We are likely all feeling refreshed and energized to tackle 2014 with fresh ideas and new ways to market our businesses. Get organized, develop a strategic plan, establish a budget, focus on operational improvements…and commit to writing a blog…suddenly I lost you.

And if I tell you all the reasons you should, you likely will stop reading. So let’s approach this dreaded topic a different way; let’s agree that no one looks forward to a writing a blog, keeping it updated, thinking of the topic and being relevant only to have to turn around and do it again. I am with you completely, in fact my blog this month is going to be about dreading blogging.  I have yet to be introduced to someone who looks forward to writing a blog for business. Personal blogs are different—they are updated, commented on, shared and speak straight to the heart. Why is there such a difference? Well, I contend it’s because we are approaching the entire issue of the professional blog the wrong way.

Making It Simple

Gone are the days of long business blogs. Let go of the burden to drone on and on about a riveting topic that will leave the audience hanging on every word and frame the post to reflect on it daily. The best way to approach a blog with freedom and to have the time to maintain it is to follow these 5 simple rules:

  1. Keep is short and simple—one topic, three paragraphs and be done. Do not aim to exhaust a topic, just cover one angle. Bulleted lists, top 3, top 5, top 10 lists are great ways to structure a blog and make it easier to read and simple to scan. Discipline yourself to take no longer than 20 minutes to write the blog post.
  2. Generate ideas from everyday business—I recognize that writing it is only part of the problem; thinking of what to write about is the bigger issue for many. Consider all the material that surrounds you. If there is a question that you get from clients and prospects regarding your profession, write about that. If there is a local or national issue that is on the minds of your clients and prospects and you have an angle on it, write about that. Consider what services your clients are buying the most right now and why they are doing so and write about that.
  3. Repurpose material within your business—often material that is blog-worthy is sitting right under our nose. A colleague just did a presentation or wrote an article. You just completed a proposal for a prospective project. Or a team member completed a unique project with new discoveries and lessons learned. Incorporate the blogging task into a marketing/management meeting to share potential material that can be revised for your blog.
  4. Split it up—if there is only one person responsible for the blog, it has the potential to seem daunting and, as a result, tendency to get stale and left unattended. If you can find several people to write a blog entry one or two times a year, it not only brings new topics, but a fresh perspective and spreads the responsibility to the benefit of your blog.
  5. Solicit feedback and ideas—When you are writing a blog, do not write it like it’s an article. Instead, approach it like it is a conversation with ideas, quotes from others and questions. By doing this, you are giving your blog character and opening up the conversation to feedback and new topic ideas. Give the readers a teaser of what’s to come next, add photos, reference and hyperlink to other clients and other practices to get the reader pulled in to the blog more directly and get comments and sharing going.

Blog does not need to be a four-letter word. By making the commitment to blog in 2014 and using practices that will keep it updated will produce many positive results and benefit your business in ways you might not expect. Happy Blogging!

View More Blogs

October 4, 2023
Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality Augmented Reality (AR) merges the digital world with real-world elements, enabling users to control their presence within the environment. In our industry, AR o...
Read More
September 22, 2023
Learning and Development Learning and Development (L&D) is a highly effective process that plays a crucial role in enhancing employees' skills, knowledge, and capabilities, which in turn leads ...
Read More