Honest to Blog! Your Five-Step Plan to Creating a Blogging Strategy

blogging
Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, there’s a reason programmes like The Only Way is Essex, Britain’s Got Talent and The Chase are so popular. We love stories and trivia. We can’t get enough of hearing tall tales or learning some weird and wonderful facts.
It’s one of the reasons blogs are so popular.
We can read interesting stories, all the while feeding our addiction for trivia.
But before you rush out and create a blog for your business, you need to ask yourself if it’s right for you and your customers. Just ‘cause other people are doing it, it doesn’t mean you should too. There are a number of things you need to consider before you hit “publish” on your first ever blog post.
This month, I’ve joined forces with Martin Gladdish, to help you identify if blogging should be one of your marketing pillars and, if it is, how to create a killer blogging strategy for your business.
Blogging with Purpose
 Compelling content needs ‘strategy’ not a ‘shot in the dark’
The website content, sales letters, emails, blog posts, videos and any other customer communication you publish is all part of your marketing. If the message is disjointed, that will be the perception you give out to the world. With blogging, you need a strategy or you would better off not doing it at all.
Ad hoc posting of content can be seriously detrimental to your entire message. At the very least, you need to build themes, use a recognisable voice and decide on your overall purpose
Don’t be daunted though. Devising a strategy isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Sure, it involves a little work and thought on your part, but it’s worth putting in the effort. Here, Martin shares five questions you need to answer to help you build your business blogging strategy.
1) Whose attention do you want to attract?
It will be no surprise to any EC member that has been around for more than five minutes that the immovable Market, Message, Media rule comes into play with content strategy.
Most businesses are consumed with what they want to say and pay little attention to what their potential customers want to hear. You need to get under the skin of your ‘who’ and find out what they ‘want.’ Identify your avatar in as much detail as possible: what they do, their hopes, fears, wants, needs, habits and current situation.
2) What is the purpose of your blog post?
Closely connected to the appetites, desires and interests of your ideal customer is the ‘purpose’ of you writing a regular blog in the first place. These are some of the main reasons people and businesses should blog.

  • Advertising – Create a following to attract traffic to sell your products or others’ via affiliate links
  • Credibility – Become the go-to resource in your market by demonstrating your expertise and sharing nuggets
  • Visibility – Proactively putting out compelling content with a view to gathering data and building a prospect list
  • Nurture – Building your existing relationships to keep clients engaged, educated and coming back for more

3) What are the stories and substance you can share?
Your overriding brand message and style is paramount, but if there is one place that you can bend the rules and let your personality show through a little more it is your blog.
The very nature of blog posts lends themselves to telling stories and engaging your readers on a more personal level. That means you can be a little more expressive, give abstract examples, inject some humour, challenge accepted wisdoms, or even allow yourself the occasional rant.
We all come face-to-face with potential blog material every day. Start to collect together your observations, directly from your marketplace or any other area of your life. These can be stories, quotes, quirky ideas – anything that you can connect to a value message for your clients.
4) Which recurring themes, messages, or actions do you want to promote?
In the classic 80’s movie ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’, there’s a scene where Steve Martin’s character finally snaps at the incessantly cheerful and rumbustiously chatty curtain ring salesman, Del Griffith (played by John Candy).
In losing his composure he mercilessly lambasts Del’s personality and ends with the line, “And by the way, you know when you’re telling these little stories? Here’s a good idea – Have a point! It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!”
So, have a point!
If you’re telling stories with no relevance to your understanding of your reader’s needs, then you will only confuse or annoy them. Make a list of five or six PURPOSES for your blog and try to centre each one on one of those themes. These will depend largely on your answer to ‘question two’ but example might include:

  • Subtly highlighting common problems, you know exist in the marketplace (but that you can solve)
  • Commenting on subjects you know your prospects will be interested in, or searching for…
  • Sharing ‘how to’ nuggets or value messages that others might not know
  • Mentioning one of your products or services (in a non-salesy way) as a subtle ‘name drop’
  • Describing the ideal scenario as if it was ‘standard’ – this suggests that to your customers ‘it is’
  • Writing about complimentary themes that your prospects will be interested in (to highjack other traffic)

5) How often, and in what way do you want to post?
Based on the answers to the previous questions, you should have an idea of the frequency that you want to post.
If it’s to get Google’s attention, it needs to be often and at least 500 words each time. If it’s engagement, then perhaps less and certainly better quality. Other things to consider are planning, calendar, your time, sourcing information and promoting the posts.
You will also need to think about including keywords (if you are looking to be found by Google) and create a social media strategy for sharing the content that you are creating. Don’t forget to re-share old content too.
Once you have done the hard work of creating a fabulous post, don’t waste it on a one-shot-punt at being found. Build re-posting and re-purposing into your strategy for getting your message out there.
How To Use This in Your Business
 Armed with the answers to these questions, you should know by now whether:

  1. Blogging is right for you
  2. How to build a blogging strategy that works

Remember, your customers like stories and trivia – so give ‘em what they want.
 
2016-06-power-words
Here are 11 power words you should be including in your blog headlines to instantly grab attention:

  • Immediately
  • Strategic
  • Provocative
  • Powerful
  • Guaranteed
  • Instantly
  • Hypnotic
  • Ultimate
  • Explosive
  • Exclusive
  • Unbelievable