It takes time to generate a great blog. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to monetise it. In fact, there’s no guarantee you’ll find your audience. So why bother? Here are three reasons:
- Writing a regular blog is a great way to “put your stall out”: When people visit your site, a blog will help them understand who you are, how you think, what you do, and what makes you tick. It gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise.
- The more you write, the more refined your thinking will become: Writing a series of blogs on a particular topic or service you provide, for instance, forces clarity. Think about this… when you speak about your business, you’re allowed to waffle, drift off the point and come back to it. That’s conversation. But writing demands clarity. When you aren’t clear about what you want to say, it’s hard to put words in the right order. The great thing is that the more you write, the clearer your ideas will become, and the more eloquent you’ll be when you speak about your business.
- Instead of treating your blog like a checkbox exercise you have to do weekly, daily or monthly, view it as a constantly growing body of knowledge. The more value you include in your blog, the more likely your audience will find you and stay with you. So instead of writing aimless copy swiped from a dozen other sites, be creative, be real, be honest. Think about what you want to say. Write something new and original. Ask yourself this: If someone finds your article in a year, would you be happy they did? Would it add value to their day? Would they learn something? Would it be useful?
In short…
- Show people who you are and what you do.
- Use your blog to refine your ideas.
- Build a useful body of knowledge that’ll add to the lives of your clients and customers.
All this contributes to the growth of your reputation which leads to the growth of your business.
Here are three mistakes bloggers make…
- They only write about themselves: You’ve seen these blogs before – they’re filled with stories about their achievements, their breakfast, their day, their kids, their lives, their ups, their downs… Reading about someone else’s life gets dull fast. The first blog might be mildly entertaining, but after that, you’ll want something more useful. Using personal stories is great, but if that’s all you do, without a segue to how your story can help your reader, then you’ll lose your audience.
- They don’t have a purpose: One of the main reasons people quit their blog too soon is they didn’t start out with a purpose. If your purpose is to go viral, you’ll write a certain type of blog and fill it with the type of content likely to make people stop and stare. If your purpose is to create a quality body of knowledge, you’ll have different expectations. So be realistic, know why you’re writing a blog, then stick to it.
- They follow trends and copy what other folk are doing: It’s OK to model your blog on other bloggers. Or to use stats and ideas from other blogs. But overall, what’s the point if you’re not doing something original? You are a human being with a unique view of the world. Share it. What are YOUR views and opinions? What do YOU think?
If you have a purpose, commit to your blog, and keep on writing content that means something, your blog and your audience will grow. It’s a long-haul game. If you go in looking for quick wins and instant hits, you’ll almost certainly be disappointed. But if you commit to creating something new and original, you will have an opportunity, with every post, to build a great body of knowledge people will come back to over and over.
If you want more on how to work out what to write, I’ve posted an article on LinkedIn called: “How Simplicity and Clarity Gets You the Attention You Want”. Drop in there and enjoy.
If you need help with your blog, I’d love to hear from you! Get in touch via LinkedIn or visit TinaKonstant.com
