30 Tips On How To Make Your Company's Blog Rock
Writing an article for your company blog is not for everyone. Just trying to come up with ideas for the blog can be a challenge. At the end of the day there is one important element that is absolutely essential and its name is “Passion” with a capital P…. I couldn’t write about cooking, it bores me. ….Putting pen to paper about gardening would turn me to drink. So there you have it, it’s the one core ingredient required or else your blogging journey will not be a lifetime adventure but just a weekend away.
So you have the passion, you can spell, you don’t mind writing a few sentences and your grammar ain’t half bad, so what’s next. Well it helps to create the right mood, the right eco-system to help facilitate a creative writing head space.
Over at the inspiring Zen Habits blog to which I have my Google reader plugged into, I came upon an article titled “9 simple ways you can bring yourself into flow” which provided some great strategies on how to get into creative flow for writing. The 9 ways are below in simple format
- Pick a enjoyable, challenging activity – this means passion
- Eliminate distraction
- Think before you do
- Isolate yourself
- Let go
- Give yourself a time limit
- Keep moving
- Don’t think
- Practice
So we have laid the platform for a creative blog writing environment, what are some tips on keeping that blog post cupboard full of ideas and your company’s blog pumping out great content that will change your business.
1. Industry News – whats happening this week, this month
2. Industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments
3. Customers Pain Points – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers problems
4. Customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project, they will often let you publish their name
5. What not to do – highlighting where something hasn’t worked (the names shall remain anonymous of course)
6. Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you and the client
7. Write articles for the different types of customers that are relevant for each of your vertical markets
8. Brainstorm blog post topics with colleagues and management and create a list for future reference and planning
9. Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and personal blogs for ideas
10. Look through your latest news releases for ideas
11. Sign up other staff to write on topics in your industry or market that they are passionate about
12. Develop a series of how to blog posts
13. Turn the “how to” blog posts into short videos
14. When you have a great idea, go straight to your “add new” button and write the headline and save it as a draft or write it down before you forget it.
15. Include a great iconic image at the start of the blog that catches the eye
16. Case Studies are always popular to write about and not just your own
17. Place Powerpoint presentations on your blog by posting and then embedding links from Slideshare
18. Run polls and surveys on your blog
19. Create great headlines that catch people attention and makes them want to read the rest of the article
20. Add credbility banners such as how many subscribers, number of hits, blog grade and any awards
21. Provide “share this” buttons to Facebook and Twitter as a minimum
22. Implement “subscribe” buttons via RSS and Email
23. Write in bite size chunks and use bullet points so readers can quickly and easy consumption
24. Break up large blocks of text with iconic and interesting images
25. Take screen shots to place in your post using Software like Snagit to highlight points .. a picture is worth a 1000 words
26. Be yourself even if it is a company blog.. be authentic.
27. Optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
28. Promote and distribute your posts on to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
29. Make the blog easy to find on your company’s web page with a large bannner or button
30. Finally, have fun, mix up the types of posts and add some humour occasionally
What makes your blog rock? Look forward to hearing your suggestions
54 Responses to “30 Tips On How To Make Your Company's Blog Rock”
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Great tips, as always Jeff. I certainly get blocked on ideas sometimes but you’re absolutely right, if you don’t have a passion for what you are doing, how can you possibly write about it?
Thanks
Michelle @Synthesio
Jeff these are all great tips – We are in the process of starting our first blog at my company and it can seem to be an impossible task to get started on. Thanks for the pointers and if you have any deep little secrets I always have an ear to the ground!
Great list of 30. I would also add: “Try your hat at a guest blogger or two.” This could add credibility to your site as well, especially if the person is influential in his/her space.
Excellent comment! I know a dozen friends to ask! Many thanks.
Dave.
Great list, Jeff. I’ve been doing these for Fearless Competitor — daily updates. And its popularity has grown by leaps and bounds.
Jeff Ogden, President
Find New Customers
http://www.findnewcustomers.net
http://www.fearlesscompetitor.com
Nice article..I tell my friend to read this and bookmark..
Nice article..I tell my friend to read this and bookmark..
This is great. We’ve been working on revamping our VERY new blog (for the German American Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit that aids businesses from Germany to enter the US market) and its been a lot of back and forth as to how to go about it. This has been distributed to everyone working on the project
Thanks Jeff!
Good list. I just shared it with all of my clients who have blogs. Hopefully it will help them with inspiration the next time they don’t know what to write!
A few other ideas that work really well for us:
1. Ask your readers what they want you to write about
2. Let your readers pimp their own blogs in your comments section (we’re going to do this on Thursday of this week)
3. Ask questions
4. Create contests (which goes along with your poll/survey idea)
5. Install the SEO All In One pack on your WordPress blog
6. Use StumbleUpon and AllTop to increase your readership
7. Create content for Associated Content by republishing your blog posts there (it helps with readership and news outlets will republish your content on their sites)
Let’s see if I can come up with three more to round out to 10. Hmmm…
8. Comment on other blogs and news articles to show your thinking/expertise, but also link people back to your blog
9. Make sure, when you use Twitter to promote your blog post, that you’re tweeting about it more than once a day
10. Subscribe to SmartBrief newsletters, RSS feeds, and Google alerts in order to find ideas for new content (that’s how I found this blog!)
Gini,
Thanks for the follow up suggestions, I found these very helpful as well. Can I ask you, how would you use StumpleUpon and AllTop to increase your readership?
Thanks,
@adamsokoloff
Hey Adam! We post ALL of our content on StumbleUpon, AllTop, Associated Content, and Delicious and it helps immensely both with SEO and with finding new readers. You really don’t have to do much more than that.
Great points. I tried to share this with others I thought might be interested, but couldn’t find the share this app.
Excellent, authentic list very suitable for sharing! Well done.
Great list – I will add this to my social media strategy list and pass on
Love your work
Very informative post, Jeff . Thanks
fabulous information Jeff, I guess for me what’s been challenging is I’m a photographer, I feel that most want to see my images in order to hire me and seek out my personality.
My goal for this year is to add more informative content on hiring the right photographer.
Hi Jeanne,
Also, in the meta tags for your photos, make sure the labels/words are what you want them to be – search engines can’t “read” photos, only the labels/meta tags.
All the best,
Dave
Jeff, terrific article! I have been searching for some biz blogging inspiration and this is it! Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to implement…..now I just have to turn off the TV
Wow, great ideas…..I was just blogging to others about the time it takes to keep track of everything.
@Jeanne I am also a photographer and it is difficult to know what to focus on in blog posts that are not showing off my latest work. I will try recruiting guest bloggers who are in the wedding field. Since my target audience consists of brides, hope it works!
This is a great article!
Wonderful suggestions and definitely some food for thought (although I am just a lowly mommy blogger of sorts). I came over via Gini Dietrich’s tweet.
Thanks for helping us newbies out!
I am going to be practicing your preaching! Thanks so much for the ideas and insight!
Jeff, this post provides outstanding fodder for blog idea generation and since I’m in the process of starting a blog, it gives me a great head start. THANKS!
Great list! I will keep these in mind for our blog. I would just add to try and be consistent when posting your blogs. This way your readers know when to come back for more! This is something we are working hard at…www.verndale.com/ourthinking