shared from the Kay Walten Blog

If the word blog is mentioned in any discussions of social media marketing, search engine optimization or marketing plans, it is almost guaranteed that clients eyes go blank, they look to the floor and a  sigh comes out. Many people are not writers, small business owners did not think that writing would come an important business function and they were hoping that blogging would become an old strategy and would replaced with a new one. In 2013, blogging is becoming an absolute for tourism businesses that want to maintain a presence on the internet and be found on search engines.

The rise in social media has created the demand to share content. We share everything and everyone seems to be starving for more information. But all published content isn’t automatically good content. Quality content is key and search engines are taking note. Search engines are striving to provide personalized and relevant results to weed through the sea of thin, irrelevant content. We are encouraged to present content that will not only be consumed, but be interactive. Blogs and other social media tools give users the necessary means to share your content with their networks of friends, family, and colleagues.

Content marketing can include anything from posting an article to social media comments to writing case studies. Create interactive storytelling opportunities that you facilitate, or write a blog with news, tips, or slideshows. A top strategy is to create a resource and position yourself as the “go to” expert in your field. Give your customer an integrated and effective customer experience with traditional and social channels working together.

Tatiana EL-Khouri, Founder and CEO of Creative Force Group, tells us how blogging can truly boost your business in this video:

Thomas Edison famously remarked that genius was “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” For bloggers this means that if you put your effort into it, you can create a blog that gathers a following. If you look at a group of bloggers, one with a worldwide following and the rest with small audiences, the former will not necessarily be the best writer, the funniest, the smartest or even the one with the most inside info or useful tips. The great bloggers you follow yourself could have varying amounts of these characteristics.

So what separates the good bloggers from the ones with larger followings? Many call it the “x factor.” Since this is a bit amorphous we’ll touch on it later. You can take your first steps toward creating an engaging blog that builds a loyal following by following some simple guidelines. There are definitely tips, techniques and tools that will get you there and equip you to compete in the blogging big leagues. We’ll return to the “x factor” after getting you to that starting line.

So you want to inform the people in your targeted market about your industry and increase traffic to your website by adding a blog. You already know that this is a great way to showcase your talents and authority within your niche and gain the trust of your potential clients/customers and peers alike. The question is, how do you attract the right kind of reader and what will keep them coming back for more? Although most of the answers are tried and true methods, some may be things you haven't considered before.

Keep It Relevant

The most important way to attract and maintain the right readership is to keep your focus true to your niche. You may be a polymath, but if you're not providing your readers (aka potential purchasers) with the relevant information they've come looking for, they're going to go somewhere else to find it.

By Jake Rocheleau | Hongkiat.com

An e-mail newsletter is the perfect way to stay in touch with your clients or followers. Often your company or website will have numerous product updates, or possibly upcoming events you’d like to share. It’s always possible to post new information to your blog or social media streams, but your audience can only go so far to reach you. In this case, e-mail is certainly not dead technology, merely untapped potential.

The process of creating and sending out a newsletter is a lot easier than one may think, but to design a custom template and build your own code — this can take a bit longer.

In order for your blog to be successful, YOU must possess certain qualities which I call the 5 C’s of successful business bloggers.

Confidence, Creativity, Consistency, Curiosity and Clarity are basic business success foundations that would apply to businesses of all types, sizes and budgets and certainly blogging is no exception.

Before I get into that, some savvy bloggers make a living through their blogs. In other words, they don’t use their blogs as a branding tool for their businesses. Instead, their blogs are their businesses. This only proves that when done intelligently, blogging can be a very effective on its own or as a business branding tool.

Let’s discuss the 5 C’s in depth….

1. Confidence

Unless you have an unshakable belief in your business success potential, you wouldn’t be in business today. This sense of confidence in the value that you offer your customers should shine through your blog content.
But please don’t get me wrong here: I am not suggesting that you bore your readers to tears with your sales pitch! On the contrary, your confidence in your business and the quality of your service will be reflected by ensuring that your content is always informative, compelling and unique.
Evergreen content that’s interesting to read 5 years from now usually works best, since it will continue to drive traffic to your blog over a long period of time.
If you feel you are unable to write quality content, then there’s also a different solution available. Ever heard of Ghost Blogging?

The bottom line is: If you want to have a successful blog, be confident and invest in it!

2. Creativity

You need to be creative and diversify the topics you discuss in your blog and the way you present them to your readers. This way, your readers will be hooked to your blog because they will be educated and entertained. Don’t talk endlessly about your business, but provide them with unique content that’s relevant to your business and products, but which is also interesting to your readers. For instance; It’s better to publish an article on how to assemble your products, than it is to write an article about the vision of your company. Nobody cares unless you’re Apple.

When it comes to creative blog topics, there are very popular categories that are known to grab readers’ attention such as How-to articles, breaking news, controversial issues, tips and tricks, trends, products reviews and so on.

Also make sure to leverage various forms of digital content to satisfy different tastes. In addition to the traditional text posts, add some audio and video to the mix. For example, you can create interesting video interviews, publish them on YouTube, and embed them to your blog for maximum visibility. Also, you can create podcasts (audios) in your blog. (If this part seemed unclear to you, I will be discussing it in details in future posts. Also, feel free to share any questions you have in your comment and I will respond to you promptly).

The bottom line is: Diversify your blog content to satisfy all tastes.

3. Consistency

In the previous sections, we discussed the importance of delivering quality and diverse content. But if you do that every blue moon, you will be violating the basic ingredient of a successful blog.

Your blog must be updated on regular basis and it’s best to be consistent and systematic with regards to your content. For example, Monday is the “tips and tricks” post day while Tuesday is when you publish a controversial topic and so on.

This way, your reader will get accustomed to your blogging habits and will know when to expect what they visit your blog.
The bottom line is: Consistently deliver quality and diverse content