 10 Quick Tips for Blogging for your Business
One tried and true way for a small business (or any size business for that matter) to engage with their customers and members is to develop a blog. Blog popularity is an ever growing medium to engage with, educate, and provide real life examples of how to navigate a variety of topics. Often it’s not a question of “should I blog?”, rather it’s a question of what and how do I go about pushing out content? Well, you’re in luck because we drafted this quick tips list for blogging success. Here are the following tips:
2. Offer a free download People love free stuff. Often overlooked, but a blog post can offer a reader some free downloadable content that brings value to their interests. You can post a quick guide or even a how to get started guide for a topic that your readers want to learn about. 3. Make it intentional Blogging should be fun but also intentional. Keep focus on what message you want to get across and be intentional. If it’s starting to turn into a hot summer, why not write about ways to stay safe in the heat or how to weather the “storm.”- pun intended. 4. Contract out Sometimes it’s ok to hand over the blogging reigns to a professional writer. They can bring a value to the blog with their own perspectives and creativity that pairs well with your brand. In addition they can handle the content while you handle other aspects of your company. 5. Create a map plan Map out your posts so it doesn’t feel like your writing the same content over and over. Look ahead to the type of season your business is heading into and write topics geared towards that plan. If it’s a specific time of year make sure to focus on tips or ideas that help a reader in that moment and also create content for later to post down the road. 6. Solve a problem Why do you read a blog post? It’s not because you feel less educated after! It’s because you have a problem you want solved. So- solve your readers problems and create value to your writing. If you need ideas simply write a blog post to solicit feedback and see what happens! 7. Provide links to valuable sites Backlinking is critical to blog writing. You want users to be able to access the information you are sharing and also direct them to a valuable find. In addition other websites will see you referring to them and may return the favor. 8. Share relevant content Staying relevant is key. If your blogging about one day having solar powered homes you may be a bit outdated. Post and share trends, new findings, or even odd methods that still are relevant today. All in all you want to remain relevant or your readers will find another blog to read. 9. Post often Posting often is important so you have fresh content and keep readers coming back for more. If you can maintain a consistent schedule of posting then you can keep readers expecting content and seeking it out from your site. This also helps keep fresh content for search engines to show the world who you are. 10. Have fun Lastly, and most important is to have fun. Blogging is fun and if you find joy, exciting topics, and relevant information the writing will jump off the page. Enjoy this platform and share some great things with your readers. Enjoy it! Well, there you have it: 10 quick tips for blogging for your business. It’s an easy yet effective way to engage customers, increase brand awareness, and seek out new and exciting opportunities. Until our next post, happy reading!
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Writing a Business Plan? Top Tips for Business Plan Writing
Writing a business plan entails several key elements and components to ensure the plan reaches the intended goals you have set for your business. Developing a business plan takes some consideration and thought, to ensure the information is not only compelling, but also worthy of a potential investors time and consideration. In this post we will cover a few tips to help you write a business plan to increase the chance the plan is well received by your potential investor. Let’s now take a look at these key tips: Study your competition The idea that your idea is completely unique or original is becoming more and more rare. Today there are more and more businesses who offer a similar set of services to a similar set of clients or customers- and that’s a good thing. When writing a business plan, it’s important to study your competition. Identify how they do what they do, who they target, what’s their angle, who is their demographic, etc. By understanding the competition you can identity how you can benefit from entering into that space and also how to set your idea apart. In terms of business plan writing, completion is a good thing: it means others are seeing the value in the idea too! Know your audience When drafting your business plan you always want to put yourself in the perspective of the person who will be reading your plan. It’s important to study and know your audience. It’s OK to adjust your business plan based on who you’re pitching it to. A wise idea is to always consider creating a fictitious person who would be potentially reviewing your plan speak and your plan as if you were speaking to them. How would they read what you said? How would they interpret what you meant to say? Does everything come across in an ideal and clear concise way for that one individual person understand? If you can create a fictional character that may be reading your plan and write to that person then you were on track to targeting your specific audience. Support your claims If you are going to report it: make sure you can claim it. No, we are not talking taxes, we are talking the claims made in your plan. If you plan on making a claim that you will reach 1000 new customers a year, or you will make x number of new business contracts by mid-year, make sure you can support the claim. It’s best to start out more general and then work your plan down to specific claims that based on trends, numbers, and yes some positive thinking. Once you found what claims you feel you can support (no not 100% sure WILL happen), then list those claims out and stand behind them with confidence. Don’t inflate projections One thing to avoid any business plan is inflating numbers that don’t exist. If you’re going to claim something in your plan make sure you can support it. For example, reporting that you will make $1 million dollars selling bike tires the first year of business, may raise some questions. Now take the same concept and report that in the next year you plan on moving 100 tires a month, at $12 a tire, for an anticipated profit of $1200 a month- that’s a claim that is more conservative than overinflated. You won’t know for sure how the market will respond to your projections, but ground them in some realistic ideas of what can be accomplished with the help of the person your plan is being pitched to. Identify needed resources Businesses need resources. This includes startup costs, personnel, tangible items such as computers, equipment, and other things that will make the business run smoothly. These need to be factored into your business plan as part of your overall cost that you are asking for support in funding. A business plan is not just asking for dollars- it’s asking for the support in resources to get the plan off the ground. When initiating a plan, outline what you will need and what long term upkeep may need to go into those resources. It’s best to map the full picture out and not leave the long term details off the plan. Be logical Ok this one may seem obvious but we have to say it: be logical with your plan. If you are selling goods online as your sole source of revenue, avoid claiming your store will make x sales from foot traffic. If you plan on launching a web platform, ensure your google ranking can actually be “number one” within a matter of a week (this is nearly impossible by the way). In short, report logical, well thought out ideas and dreams so others can buy in on the dream too. If it’s too off base you will lose potential investors faster than you started. Identify your team Plans take people to execute so don’t leave your team off the plan. When pitching your plan on paper, include the team and their specific talents that they bring to the vision of the business. Include who they are, what their role is, and what their background has been to justify that role. By sharing the team, investors are more likely to trust that the aspects of the business will be managed on all fronts. If you don’t have a wide range of talent on the plan, include what you have and how you will make the roles otherwise filled by other work. KISS method We have all heard of KISS right? Not the band, but the philosophy of keeping it super simple. Plans can follow the same. Long winded, overly complex plans usually come of as confusing to the reader and drowns out the actual content you want to be absorbed. Don’t add fluff, and stay concise. Business plan writing is quite the task. It can be embraced and executed well, and with a clear vision on what steps to take in beaking down the process, can streamline the experience. While very business and plan will be different, following some similar tips and guidelines can help you focus in on what sections matter most and what aspects your plan can go without. Best of luck on the planning and get after it! |
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