How does a blog help your reputation?

 

Most small business owners have heard that ‘blogging is good’, but are a bit woolly about the benefits!  These are just a handful of reasons why you should write and publish your expertise regularly.

Your blog showcases your knowledge

Sharing your expertise provides validation for potential clients that you know your stuff.  If they’re looking for your kind of help and they have a couple of names that are unknown entities, reading your blog articles can give you an edge over potential competitors.

Your blog helps readers to understand your take on your specialism

Everyone is different – and not every customer or supplier is a good fit.  Most people who have been in business a few years have experienced trying to work with the customer from hell; and yet another provider has got on well with them.  Reading your blog will give potential customers an insight into how you work, so they can decide if they resonate with that.

Get more bang for your buck!

If you write a blog regularly it provides content for repurposing.  You can use it to lead your newsletter with value, to take quotes from for social media posts, as a section in a lead magnet, to turn into a video or audio and publish elsewhere.  This will expand your reach.

A blog post adds fresh content to your website

We all know that search engines like fresh content; it brings them back to your website more frequently and has the potential to improve your ranking, even if you don’t practise rigorous SEO.  Remember to add tags and categories to help with that too.

It sets you up as an authority – and ahead of your competition

When you publish your opinions and spin on your areas of expertise it positions you as an authority in your industry.  As many people simply can’t be bothered/don’t know how/don’t have time to write content, that puts you in the much more visible top echelon.  A good blog can also attract offers to speak at conferences, join expert panels at events and much more.

And the best things about it is that, if writing isn’t your thing, you can get help.  A good copywriter will learn to capture your voice and pick your brains so they can write content that sounds like you and reflects your opinions, beliefs and values.

Are you author ready?

If you are considering writing a book, to help you to give your business an edge, you need to be well-prepared to ensure your book hits the spot.

What does that mean?

There are a number of key activities that ensure a non-fiction book is successful.

1: Know your marketplace

Who else writes in your genre?  What have you got to say that is different or deeper?  That’s usually your unique take on the subject.  Who publishes that kind of book?  And, most important of all, research how well your kind of book sells (tip: Check Amazon).

2: Get your focus

It’s important to know what your big takeaway is going to be.  When someone has read your book what will their ‘Aha’ be?  Keep that in mind and ensure everything in your book contributes to that.

3: Choose your publishing option

There are so many different publishing options that there will definitely be something for you, but you need to understand the pros and cons of each of these – traditional, hybrid, independent, self-publishing, on Amazon.  And they’re all different and offer different things.  Don’t choose until you understand what you’re getting into – but you do need to have made the decision fairly early in your book development process.

4: Plan the content

Non-fiction books are easier to plan than fiction.  There is a much more defined structure – and that makes them easier to plan.  You need to decide what each chapter is going to be about and what is the most logical order for these subjects.  Then gather the content for each chapter.  If you do this first, you’ll have a skeleton plan to flesh out and writing will be much easier.

5: Create your chapter recipe

Successful books have a structure that each chapter is built around, so creating this will also make the writing process easier.  Think of it like a recipe book, every recipe has the same structure – it helps people to get from the name of the dish (chapter title), through a familiar and easy to follow process (subheadings and types of information).  Best of all, once they’ve done one recipe, they know what to expect with the next one and don’t have to ‘learn’ a new process.

6: Schedule writing sessions

Your diary is your friend!  Make regular appointments with yourself to focus on developing your plan into narrative.  If it’s in your diary, it’s more likely to get done.  Choose times when you are at your creative best, not when you’re tired.

7: Editing & proofreading

Traditional publishers will edit and proofread your book, some hybrid and independent publishers also offer these services, but most don’t.  Never skip editing – your book will be better with a professional editor on your team.  Proofreading is the last thing you need to do before your book goes to print.

8: Publication

The time from when your manuscript is submitted to having your book available for sale varies hugely from publisher to publisher.  Traditional publishers may have a lead time of up to two years, while small independent publishers are much quicker and flexible and may be able to get your book out in less than 3 months.  If you self-publish you’ll need to do everything yourself, so it’s down to you!

9: Launch

Nobody knows your book has been published unless you tell them.  The six weeks prior to publication are your opportunity to build excitement and anticipation among your audience.  A launch day bonus bundle can do a lot to boost sales on your first day.

10: Marketing

Marketing doesn’t stop at the launch.  You’ll need a marketing plan that incorporates a variety of media to keep your book in people’s awareness.

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There’s a lot more to producing a book than just writing; the more you understand the more successful your book will be.

10 boxes your home page should tick

We all hear that phrase ‘Content is King’, but it’s not quite true for the home page on your website.  The days of 300 words of text are long gone, search engines are more sophisticated and visitors to your websites behave differently.  They’re reading on smart phones rather than desktops and they don’t have time to read much when they’re looking for something specific.

Your job as the website owner is to remove all the barriers between your audience and your message, so getting what they want is simple, with nothing that stops them at any point. 

Think of your home page as the contents index and you’ll be on the right track.

Here are my ten top boxes you need to tick:

1: Brand

Make sure your logo is a reasonable size, not huge, not tiny.  Use your brand colours throughout the website and choose a consistent font, ideally sans-serif (easier to read on screen).

In the Brand banner that appears at the top of the page (and every other page) include your contact information.  Don’t expect people to navigate to the footer or the Contact page to get in touch.  Top right is usually where people look for this kind of information.

2: Navigation

On a mobile device this usually appears in the form of a ‘hamburger’, but on a laptop or desktop screen a horizontal strip reduces the number of clicks your visitor has to do to get where they want to go.

Many people do know that clicking on the company logo will return them to the home page, but not everyone does.  Don’t make life difficult for those who have not yet discovered this and include Home on your navigation.

Typically, your menu should be – left to right:

• Home
• Your main product or service categories
• Any resources you offer
• Blog/News
• About
• Contact

Home should always be on the left and About and Contact the last two on the right – and, these days, About and Contact is more common than, About us and Contact us.

If you have media packs the Media page would normally site just before the About page, or possibly as a subpage under About.

A menu that ‘floats’ – i.e. remains visible as the user scrolls down, is also an excellent way to make life easier for them.

3: Banner

This is usually an image that sits at the top of your home page, under your brand banner.  My advice is ONE image and key message as scrolling marquees (those images that change every couple of seconds) are more of an irritation to your visitor than a support for your brand.

The image should help to support the message – otherwise it’s just eye-candy.  The last thing you want is your visitor wondering what it ‘means’, that’s a distraction from them taking the action you want from them.

4: Headlines

The key message/headline that appears in the banner should tell the visitor exactly what to expect from your website.  It’s the information that is guaranteed to be ‘above the fold’ (on the first screen they see before scrolling) and shouldn’t leave the visitor trying to work out if they’re in the right place.  If it doesn’t make sense to them, they’ll be gone.

A second smaller headline, can appear below the image, introducing what you offer.

Headlines are not an exercise in creative writing, they’re there to signpost people.  Good headlines tell people that either:

• They will get this benefit
• They will solve this problem

They should be positioned in ‘you’ language – not ‘we’ language.  In other words, ‘You get this’, not ‘We do that’.

5: Introduction

If it’s not abundantly clear, this is your opportunity to grab the visitor’s attention with your second headline (see previous item) and a short overview of the benefits they could get or how their biggest headaches could be removed.  Short = one or two paragraphs only.

6: Core offerings

There’s a good rule of thumb about website content – tell people what you want them to do, and make it easy for them to do it.  The next thing people should see is your core product or service categories; ideally with attractive icons or image in clickable boxes.

This works as a call to action – ‘here are our best offers, click to find out more’.

7: Introduce yourself

A short intro of you or your company can add another element to your home page.  You don’t need to reinvent the wheel; use the first paragraph of your About page and headshot.  People like to see who is behind the business.

8: Knowledge links

Sharing your knowledge demonstrates that you know your stuff.  That’s where your blogs come into play.  Having direct links to the last 2-3 blog articles is a good way to draw in people who like a lot of information before making a decision.

9: Build your list

As most marketers will tell you ‘The money is in the list’.  If you don’t already have an email list (and even if you do) an opportunity for people to join it is a good strategy.  Nobody joins a ‘subscribe to our newsletter’ invitation, so offer something that will be of real value to your target audience and set up your automated follow up system.  The form can go on your home page – ideally nearer to the top, I’ve seen it work well embedded in the banner image, as long as the message is right.  Nobody will see it in the footer!

10. Footer

The footer usually has links to your privacy policy & T&Cs, your company registration, any accreditations or validations and, maybe, your business address, but it shouldn’t be huge.  Some footers include menus, but ensure whatever is on your main navigation is the same as what is in the footer – multiple menus confuse!