The breadth of Jenn Mattern’s knowledge never ceases to amaze me.
I was fortunate that I discovered Jenn’s blogs early in the launch of my writing business.
You are never short-changed by Jenn when it comes to information and assistance.
I was thrilled when she offered this guest post to run while I’m off walking 60 miles for the Cure.
Please welcome Jenn and enjoy her guest post on building a successful business blog. Trust me, she knows what she’s talking about.
Beginner Steps to Building a Successful Business Blog
by Jennifer Mattern
Blogs are all the rage in the business community. But is a business blog right for your company? If you decide to launch a company blog, how can you turn it into a successful business tool rather than just phoning it in?
Let’s explore the basics of successful business blogging.
Why Start a Business Blog?
There are a number of reasons to start a company blog. Here are some examples to consider:
- Business blog as marketing tool — You share special offers and use the blog to promote products or services. You might also use your blog for lead generation.
- Business blog as PR tool — You use your business blog to disseminate news about your company and engage customers in conversations.
- Business blog as support tool — Your company blog focuses more on technical issues (like announcing service interruptions), and you respond to customer concerns there.
- Business blog as business model — You bring in direct income through your business blog.
While you aren’t limited to just one business blog strategy above, it’s a good idea to choose a primary reason your business blog exists. That helps you plan a long-term content strategy and target the right readers.
Who Should Manage Your Business Blog?
The person you put in charge of blog management can directly influence its success or failure. It’s vital that you choose the right person for the job.
Some of your options include:
- Yourself (if you have the time to regularly update content and respond to comments)
- Another employee (preferably one with a background tied to your blogging goals — such as a support manager, or marketing and PR staff).
- An independent contractor / professional blogger (if you want someone who knows how to write for the medium and engage readers, but you don’t have the time to train staff).
Tips for Building a Successful Business Blog
If you know what your organization’s blogging goals are and you’ve put your blog in the hands of the right person, you’re well on your way to launching a successful business blog.
Here are a few additional tips:
- Use your blog for more than broadcasting. — Blogging is about having a conversation, not just sending outgoing messages. If that’s what you want, use advertising.
- Respond to comments. — Don’t ignore comments when you receive them. If you get questions, suggestions or even complaints, respond to as many as possible. And do so graciously.
- Keep your content fresh and consistent. — One of the biggest perks of a business blog is its ability to keep people coming back to your website. The best way to do that is to provide frequent updates. At the very least, try to keep updates regular (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc.). If posts are too sporadic, readers might forget about you.
- Connect with other bloggers. — Link out to other great content, even if it’s from a competitor. Readers appreciate the additional resources, and many of those sites give you a trackback (a link on their site which can drive some of their readers to you).
- Make it easy for readers to share. — Add social media buttons and encourage readers to share your content via Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, and other social media sites. It’s a way for them to express their appreciation, and for you to reach new potential readers.
Are you a business blogger? What business blogging tips would you share? Are you a business owner with concerns about starting a company blog? What’s stopping you? Tell us in the comments.
NOTE: I will be in San Diego from November 7th through November 20th. Part of that time will be spent walking 60 miles for the 3-Day Walk for the Cure.
I will respond to Comments as soon as I can. Walk on! And thank you.
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About Jennifer Mattern
Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger and business writer. In addition to blogging for clients, she runs 3 Beat Media — a publishing and Web development company operating dozens of blogs in niches such as small business, freelance writing, independent publishing, social media, and personal finance.
Good tips, Jenn. I have to admit that I don’t update my business blog as often as I should – I spend a lot more time blogging for others. Adding this to my to-do list. 🙂
I would bet you are not alone in that practice, Sharon. 😉
Honestly, neither do I Sharon. When more than enough work flows in, I tend to ease off on the business blog. Then again, I’m not running it for support or anything which requires constant updating. In those cases, you can’t get away with a break for long. I’m also lucky in that my other blogs bring in clients, so they work almost in a network fashion.
The main company blog is just for news. So it only gets updated when something is going on. The blog I primarily use for business is my business writing blog — the one directed at clients (whereas the company as a whole does other things). My goal is one post weekly there. This week I’ll be blogging about writing white papers. 🙂
This information is helpful, it adds to my picture of the client’s business when I write for him/her.
Jenn is great, Christiano. Thank you for stopping by.
I’m glad to hear that Christiano. 🙂 It’s always good for a freelance or staff blogger to understand the blog owner’s motivations when they write for them.
btw, Thanks for having me here Cathy. I hope you’re having fun in CA. And thank you for the kind words. 🙂
Thank you, Jenn! 🙂
AMEN to all the points, Jenn: in particular the “respond to comments” one. I’ve seen a few BIG bloggers lose readers who don’t feel a connection with them. It takes no time at all to respond, and it’s just fun to build a nice relationship with people who already like what you’re saying. Opens up that network nicely and creates a more collaborative feeling. 🙂
You hit on one of my pet peeves as well. Lori. If people take the time to comment, please respond back.
I can understand it if they’re getting hundreds of comments per post or something like that. You can’t respond to everything in those cases. And frankly some comments aren’t worth a response — my general rule for clients is that if it’s going to ignite a flame war rather than constructive conversations, it’s okay to walk away. Then again, a good comment policy can prevent those from going live in the first place. 🙂
Great explanations for the newbies…
Thanks Roy!
You have outlined everything so brilliantly! There’s so much more to blogging for business than just slapping a blog up and trying to churn out content. You gave folks an easy blueprint with the most crucial questions they need to ask. Enjoyed it!
I’m glad you liked it Martha. 🙂 You’re absolutely right about there being more to blogging. You have to find out what your readers really want and give it to them. And you have to make them feel like they’re a part of a community rather than just someone reading static content. If they want that, they’ll pick up a book or magazine. If they come to your blog, they expect you to interact with them (even if they don’t comment every time).