There are a ton of websites, books and gurus out there that tell you how to make money on the Internet. Blogging has become a profitable industry all on its own. A micro economy full of Internet marketers, mommy blogger’s, tech guys, affiliate marketers and much more.
But what if your not interested in using a blog for any of those? What if your an entrepreneur or executive and want a business blog to increase leads, improve communication or brand your company. That’s what I want to focus on. Using a business blog to promote your company, self , product or service. I’ve blogged for our company Lazzara Yachts since 2004 and many people ask both how and why I got started. Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the years.
Is It Worth It? Launching a New Yacht
Let’s face it when you look at other peoples blogs it can appear to be a daunting task. All the posts, pictures and videos… I mean how the heck do you figure out how to do that stuff anyways. Besides who has the time and in the end is it really worth it. The answer is YES it’s worth it and no it doesn’t have to be a daunting task. We launched a new yacht about a year ago and 30 days prior to its launch I posted 1 picture a day for 30 days on our blog. The pictures were very close up shots of parts of the boat, almost nondescript. The day we launched the boat I posted the entire shots of the boat. Our traffic on the site went from about 300 unique visits a day to just under 5,000 in one day. Even better though was the guy who ended up buying the yacht said that he had been following each one of the pictures leading up to the show.
How Much Time Does It Take? Not that much
I spend about 5 hours a week on the Lazzara Yachts Blog. Yeah it takes time but that doesn’t mean it’s not time well spent. I think one of the problems is most people just don’t know what they would say or how they would say it. Let’s face it, sitting down and trying to pound out something that seems interesting enough that others would want to read isn’t the easiest task. But I bet if you look at your day it comprises of sending emails, talking with clients or employees, phone conversations, etc. If that’s the case you’ve got what it takes to do the writing for a blog. If you can communicate, and as an entrepreneur that’s a given, then you can write a blog post.
What Do You Write? Write about what you know
It helps to sit down and think through what you want to talk about before you start the process. Maybe there is something new your going to offer, or maybe there’s been a big change in your industry that you want to address…and these days that’s just about every industry. The point is take the time to think the post out first. Write down some ideas and see if you have enough to talk about. For me, I tend to keep it about whats going on at the company that month, week or day. It’s really only about the company and rarely anything else. That may sound obvious, but you don’t want to get side tracked talking about things outside your business. Keep the message on point.
How Do You Write? Lets Talk
Most of all when your writing your post keep the post as if you were having a conversation with someone. A blog isn’t the place for perfect grammar or great marketing copy, just look around our site. A business blog is a place to be transparent and conversational. Sure you want to use it to tell people about you and your company, but you don’t need to litter with marketing adjectives galore. Just treat it as if you were sitting across from someone telling them about your company.
While maintaining a business blog can seem like a big project the most daunting part is getting started. So get started today. You can sign up for my FREE newsletter where I give more tips and ideas on maintaining a business blog.
Also leave a comment and tell me. What are some of the things you struggle with the most when it comes to doing a business blog for you or your company? Click on the “comments” word below.
