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  • The complete guide on how to write a business blog

    The complete guide on how to write a business blogBefore you start writing blogs for business you need a plan. Below are each of the areas you need to think about before you start writing your blogs:

    What audience am I trying to reach?

    Are you a "Business to Customer (B2C)" based business and trying to reach the public or are you "Business to Business (B2B)"? It's important to know this from the start because it will decide what you write and where you share your blog. Here's some questions to ask yourself to help identify what audience you want to reach:

    Who would love to do business with you?

    If you asked your Accountant who are the 20% of clients than provide 80% of income what would they tell you? Here's some examples:

    • For a printing company this might be a business with 20 empoyees instead or the sole trader. 
    • For a motel it might be the contractors that stay regularly rather than the casual tourist. 
    • For hairdressers it may be a wedding party instead of casual haircuts.
    • For a coporate it may not even be their direct clients but the businesses that refer them to other businesses.


    Who would benefit from your knowledge? Here's some examples:

    • Would students benefit from your blogs and want to end up working for you or refer you to others?
    • Would smaller businesses benefit from your blogs and want to use your services or refer you?
    • Would the general public benefit from your blogs and help make you the authority in your industry?
    • Would Government or EDAs benefit from your blogs and purchase from you or refer you?

    Is your audience leaning forward?

    What does my audience want from me?

    The most important thing about your blog is to create content that your audience wants. I get really annoyed when someone shares their blog with me on Facebook or Linkedin and it's not good content but is a sales pitch. That's like being invited to a friend's party and not engaging in conversation but instead trying to sell something to everyone without their permission. When starting a blog think of it like starting you own TV station. Does your audience want no-stop ads or do they want news, drama, horror or education? It's probably the latter.

    What are my goals for this blog?

    For most businesses the most important goal is making sales but don't think of your blog like an advertisment or an offer think of it like foot traffic. The more great content you create; the more foot traffic you get to your website of people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. They'll read your blog but they will also followup on offers made on your website. Here's some examples of goals for a blog:

    • Engage with more businesses to illustrate that we are the leaders in our industry. This helps build trust with them so when they do need our product or service we'll be on their short list. 
    • Educate students and smaller businesses so they can grow and/or work with us. This is a long term approach but it really works to create advocates for your business.
    • Educate my customers on the latest trends so they know what is available. 
    • Entertain followers so they share my blog with thier friends
    • Inform followers of upcoming events that are important to them so they'll share the events which will increase my followers and also stay subscribed to my blog to keep updated.


    What should I write about?

    Now that you know who your audience is and what they want, choosing what to write about becomes a lot easier. At a minimum you should be writing at least one blog a month but if you want more reach (more foot traffic) you could easily increase it to once a week. Select as many of these blog categories that you can write about for your business:

    Upcoming events

    • For an Accountant this could be Annual Returns so you could write a blog on how to make the process easier.
    • A hairdresser could be preparing for an annual compeition so you could write a series of blogs explaining what your doing and showing photos of the different stages.
    • A Motel might write blogs about local sporting, music or food events and provide helpful links for what customers could do whilst visiting.
    • A computer retail company could promote the launch of the latest gadgets.


    News

    Identify some news items that are important to your industry and then share those in a blog that is focussed to your audience. For example:

    • Global warming becomes a main issue in the news so you write a blog about your businesses green policy and how you implimented it.
    • You just got a new client so you write about what you did for them and how you solved their problem.
    • You get a new staff member so you write a blog that introduces their skills and experience. 
    • You win an award so you write why you won it.


    Industry ViewsViews

    As an industry leader you have views on pretty much everything in your industry. Why not write about them? Here's some examples:

    • How your industry could benefit by copying what another industry has done.
    • How you've optimised processes in your own industry.
    • What the future of your industry is going to be.
    • How you developed your business to where it is today.
    • Recommendations of why you use different suppliers.
    • Polls that ask what others think should happen in your industry.
    • Interviews with people or customers in your industry like this one.


    Howtos

    I write lots of HOWTOs because they not only make great blog content but I can also use them as Standard Operating Procedures for my business. You can also reverse that process and take your present SOPs and turn them into blogs. Here's some examples:


    Tips

    One of the easiest and most effective blogs to write are quick tips. To come up with ideas ask yourself:

    • What are clients always asking me?
    • What can I see other businesses doing wrong that I could help them with?
    • What benefit can I show that will be irrisistable to readers?
    • If you already have Frequently Asked Questions on your website can you turn any of them into a blog article?

    Here's some examples of mine:


    Video Blog

    You can also video blog. Most people have smart phones or screen recorders and can easily upload video to YouTube and videos seem to get a lot more clicks when you share them on social networks. Here's an example of the last video blog I did: 

    CTA at End

    At the end of your blog put a simple Call to Action (C2A) making an offer to the reader. Remember, the blog isn't the offer.  It's the foot traffic that leads to the offer.  Here's some examples:

    • FOLLOW us on LinkedIN to get weekly updates on how to improve your business online
    • Contact us for a free consultation
    • Refer this blog to a friend
    • Industry event specials
    • Download free guide

    Now share

    Now you need to let people know about your blog. Here's some ideas on how to share it:

    1. Email the link to all of your clients.
    2. Share the blog on your social networks such as LinkedIN or Facebook and get your staff to LIKE it so it is shared with their networks.
    3. Share the blog in your E-Newsletter.
    4. Share your video blog on YouTube.
    5. Add a blog link to your website Home Page.

    Brynn Neilson About
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