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Friday
April 23, 2010

Are You Committed to Your Blog?

Filed under: Tips and Tricks

I finally got to watch an entire movie start to finish last week. If you are a working parent, you know how tough this is. Someone is either hogging the box with Elmo or ICarly (my husband) or you are so exhausted by the end of the day you just can’t keep your eyes open.

The movie was Julie & Julia with Meryl Streep who was a spot-on Julia Child. The story is about Julie Powell who blogged every day for an entire year as she made recipes from the Julia Child cookbook. The blog was obviously successful, proving that anyone with compelling, relevant content can be a digital publisher. What impressed me most was her absolute commitment to her blog.

It’s a piece of cake to get a blog site live with the free online software that is available such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com. You can literally have your blog live in minutes without a web designer. It’s the actual act of blogging that is the hard part. A blog is a long term commitment and the key to sustainability is passion. You need to throw yourself into maintaining a blog or you need to have a dedicated person assigned to update the blog for your business. Or, maybe it’s just not the right time to start a blog.

When you commit to a blog, the payoff can be huge. An established blog with a collection of articles referencing your business shows that you are the expert in your field and builds trust. As you continue to document your experiences, you are building an accessible, centralized location. You can refer customers to your blog on past articles about events, case studies, products and programs that worked. One of the biggest payoffs is that relevant content and links are picked up on search engines. Your blog becomes a vehicle to your web site so
make sure you are linking to the relevant pages on your web site when blogging.

Set a goal
You will need to set realistic expectations for when your blog will be updated on a routine basis. A daily update is just unthinkable. Even monthly is aggressive. Remember you want to have valuable content for your customers. Every other month may be the timing that works for you. Once you set your goal, add it to your calendar and block off time to meet your deadlines.

Stay on Schedule
If you are not a self starter as Julie Powell, you may need something or someone to push you to get your blog updated. I have a few persistent coworkers that kindly remind (nag endlessly) when my blog, the Inside Scoop, needs to be updated. I whine, I grumble, I feel guilty, I grab a cup of very strong coffee, I write. Same thing happens every month but it gets done.

Find a Friend with a Red Pen
After writing, I always have someone read the article before it’s published. There are always tweaks either with messaging or grammar. Have a friend review your article to get feedback. Is it compelling? Is it too long? They may also have additional ideas for a future blog.  

Market your Blog
The LogoMall Inside Scoop is both an email newsletter and a blog. So when a new article is posted on the blog, we send out the Inside Scoop newsletter that includes other value added features such as New Suppliers to LogoMall, What’s on Special and Featured Products. You can easily and inexpensively create an email in a newsletter format featuring your blog article using an online marketing service such as RatePoint.

Bonus topics for you to kick start your blog
Blog about tradeshows or conferences you attended and take pictures to post. “I just got back from our industry tradeshow in (New York) where I found 3 great new product ideas for your next promotion that I wanted to share.”

Blog about upcoming events. “Back to school is right around the corner and it is time to start planning. We have great ideas for your school fundraisers and events. Last year, we created a program for Lion Elementary and they had their best fundraiser year ever. Here’s how…”

Blog about your vacation or day-to-day amusements and relate it back to your business. “This weekend my family and I went to my husband’s company picnic. The food was less than memorable but what made an impression on me was the great use of promotional products with the company’s logo.”

If you have a blog for your business, please send me a link at kcoates@asicentral.com. I would love to read your stories.