I saw a man about a blog yesterday, and the good news is that as it is my pet subject (sorry about the pun), he wants me to write a couple of blogs a month for him. It could go up to four blogs in the future.
Lots of people like blogs; it’s a place you can talk about your thoughts, your hobbies or your business. In fact, you can write a blog on just about anything, but sometimes people don’t have time to write blogs for their businesses, which is where I come in.
This blog isn’t meant to be about me though; it’s about you and the value of you blogging for your business or for pleasure.
It’s somewhere you can post written articles that might be too long for twitter, Facebook or Google+ etc. If you write a blog around your professional subject or your products and skills, it will establish you as an expert in your field and attract potential clients. People will start to follow you, and then, if you are really clever, you can start charging for adverts.
On a personal level, I find blogging is therapeutic and a good outlet for pent up frustrations or emotions. I have a business blog (this one) and two personal blogs (Sally’s Christian Blog and a secret blog!).
It is a good idea to keep a notebook handy to jot down any passing thoughts or ideas or a camera to snap inspiring scenes, which you might want to incorporate into your blog later.
To get started, include a blog section on your website, or at the very least allow space for the first few paragraphs from your blog and then include a link to your blog so those interested can read further. This is VERY IMPORTANT, as Google likes to see fresh copy on your website and uses it to rate your website on the Google rankings.
Alternatively, just sign up for a blog with WordPress or Blogspot, for examples. These are free and have templates, which you can use for free, purchase or customise.
WRITE WAI’s 10 Top Tips For Bloggers:
- Give it TLC. Make your homepage look aesthetically pleasing so it creates a good first impression and will invite people to read further
- Write a short biography and have a picture on your About page or Homepage
- Include images and photographs. Nothing puts people off more than a page of text
- Feed you blog regularly. Space out the frequency of your posts (one a week or one a fortnight is a good starting place) and make sure you keep up with the regularity
- Be master of your blog. Write as though you are speaking to a friend or colleague so that you have an authentic voice
Give it a good name. Think of a good headline using alliteration, a pun or a joke and do a spell check (if possible, get a friend or colleague to proofread it) - Don’t be shy. When you have written your blog, invite everyone on your Social Media to read it, share it and like it (this will also help Google rate you more highly)
- If you are really clever, you can contact manufacturers about products you mention in your blogs and ask them to sponsor your blog or even buy space for advertisements
- Provide a comments section for your readers to give you feed back and provide your contact details so people can connect with you
- Lastly, treat your blog like a dog; it will need a lot of looking after!
- If you have enjoyed this blog, please like it, share it, tell your friends about it or comment on my Facebook page. Thank you.