Find Your Purpose - Part 7 – To Blog or not to Blog, that is the question!
To Blog or not to Blog, that is the question!
Well to blog of course! And here’s why:
First and foremost, blogging is very popular in the online world.
Blogs are very easy to set up and you do not have to do a huge amount of work to set up your own blog. All the resources you will need are at your virtual fingertips online. If you have a Google account, you can simply make a blog with http://blogger.com.
If you are targeting other businesses, its simplicity itself to create an article (blog) on LinkedIn.com, the world’s largest social media platform for business professionals and with over 600 million users. LinkedIn is well understood as a platform for professional seeking new career opportunities, but what is perhaps less well know is that it is a massive blogging platform in its own right. Just go to your home page, click write an article, add a banner photo and off you go, your blog can be written and published in minutes!
If you plan to make blogging a key component of your marketing strategy, then you may wish to consider some of these other popular blogging platforms:
- WordPress.org self-hosted version is perfect for all kinds of blogs, but mostly for those who are serious about blogging.
- WordPress.com is a blog site hosting service. You can get a free blog with basic features. It can be a great starting point for testing the water with your blogs without incurring any costs or needing a domain.
- Wix.com allows you to put together your web presence via drag and drop and comes with blogging ability that you can add to your site.
These platforms (with the exception of WordPress.com) all generally require you to have your own domain registered and vary in features from simply posting blogs to building your own website which incorporates blogs. Whilst entry level options are free of charge, you will probably need to invest in a paid plan to get the most bang for your buck out of blogging.
Here are some tips that you need to follow to make your blogs a part of your profitable marketing strategy, in other words, to turn your passion into profits:
➊ Follow own instinct about what to blog. Write about topics that you feel passionate about and you will meet with a positive response.
➋ Consider topics that will generate a conversation. For example, pose a question at the end of your blog that readers can respond to. This encourages more people to comment on what you are writing about, which will in turn increase the footfall your blog gets and the additional engagement will help you get good search engine rankings as well.
➌ Keep your blogging updated. A cadence of at least 2-3 blog posts a week is what you should aim for.
➍ Use methods such as RSS feeds so that people know whenever there is something new posted on your blog and they will come automatically.
➎ Make it a habit to visit other blogs of similar subjects, make posts on them and give your link there. This brings in more people to your blog and increases levels of engagement.
➏ Similar to the last point, post links to your blog on your Social Media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn (if you didn’t host your blog on LinkedIn to start with) and Twitter. You can also target special interest groups on these platforms to better target your intended readership.
