheers,

Lorne