When is a blog not a blog?

A blog post is an article – ideally showcasing your knowledge and experience, showing off your expertise – but it is NOT a sales pitch.

I see blogs on people’s websites that are clearly written for SEO purposes, but there’s where their usefulness stops.

If I search for a specific service and the keywords I use link to a blog that is clearly a sales pitch, with no real value for me, what do you think is going on in my head?

Annoyance?  Because I searched for a service or product and got a lot of keyword-stuffed copy that doesn’t tell me what I need to know.

Frustration?  Because this isn’t the information I was looking for really and I feel I’ve wasted my time.

Boredom?  Because I didn’t need to be told how wonderful your company is, I just want to know if you’ve got what I’m actually looking for.

Disappointment?  Because the copy sounds like it was written by a robot and doesn’t answer the question I needed answered.

Is it likely that I’ll be thinking ‘Whoopee, I needed to be told how wonderful this company is with a lot of clunky copy that isn’t really easy to read?’

And, if someone arrives on your website and goes to your blog for something of value and they get this kind of post, they’ll be gone, never to return.

The other side of the coin

Having said that, a blog post offers valuable opportunities to both the company and the reader.

For the writer it’s an opportunity to share your wisdom and show how well you know your stuff.  This delivers value and is much more likely to grab the reader’s attention and keep them engaged.

For the reader it offers value, knowledge and experience that creates a feeling of getting something of value for nothing.

What a content-rich blog does is provide potential clients with evidence that you are an expert in your field and gives the decision to use your services a boost.  That SEO content isn’t meant to be for human beings and is likely to counter-productive when it comes to attracting potential clients.

And a good blog has a long life

Writing a blog post is only the first use of that content. 

Take some soundbites from your blog post and turn them into social posts – linking back to the blog.  Now more people will discover what a star you are in your industry!

Post the article on LinkedIn as a newsletter – and watch your subscriptions grow.

Post it on Substack as an article and use those social posts as notes to attract subscribers.  Now every time you post a new article all those people will get it in their inbox.

You can also use it as a newsletter that you email out to your list (accompanied by your latest offer or promotion), which means that all those people, who may never otherwise visit your website, get exposure to your expertise.

A blog is never just a blog!

The foundation for your business

Most new businesses emerge from someone’s skill and a belief that they can help other people doing what they love and are expert in.  But, to grow a successful business you need more than passion and dedication.  You need a strong foundation.

Your bank manager will tell you need a business plan – and they want to see numbers.  The kind of business plan a bank wants is only part of an actual business plan.  It’s all very well working out how many sales you need to make to cover the business overheads and pay yourself a salary you can actually survive on, but who are these people who will pay you for your services?

A comprehensive business plan is built on some essential cornerstones.

1: Your ideal client

Who is this person who needs your help?  What are their current problems that you can help them with?  What is it costing them not to fix them?

2: Your offer

How will what you do address their problem?  What changes will they see when you’ve helped them?  What impacts will this have on the bottom line?

3: Connections

How will you find these ideal clients?  Where do they hang out – online and offline?  What do they read/watch/listen to?

4: Systems

Random action results in feast and famine – not a comfortable lifestyle!  What do you have in place to reach out to your ideal clients, get their attention, get to know them and present your solution to their problem?

This might include networking meetings, social media (and you’ll need a workable strategy for that), content generation, PR and a whole range of other activities that bring you into the awareness of people who will either engage your services or become an advocate for you to others.

None of these things are about your core skill – that’s a given, but without these foundation blocks, your business will wobble and be in danger of collapsing.

They’re all part of marketing – and without a good marketing strategy, you don’t have a business!  Marketing encompasses everything from research and development, market research, produce/service creation, customer service, promotion and sales – in fact, it underpins everything your business does.

What does your content do for you?

Your reputation is being shaped in rooms you're not in — by people who've only ever searched your name – or your business’s name.  So what are you doing to ensure that they get the impression you want them to get?

Every time you hit your keyboard, you’re shaping your reputation – whether that’s a headline for your website, a social media post, a blog article or an email (or any number of other written communications).  How much thought goes into those communications – before you hit the post/send/publish button?

No idea?  You need a system

There are dozens of content generation systems out there – and, of course, a variety of AI tools that can help.  My advice – keep it simple, but use a matrix approach to turn one idea into many pieces of content.

A matrix pairs your main skill areas with the subjects that sit under those headings – or with an approach.  So, for example:

Main subject:       Copywriting

Subjects:              Style, tone, written English, using AI, content management

And there are five posts or articles (or podcasts, videos, value-led emails, etc.  right away.

Four more skill areas, with 5 posts each – and you’ve got another 20 posts.

And, I bet you have more than one thing to say about each of those things!  On day 21 revisit your first post and write something else about it.  You’re the expert, share your knowledge and skill.

But I’m giving away my IP for nothing!

This is always the first response I get when I suggest sharing your expertise; “If I tell people how to do it, they won’t need me.”

Yes, there are some people who will try and follow your advice – and a few will succeed, but we’re talking about a tiny percentage.  Why?

Let’s look at it from another perspective.  I’d put money on the fact that you’ve downloaded free giveaways with lots of valuable information – in an area you’re not an expert in.  You intend to read them and take action, but given the choice between what you do best and what you love doing and learning to do something you don’t really want to do – you actually don’t do anything.

You might read through a checklist or document and intend to do something with it – but it never happens.  So, there’s still a gap in your business that you’re not addressing as well as you could. 

What you need is an expert to support you in that area that you’ve been avoiding.  And who better than someone who has already shown they know their stuff?

Does this sound familiar? 

If you’ve been through this process – lots of other people will have too – except the kind of expert they need is you.  The more you demonstrate you know your stuff, the more likely it is that you’ll be the first person they think of when the light dawns that they need your kind of help. If you’re getting brain freeze from the whole idea of content creation – give me a call and let’s see if I can improve on anything AI can produce.

But creating content is hard

If you’re getting brain freeze from the whole idea of content creation – give me a call and let’s see if I can improve on anything AI can produce.