In Part Two, I shared my story of building my local network by starting online and then continuing those relationships in person.

Now, let’s look at how to transform your network of clients, prospective clients, and referral sources into an online community that reads, shares and benefits from your content.

Step 1: Research

When you’ve met someone you want to stay connected with, see if they have accounts on the social media sites where you’re active. There are several ways to do this:

• Ask the person directly
• Type “[Name] Twitter” into a search engine, and repeat for the various sites
• Visit the person’s website and look for social media icons – if they’re not front and center on the Home page, check the Contact or About page (that’s where Chris Brogan recommended I put mine)
• Log into the social media sites and use their search function

Step 2: Make the connection

On Twitter, this means following the person. On LinkedIn, it means sending a personalized invitation. On LinkedIn and Facebook, it means finding and following/liking the person’s company page. On Google+, it means adding the person and/or their company to your circles.

You can also see which LinkedIn and Facebook groups and Google+ communities your connections have joined, and consider joining them yourself. This can provide a smaller, more focused environment to continue your interactions.

Step 3: Watch and respond

Keep an eye out for updates from the people you want to build or deepen relationships with, then respond with a Facebook/LinkedIn Like, Share or comment, or on Twitter post a reply or RT (don’t forget to add a comment before you RT). You can also mark someone’s tweet as a favorite, which will show up on their Connections page.

To make sure you don’t miss content from your important contacts, set up ways to track them or quickly scan for their new updates. Hootsuite’s list streams help you watch people on Twitter, while “interest lists” help you follow company pages on Facebook. You can categorize contacts on LinkedIn via tags (this will get easier with LinkedIn Contacts), or on Google+ via circles.

Step 4: Be helpful

As you’re browsing the web, you may come across something that you know would be helpful or interesting to a particular contact. Send it along! Sure you could send it privately via email or LinkedIn (see below), but why not send it publicly in case others in your network find the content useful. It also helps you promote your colleague, since their profile will now be visible to all of your contacts.

To get the person’s attention, add their profile name to your message. On Twitter, that’s a specific phrase with no spaces, e.g., @lindadessau. For a LinkedIn contact/company or a Facebook company, you can type the @ sign and then start typing the name (for Facebook personal contacts, just start typing the name). Once the name you want appears, click on it to add it to your message and notify your contact.

To share a link privately with one or more of your LinkedIn contacts, download the sharing bookmarklet from the Tools page. This is similar to the Hootlet from Hootsuite, but it has extended functionality for your LinkedIn account.

Click on Tools from the very bottom of any page on LinkedIn (Hint: Get there from your Groups page, since if you try to scroll to the bottom of your Home screen it will keep refreshing to show you more content and the bottom navigation will disappear). The sharing bookmarklet is on the right-hand side of the page (see photo below).

Once you’ve downloaded the tool, it will appear in your web browser (see photo below) and you can click on it when you want to share a blog post or webpage that you’re reading. Once you do, you’ll see options to add your comment, share an update, post as a group discussion, and/or share with specific individuals (just start typing the name(s).

Step 5: Post great content

When you’ve written your own new blog post, share it with your social networks. Whether they’re potential customers, referrals sources, or colleagues, you’ll be demonstrating your expertise and reminding them of how you can help.

Ideally, you’ll be blogging on a regular basis so your credibility is reinforced and you’ll be the first one people think of in your particular industry.

Step 6: Bring your online conversation offline

Though it can sometimes feel awkward to continue an online conversation when you’re standing face-to-face, it just takes one comment to get the ball rolling, e.g., “I saw your post about x, y or z,” or, “How did you enjoy that event you tweeted about?”

Whether you’re an introvert who prefers to think before you type, or an extrovert who loves the energy in a room full of people, you can combine online and offline networking strategies to build and deepen more meaningful connections.

Read Part One of this series, “How Business Blogging Can Build Your Credibility Offline”

Read Part Two of this series, “Don’t I Know You From Twitter? Taking Your Online Relationships Offline”

(Today I have two lists for my local connections, because each list has a limit of 500 contacts and I’ve outgrown the first list!)

Then I reached out and started conversations with those people. For some, that meant jumping into a conversation on Twitter, for others it meant sending a private email. Best of all, when I stepped foot into my first business networking events here in Barrie, I found people I recognized from my online travels. And that is still happening to this day.

Networking for introverts

Communicating online can feel safer, especially if you tend towards the introverted side of the continuum, like I do. Introverts also benefit from the asynchronous nature of blogging and social media, since we can take plenty of time to think and revise our words before we publish our thoughts. This might just make us the ideal social media mavens, suggests Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self-Promotion for Introverts®.

Social networking allows introverts to participate from our own quiet space, without being depleted by the energy of a room full of people. We can choose when and with whom we’ll communicate.

Giving up that control to attend face-to-face networking events can be challenging, but is also hugely valuable for deepening your business connections and developing new ones.

Breaking the ice

When you’ve been chatting regularly with someone online, you may end up seeing a lot of details about their life. This can quickly create a sense of familiarity and friendship, yet it can feel awkward trying to replicate that rapport when you meet in person.

Here are five tips that can bridge the gap between online and offline networking:

1. Do your homework. Poll your social networks before events to find out who’s going to be there. For introverts, especially, it’s comforting to know who you can expect to see at an event. This will also help you plan ahead for the people you’d especially like to know better. Prepare by reviewing their social media profiles and business website, and go over some of your online interactions to refresh your memory.
2. Make the first move. If you recognize someone but you’re not sure how you know them (those Twitter avatar photos are pretty small!), etiquette expert Deborah McGrath says it’s perfectly acceptable to start with something like, “Hello, I’m Deborah, forgive me, I know we’ve met, but I have forgotten your name.” She says that by taking the blame for our forgetfulness, it immediately changes the focus and balance of the greeting.
3. Have a virtual coffee. For people you’re particularly interested in networking with, schedule a meeting using video chat software. This literally brings another dimension into your interactions and it will feel more natural when you eventually meet in person.
4. Assume you’ll meet your readers someday. This creates a rapport that will infuse your offline interactions. Though we know it’s impossible for everyone in our networks to read every single thing we post online, we can still write with their needs in mind. In fact, I often picture my ideal reader sitting across the desk from me when I read my blog post out loud before publishing (an important step for catching typos and other errors). You can do the same with your social media posts, creating value and goodwill that people will remember when you meet in person.
5. Embrace your celebrity status. Accept that when you publish content online, you become a public figure. Whether it’s a blog post, a tweet, or even a checkmark endorsing someone else’s comment, you’re putting yourself out there. That means people may know you even if you don’t know them. It felt strange to be asked, “Aren’t you Linda Dessau?” while standing at the sink in a public bathroom, but it reinforced that my content was being read, shared, remembered and valued, and that is what content marketing is all about.

What have you noticed about making the transition from online networking to offline networking? Do you have any tips or stories to share?

The referral sources could be friends, family members or business associates of your clients-to-be, your own network of professional contacts, or search engines. The more you blog about the topics that are important to your customers, the more credibility you will gain with these referrers.

To help you get started on the right foot with your business blog, here are five key things I like people to understand:

1. You must blog consistently. The biggest mistake you can make with blogging is to start and then stop. An inactive or outdated blog – I call it a “ghost town” – creates a negative impression about you and your business. So however often you decide to post, stick with a schedule that shows visitors they can count on you.
2. A small effort brings a big reward. According to Hubspot, companies that blog just 1-2 times per month generate 70% more leads than companies that don’t blog at all. I recommend you start with that frequency and then eventually work up to once a week. Give people a reason to keep coming back to see what’s new.
3. Blogging is marketing. Blogging and social media aren’t separate from the rest of your marketing plan, they’re additional ways to implement that plan. Ultimately a blog is another place to express who you are and what you do, in ways that also provide concrete and practical information for your visitors.
4. Blogging can be fun. There are many different kinds of blog posts you can write – they don’t all have to be 500-word feature articles. You can incorporate other content that is enjoyable and easy for you to produce, and appealing to your audience, such as videos, interviews or book reviews. Hint: Aim to include at least 250-300 words of text in each post, even if you’re featuring an audio, video or graphic.
5. One blog tree can produce multiple types of fruit. Once you get the hang of keeping your blog active, you can re-use that same content to have other meaningful conversations with your audience (email newsletters, social media, slideshow videos, reports, e-books, books, presentations, training, etc.). The reverse is also true; there are many way to “blogify” existing content that you already have on hand.

Is there anything you would add to this list? If you’re already blogging for your business, what’s something you wish you had known before you started?

Photo credit: Flооd via photopin cc

There are plenty of online benefits to posting high-quality content on your business blog regularly, and one of the most important is this:

Information seekers and search engines will both recognize you and your website as authorities on the topic you’re blogging about. This can help attract new potential customers and increase their trust to purchase your product or service, even though you haven’t met in person.

Networking, if done well, can also help you establish trusting relationships with potential customers. That is, as long as you attend networking events regularly, and cultivate long-term relationships with your fellow professionals.

It’s your job to train your network to recognize your ideal customers and the unique problems that you solve in your business. That way, when members of your network come across these people, they can introduce you. This creates an optimal situation where you’re solving, not selling.

Here are five ways that blending business blogging with in-person networking will help you attract new clients, grow your network, and make a meaningful contribution to those you meet.

1. Match your message – One of the first things many people will do with that stack of business cards they collected at a networking event is visit people’s websites. If they find a current and highly informative collection of articles (otherwise known as a blog) about the same topics you referred to at the meeting, that validates the positive impression you made in person.

2. Educate – Your network can only learn so much from a 60-second introduction, especially in the midst of dozens of other introductions that can all start to blend together after awhile. On your blog, include case stories and samples that will clearly show your network what you do and who you do it for.

3. Equip – By publishing blog posts on a variety of topics that correspond to the specific customers, products, services or situations that you deal with in your business, your networking colleagues can easily find and share this specific information when they meet an ideal customer for you.

4. Spotlight – Members of your network may also post your content on social media to share with their entire network. By blogging consistently and linking to your posts on social media, you make it easy for your network to help you. You also make them look better by giving them great content to share. You can return the favor with a simple public “thank you” that your followers will see, or by promoting some of the other person’s content or announcements.

5. Follow up – If you speak to someone at a networking event who might also be a potential customer, blogging gives you a non-threatening and effective way to continue the conversation. Simply send them the link to one or two of your blog posts, that either describes how you solved a similar problem for another client (a case study), or provides some self-help tips they can apply immediately to get some initial relief.

Hint: Be sure to send the person directly to the permanent link (“permalink”) of the blog post. You can usually find the permanent link of a blog post by clicking on the title of the post so it opens up in a new page, and then copying the URL from your web browser’s address bar.

Blogging and social media don’t replace in-person networking, but using them effectively can help you enhance your relationships – both online and offline.

Donna had a similar concern, and after the Barrie Business Blogathon in January 2013 she wrote: “A whole morning, 9 to noon, all devoted to writing blog posts. I produced four blog posts that I was able to email to Linda, four feet away from me. As I wrote the next post, she improved the post I’d just sent.”

Even if you’re not registered for the Blogathon, you can still devote time and attention to your business blog this week. Here are 10 ways you can incorporate the key techniques we’ll be using at the Blogathon:

1. Book the time – Schedule an appointment with your blog in your calendar. Choose a day and time when you typically have the creative and mental energy you’ll need for writing.
2. Protect the time – If you’d registered and paid for the Blogathon, you’d probably do your best to show up. Consider the cost of not showing up for your business blog – disappointed website visitors, reduced credibility, decreased website traffic, nothing to talk about on social media. This is an important business development meeting that you must not cancel.
3. Plan ahead – Blogathoners receive a customized blogging plan. When you sit down to meet with your blog, start with some big picture planning and brainstorming. Here is my seven-step blog planning method.
4. Batch your blogging – Aim to write several posts at once, to capitalize on your momentum and make the most of your dedicated time. Donna, who you met above, holds our Blogathon record with four posts written in three hours (less, considering our introduction and wrap-up time).
5. Draft before you edit – You’ll be able to get more blog posts written if you’re not worrying about making them picture perfect. Just aim to get all your ideas out of your head and onto the page. At this point, don’t censor yourself or worry too much about your writing.
6. Book your next blogging meeting – Keep up what you’ve started and make the commitment now when you’re feeling jazzed about your blog. As I mentioned in #1, find an optimal time that matches your energy for doing this type of creative work.
7. Set up for success – Set up some blank documents, folders or mobile phone notes with the titles of your blog’s themes/categories. Then keep those topics in mind as you meet with clients, browse websites, blogs and social media, and hang out with friends. Jot down anything that could be a potential blog post, then bring these notes to your next blogging meeting.
8. Edit before you publish – For Blogathoners, I’ll edit up to three blog posts that they write at or after the event. Be sure to step away from each of your posts for a few minutes or a few days, and then come back and read it out loud. Does it sound like you? Does it say what you wanted to say? Correct any awkward sentences, typos or other errors, then publish the post for all to see.
9. Promote and discuss your blog post – Blogathoners will see examples of compelling social media messages that encourage people to visit your blog and read your new post. I recommend you write three different messages and schedule them at various times over a few days. Include some questions to spark discussion that could even provide content for your next round of blog posts.
10. Do it all again – Whether it’s once a week, once a month, or four times a year at the Barrie Business Blogathon, make sure to repeat this process so your blog stays active.

Blogging will keep your website fresh, give prospective customers a better understanding of you and your company, establish your credibility as an expert, and provide content you can discuss and display on social media. Like any other important task in your life, you need to set aside time to make it happen.

P.S. You don’t live in Barrie? Stay tuned for a virtual version of the Barrie Business Blogathon.

While it’s great to promote each new blog post by sharing a “teaser” with your social media networks, you need to be sure to provide the right link.

In a previous post about how to find the permalink of a blog post, I explained that the problem with just posting a link to your main blog page (called the “archives” page) is that this page changes every time you add new content.

If a new post has displaced the one you’re talking about, it can leave people feeling frustrated, confused or annoyed. These probably aren’t feelings you want associated with you and your business!

The same is true for sharing a link from your social media page, which probably changes much more quickly than your blog. You would never say, “Go watch my latest video at youtube.com,” – instead you would link to your specific video. You need to be just as specific with Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you’re sending the link in email, on social media, or in a blog post, you need to use the permanent link (permalink) for the specific update, conversation or event that you’re referencing.

The easiest way to find the permalink for a social media post is to look for a day, date or time, move your mouse over that text, and click. A new page should open up where you see just that one status update or conversation.

Next, highlight and copy what you see in your web browser’s address bar – that is your permalink.

Finally, paste that link into your email, blog post or social media message.

If something you’ve posted on social media is important enough to link to, consider turning it into a blog post. Ultimately, your blog is the best place for people to read your content, because they are just one step away from taking the next step to doing business with you.

P.S. Here are some tips for how to turn your LinkedIn and Facebook activity into blog posts.

Photo Credit: CarbonNYC via photopin cc

“It’s there to remind those assembled who’s really the most important person in the room: the customer.”

I often suggest to business bloggers that you write as if you’re talking to ONE ideal customer, imagining that person is sitting across the desk from you.

Here are five ways to make that empty seat as welcoming as possible:

1. Begin again and again – If you’ve ever read a bedtime story to a child, you’ve heard the command, “Again!” No matter how many times you or others have covered a topic, your most important reader is the one who’s hearing it for the first time, or who just needed to hear it again.
2. Answer real questions – As you picture the imaginary customer sitting in the chair, give that person a voice. Think back to conversations with current and prospective clients. What’s the first thing people said or asked when you told them what you do? Answer those questions. Again.
3. Watch your language – Some people suggest you write as though you’re explaining your concepts to a young child. Others say your grandmother should be able to understand. The point is to eliminate – or spell out – any jargon or acronyms that will be unclear to someone new to the topic. Use the same words your clients are using when they ask their questions.
4. Make it comfortable – Ensure your text is easy to read (dark text against a light background), and that it’s large enough for people with older eyes. Choose a clean, uncluttered layout, break up long paragraphs into lists or sub-points to create more white space on the page, and choose attractive images to go along with your posts.
5. Provide a menu of choices – Make it easy to find other topics and information on your blog (provide a search box, list of categories, recent posts, related posts, etc.). As well, cater to different learning styles by offering your content in different formats, such as audio, video, slideshows and graphics.

There are many benefits to keeping up with your business blogging, but the most important one is the relationship you build with each individual reader. Keep that person in mind as you write your next blog post.

P.S. For more tips on reader-focused blogging, check out “How to Make a L.O.V.E. Connection With Every Article You Write.”

Yet if you start blogging and then stop, it can damage your credibility. And if you’re not blogging at all, you could be missing out on attracting new customers and gaining more visibility for your business.

I often suggest that new or newly stuck business bloggers use a structure so they have somewhere to start, and readers and writers agree that the top 10 list is one of the best.

(If you’re using my weekly blogging method, a top 10 list makes a great “how to” article for your monthly feature.)

Ready to jump in? I’ve put together these simple steps for writing a top 10 article as a blog post:

1. Define your audience. Think about the ONE ideal reader you are writing this article for. Imagine he or she is sitting across the desk from you. What are the types of problems you can solve for this person?
2. Start with the title. What title might grab that person’s attention? Here are some examples to get you started:Top 10 Ways To
   Top 10 Reasons Why
   Top 10 Benefits Of
   Top 10 Signs That You
   Top 10 Mistakes
   Top 10 Symptoms Of
   Top 10 Clues That
   Top 10 Times To
   Top 10 Excuses For
   Top 10 Lessons About
   Top 10 Rules/Commandments Of
   Top 10 Myths About
   Top 10 Truths About
   Top 10 Tips For
   Top 10 Steps To
   Top 10 Uses For
   Top 10 Resources For
3. Open the floodgates. Brainstorm and write freely without censoring yourself. See just how many ideas you can come up with.
4. Select the best. Now pare down your notes and choose the 10 tips you think are strongest. Maybe there aren’t 10, and that’s okay, too. Top 5 and Top 7 lists also work well!
5. Revise for consistency. Check that all list item titles are approximately the same length and style, and only contain one point. They should all be short sentences or headings, from one to five words long.
6. Give more information. Expand each of your points into one or two sentences that give the reader more information. Again, try to be consistent with the length and format of each item.
7. Introduce your article. Try to answer these two questions: What is the problem you are solving for the reader? What impact might this problem be having? This paragraph can also serve as your blog post’s excerpt for social media links and search engine results.
8. Conclude your article. At the end of your article, sum up what you’ve delivered and point out again why this is an important issue.
9. Edit and proofread your article. Step away from your writing for a few hours or even a few days, so that when you come back you can be more objective. Read the article out loud and listen for any run-on sentences, confusing ideas or missing words.
10. Publish and promote. Post the blog post onto your site and immediately send the link to your social media contacts. Then follow up with additional social media posts during the week.

If you’re stuck in the blogging process, this 10-step method can jump-start your creativity. And if your 10 tips succeed in helping someone with an important problem, that could open the door to new readers, new referrals and new business.

Photo credit: extranoise via photopin cc

Are you wondering just how to get started with blogging for your business? Here are my suggestions.

(You can also click on the embedded links for more information about each topic.)

1. Decide if blogging is a good strategy for YOUR business. Consider these top five benefits of blogging and the blogging for business formula. Find and review other blogs in your industry and notice what you like and don’t like. During this process, be sure to bookmark the ones you like best – these will provide inspiration and ideas for your own blog posts, as well as content to share with your social media networks.
2. Make a commitment to blogging. That includes spending the time, energy and attention, and in some cases the money. Decide on a blogging schedule that works for you, and how you will make the time.
3. Get a blog onto your website. It’s a lot of work to move a blog from one platform to another, especially once you’ve already written a mountain of content (believe me, I know!). So get this right from the start – when people are visiting your website to read your blog posts, they’ll be one step away from doing business with you. Upgrading your website to include a blog may take some time, but don’t let that stop you from blogging – get the posts ready and you’ll already have great content for when your blog goes live.
4. Create a blogging plan. Include a mission statement (who will read your blog, what you will deliver to them, and how that will improve their lives or businesses), categories, topics and titles that will fulfill that mission, and an editorial calendar that will help you deliver that content in a balanced way. Remember, you don’t need to write a full-length feature article every week – use connective content to keep your blog fresh.
5. Follow your blogging schedule! For example, you might devote time one day to research and blog planning, while the next day you can start drafting your ideas. Reserve your peak creative time for writing, and don’t forget to edit. Give yourself plenty of time to find a photo, format and publish the post, promote the post on social media and respond to any comments or conversation.
6. Review your results regularly. Just be sure you’re tracking the most meaningful things for your business. When people comment on and share your blog posts, it helps increase your visibility and credibility, but don’t get too caught up with your popularity on social media. When certain posts get a lot of activity, write more blog posts about those topics, but at the end of it all, do you want a lot of comments, or a lot of calls from new customers?

P.S. Want to get the best results from your business blog? Be sure to avoid these ten business blogging mistakes.

I often suggest that business bloggers look to other blogs for content ideas that will be valuable to the prospective clients who may be reading.

Recently a client asked:

“What is the etiquette for re-blogging someone else’s blog [post]?”

Great question! You have a few options:

1) Share the content with your network by posting the permanent link to that post in your email newsletter and social network accounts, always introducing it with the author/company name so it’s clear that you’re not taking credit for the content.

2) Interview the author about the topic, by email or phone, so he or she can state the same ideas, but in a written conversation with you where you get to participate with your own thoughts.

3) Write a review and/or expansion of the post, where you briefly quote (no more than 1-2 sentences) the original blog post, and provide the link, author and title of the original post.

If you have EXPLICIT permission from the author, you can also:

4) Reprint the entire article on your own blog, including a bio of the author and an additional statement that reads, “This blog post originally appeared on [blog name] and was reprinted with permission,” followed by the permanent link to the blog post.

5) Revise/adapt the article to suit your own audience, including a bio of the author and an additional statement that reads, “This blog post originally appeared on [blog name] and was reprinted and adapted with permission,” followed by the permanent link to the blog post.

Note that on some blogging platforms you’ll actually see a “Reblog” button. In this case, the system will automatically generate the proper links and credit the author appropriately.

For more information, please see How to Share Great Content Without Plagiarizing.

photo credit: Alan Cleaver via photopin cc

Have you ever had this experience as a website visitor?

• Click. Services. This looks good, this might be just what I need!
• Click. About. Hey, you really seem to know where I’m coming from. You look like someone I’d like to do business with.
• Click. Blog. Hey, wait a second. All I see is a few posts from last month/year – what happened??? Are they still in business? Is something wrong with the website? Why didn’t they fix it? Did they just stop writing? Do they leave other things unfinished?

Here’s a video where I speak more about this issue:

Like it or not, a blog that’s turned into a ghost town raises doubts about you, your commitment and your capability.

Will your blog turn into a ghost town?

Only time will tell, but check for these three risk factors:

1. You started with no blogging plan. You had the best intentions to blog every month or every week, and assumed that would just happen. Maybe you’ve planned out some of your content, but did you make time in your schedule for the brainstorming, drafting, writing and editing that are all part of the writing process?
2. You’re a perfectionist. You’re not sure your posts are good enough, so you don’t post them. Are you pressuring yourself to produce brand new, mind-blowing original ideas in every post?
3. You’re brand new at this. Blog writing is a skill like any other. It takes time, effort and practice, and so you can either study (this Content Mastery Guide blog is a great place to start!) and apply what works, ask for help or hire someone to do it for you (hey, we do that!).

Do any of those sound like you? Check out my Ten Secrets for Blogging Consistently and keep your business blog alive!

Ilise runs a LinkedIn group called Creative Freelancer Conference, built as an extension of the annual HOW Design Live and Creative Freelancer Conference. In the blog post, she repeated a question from one of her LinkedIn group members – with permission, of course, and with a link to the member’s website.

At the end of the post, Ilise wrote, “This question has gotten a number of helpful responses from other creatives. Any advice for Stacey? Join the CFC LinkedIn Group to take part in the conversation.”

I was very impressed by this clever combination of LinkedIn and blogging, and I asked Ilise how the blogging strategy is working for her. She replied:

“The LinkedIn Group I moderate for creative freelancers is a place where members engage in very rich discussions. But that group is restricted to members so it’s not accessible to those outside the group or to the search engines. By reposting on my blog, I’m trying to make the material available to a wider audience and grow the LinkedIn Group as well. And it works!”

It certainly worked on me – I joined the group! It also helped when I saw that several people from my network were already members.

By the way, if you’re thinking about starting your own group, check out these tips for effectively managing a LinkedIn group.

As a perfect follow up to my previous post about how to turn your Facebook activity into blog posts, here are a few other ideas for doing the same thing on LinkedIn:

Browse LinkedIn’s Questions and Answers

Whether you answer on LinkedIn or not (note: doing so would be great for attracting new connections and showcasing your expertise), browsing the questions about your industry is a great way of making sure your blog content is relevant. If one person asked, many are wondering!

Follow LinkedIn’s Thought Leaders

LinkedIn now features regular posts from some fascinating and inspiring business leaders. Write a response to one of these articles on your blog, or just see how they inspire your own ideas.

Review Your Endorsements

Is there a skill you’d like more recognition for? Write a blog post that demonstrates that skill. You could tell the story of how you used that skill to help a client, or write a “how to” article that highlights your knowledge and expertise.

When you’re active on LinkedIn and other social networking sites, you’re creating valuable content that can benefit both your business and your website visitors. Be sure to take that extra step and convert your social networking activity into blog posts.

Photo credit: The Seafarer via photopin cc

A response I’ve heard from other business blogging experts is, “As long as it takes to get your message across.”

I agree with that, though I do give people something to aim for by suggesting 500 words for a “feature” article and 350-500 words for shorter “connecting” posts.

Here’s what I think is a far more important question:

What is the point of your blog post?

When I’m editing clients’ blog posts, I often notice that they finish their articles talking about something different than when they started. So much so that the titles don’t always reflect what seems to be their most important point.

In last week’s runner-up for my Twitter trick of the week (available by email when you sign up at the top of this page), Dave and Sarah Larson of Tweet Smarter discuss this phenomenon in One Amazing, Easy Trick For Writing Great Tweets.

They go so far as to pinpoint the third paragraph as the place where writers tend to get into our groove and get to the point.

That’s why it’s a mistake to publish the first draft of your blog post. Instead, review it with a critical eye to make sure you can answer the question, “What’s the point?”

Once you’ve identified your point, make it clear to the reader by spelling it out at the beginning of your article (you might want to repeat it at the end, depending on your goal for the article ending).

Make your point just as clear to prospective readers, by crafting a blog post title that promises what you actually deliver. From there, you can write a series of social media posts as variations on the same theme.

If you find yourself trying to make several different points, follow these tips for how to pare down a long blog post, how to spot a blog post series and how to focus your mind, your topic and your writing.

Most importantly, make sure the point of your blog post is something that will be meaningful to your target audience. Does it answer a question they’ve asked? Does it demonstrate your expertise and concern for the problems they’re struggling with? Does it point them towards a helpful solution?

photo credit: Marcel Germain via photopin cc

Matt McGee wrote an excellent post that explains why you shouldn’t use social media as a replacement for your own website or blog. The ultimate reason is that your site is your property - your name is on the door, you decide how things are displayed and you own 100% of your content. You simply cannot say that about any social media site.

The good news is that if your business’s Facebook page is active, blogging will be a lot easier for you. Here are five ways to turn your Facebook activity into blog posts.

1. Turn FAQs into “How to…” articles. Do you get questions on your Facebook page about how to use your products or services? Or how people can solve particular problems in their business or life? Respond on Facebook, then expand your answer into a blog post. Hint: Look beyond your own Facebook page to see what people are asking on other pages from your industry, or that are related to your industry.

2. Turn positive praise into case studies. Whether it’s a formal recommendation or a comment on your wall, when people share good feedback you can contact them privately and ask for an interview. Find out more about their experience and the problem your business helped solve. Case studies make great blog posts and can also be highlighted in a separate section of your site.

3. Turn to your network. Ask the people who visit your page what topics they’d like to read about on your blog. You could share a few ideas and do a poll, or just see what they come up with. Also be sure to notice if you get a lot of “likes” (and also if they appear quickly) when you post links to your blog – those are popular topics you should keep writing about!

4. Turn impromptu fun into a backstage tour. One of the things a blog can provide is a more casual glimpse behind the scenes of your business (though a business blog needs to be more than just a diary). If you or your staff have posted Facebook photos or stories from your day-to-day travels, round them up and post them to the blog. Hint: Use a specific category such as “Facebook Fun,” “Around the Office” or “What We’re Up To” so it’s clear these are separate from your informational articles.

5. Turn your shares into entertainment. Look over the photos, videos, quotes and links that you found yourself passing along on Facebook or other social media sites in the last week/month. Choose a few favourites and post the links to your blog, along with a brief introduction about why you like them. Similar to the last point, put these in a separate category such as “Fun Links,” “Things We Like” or “From Our Network.”

If you’re already in the habit of posting regularly to Facebook, build on that momentum to keep your blog fresh as well.

That was the first question I heard at a recent blogging presentation to a group of small business owners. (Blogging hint: Questions are a great source of blog post ideas.)

I know that if one person asked, others are wondering the same thing – no one wants to look foolish, make mistakes, damage their credibility or waste their time or money.

She asked. I listened. Here they are:

#10: Setting up a blog that’s separate from your business website. For consistent branding, your blog must look and feel like your website. More importantly, when people read your content, you want them on your site, where they’re one click away from doing business with you.

#9: Blogging for therapeutic release. A business blog must be more than a diary. Notable exceptions are wellness practitioners or business coaches, who naturally bring their own life/business lessons into their daily work with clients. Otherwise, focus on providing valuable, relevant and practical information.

#8: Adding too many new categories. When tempted to add a new category (and please don’t choose “uncategorized”), consider whether this is a topic you’ll have more to say about in the future. Better still, plan your categories from the start.

#7: Leaving your excerpt to chance. Your site’s blog archives page displays, by default, the beginning of each blog post. This will be cut off after a certain number of words (on search engines it may be as few as 25 words). Write your own brief excerpt that gives people a reason to click through.

#6: Publishing your first draft. It’s natural that as you write you’ll clarify your ideas and think of new ones. That’s why it’s crucial to review your post to make sure you’re making one clear point, and that your title, introduction and conclusion still apply.

#5: Trying to be everything to everybody. Write every post as if you are talking to one person – the ideal client you want to be doing business with. If you have more than one client group, you can use categories or tags to help people find their relevant posts.

#4: Being too generic. Prospective clients want and need to see some personality in your blog posts. Ideally, you want the experience of reading your blog to mirror the experience of doing business with you. Write authentically in your own voice, and be clear and strong about your opinions.

#3: Waiting to start blogging until…(insert myths and excuses here). Blogging seems like an easy thing to drop off the list when you get busy. What if you were to put blogging at the top of your list instead of the bottom? How many blog posts would you have under your belt if you’d been blogging consistently this whole year?

#2: Posting too quickly. While point #6 was about reviewing your content, you must also proofread each post before publishing. Ideally you will have an outside editor, but the next best thing is to walk away from your desk, come back with fresh eyes and read your post out loud. Listen and watch for typos, awkwardly-worded sentences and whether or not it “sounds like you.”

#1: Starting a business blog only to abandon it later. When people see a “blog” button on your website, or a few articles in your sidebar, you create the expectation that there will be fresh content. How you do anything is how you do everything. If people see that you haven’t followed through with your blogging, they may wonder if you follow through with other things. So plan before you start, and keep it up!

Be careful – making any of these small business blogging mistakes will defeat the purpose of spending any time or effort on blogging, and will keep you from seeing any of the benefits of blogging.

Content curation is the formal term for sharing other people’s content. It’s a content marketing strategy that helps:

• Solidify your credibility as a trusted resource in your topic area (your readers will think, “Sally always finds the best information!”)
• Keeps you active on social media without having to always create your own content (imagine calling a prospective client and hearing, “Sure, I know you, you’re always popping up on my screen,”)
• Cultivate relationships with the industry experts whose content you’re sharing (even if someone responds with a simple “thank you for sharing,” that could be the start of something. As a bonus, the rest of their network will see that message and may just check you out as well)

As more people realize these benefits and are using content curation (either manually or through software applications created for the purpose), I see some habits that could be unintentionally creating rifts instead of relationships and turning off your readers.

Let’s call it content hijacking, and look at how you may be doing it on your blog or on social media.

Hijacking content on your blog

It’s a legitimate and effective blogging strategy to use someone else’s content as the jumping off point for your own article (as I’ve tried to do in my recent posts about content curation and Twitter).

What I don’t enjoy is when I click on a link and find just a teaser – a summary and/or quote of the original content, so now I have to jump through an additional hoop to get to the content promised by the headline.

If you’re not planning to add to the content, stick with content curation via Twitter and other social media sites. Just be sure not to hijack there, either.

Hijacking content on Twitter

I know that 140 characters isn’t a lot of room. I know that you’re not intentionally plagiarizing. Yet when you post an enticing headline that leads to someone else’s content, without giving proper credit, you’re performing a bait and switch that could leave a bad impression on your network.

Content curation tips that will enhance your relationships and credibility

1. Read the entire piece of content before you share. Even if you’ve read the person’s work before, or it was recommended by someone you trust, make sure it’s something you truly want to endorse.
2. Use the author’s Twitter name. If you’ve discovered the content on the web (versus through social media), look for a link to the author’s Twitter account. Look to see if he or she has tweeted a link to the content, and RT (forward) that to your network.
3. Make room for the credits. If someone else has hijacked content and you want to give credit, go ahead and add the author’s Twitter name when you RT the post. To make room, you can delete the hashtags or replace the headline with a shorter description. Note (and I just learned this myself): If you need to revise the tweet in order to add the credit, use MT instead of RT. MT stands for “modified tweet“).
4. Acknowledge the source. For extra credits, let your network know where you heard about the content, by adding “via @name.”
5. Always share links right from Twitter or HootSuite so that you can add the attribution and control what people will see. Beware: if you check a box to “Share with Twitter” from LinkedIn or Facebook, or if you have your account set up to do that automatically, your Twitter followers will just see the headline and link and it will look like a hijacking.
6. Follow your content stars more closely. Create a Twitter list in HootSuite so that you can quickly and easily discover new content from your favourite experts and share it with your network – with full attribution, of course!

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 64% of professional services firms surveyed named thought leadership as a goal of their content marketing.

There is definitely a place for thought leadership as a content marketing strategy. It helps to educate your readers and prospective clients about issues that are important in your field. It helps develop and crystallize your own thinking about these issues. Perhaps most importantly, it cements your credibility as a current expert.

Many people think that in order to succeed with blogging for business, they need to produce earth-shattering original content that will catapult them into the realm of visionary thinkers like Steve Jobs, Seth Godin or Oprah Winfrey. However, as I pointed out in a previous post, How to Write a Thought Leadership Post, you do not need to innovate in order to succeed with business blogging.

So I invite you to lower the pressure you may be feeling to innovate as a thought leader – in fact, why not get rid of it altogether and have some fun with this blogging thing?

Who are you trying to impress?

Ultimately, you’re producing a business blog in order to attract new clients who will hire you. These prospective clients don’t need you to invent new theories about what you do, or turn existing theories on their heads. They need you to explain, in clear English, how to solve their problems.

Your blog readers don’t need to revere you, they need to remember you, particularly when there is a need for your services (for themselves or someone they know).

The people who will be most impressed by your thought leadership are your colleagues in the industry. And in no way am I minimizing the advantages of being the kind of leader who others refer to when they want the latest, greatest news and explanations.

I just want you to give yourself some time to evolve into thought leadership, instead of trying to achieve it with every post.

Stepping stones on the path to thought leadership

Creating thought leadership content isn’t the only way to be a thought leader. As you’re creating your own original content that answers your prospective clients’ questions about their problems and how you solve them, you can also be curating the best content that others are creating.

Sharing these resources on social media and your blog will accomplish three things:

1. It connects you with those thought leaders so your readers associate you with greatness. It can also start or deepen your relationship with the leaders.
2. Adding your own commentary will demonstrate your insight into what’s happening and shows that you’re on top of things.
3. You provide your readers with a more accessible route to today’s thought leaders. They may not necessarily want or need to work directly with the people who are creating the concepts – and in some cases it won’t even be possible. People are usually happiest to work with someone they’re already connected to – especially if you can show that you’re incorporating these innovative ideas and practices into your work.

You cannot force thought leadership

I recently finished the book So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport (thanks to John Jantsch for recommending the book in his equally compelling blog post on the same topic).

The book explains the importance of putting time into mastering your work through deliberate practice, stretching beyond your comfort zone and seeking feedback on your efforts. Newport calls this building “career capital.”

(The book makes the case that if we try to create a business based solely on our passion, before building up this career capital, we may be setting ourselves up for failure.)

Think for a moment about someone you consider to be a thought leader in your industry. It’s likely that one of the things you admire is their years of solid experience – career capital – actively involved in doing whatever they’re writing or talking about.

While you can try to write a thought leadership post, it’s the response to the post that will really determine if you’ve succeeded. For now, you can stop trying to be a thought leader and start working on becoming one. You’ll get there, if you keep blogging consistently, watch other thought leaders for inspiration and stay tuned into industry news.

I do disagree with one point – that in order to succeed with original content you cannot delegate the task. As a ghostwriter, I have helped dozens of business owners create their own original content.

Roger points out the many benefits of creating original content for your blog, such as increased credibility, thought leadership and the ability to re-purpose your blog post content into other forms such as books, presentations or courses.

The secret to keeping your blog and website fresh with new content

And as I also reminded people recently at my Business Blogathon in Barrie, Ontario, you don’t have to write a full-length (i.e., 500 words) feature article every week in order to keep your blog fresh.

You can alternate your feature articles with shorter posts (i.e., 250-500 words), what I call “connective content.” Connective content might be your own personal reflections on the topic of your feature article, a case study of a client, or recommended resources. These “in between” posts could also be your own comments about related content that you’ve found on other blogs or via social media.

What is content curation?

The formal term for sharing other people’s content is content curation. Though you may not realize it, if you’re active on social media you’re likely already using content curation as part of your online marketing strategy. Have you ever re-tweeted or “liked” someone else’s link on social media? That’s content curation – that’s you saying, “Here is some content that I find valuable, and I’m sharing it with you because you might not have seen it otherwise.”

All of a sudden you’re taking on a whole new role for that person. You’re sifting through all the noise on the Internet and finding the best, most interesting and most important content in your particular topic area. When you pair that with creating your own original content, your value as an expert rises significantly!

Sharing other people’s content on your blog

If you’re already doing this type of content sharing on social media, you may wonder why you would bother doing it on your blog. Here are three reasons to consider:

1. Your blog is your home – your name is on the door, you decide how things are displayed and you own 100% of your content.
2. You can find it later – by organizing, categorizing and storing your curated content on your own blog, both you and your readers can easily find it later so it will continue to be of value.
3. Sharing other people’s content boosts your blog’s credibility with both readers (most importantly) and search engines – by curating and commenting on other people’s content, you enhance your own position as an expert in that area.

Of course once you’ve published the content on your blog you should also widely promote your blog post on social media.

Please be sure to give proper attribution when you’re sharing someone else’s content. For more information, check out my blog post, “How to Share Great Content Without Plagiarizing.”

Also, as Greg Bardwell of B2B Content Engine writes in his e-book, Curation for B2B Content Marketing, you should always read through whatever you’re recommending. “Just because a blog has a great title and you know the author or source does not make it worth curating.” Be sure you’re not inadvertently compromising your readers’ trust by sending them to a site or post that doesn’t share your values.

Sharing other people’s content is truly a win-win-win proposition. Your readers win because they have access to information they didn’t have to find on their own. The other expert wins because their content is seen by a new audience. And you win because you’re increasing your visibility, credibility and consistency.

It’s certainly happened to me, but I didn’t want it to happen to my Barrie Business Blogathon participants. So I put together these simple tips that will help you build on your momentum, so that you can keep building your blog and growing your business.

1. Celebrate your successes in all forms – At the Blogathon, some people published new blog posts, while others wrote as many as three posts to publish later. Everyone took away a three-month blogging plan, customized for their own business. Some people got their technical questions answered, while others got new insights into the concept of attracting new clients with a blog. All experienced the camaraderie and driving energy of working in a room full of people with a similar goal. Now those are some blogging successes!
2. Summarize your learning – I’ll be reaching out to my Blogathon participants this week to ask questions about their experience and collect their feedback. Yes, their answers will help me to develop and market future events, but the process will also help them pull out the things they learned and highlight the key actions they want to take.
3. Integrate your new practices – I hope the Blogathon participants will take the blogging calendars I created and plug them in to their own calendars and/or time planning systems. For new habits to take hold, it helps to piggyback on the existing systems that are working for you. Put on your lab coat and be willing to experiment. If something doesn’t work for you, tweak it until it does – instead of abandoning it altogether.
4. Enlist ongoing support - I have always found it helpful to surround myself with people who see the positive qualities in me that I don’t always see. Think about who could help build your confidence as a blogger and a business owner, and keep their phone numbers and email addresses handy. Even better, schedule regular times to connect. I would be happy to help with your blogging.
5. Restart your momentum at regular intervals – All of the above strategies will help, but it’s also important to re-energize your efforts. Sign up for another event, re-connect with your peers from the last event, re-read your notes or find other ways to light that spark.

If you’d like to re-ignite your spark at one of my upcoming Business Blogathon events, check out this new page for all the ways you can participate. Then stay tuned to the weekly Content Mastery Guide email for dates and details. You can subscribe on the top right-hand side of this page.

Look – Is your blog built right into your website? If so, you’ve probably already made your decisions about colours, design and layout that will just carry over from the website to the blog. If you’re planning a blog that’s separate from your website (as some people recommend), just make sure it’s not too cool to read.

Feel – Look at some of the blogs you like and notice their tone of voice, language and approach. Determine your own ideal balance between expertise (positioning yourself as an expert with “how to” articles and thought leadership pieces) and experience (sharing relatable stories – either your own or those of your clients). Decide what you would like your readers to gain from visiting your blog.

Listen – Who are you best suited to help? What are those particular people looking for? What are they talking about? What questions are they asking you? Focus on the most relevant topics and write every post as though you were speaking directly to one of your ideal clients.

Taste – Give prospective clients and referral sources a taste of the valuable content you have to offer. Post teaser questions on your social networks, along with links to your blog posts. Help them get to know you better, by writing authentically about what you know best.

Smell – How can you make sure your blog doesn’t stink? Here are the two most important ways:

1. Keep posting new content (hint: try these 10 secrets to blogging consistently). Even the best ideas will start to rot if you let them pile up in the corner.
2. Take pride in what you post on your blog so that it represents your business professionally (hint: you can let go of perfectionism while still saving some blogging time for the editing stage of the process).

For your own comprehensive blog planning worksheet, check out my new e-book, How to Plant a Blogging Tree That Will Grow Your Business, coming soon!

Please be easy on yourself! We all miss a step now and again and my own blog is a good example of that. I want you to experience only the benefits of blogging, not the stress.

While I’m going to keep encouraging you to be consistent with your blogging, I’m also going to keep offering tools, resources, suggestions and services that will help you do that effectively.

The biggest secret of all is that none of the things I’m about to reveal are secrets. They’re tried and true productivity habits you may already be using in other areas of your life. Now let’s apply them to blogging!

1. Build the blogging habit – Try pairing blogging with something you already do on a regular basis, such as your weekly invoicing time.
2. Jog your memory – Until blogging becomes a habit, set up physical and electronic reminders for yourself.
3. Catch your ideas – Be sure you always have easy access to a notebook, smartphone application or computer file where you can quickly jot down and store ideas for future blog posts. That will give you a jump start on your next post.
4. Convince yourself – Always stay mindful of your end goal and how blogging is going to get you there. Even if you’re not sure how this blogging thing is going to work for you and your business, be 100% committed to the experiment for at least six months.
5. Make a list and check it twice – Break down the blogging process into a system so you can approach each step separately. A written log of your progress can help with both encouragement and organization.
6. Use your time and energy wisely – Consider which part of the day is most effective for you to work on your blog. If blogging is something you’ve been avoiding or procrastinating on, try to “eat that frog” at the beginning of your day.
7. Buddy up – Find another business owner who is using blogging as a marketing strategy. Share your goals and support each other to achieve them. You can also share each other’s blog posts via social media.
8. Choose a mentor or model – Find a blog that accomplishes what you’d like to do with your own blog. Whether it’s someone you know or just admire from afar, watch how they use this tool and learn from that.
9. Reward system – Build in rewards for every step of the process – from creating a list of future blog topic ideas to sketching out blog post outlines to finishing and publishing a completed post. Your reward could be as simple as calling a friend, treating yourself to a hot drink or getting out for a nature walk.
10. Get into action – Use a structured event like a blog writing action day or blogathon to spark some momentum for your writing project. You can even create your own blogging retreat.

If you’re in the Barrie area, be sure to check out the next Barrie Business Blogathon. It might be just what you need to get some momentum on your blogging.

Just like a library, Brian’s website and blog have become a trusted reference for at least one local service agency, who repeatedly refer clients to his website so they can get helpful information that’s easy to understand. The agency appreciates having this valuable local source of free information for their clients who are in vulnerable situations.

Giving away this information promotes goodwill with his readers. Whether or not they’re in a position to hire him now, that goodwill helps his law firm stay “top of mind” until they’re needed.

Familiarity brings trust

The firm’s familiarity in the community has resulted from the cumulative effect of all of Brian’s marketing efforts, both offline and online. For example, they’ve had good results from using Facebook ads and Google ads, and the SEO benefits of blogging have also helped the site show up reliably at the top of search engines pages.

Whether you’re driving along Dunlop Street West in Barrie or Googling information about divorce and family law, you will see Galbraith Family Law – again and again. And that kind of repeat exposure helps prospective clients get an impression of safety, familiarity and trust. When they need help, people tend to choose the name they recognize.

Once they pick up the phone or come into the office, Galbraith’s excellent customer service practices come into play. From free WiFi and refreshments in the waiting room, to a genuinely warm welcome and a kind, listening ear.

Local connections

Partly in thanks to his affiliation with LexBlog, Brian has readers and guest post submissions from all over the world. Having guest bloggers eases his own writing load (that’s Tip #6 in my time-saving blogging tips for busy business owners), but what pleases him the most is featuring other local professionals so they can cross-refer and help build each other’s practices.

About eight years ago Brian Galbraith was on his own. Today he has six busy associate lawyers and six support staff, and the firm has been voted Best of Barrie by readers of the Barrie Examiner for the past four years in a row.

Brian jokes that spending time on his website and blog are just a way to avoid work, but the truth is that he attributes much of the firm’s growth to his consistent efforts to create and share valuable content online. Brian believes the key to his success has been spending time each week working “on” his practice instead of just working “in” it.

The above quote comes from the sign-up page for Denise Wakeman’s Visibility for Introverts program. We chatted briefly about the enthusiastic response to her offer, and how it really seems to have struck a nerve with so many business owners.

In my July 2010 blog post, Blogging: Passive marketing, or an introvert’s dream come true?, I discuss how even though blogging seems like a passive activity, for an introvert it’s actually an ideal way to actively engage with prospective clients and a wider network.

For introverts and other shy networkers, the benefits of blogging don’t stop there. The skills and practices you apply to be an effective blogger will help you build confidence in all aspects of your business.

Here’s how:

1. You’ll feel like an expert – Once you start compiling a collection of relevant and valuable blog posts, you’ll be able to see your expertise in black and white.
2. You’ll have (and be) a conversation starter on social media – Best of all, by sharing your blog posts with links and “teasers,” you’ll be starting or joining the conversations about the exact topics your ideal clients are interested in.
3. You’ll know that your website is always on call - With blog posts available on your website, prospective clients can always learn more about you – and how you can help them. As long as you keep your blog up to date with relevant information, you can trust that your website is making a good first impression.
4. You’ll clarify your ideas and marketing messages – As Jeff Korhan points out in this blog post about the business of professional speaking, “When you aren’t speaking [marketing/networking], you should be writing,” because “blogging polishes your ideas.” Blogging can give you sound bytes to use for media, networking or talking to prospective clients. This will be a really helpful head start if you’re usually shy in these situations.
5. You’ll have the seedlings of a book – You can put your blog posts together to create a book, special report or other writing project. It’s no accident that the word authority begins with author. Having your ideas in print is a great confidence booster and will also bring higher respect and credibility from others.

So while you’re reveling in the new ideal clients you’ll attract with your blog content, be sure to also enjoy these confidence-boosting benefits of blogging.

How did you get into blogging?

“I went to a seminar run by Joanna Hoffman of Oomph Group on different ways of marketing for professionals. One thing that came up was using blogs and other digital methods to share knowledge as a way of making connections and therefore clients. At the end of the seminar, I went to my (now) partner with the idea for a practice-related blog.“

What were your initial goals for the blog?

“My initial goal was to share knowledge. There is a lot of very technical information out there in my practice areas, as well as a lot of fun stories, and I enjoy sharing them with people who might otherwise never come across them.”

Have your goals changed as time went on?

“They haven’t really; I still enjoy blogging primarily as a knowledge-sharing tool. I am always reading other peoples’ blogs and if I come across something interesting, or read an interesting article in the news, one of my first thoughts is how I can reference it in a blog post to better educate my clients and colleagues, both current and potential.”

When we met, Cesia also told me that her firm’s newsletters are a breeze to put together now that she’s blogging. She simply chooses the best blog posts from the previous quarter.

What kind of feedback and responses have you gotten?

“I often feel like I’m shouting into the wind, so it’s great when I hit on a topic that gets some comments. I was given the opportunity twice to guest post on the livehigh.com blog, which was great. I have also been interviewed for a couple of articles, and occasionally get calls from other lawyers who have had similar issues to mine to discuss how they were resolved.”

How do you keep up with blogging on a regular basis?

“I schedule absolutely everything in my life, and blogging is no exception. I have task reminders set for my two regular posts each week (estates on Tuesdays, real estate on Fridays) and I make sure that I have them up by then. When I’m really organized, I will do a whole lot of writing all at once and pre-schedule the posts.”

What are your future plans for the blog?

“I intend to keep at it! I have always loved writing, and this is a great way for me to do that without the pressure of trying to write something longer for formal publication.”

That’s good to hear, Cesia. You’re helping people understand two complicated areas of the law, and ones that so many of us will run into over the course of our lives.

Branding yourself as an expert

For an example of how to use a “how to article” as a branch that stems from the business goal of establishing yourself as an industry expert, check out Carole Schaefer’s article, Five Tips for Better Video.

Carole’s tips give readers practical solutions for common video mishaps, and demonstrate that as the owner of Sugar Productions, she knows her stuff! Readers will be pleased to improve the quality of their do-it-yourself video attempts, and they’ll definitely know who to turn to when they want professional quality videos. Plus, they’re only one click away if they want to see samples of Carole’s work or find out more about her.

Listening for blog ideas from your audience

For an example of a business owner who is catching ideas as they rain down from her audience, check out this post from PC Service on Site about hacker emails. It shows that co-owner Meredith Skinner (with husband Peter Skinner) is listening to what people are talking about. Then she provides practical solutions for dealing with the problem.

The team approach to blogging

Another way to lighten the load of weekly blogging is to take a team approach like Barriston LLP. These busy legal bloggers also provide examples of how to spread the word about your blog, with individual bloggers like Joanne McPhail setting the wind in motion with tweets to her network about the latest posts.

Giving your own expert slant on relevant content from around the web

Cesia Green from Wall-Armstrong & Green taps into the visual power of infographics by linking to one about the extreme rise of funeral costs. She could have even opted to embed the image right into her post (instructions are at the bottom of the page where the infographic is hosted). Cesia also demonstrates how even when you’re linking to connective content that someone else created, you can still highlight your own expertise by including your own personal slant on the topic. She lets the reader know precisely why the material will be relevant, interesting or entertaining for her audience.

Making a personal connection through video blog posts

We’ll end this blog post where we began – by talking about video. This time we’ll use Kirk Evans and his company Fast Solution as our example. Kirk has begun posting “how to” videos on his site, including one where he speaks directly to the camera – giving prospective clients the chance to get to know him. Even though the videos are not officially part of his blog (Kirk, if you’re reading this, please take this as a constructive suggestion), he could easily turn them into individual blog posts with descriptive titles, along with at least a few sentences about which problem is being solved in each video. That way he won’t lose the people who prefer to read rather than watch (like me!).

I would love to feature more Barrie business blogs here at Content Mastery Guide. If you’d like to improve your blog and be featured as a case study in your very own post, apply here for my free blog topic offer.