How To Use Blogging To Build Your Business

My Name Is Andy Nathan

Certifiable Blogger Since 2010

A little about me…

• Written 4,000 blogs over the past 5 years• Published blogger for Intuit, Kissmetrics, ProBlogger, Technorati, and

other high end blogs.• Full-time freelance contract writer. 95% of business is blogging for

marketing companies and small businesses. 5% social media consulting.• Organizer and Speaker at WordCamp Chicago and Milwaukee for the

past three years. Also a regular speaker at Score Chicago on blogging and copywriting.• Interviewed by WGN, Fox News, and 560 AM about business model.

Creating Dynamic ContentYour content must entertain your readers long enough to engage, so you can educate them on the benefits of your point of view.

Certifiable Blogger Since 2010

How do we do that?

http://socialtriggers.com/perfect-blog-post/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/536209899361008804/

Photo Credit: http://www.slideshare.net/chaddyner/skyscraper-technique-backlinkoSkyscraper Technique: http://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique

The best way to learn about blogging is to

blog!

Create The Perfect Headline

To do this, write a list of 5 questions your clients regularly ask you 1.2.3.4.5.

Turn your Questions into HeadlinesSurprise – “This Is Not a Perfect Blog Post (But It Could’ve Been)”

Questions – “Do You Know How to Create the Perfect Blog Post?”

Curiosity gap – “10 Ingredients in a Perfect Blog Post. Number 9 Is Impossible!”

Negatives – “Never Write a Boring Blog Post Again”

How to – “How to Create a Perfect Blog Post”

Numbers – “10 Tips to Creating a Perfect Blog Post”

Audience referencing – “For People on the Verge of Writing the Perfect Blog Post”

Specificity – “The 6-Part Process to Getting Twice the Traffic to Your Blog Post”

https://blog.bufferapp.com/perfect-blog-post-research-data

Create An Intro

When I first started blogging, I knew nothing about writing. In fact, after high school English I swore off writing forever. It was boring, and I had no aptitude for writing. At least that was what I believed for most of my life. Then in 2010, I created my first blog. As a social media expert, I needed a way to connect with my audience. Social media made this possible. Over the years, I improved and even started writing for clients. Despite what my ex-wife calls, the worst grammar that she ever saw, I get paid for writing great blog content. What I have realized after writing 4,000 articles in the past 5 years is that your content must entertain your readers long to stay on the site, and educate them, so they remember who you are.

Spend 3 minutes creating an intro

7 Scientific Things Every Blog Post Needs

How do we educate and entertain are audience with our content?

Write To Your AudienceStephen King said that he writes all of his books for his wife. She is his audience. If she likes what he writes, he keeps it in the book. If she does not, he changes or omits it. Everyone else who likes his work is an added bonus.

Tell StoriesStories are a bridge between entertainment and education. They can inspire and educate at the same time. For example, my first blog, AndyNathan.Net, received 5 visitors the first day. When it was active, it generated over 300,000 lifetime page views.

Does your content kill the party?

So..Sleepy!

Be Interesting/Be Yourself

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/05/19/everything-needed-know-social-media-learned-star-trek/

Have a sense of humor!

Use different types of media to engage with people on different levels.

As a former teacher, one of my favorite books was Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner.

Have videos, photos, and other media support your writing.

E.G. pictures of attractive women increase the response rate by 4.5%.

Optimize for search and social traffic Search and social traffic are the top two traffic sources. Make sure to optimize your posts for search.

Lengthy articles of 2,500 words that are broken up for sound bites for social media.

Use Click to Tweet or Pin It Button for Image

Paragraphs should be a max of 2-3 sentences. At the same time, use bullets and headings to breakdown the point of your article.

60% of your readers never make it past the median scroll bar. Have a call to action before the mid-point, asking clients to share content.

How to Advice

The best advice then with all these different ideas is to write like you talk. In fact, you probably forgot how to talk if you are new to writing. We spend so much of lives thinking about what to say to people in the appropriate manner that writing as human beings is just…scary.Therefore, you need to write all your drafts in free flow without editing. Those are your true beliefs. If you want to remove something later on for being too controversial go ahead. For now, just write.

Edit your stinking werk! (SP)

Spend 7 minutes creating a body

That’s A Wrap People

Now we get to the end. Review the content you shared in the body.

End with a rock star call to action. Make it simple, and compelling for your readers to take action on your content.

Sell the sizzle of what you do? Maybe just ask customers to engage with your post. Small yes’s lead to big sales.

Spend 3 minutes with a summary

Connect With Me

• Andy Nathan• Twitter: andynathan• Google+: http://plus.google.com• LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/andrewmarcnathan • Website: http://smartatthestart.com