By Mikela Dennison
Have you ever considered blogging for your business? Lots of people spend their working day writing reports, emails, proposals and internal communications, but fewer dedicate time to publishing original content online.
This post will explore three compelling reasons to do business blogging – feel free to add any ideas or suggestions you have.
1. Hone your writing skills
Blogging is a helpful habit to get into in order to improve and hone your business writing skills. Striking the right tone is just as important as the content you include, so take care to think about your audience and the tone that is most appropriate.
Because of the nature of blogs, the length can vary from a short paragraph to accompany a shared news article, to a more extended post complete with links and images. One of the keys to maintaining a good blog is knowing when to post a short, succinct piece and when to go for the more in-depth article. Your audience will thank you for it.
Blogging also allows you to communicate with your audience on a more informal and conversational level, so you can be more fluid in your writing style.
Remember, blogging is a distinctive style of communication, so if you are more used to writing technical reports and proposals then it can be useful to spend time looking at other blogs and identify the common elements so that you can use it as a guide when you are drafting your own posts
2. Blog regularly and see the results
Some ardent bloggers will be active in the online community and post several times a day.
For others, aiming for a weekly post is a realistic and achievable goal.
The trick to making a blog interesting and engaging for readers is to create high quality content, post regularly, and make sure you respond to any comments so your readers understand they are taking part in an ongoing conversation.
With the real-time nature of blogging and social media, it is easier than ever before to react to current events, announcement and changes.
If you want to post about an important business announcement, or a breaking news story, the immediacy of blogging is paramount. Being responsive and up to date will mean your blog has fresh content that readers will want to keep an eye on.
If time is an issue, you can always contract the writing of your blog outside of your business. This means you can get on with running your business, while someone else fosters and sustains a community around your brand.
If you choose to do this, make sure the writer has a thorough understanding of your business, and understands the aims, direction and overall philosophy of your company so they are connecting with the right audiences in the right way, and with the right messages.
3. Create an online community around your brand
It can be tempting to think of the online space as a network of isolated people sitting behind a screen.
But increasingly, the online space and the unique groups that operate and communicate within it are being defined as online communities. This is an important distinction and a key concept to remember when you are trying to start an online conversation around your brand.
Like any functioning community, the online community needs to be maintained, looked after, and responded to in order to grow and thrive. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
Have you ever considered blogging for your business? Lots of people spend their working day writing reports, emails, proposals and internal communications, but fewer dedicate time to publishing original content online.
This post will explore three compelling reasons to do business blogging – feel free to add any ideas or suggestions you have.
1. Hone your writing skills
Blogging is a helpful habit to get into in order to improve and hone your business writing skills. Striking the right tone is just as important as the content you include, so take care to think about your audience and the tone that is most appropriate.
Because of the nature of blogs, the length can vary from a short paragraph to accompany a shared news article, to a more extended post complete with links and images. One of the keys to maintaining a good blog is knowing when to post a short, succinct piece and when to go for the more in-depth article. Your audience will thank you for it.
Blogging also allows you to communicate with your audience on a more informal and conversational level, so you can be more fluid in your writing style.
Remember, blogging is a distinctive style of communication, so if you are more used to writing technical reports and proposals then it can be useful to spend time looking at other blogs and identify the common elements so that you can use it as a guide when you are drafting your own posts
2. Blog regularly and see the results
Some ardent bloggers will be active in the online community and post several times a day.
For others, aiming for a weekly post is a realistic and achievable goal.
The trick to making a blog interesting and engaging for readers is to create high quality content, post regularly, and make sure you respond to any comments so your readers understand they are taking part in an ongoing conversation.
With the real-time nature of blogging and social media, it is easier than ever before to react to current events, announcement and changes.
If you want to post about an important business announcement, or a breaking news story, the immediacy of blogging is paramount. Being responsive and up to date will mean your blog has fresh content that readers will want to keep an eye on.
If time is an issue, you can always contract the writing of your blog outside of your business. This means you can get on with running your business, while someone else fosters and sustains a community around your brand.
If you choose to do this, make sure the writer has a thorough understanding of your business, and understands the aims, direction and overall philosophy of your company so they are connecting with the right audiences in the right way, and with the right messages.
3. Create an online community around your brand
It can be tempting to think of the online space as a network of isolated people sitting behind a screen.
But increasingly, the online space and the unique groups that operate and communicate within it are being defined as online communities. This is an important distinction and a key concept to remember when you are trying to start an online conversation around your brand.
Like any functioning community, the online community needs to be maintained, looked after, and responded to in order to grow and thrive. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
- Respond to comment from your readers
- Comment on other blogs and link back to your own blog or website
- Make an effort to like, share and seek out good posts online
- Find and connect with likeminded people, customers, suppliers, or people you would like to be involved with your business
- Share information that will be interesting and helpful for your readers; they will be more likely to keep coming back to your blog if they have found it to be useful in the past
- Blogging creates real opportunities for feedback and connections through comments and social sharing of posts
- Integrate your blog with social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ to spread the reach of your content into a wider online community.