How to Create a

Successful Small

Business Blog

Brought to you byBased on an interview with Michael Stelzer of SocialMediaExaminer.com

Written by Ferris Stith, Social Media Manager at PostcardMania

If you are a small business owner, chances are you have been told...

Maybe you agree with these statements, but where do you start and how is it going to bring you more paying customers? This is one of the many questions I’m asked by our customers who are looking to jump into the blogosphere, so let’s get to it!

Blog is a coined term from the word Weblog (web-log), which is a discussion or information site, published on the internet, consisting of discrete entries (aka “posts”). These are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Until 2009, blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often were themed on a single subject (reference: Wikipedia).

Today, blogs are an essential part of any online marketing strategy. In the olden days, we had to pay to have an ad in the Yellow Pages. We had to pay to have an ad in a magazine. We had to pay to have a radio spot. We had to pay for all sorts of things! These things add up and can get to be very, very expensive.

The good news about a blog is that you become the publisher! That means you’re no longer reliant on paying someone else to get your content out to readers, even if it’s just online and connected to your website. You can start building a community and you own your community. You can get rid of the middleman. And when you get rid of the middleman, you can quickly grow your business because one of the biggest expenses businesses often have is their marketing investment. So invest in a blog, develop your own content, and build your online presence at the same time.

NOTE: It most every case, a blog is not sufficient for your marketing, but it can significantly reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of a fully integrated program!

In layman’s terms: A blog is an online journal.You need a business blog

You should start blogging

What is a Blog and Why do You Need One?

Getting Started:First you’re going to need a blog platform, which is the foundation of your blog. There are many free options from which to choose. These are the top three we recommend:

Wordpress – This is a personal favorite and is the platform we use at PostcardMania. It’s very user-friendly. You can choose from a plethora of free template designs (and paid versions, too) or you can create a customized blog design. You also have the ability to host your blog using a custom domain www.example.com or via Wordpress www.wordpress.com/example

Blogger – This is another easy-to-use blogging platform, owned by Google. If you have a Google account, you can login and setup your blog from there. Similar to Wordpress, Blogger has a ton of free template designs. You can also create a custom blog design. Blogger also has similar publishing options: hosting on Blogspot example.blogspot.com or hosting on your own custom domain (www.example.com).

Tumblr - Similar to Wordpress and Blogger, Tumblr has free template designs, as well as the option of creating a custom blog design. Tumblr also has similar publishing options: hosting on Tumblr example.tumblr.com or hosting on your own custom domain ww.example.com. One feature I like about Tumblr is their iPhone publishing app. It allows you to email or text posts on the go using your smartphone!

In addition to custom themes, domain names and publishing features – each of these blogging platforms have a large library of plugins and widgets to help you optimize and track your presence.

Creating Your Blog:For now, let’s keep it simple. Here are a few steps to get you started on your blogging adventures right now:

• Choose the platform that best suits your needs and create your account.

• Decide on a title for your blog; something that ties into your business/brand, but isn’t the exact name of your business. Your title should also communicate the topic angle of what you’ll be talking about on your blog (e.g. company name: ABC Dental, blog name: ABC’s of Happy Teeth).

• Customize your blog using the free themes/designs or hire someone to create a custom blog design for you. I recommend the latter option so that you can get really specific and turn your blog into a lead-generating tool – not just a pretty site.

• Start researching other bloggers within your industry. See what they’re writing about; take notes so that you can start working on developing your own original content. You don’t want to be a copycat or talk about topics that have been thoroughly covered already. You also want to make sure you’re talking about things your audience will actually read. So, how do you do this?

Content Creation:Once you’ve figured out the topic angle your blog will be covering, it’s time to start creating content to post onto your blog.

At PostcardMania, we cover small business marketing tips that any small business can use and implement to help their business grow. What we try to do is identify concepts that are interesting, educational, and will resonate with entrepreneurs in a variety of industries.

So if you’re a small business owner who only targets one market or demographic, how would you go about creating content that is valuable?

First and foremost, ask some of your customers what content would interest them. If you don’t have customers, ask some people that fit your ideal customer profile. Try to find topics that you can turn into content related to your business that is going to be in demand. In the case of SocialMediaExaminer.com, they asked people, “What are the social media tools you plan on using in the future?” This helped them determine what they should write about.

Finding Time for Content Creation:We know that a majority of small business owners are pressed for time; so taking on a blogging project can be quite overwhelming. Start by asking yourself: Do you want the best possible content? Do you, as a small business owner, have the time to commit to content creation? If you don’t, find someone who can create great content for you. Posting semi-professional, poorly-written content is worse than posting nothing at all. In doing so, readers will not see you as an industry leader and therefore won’t visit your blog or recommend it to others.

If you want to hire someone to write your content for you, here are a few ways to find freelance copywriters:• Hire a Company – Many marketing agencies and firms, like PostcardMania, offer

copywriting services specifically for blog content.

• LinkedIn – Go into the people search section on LinkedIn and type in “freelance copywriter” in the search bar. Then select your search criteria for location and be sure to widen your search criteria on the type of connection (meaning if they’re in your network or not). You want to be able to pull the largest amount of results to scroll through. If you see someone you like, send them an InMail message. If you don’t have that option, go to their profile, find their website, and contact them via their site.

• UrbanInterns.com – Urban Interns connects growing companies with people seeking part-time jobs, internships, and freelance work. This site is a great tool to use if you’re looking to hire a per-post copywriter. And sometimes, there are people who would be willing to write for you for free to build their portfolio. Just make sure you have some guidelines set up beforehand. You don’t want to have to link back to their website or profile on your blog posts. Linking to irrelevant content or data will send your site visitors away from your website, and reduce the integrity of your blog.

If you’re looking to do all the writing yourself, here are some tips to get your brain working and overcome writer’s block:

• Go to www.alltop.com or www.technorati.com. Find blogs within your industry or topic by doing a keyword search. Visit the blogs that you find in the results of your search and subscribe to them. You’ll be surprised at what ideas will spark in your head after reading a couple posts.

• Connect with the bloggers you are now following, and see if they’d be willing to write a guest post for your blog.

• What are some of the most frequently asked questions you address on a daily or weekly basis? Taking those questions, create a post that addresses each one individually. Be sure to include helpful links and resources when relevant. The more connections you make the larger your internet presence becomes.

• Anything new and exciting happening in your industry? Keep your readers up to date on new product/service launches, etc.

Posting poorly-written, semi-professional, content is worse than posting nothing at all.

Self-Promotion on Your Blog:Let’s talk about “self-promotion” on your blog. How important is it to remove all the marketing content from one’s blog (i.e. banner ads, etc.)?

The answer is: it really depends on your business model. If you’re not planning on allowing others to advertise on your blog — only your own promotion — you should make it as minimal as possible. It’s okay to have an ad here and there, but remember what the purpose of your blog is: to build a community that wants to come back. You are building a reputation, and building your brand as one who’s content is a must-read. If it becomes blatantly obvious to people that this is just content designed to get them to buy something, they are less likely to come back. You want those loyal returning readers, because many of them will be evangelists for your blog, which will bring more people to you, generate more traffic, etc.

Some of them will buy, but most of them won’t and that’s OK. What you want to do is develop a mechanism where they can be fed marketing content organically. If you build a popular blog with reputable content, your marketing efforts will be all the more effective. That’s where having an email newsletter subscription option is important. Once readers are subscribed to an email newsletter, then you can give a blurb for the day’s post and include a little ad. This is a more organic way to present your offers to your prospects.

It’s okay to put ads on your website, but create a limit. Try the 50/50 method. 50% of the year can display ads for specific initiatives that you’re promoting. However, shut them off during the rest of the year to reduce advertising fatigue.

Guest Bloggers & Influencers:Let’s switch gears and talk about guest bloggers. How do you find the right people to create guest posts on your blog that would be relevant to your readers?

The first step is to identify interesting writers within your industry or niche. Try to find up-and-comers, those who may not have gained as large a following as you, but are producing quality content of their own. This will create an exposure opportunity for them. There may be an opportunity where you could trade services to each other’s clientele. You could also target industry influencers, someone with more of an online following, and ask them to write some content for your blog. This could give your blog credibility by association and build your following through larger exposure.

So what constitutes an influencer? Many claim to be the “gurus” and “experts” of their industry, but how do you differentiate between those who are “experts” and those who truly ARE experts?

When we say “influencers,” we mean someone who has something you don’t have, which is a connection with an audience that you care about. Sometimes, you can tell if that person is an influencer based on some of the tools available to you. For example, if it’s a blog, you can go to www.technorati.com. You can put the blog in the search area and it’ll tell you how well it is ranked against the other blogs. If it’s a Twitter ID, you can go to www.klout.com. It’s not perfect, but Klout will give you a general impression of a person’s reach. If it’s a website, you can go to www.alexa.com, type in the web address, and it’ll tell you where that website ranks among all the other websites in the world.

These are basic fact checks. You have to exercise discernment! It’s difficult to quantify a person or organization’s “Klout”. However, if they have written a book related to your industry, it’s a good indicator they are a respectable figure. Publishers don’t make a habit of investing in irrelevant or incompetent work, so it is an endorsement of the author’s expertise.

Example: A carpet cleaning business could interview the CEO (or other C-level executive) of Dyson vacuums and write a blog post about it. The post could include info about the difference between a Dyson and other brand-name vacuums, how to care for one’s Dyson, which Dyson works best on certain kinds of carpets, etc. Of course this is a pretty influential example, but it is just meant to give you an idea of the types of influencers you should target.

1. Put a link to your blog on top of your website homepage. Include the title of the blog.2. Add the blog URL to company business cards.3. Include the blog URL as part of email signatures of your staff. You can even have your staff include the

title of the most recent blog post with a hyperlink back to the blog, and have that at the bottom of their signatures (this takes more time to implement of course).

4. Incorporate the blog URL into sales and marketing collateral/tradeshow material.5. Include the blog URL in contact information and company presentation materials.6. List your blog site on Yahoo, Google, DMOZ, BlogLovin, and claim it on Technorati.7. Create an option for email subscription to the blog.8. Use a social bookmarking plug-in like AddThis or ShareThis on all your blog posts.9. Add your blog URL to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and similar social communities.10. Syndicate your blog content via RSS!11. Email your customer database to introduce your blog with an outline of what customers can expect on

the blog and some sort of incentive to subscribe.12. Identify other related publishers, or blogs, that are relevant to your company and would interest your

customers. Contact those bloggers and find out if you could write a guest post for them.13. Create a comment strategy for related blogs (as above). Start commenting and engaging in conversation

within posts on those blogs. Keep in mind, your name is hot-linked (links back to your website or blog site), so blog interaction will drive people back to your blog. When fellow bloggers begin to see you regularly commenting, it will nurture a mutually beneficial relationship. They may promote your blog, and you may want to promote theirs to your customers. You obviously don’t want to promote competitors; however, a relationship with a complimentary blog will help to increase your online presence. The last couple ideas are simple and organic networking concepts. You can always go the paid advertising route by paying for search ads, where you can take the premier content on your blog and promote it on search engines. However, if you don’t have money to invest right away, the free strategies mentioned earlier will get you up and running with an effective blog site.

Now that you have the basic tools to create your own small business blog – it’s up to you to get

it going! Remember that PostcardMania is always here to help guide you to blogging success.

Call us today for a free blog development consultation! 1-800-628-1804www.postcardmania.com

Marketing & Promoting:Alright, you created your blog and started posting some quality content.

Now, how do you get people to actually read your blog?

Here are 13 ways to market your blog in order to attract readers.