And I would guess it all gets a bit overwhelming.

So let’s put our blinders on and focus on one of your highest ROI marketing tools: blogging.

There are differences between blogging as a hobby and blogging to promote your business. Probably the biggest difference lies in the requirement — or at least the self-discipline — to consistently publish.

When you’re blogging as a hobby, you’re indulging a creative outlet. In many ways, this format is akin to the origin of blogging, which was more about journaling with an audience.

The nice thing about this hobby approach is that you can write what you want, when you want. SEO and publishing calendars be damned!

You can also take advantage of a generous list of free and self-hosted blogging sites that make creative blogging easy.

Blogging for business purposes, however, comes with a honey-do list that can make the effort seem like a 180 from the free-spirited blogging. Structure vs. free-flow, schedule vs. whenever, purpose vs. whatever-strikes-your-fancy.

But fear not. Think of blogging as just one more component of your commitment to the amazing, world-changing brain-child that is your product or service.

Not sure how or why blogging will grow your business? Here are just a few of the benefits of business blogging:

• Generates leads from organic traffic
• Builds trust with your customers
• Builds brand reputation
• Keeps your business active on the web

To get you started, here are 7 things to know about blogging to promote your business:

1. Purpose is essential.

   This may sound self-evident; and yet, many a blog has fizzled for lack of purpose.

   Are you trying to teach something? Build your email list? Generate conversation with feedback and the sharing of ideas? Direct new traffic to your website? Sell a product or a service?

   Having a firm grasp of your purpose, along with knowing your target audience, will dictate your content.

2. Your target audience dictates your content.

   Knowing your purpose may be essential, but it’s of little use if you don’t know your audience.

   Let’s say you sell a technical device designed to make technology less intimidating for senior citizens. You will obviously want to deliver “technical” content in a user-friendly, non-intimidating, bare-bones way.

   Your visual, video and ancillary content will need to cater to this niche population, not to millennials who were born via WiFi.

   Knowing your target audience will also help you decide where and how to share your blog and other content.

   Is this audience better suited for emails, social media, or both? Is this a short-on-time, click-and-buy audience, or an older audience that loves conversation and building relationships?

   In the same way that an athlete or sports team practices with its next opponent in mind, knowing your audience is key to successful blogging.

3. Quality content is imperative.

   Hobby blogging is pretty forgiving because there’s really nothing to forgive. Unless you’re trying to monetize your blog, you set your own rules.

   But, when blogging to promote your business, one of the biggest “rules” is that quality matters.

   Remember that you’re directed by your purpose — educating, building authority in your industry, selling your product, etc.

   And that authority thing is extremely important, as you have global competition vying for the same audience. You want your reader to bookmark your post because it’s so informative and well-written.

   And you want Google to notice that you’re writing relevant, high-quality, sought-out content…and rank you accordingly.

   Substance matters. Style matters. And — sorry not sorry — grammar and spelling matter.

4. Appearance matters.

   You may have the makings of a blogging Pulitzer. But if a reader comes to your page and sees a wall of endless text, your bestseller might get passed over.

   (Yes, we humans can be pretty superficial, even when it comes to inanimate stuff.)

   Choosing a good hosting site and premium theme will help you create a visually inviting and well-organized blog.

   Window shopping, after all, is about getting new customers in the door.

5. You don’t have to do it all alone.

   One of the best advantages of blogging to promote your business is that you can get a huge return on your investment.

   If you’re writing quality content on a regular, consistent basis, you can develop promotional relationships with other bloggers. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. You link to my blog, I’ll link to yours. You give me a bump on social media, I’ll do the same for you.

   Blogging becomes a forum for sharing information for the benefit of your audience. And sometimes that means bringing in guest bloggers, influencers, and thought leaders.

   Share the spotlight. There’s enough to go around when you’re producing good work for the right reasons.

6. One blog, many forms.

   Blogging takes a lot of time and discipline. And, let’s face it, you’re not likely to feel like sitting down to pump out 1,800 words every time you have a blog scheduled.

   That’s why mixing up your format can give you both a writing reprieve and a creative outlet.

   Perhaps you want to make your regular weekend-preview blog a Friday Funday by posting a video blog. And once a month you do an interview with a leading expert or influencer in your niche.

   You can also host another blogger for one post. Or simply update an old blog that received a big response.

   Mix it up, add visuals and moving parts, and give your audience something to look forward to.

7. Conversion is a process built on relationship.

   Your end goal may be a spike in your bank account. But the process of getting there involves a lot more than a hard sell or buy-buy-buy mentality.

   There’s too much competition in a fast-paced format to indulge the notion that you own your niche market. Consumers want to be informed, and they want to trust the entities with which they do business.

   Think about how much more has to go into building trust with someone you never meet in person. And approach your blogging from that perspective.

   The conversion to revenue will come when you have embraced the role of blogging as a means of answering your audience’s questions.

   The axiom is true: People buy from those they know, like, and trust.

Blogging is one of the best ways to promote your business and build solid, sustainable relationships with your customers. And it’s worth the investment of time to do it well.

Click here for more proven and powerful must-know tips about writing blogs for business.

Need help blogging for your business? We’re here for you. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts. Or download our free Content Marketing Wheel & Planner Checklist for DIY content marketing guidance.

The post 7 Things To Know About Blogging To Promote Your Business appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

We would all love to believe that readers hang on our every word. And surely the world waits with bated breath for our next output.

But once we reel in our egos and wishlists, we’re left with the reality that we have competition. A lot of competition. Like, 500 million-blogs-out-of-1.7 billion-websites kind of competition.

And those bloggers are pumping out 2 million blog posts…per day.

Writing blogs for SEO really means you’re writing for two: your target audience and your search engine.

One is going to read with a human brain, emotions, and buying power. And the other is going to read with a complicated, mathematical, algorithmic brain and ranking power.

Despite their differences, these two blog readers work together to determine the success of your blog. And, if you’re writing blogs for business, it’s important to understand what both are looking for and how to make everyone happy.

Here are 6 keys you need to know before writing blogs for SEO:

1. You need SEO and user-friendly content.

   As mentioned above, you’re writing to and for people who are seeking answers to questions and solutions to problems.

   You’re also writing to an invisible purveyor of the www. And that wizard-behind-the-curtain is keeping an eye on what the human seekers are seeking and what the human providers are providing.

   Your job as a blogger is to seek what the seekers are seeking and provide it in a way that captures their attention.

   You also have to follow the wizard’s rules in order to be quickly and easily findable. And that requires more than just letting your thoughts and niche expertise spill out onto the screen.

2. You need great content.

   SEO isn’t a stand-alone guarantor of success. “I used my keywords and headings and wrote short paragraphs and did everything by the book. Why aren’t people coming?” 

   Understanding how SEO marketing works starts with the content that makes SEO applicable and worth the effort in the first place.

   You don’t need to have a Pulitzer playbook to be a great blogger. But you do need to care about your writing — its organization, style, impactfulness, and yes, adherence to good grammar.

3. You need fresh content.

   One of the big differences between just having a blog and writing blogs for SEO is the frequency and consistency of your posts. You can’t be a one-hit-wonder then take a sabbatical.

   How frequently you should post a blog depends on the size of your business and what you’re trying to achieve. That could mean one to four times a week or multiple times a day.

   One of the best ways to generate new content is to freshen up old content.

   Part of the beauty of SEO is that it compounds organic traffic to your blog. With more and more people seeing the same post over time, freshening up old posts can boost favorites and brand recognition.

   Whatever you do to generate fresh content, be sure to create a publishing schedule and stick to it. And remember that quality content is your priority.

4. You need to establish goals.

   Writing blogs for SEO requires forethought and planning. Why are you doing this in the first place? What is your business and product’s mission? Are you blogging to generate an email list or to achieve a certain sales quota?

   Having a firm grasp of what you’re trying to achieve will give direction and purpose to your blog content.

5. You need to know your niche.

   Chances are, no matter how good your product or service is, you’re not reinventing the wheel. That means you have competition. It also means you have resources.

   Understanding your niche, whether it’s fashion or technology gadgets or childcare, is essential.

   Blogging helps to establish authority in an area, so it’s imperative that you know yours.

   Even if you’re a seasoned pro at what you do, things change. New generations put new spins on old things. And there is always someone out there who is tweaking the tried-and-true to make it better.

   So dig in and learn what’s going on in your niche. What are customers asking, saying, buying, wanting? What terms are they using?

   Keep the Urban Dictionary on-hand. Get involved in relevant online communities and study the exchanges and comments.

   Blogging asks your audience to trust you and your expertise. So make sure you have the expertise they need.

6. You need to know what your audience is asking.

   This is all about seeking what the seekers are seeking.

   Remember that blogging is, at its heart, about connecting with your audience. They’re not looking to read the next epic novel. They’re looking for answers and solutions.

   Therefore, if you’re going to provide those answers and solutions, you need to know the questions. What are people actually typing into their search engine bar? (You might be surprised by what keeps people up at night.)

   The purpose of doing a keyword search is to find high-volume search terms that will guide the creation of content.

   The process of doing a keyword search when writing blogs for SEO starts with knowing your industry or niche.

   By starting with your niche knowledge base, you can derive related topics and seed keywords. From there you can use a keyword search tool to help you come up with a list of keywords to direct your writing.

   Don’t despair if doing all the keyword research sounds like too much effort, we can help. To learn more, simply contact us here.

Blogging is one of the best ways for your business to stay relevant in a fast-paced, ever-changing world. Therefore, having a strategy for it is imperative.

Writing blogs for SEO is a process of answering the needs of your target audience through a series of optimized steps. Understanding and implementing the above 6 keys before you start writing will ensure you are optimized every step of the way.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts. Or download our free Content Marketing Wheel & Planner Checklist.

The post 6 Keys You Need To Know Before Writing Blogs For SEO appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

Blogging has had its own organic existence, evolving in structure, subject matter, and purpose since its origin in 1994. The word “blog” is actually the snipped version of “weblog,” a term coined by programmer Peter Merholz.

Blogging started as a form of journaling online. A person could start a blog to talk about anything and everything – feelings, activities, hobbies, you name it.

If that sounds familiar, you may be wondering how that differs from today’s social media obsession. Facebook even stores your posts for future trips down memory lane. Just one more way to “be you” with an online audience. Photos, opinions, food choices, feeling emoticons – you’re essentially doing a modernized version of early blogging.

But what is meant by writing blogs today? 

The answer to that is broader than a simple definition and depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Facebook, for example, started as an online way to connect Harvard’s students. Users have fostered the evolution of this social media platform to serve other interests and purposes. Today you wouldn’t even recognize its original purpose if you didn’t already know it.

And so it is with blogging. People saw this “online diary” format as an opportunity to convey other information and even monetize their interests.

A blog, by its simplest definition, is an informational site that displays information in reverse chronological order. It may have one or many authors, including guest authors. And its topics can be about any area of interest or expertise.

Unlike the standard pages on a website, which are static pages of information, a blog has regular and frequent updates. Each post in a blog will have a publishing date and any number of byline elements, such as author reference, categories, and tags. It may also contain links to other sites or to static pages within the parent website.

And, because blogs tend to be written in a storytelling fashion, you have a forum for natural, unaffected expression.

Understanding what is meant by writing blogs depends, in large part, on your intention for writing one in the first place. But one purpose that underlines all blog formats is connecting the blogger to a target audience.

Are you simply trying to put your life out there and feel that you have people who are interested? Are you trying to share your knowledge in a niche area? Are you trying to grow your business? Are you trying to grow your popularity and bank account by gaining online celebrity status?

Having a grasp of your intention behind blogging will help clarify the meaning behind it. It will also help you decide what form of blogging you should be using.

Here are some of the most common forms of blogging you will encounter:

• Personal blogs. 

  These follow and maintain the original spirit of blogging. You can wax-poetic all you want because this is your own diary of feelings and ideas…but with an audience.

• Business blogs. 

  At some point business owners recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the blogging format as a conduit to business growth. As traditional marketing methods evolved away from Yellow Page and magazine ads, content marketing blogs gave new life to businesses.

  In this blog format, your intention is to draw people to your website (your business). Instead of handing out business cards to everyone with an open hand, you are strategizing how to attract your target audience.

  Because the focus of the business blog is connecting your parent company to potential customers, you need traffic. Traffic on the web means you need visibility. And gaining visibility means you need to know how SEO works so you can enrich your blog and make it work for you.

  One big difference between advertising “the old way” and advertising “the web way” is the intention behind the advertising. Expensive magazine and TV ads that say, “Buy me!” are being replaced with blogs that ask, “What do you need?”

  As a business blogger, you’re seeking to provide helpful information to your target audience. And, in the context of being helpful, you’re referencing and validating your business as a trustworthy solution to their needs.

  Promotional materials, invitations to give feedback, and calls to action all provide ways of expanding your business mailing list. And, from there, you have the opportunity to convert your audience to loyal customers.

  In this way, what is meant by writing blogs is more than just getting people to buy what you have. It’s building a relationship with consumers who know they have countless choices and the prerogative to be selective.

Recommended Reading: 11 Reasons Why Writing Blogs Will Grow Your Business

• Niche blogs. 

  As the name implies, a niche blog focuses on a single topic with as much information and insight as possible.

• Media blogs. 

  No matter what kind of blogging you do, you may occasionally want a break from the written word. That’s where alternative media like podcasting, vlogging, and photo blogging can be a refreshing insertion. Media blogs, however, use these formats as the rule, not the exception.

Perhaps you’ve been blogging for years and have comfortably evolved with the forum. Perhaps you’re experienced with the various forms of blogging and creatively integrate them to serve your purpose.

Perhaps you’re new to blogging and don’t know how or where to start.

Regardless of your experience level, writing blogs can provide a powerful connection to your target audience. You simply have to trust you have something to say and know why you want to say it.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post What Is Meant By Writing Blogs & Should You Be Doing It? appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

And surely you don’t want to miss out on anything that can grow your business.

The great thing about cha-ching is that it doesn’t always have to cost cha-ching to get it. Keep that in mind as we explore how blogging can help your business. It really does provide one of the best returns on your investment.

In the big picture, you want customers. This isn’t your charity (although charities can benefit from blogging, too), it’s your business, your livelihood. Your efforts, therefore, have that end in mind.

Nearly 80% of companies that use blogging reported acquiring customers because of it.

But there are a lot of steps between here and there. And customers have seemingly countless choices when it comes to meeting their needs. What you do to answer their questions and provide solutions to their problems will determine whether they choose you or someone else.

Gone are the days when an unmistakable logo or well-situated storefront was enough to secure familiarity. Brand awareness is now cultivated in a highly competitive, fast-paced, constantly changing market. And that means you have to stay “in touch” and relevant.

Blogging goes beyond the logo, the tag line, and the swanky photos to meaningful engagement with your target audience. Not exactly your grandparents’ memory of marketing!

Let’s dig a little deeper into how blogging can help your business.

• Blogging drives traffic to your website…without buying ads.

  It wasn’t that long ago when every household got an annual dumping of telephone books at its front door. White Pages for residential, Yellow Pages for business. If you didn’t buy your space in the Yellow Pages before it went to publication, you were basically on your own for another year.

  Those days seem like a lifetime ago — right up there with dime-a-call pay phones.

  Today’s business is web-driven. You can still buy space in magazines, but you aren’t likely to survive without a strong online presence.

  How does blogging get potential customers to your site? Each time you create and publish a blog post, you create another indexable page for search engines to notice. The more relevant content you publish, the greater your chances of ranking higher in online searches.

  If you are a small fish in a big pond, that’s great news because it gives you a means to hold your own against the big names.

  Regular blogging also increases your chances for inbound links from other sites. Now, all of a sudden, someone else is doing your marketing for you. A customer goes to their site and ends up on yours.

  Go here to read 52 reasons why blogging creates more traffic.

• Blogging boosts your search engine optimization (SEO).

  If blogging is going to drive traffic to your website, it has to include directions to point people in the right direction. Think of blogging as your business’s GPS, directing traffic from anywhere on the planet.

  How can something as simple as a blog post accomplish that? First, by providing relevant content that responds to what people are asking and needing. Second, by producing quality content that is well-written and researched. Third, by using appropriately researched keywords that act as connecting points on the web.

  Keywords draw entities together — kind of like “tagging” does on social media. By researching what people are searching for regarding specific topics, you can tailor your blog post accordingly. Google gives props for that. It rewards you for “listening” by giving you a better seat at the table in the form of a higher ranking.

• Blogging helps to establish your authority in your industry.

  By creating quality content on a consistent and frequent basis, you inevitably become a go-to for customers interested in your industry. You’re the business whose light is always on when everyone else has gone home. And you’re the name that always comes up because you’re always out there, answering questions, providing good information, inviting feedback.

• Blogging can help convert your audience to customers.

  Today’s consumer rarely impulse-buys. Well, OK, checkout-line candy bars excepted….There is just too much competition, too much variance in pricing and quality, and too much information vying for attention.

  So how do you pull people out of thin air and turn them into customers? How do you get them to your storefront when they don’t even know it exists? Yep. Blogging. It’s the most powerful tool you have for escorting customers through the marketing funnel.

  A skillful blogger will strategize content for different stages of the funnel, recognizing that consumers have different needs leading up to a purchase.

  Modern consumers are much more research savvy than consumers from the Yellow Page era. They value and read blogs. They enjoy them, rely on them, return to them.

  Once you understand how blogging can help your business, the conversions will come more easily.

• Blogging is a conduit for viable feedback.

  You’re in business to fill a void in the marketplace and/or to improve upon what’s already out there. It’s all about creating a product or service that people will want and will buy. But how do you know what people want if you aren’t in communication with them?

  One of the most powerful qualities of blogging is the dynamic between the business owner and his/her target audience. “Here’s-my-ad-buy-my-product” advertising simply doesn’t cut it anymore. People want choices…and they want to be heard.

  By having an active comment section to your blog, you open up the channels of communication with your audience. You have the most direct way of learning what people want (hint: your next blog post idea). You also have the most direct way of getting their feedback on what you are doing.

  You may even get some tips from people who know more about your industry or product than you do.

  If all you did was make it clear that you are listening and responding to your audience, your business would get a huge boost.

There is a lot more to blogging — both in terms of potential and strategy — than what meets the eye. Read why blogs will grow your business, start your list of topics, and get writing. Your customers and business will thank you.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post How Blogging Can Help Your Business appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

At least you’re not alone.

By now you’re probably sick of hearing why writing blogs will grow your business. Yes, you get excited by everything that leads to ca-ching. But you’re also painfully aware that time is actually your greatest commodity.

And it seems that, at every turn, some know-it-all business wizard is telling you to add five more hours to a 24-hour day. Oh, and that will also cost you “this much,” and you will need to take a tutorial “here” and register your blog “there.”

Seriously? At some point, behind your the-customer-is-always-right, “No-what-can-I-do-for-you?” smile, you really just want to know how to get the best bang for your buck. Time-wise, money-wise, effort-wise.

Yeah, we get it. You’re an inventor, a hand-shaker, a rainmaker…not a writer who has time to scour tomes of words in search of a Pulitzer phrase.

But this is the 21st century. Mail isn’t delivered on horseback, and deals aren’t made with a fall-harvest crop exchange. Mail is delivered by invisible byte-fairies, and deals are made without ever shaking hands.

Your website is your storefront. And you have a ton of competition, which means you need to know how to increase traffic to your website.

Damn blogging. (Surely you saw it coming.)

Before we talk about why blogging is hard for so many small business owners like yourself, let’s recall why it’s so important.

Blogging connects you to your audience. It gives you the opportunity to assume the role of “expert” in your niche. It helps you get a great place in line on Google. It gets you noticed on social media. It gives you longevity online. It gives you a forum for feedback.

Blogging also generates leads…which generate customers…who generate loyalty…which generates referrals…which generate more business.

Just how much business does blogging stir up? Consider that B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t blog. They also have 434% more indexed pages (web pages that are recognized by Google) than businesses that don’t blog.

But, as you probably know by now, blogging is more than answering the “What’s on your mind?” prompt on Facebook. And that can be enough to make a small business owner dig in her high heels in hopes of getting around it.

Just so you can find comfort in company, let’s look at 5 reasons why blogging is hard for the small business owner.

Perhaps we can even rosey up your glasses and give you a new outlook on the task.

1. What the hell am I supposed to write about?

   Kind of tough to write when you don’t have anything to write about. And we’ve all wasted plenty of time reading waste-of-webspace articles by “authors” who think that showing up is enough to get them noticed.

   Having something to write about comes, in part, from the belief that you have something to say. And that, in large part, comes from confidence in yourself and your product or service.

   You know what it’s like to be with someone who knows his product inside-out – and loves it. He believes in it, and he could talk all day about why he does. You can’t even change the subject without him doing a u-turn and – to your amazement – parallel parking in his niche.

   If you’ve ever had a “weird” question that doesn’t show up in neon lights on Google, you’re not alone. We all have curiosities that are often difficult to put into words. But you know how grateful you are when you find that one article that speaks directly to your query. It’s as if someone out there is reading your mind.

   In other words, just when you think there is nothing for you to write about, the ideas come flooding in.

   Not quite convinced? Start keeping a list of all your ideas related to your business. Think about why and how you started your business. What was the need that wasn’t already being met? Who is the customer your product or service was designed to help? How does it accomplish that?

   Need some prompts? Type your product or general topic into Google and jot down the autosuggestions that pop up. They will give you an idea of what people want to know.

2. I don’t have time.

   This is a biggie when it comes to why blogging is so hard. Not only does blogging take time, but it takes frequency and consistency. It can’t be an I-have-an-extra-hour-and-an-idea-just-popped-into-my-head sort of thing.

   Once or twice weekly just to get a chance at-bat. Four or more times weekly to hit it out of the park.

   The “I don’t have time” reason may not have an overnight cure for you. But developing a discipline around blogging will help.

   Create a schedule instead of relying on how you feel in the moment. Start the practice of timed writings. Set a timer for 20/40/60 minutes and just write until the alarm goes off. Don’t edit or criticize while writing. Just write. Let it flow, and then go back and package it all up nicely for publication.

3. I’m not a good writer.

   Unfortunately, not many people are. Writing, like anything else, is a combination of proclivity, natural giftedness, and practice.

   But don’t let the “I sucked in English” excuse stop you from this major component of your business. First of all, you can’t type from a phone or keyboard without the grammar guardians looking out for you. Spell check, Grammarly, and pop-up prompts are always looking out for you. Your primary focus should be on creating awesome content.

   And, once you trust that you have something to say, you’re halfway there. Think about how you would talk with a friend. You want clean, proofread material, but you also want relatability and connection.

   If typing out your “conversation” pains you that much, broaden your expression to formats like podcasts and YouTube videos.

4. I don’t understand all the technical stuff.

   Blogging does involve some techie housework.

   If you want your website to show up in organic searches, you will need to get familiar with search engine optimization (SEO). This will involve learning how to find out what people are searching for so you can develop relevant titles and subject matter. It will also involve learning how to build your content around keywords and structural guidelines.

   Finally, you will have to learn how to create URL’s and publish your blog. If you have a website, you have already done a lot of the difficult set-up work of creating a home for your blog.

5. I just don’t want to.

   Kudos for honesty! We could write an e-book on all the reasons why blogging is hard. But sometimes it all boils down to desire.

   When you find yourself dreading the blogging have-to, you have a couple choices. One, you can find or create a way to make the task enjoyable (or at least not so painful).

   Tap into your own internal motivators and use them to get the job done. Make a game of it. Compete with yourself. Set up a per diem writing goal and dangle an end-of-month reward for yourself. Ask your friends or customers for topics they would like to read about and write about them. Find a way to make the task enjoyable so you will show up to it consistently.

   Secondly, you can hire a ghostwriter who will write in your voice and help you with any or all aspects of the blogging process.

For all the reasons why blogging is hard for small business owners, the benefits ultimately outweigh them.

Not sure you have something to say? Look at the product or service you have wagered your livelihood on. That speaks volumes. Be its voice for your audience.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post 5 Reasons Why Blogging Is Hard For So Many Small Business Owners appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

Whether you’re running a big corporation or a small mom-and-pop, you’re just an idea or brick-and-mortar without customers.

And it’s not enough to have only one-time patrons. You need retention. And retention requires trust in you and your product or service.

And therein lies the path to understanding why blogging is good for business. (In this modern day, essential for business.)

OK, so we’ve established that blogging is a big bump for your business. But so is a whole laundry list of other marketing strategies — strategies that might not be so laborious and time-consuming. Can’t you simply focus on those old-school, tried-and-true methods for rounding up customers for your business?

Depending on how tiny your bubble is, maybe. But even those resistors who have come to technology kicking and screaming have all but forgotten pay phones and Green Stamps. And they’re using search engines and smart phones just like those born live on Facebook.

Let’s look at 5 impactful reasons that blogging is good for business. Hopefully they will not only encourage your blogging practice, but bolster your enthusiasm for it.

1. Blogging helps you build a relationship with your audience.

   If you have been reading our blogs, you know by now the importance of building a relationship with your audience.

   Blogging is a platform that allows the give-and-take of information and benefits. Think of it as the table around which you sit and talk with your customers. It’s also the place where curious eavesdroppers can enter into the conversation and learn something helpful without commitment or cost.

   You’re sharing info and listening attentively to feedback. You’re doing, in a business way, what people who have the most admirable, successful relationships do. Before you know it, you’re having to add tables and chairs to the party because people are drawn to the energy of the community you’re building.

2. Blogging drives traffic to your website.

   And isn’t this what it’s all about? You’ve spent time and money developing your jaw-dropping website, but you’re the only one doing the hero worship.

   Your online business card may be all-that-and-a-bag-o’-chips, but it’s of no use to you until the customers start calling. So, how do you get your “card” into the hands of people without standing on a street corner and handing one to every passing stranger? Chances are you’ll just be picking your cards out of the trash if you do that.

   You need to be seen by your target audience. And you need to give people a reason to come.

   But my product is so awesome! It should speak for itself. Once people try it, they’ll tell the worrrld about it. Right. Once they try it.

   If you created your website two years ago, you will be nothing more than an urban myth if you don’t keep it fresh and relevant. And how do you do that without reinventing the wheel every year? Ah, yes, blogging.

   People are much more likely to click on your website and explore your product or service if they have spent time reading relevant content. By answering their questions in a helpful, authoritative way, you instill trust and even gratitude. This business owner really cares about her customers and understands them. She took the time to answer questions I didn’t even know how to ask. Now I want to know more about her business and product.

   Blogging gives you the opportunity to call out to your target audience with tools like keywords, good titles, meta descriptions, and social media. Every click and cross-posted link gives Google the message that you are the hot ticket in town. Obviously people want what you are offering, so Google prioritizes your business on its roadmap.

   When people do organic searches, they get matched up with your strategic keywords. They find your blog. And, once they find your blog, they find your business.

   Blogging is also the most effective way to increase traffic to your website without buying ads. (No more old-school or Green Stamps.)

3. Blogging gives you a platform for sharing your big heart.

   Today’s consumers -— especially millennials — are philanthropy-conscious. They spend their time and money, in large part, where their hearts are.

   A company that’s only about itself vs. a small biz that’s giving back to the community? They’re boarding the charity train and going with the business that’s helping to change the world — even if it costs a little more.

4. Blogging keeps your website current.

   Remember that website you created two years ago? The one you don’t want to have to redo every year?

   Blogging is the way you add content to your website without altering the structural information about your business, product, or service.

   Think of your website as your house with windows and doors open on a spring day. Blogging is the fresh breeze that blows through it. (Yes, a little corny, but you get the picture.)

   Point being, you don’t have to alter the structure in order to add to it. By having a blog on your website, you can build a library of relevant, helpful information that will get people to and keep them on your website.

   And, through strategic SEO, you can keep your blogs on the tip of Google’s tongue.

5. Blogging makes you an authority in your area.

   The importance of quality content — posted frequently — can’t be stressed enough. And that can make busy business owners shy away from the task of blogging.

   But this tall order is also a reason why blogging is good for business.

   When you go out of your way to respond to what your audience needs and wants, people pay attention. When you read between the lines of their frustration and futile searches to direct them to solutions, they really pay attention.

   And, when you do that consistently, they not only pay attention, they come back for more. They trust you, and they come to depend on the consistency of your quality output.

   Inevitably, that trust in what you write translates to a trust in what you sell. You become a sought-out authority in your area.

   Don’t be surprised if that trust becomes more valuable to you than the dollars it brings in. The two go hand-in-hand, but that connection with your audience will keep you in the game.

There are so many wonderful reasons why blogging will grow your business. But, when the idea of committing to the task of pumping out content on a regular basis seems overwhelming, only one reason matters.

Blogging is your gift to your audience. It’s your way of showing that you care about what they care about. You are in business to provide a needed and relevant product or service. And your blogs deliver the message that you and your audience are in this together.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post 5 Reasons Why Blogging Is Good For Business appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

But — as you wipe the sweat from your brow — write you must.

You probably weren’t counting on a rehashing of sentence diagramming when you were inventing that millions-making doohickey thing you sell. Engineering, patenting, manufacturing, business plans — you’ve been head-down in the work of invention, not wordsmithing. And now…blogging?

If you hate writing, blogs can register as the skull-and-crossbones on your weekly calendar. But the task really doesn’t need to be so difficult or dreaded. If you can redirect that grumbling to the passion that made you start your business in the first place, your perspective might change.

Remember, blogging is your way of connecting with your audience. It’s your way of drawing the curtains open on the window of your expertise.

There are so many reasons why writing blogs will grow your business. If you can pair your enthusiasm for those reasons with the helpful hints below, you will quickly find your blogging groove.

Here are some hacks to take the drudgery out of blogging for your business:

• Write about your areas of interest and expertise.

You wouldn’t have laid your life on the line for your business if you didn’t know a thing or two about it. Chances are you have created a product or service that meets a public need and fulfills a sense of personal purpose.

Embrace that awareness and use it to build a relationship with your audience. Everyone loves talking about his/her personal interests and accomplishments. It’s second nature.

So find out what your target audience is looking for and be at the ready with the answers they seek.

• Write to your bucket list.

Well, in a manner of speaking. Buckets are simply categories or themes that help you group and schedule your blogs. Even a handful of subtopics to your main blog theme will help you create a rhythm that provides both variety and predictability.

Maintain the order and timing of your buckets so your audience and Google keep you on their radar.

• Create an outline.

Even professional writers come up against paper-crumbling, floor-pacing mental blocks. But, if you hate writing blogs, that blank screen can be especially daunting. And you know the words won’t write themselves.

So create an outline of your most salient points to give your post direction and keep you on track. Then take a break and come back to fill it all in.

This is especially easy if you are creating a listicle like the article you are reading now.

• Write your intro last.

Sometimes it helps to start from the middle and work your way out. By getting into the meat of your article right away, that pithy, watch-how-I-tie-it-all-together intro will often write itself at the end.

• Use a variety of formats.

Not every blog post has to be an exercise in prose writing. You can use a list in one post, a story format in another, and a step-by-step how-to in the next.
Mixing it up keeps you and your audience from getting bored. And it gives you the freedom to present material in the most engaging, digestible way.

• Research your topic to see what’s already out there.

Chances are you’re not reinventing the wheel with your business, so get online and see what others are saying.

While plagiarism is never the objective, staying aware of your competition and trending info is imperative. By reading other articles and viewing YouTube videos, you can get a little mental jog-for-your-blog.

Photo by ConvertKit on Unsplash

• Record yourself.

When multi-tasking rules your life, and long bouts of scholastic thinking are a luxury of the past, hit record. Using an audio recording app to help you talk out your post will speed up the blogging process. It will also help your post sound more natural and conversational.

Here are some of the best voice recorder apps for Android and for iPhone.

• Encourage guest posts.

You certainly don’t want to devote your blog space to guest posts. But the occasional guest can be a welcome reprieve for both you and your audience.
Remember why you are blogging in the first place. You are there to provide something useful and authoritative to your target audience. And sometimes that means bringing in some other experts. Trust me, there’s enough expertise to go around.

And, by bringing in someone reputable, you show your readers that you are looking out for their best interests. You also get a piggy-back ride on the back of someone who may rank higher than you in Google.

• Upcycle old blog posts.

Not every post is going to be Pulitzer-worthy. Some may not even be Google-worthy. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sometimes a little wizardry on that article you wrote while the kids were screaming and the roof was leaking can transfigure the whole piece.

Add a few fresh points. Remove any outdated references. Embed your latest freebie offer. Add links to a current post. Update the SEO. Rework the headline while keeping the old URL. Add some new graphics. Change the publish date. Hit publish. And voila!

Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

• Vlog and podcast as blogging alternatives.

If you hate writing blogs, pick up the camera or microphone.

Vlogging and podcasting do have their pros and cons. First the pros.

Vlogging is a wonderfully creative way to express yourself and your expertise. And it provides an exceptional platform for building relationships with your audience. It’s more personal and diary-like, so it becomes something that you, too, can enjoy returning to.

Podcasts are another creative way to engage with your audience. As long as you keep the audio files coming, your followers can tune in to what you have to say without staring at a screen. And, now that cars are being built with internet connectivity, podcasts are becoming the new books-on-tape.

The downside to these formats is that Google can’t (yet) read video or audio files in order to rank them. But fear not! There’s a way over that hurdle, too….

• Create show notes for videos and podcasts.

By transcribing your videos and podcasts or simply summarizing their highlights in a blog, you can recapture Google’s attention.

• Hire someone to write for you.

If you simply hate writing blogs too much to bother with them, there is another option. You can have someone do the work for you.

You can hire a freelancer or content marketing company to do your SEO research and write your articles with a specified range of words. This surrogate will also work with you to ensure your voice is accurately represented in your articles.

Writing blogs for business doesn’t have to equate to drudgery. Once you establish your purpose and voice, the creative options for communicating them will be waiting for you.

And your audience will be waiting to hear what you have to say.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post What To Do If You Hate Writing Blogs, But Need To For Your Business appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

It’s now a main staple of business marketing strategy. And, if you’re hoping to nonchalantly side-step it because it all just seems too…ugh…bothersome, you’ll likely end up eating your competitors’ dust. 

True, blogging for business has acquired more hoops to jump through over the years. Timing, technology, and relevance are all neon-light influences on both the execution and success of your blog.

But, if you’re thinking you need an MBA in online marketing strategies before you start blogging, take a load off. It doesn’t have to be that difficult to start blogging for your business. 

If you have poured your heart and soul into creating something the world needs, you can learn to blog to help share the good news.

You will need a few things to get your blog into play: a registered domain name, a hosting company, and a site/platform on which to blog. These are explained below, and, depending on what you choose, you can do a lot of your shopping in one place.

Here are 7 easy-entry steps to blogging for business. For more in-depth tips on writing blogs for business, click here. 

1. Choose a topic for your blog.

   If your business is the motive for your blog, your topic is probably already chosen. If your business is broad in scope, however, the topic may not be so straight-forward.

   For personal blogs, you can choose from hobbies, personal passions, even life experiences. But, for business blogging, it’s especially important to have a firm grasp on your ‘why’ and to build everything from there.

2. Choose a blog name.

   Your blog name is how your audience and (future) customers will find you. Choose wisely.

   If you do not already have a business website, it is likely your blog’s name will become the main part of your URL, so you want a name that is both specific and easy to remember. It should be consistent with your topic, but not so general that it will compete with other similarly themed business blogs.

   If your financial company caters to people who begin investing late in life, you have a specific (and important) niche. Shine a light on it. “Investing” won’t float your name to the top of the list in Google. But “Midlife Investing” just might. (Of course, you would also want to do the keyword research to validate the searchability of the name.)

3. Register your blog.

   If you do not already have a business website on which you will be blogging, you will need to register your blog name, which will be your URL (e.g. www.yoursite.com).

   When you register your business blog name, you will be able to choose between several different domain extensions (.com, .net, .org, .biz). If you can get it, the “.com” extension is your best choice. However, people are slowly becoming more accustomed to typing in other extensions. So, if the “.com” extension is unavailable, you can select another one.

4. Choose a website host.

   If you do not already have a business website on which you will be blogging, you will need to choose a company to host your blogging website. A hosting company is like a concierge for your site. It stores the files for your blog and, when a user searches for you, brings up and delivers the requested file.

   There are many different hosting companies. You will want to choose the one that best suits your needs with respect to price, customer service and the company’s community of supportive users.

5. Choose a blogging platform.

   Again, this is only a concern if you will not be blogging on your business website.

   Your blogging platform is the software with which you will create your blog.

   There are many options for you to select from here as well. They include WordPress, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Duda, Joomla, etc.

   Regardless of what platform you choose to create your blog, keep in mind attributes like flexibility in design, functionality, and especially SEO capabilities.

6. Write.

   This is why you are doing all this in the first place, right? Blogging, after all, is about written content.

   Even as you get down to the business of composing, however, there are several points to keep in mind.

   First, stay focused on your ‘why.’ Remember why you are writing your blog and for whom. Are you trying to get new customers? Provide a service? Become a respected authority in your field? Generate an email list?

   Second, be consistent with branding, both your own and that of your external references and resources. Target’s logo, for example, is always a red bullseye. It’s not blue sometimes or a square other times. The font in its name is always in a Helvetica bold typeface. And its products and price points are consistent across time.

   Third, spelling, grammar, and voice matter. Think about the most high-profile, high-ranking blogs you have read. They’re not bogged down with distracting misspellings and confusing syntax.

   You know, for example, that the tone of a Psychology Today post will always be intelligent, authoritative, and professional.

   Finally, because you’re blogging for business and not just personal enjoyment, it’s important that you develop and maintain a timely rhythm. Two to three times per week is ideal. But if that will not fit into your schedule, choose a rhythm that will work for you — just remember to push yourself to write a little more frequently than you may think you can.

   Need help writing interesting blogs about your business? Click here for some great tips.

7. Promote.

   It would be nice if the simple act of writing and posting were enough to draw people in. But it’s not. You have to start with quality content that answers the questions and needs of your target audience. You then have to make sure your desired readers know it’s there and how to find it. This is where SEO and social media come in.

Blogging for business is definitely a commitment you make on behalf of your business and your following. By taking the time to set up a well-branded, well-written, relevant blog from the start, the practice will begin to flow.

And once your blogging flows, your success is soon to follow.

Need help blogging for your business? We can help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post 7 Steps To Help You Start Blogging For Your Business appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

“If you build it, they will come” may have been enough inspiration to draw a scandalized baseball team out of history. And it may have been enough to magnetize a bumper-to-bumper line of hardball fans to a plowed cornfield in Iowa. But it won’t be enough to get an audience to your brain-child of a website.

It won’t even be enough to get seekers to the blog that is intended to draw them to your website.

While you may dream of that endless line of headlights crawling in your direction, more roadmapping and signage are required. Blogging is the map. Strategically blogging to improve SEO is the signage.

Before getting to the how, it’s important to understand the why. If you can embrace the reasons for blogging as essential to your very product or service, the how-to will flow.

Build your ‘why’ and the ‘how’ will come.

If you’re going to understand how SEO marketing works, you need to get comfortable with why it works. By keeping in mind the vision for your business and the integrity of what you offer, blogging will become a more natural process.

Here are just a few key merits of blogging. To improve SEO, use these fundamentals as your guiding motivation.

• Blogging keeps fresh, current info on your website.

  You’ve spent years developing your product or service. You’ve spent months (and probably a ton of cash) creating your website. You will surely make improvements on these as needed, but these two areas aren’t your areas of fluidity. They are the anchors of your business.

  So how do you keep the energy moving toward and through your business and online presence? You guessed it. Blogging.

  Think of your website as the scaffolding that allows fresh, relevant, answering-the-call content to flow in and out. This is how search engines recognize that you are “in the ballpark” of what is relevant and sought-after on the web. And they really, really like that.

• Blogging helps you engage with your audience.

  Ask not what your audience can do for you. Ask what you can do for your audience. Keep this mantra at the core of your blogging mission, and it will drive both your process and your success.

  Blogging is your way of saying to the world, “I’m listening. I care about what you are asking/wanting/needing, and I am here with a response (and product) I know can help.”

  This is your chance to offer something of value to your target audience without asking for anything. It’s also your chance to get feedback so you can improve what you offer, both in your business and in your blogs.

• Blogging keeps readers on your website longer.

  It doesn’t take long to look at a product picture or read a description and price. And if you have visited the same website in the past, your mind will likely “blah-blah-blah” right over most of what’s there.

  But offer a substantive blog article that just magically reads a visitor’s mind and answers an important question, and voila! Now that visitor is on your website for a long read, adding to the ‘dwell time’ that Google seems to favor.

  And, if you have used your blogging to improve SEO, your reader will be clicking on your internal links. And that means more time visiting other pages on your website…and seeing your business with fresh eyes.

Ever wonder how ‘blog’ got its name? What you may think of as a must-do technical rodeo for your business was once a simple ‘web log’. That ‘weblog’ became a ‘blog,’ which became a powerful driver of website and business accessibility.

And that implies some rules of the game.

If you want to use blogging to improve SEO of your business website, here are some essentials from the playbook:

• Optimize, optimize.

  Think of optimization as your ‘technical umbrella.’ If you were a professional closet organizer in Manhattan, “Optimize!” would be your battlecry. Every inch of space would matter, and therefore every nook, cranny, and container would be an opportunity.

  When you are blogging for SEO, you are looking for every opportunity to reach and attract your audience.

  But remember, authenticity and strategy are essential. You aren’t trying to “dump” on your audience. You are trying to help your readers get what they need — even if that means adjusting what you offer and how you offer it.

  Therefore, what you present, why and how you present it, and where you direct your audience all matter. And they are all opportunities that should never be left on the table.

  This translates to optimizing not only the content of your blog posts, but their titles, meta descriptions and images too.

• Give your blog a name.

  Naming a blog is an optimization opportunity that many business owners pass over in their SEO marketing strategies. And it’s a simple thing that puts up one more road sign pointed in your direction.

  Instead of just putting “Blog” in your website headings, use keywords in the title. “Small-House Living Blog” will help draw someone doing an organic search for how-to minimal living to the blog part of your website.

  Another small-but-mighty opportunity to connect with your target audience.

• Use long-tail keywords.

  Do you want to be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond? In other words, do you want to show up on page 5 or page 1 of Google search?

  SEO is competitive. And search engine algorithms are unforgiving. There are big fish out there that will always show up first if you search for general, one-word keywords. And if you are the small fish catering to a niche pond, you will never get noticed in those searches.

  Believe it or not, most organic searches are four words or longer. And that’s great news for you if you are a small business owner relying on local SEO.

  “Neon fishing lures for walleye” may not be strategic on your product pages. But it could be the perfect keyword phrase for a blog post during walleye spawning season.

  Just because a keyword doesn’t bring your audience to the front door doesn’t mean a side door or window won’t work.

• Create an effective URL.

  Always remember that blogging to improve SEO is about directing traffic.

  The URL is the rail system that directs traffic directly to a desired destination. It is also like the address on the front of an envelope. “Deliver here.” 

  When creating a URL for your blog, make it descriptive, concise, and memorable. Include the blog’s keyword early in the address and exclude conjunctions like “and.”

  For example, the URL for the KJ Content Marketing blog page is https://kjcontentmarketing.com/what-is-content-marketing-blog/. You’ll notice that it contains the keyword “what is content marketing” where each word is separated by hyphens and that -blog is appended.

  Creating a URL for your blog in this format can make it easier for you to run reports in Google Analytics and see how each of your blog posts is performing. (You can think of your URL as a sorting or filtering step in your reporting.)

• Write to a target audience.

  Blogging gives you the opportunity to answer specific questions for specific audience members.

  By blogging consistently and regularly, you have the opportunity to “take turns” with your audience. Today you’re talking about those neon fishing lures for walleye because it’s spawning season in Lake Erie. But next week you’re talking about the best areas of Lake Erie for catching walleye. And the next week you’re writing about what to look for in a fishing reel or why licensing is important.

  Your fishing-equipment business is now more than just a place for people to spend their money and hope they get a good product. It’s a resource for information on topics that make your audience need your business in the first place. And you become a trusted expert — even a virtual friend. (And, as we all know, people buy from those they know, like, and trust.)

• Highlight older high-quality content.

  Blogging is all about content. People want meaningful content that is worth their search and reading time. And Google’s goal is to direct people to what they want.

  It takes time to create meaningful content. But you will get a lot more mileage out of well-done, helpful content than you will from just throwing something out there.

  Point to other quality content (more road signs) by using internal links and connecting posts to other related posts. Think of those handy “If you like this, you might also like…” shortcuts when you are shopping online.

Being in business can seem like a lesson in “nothing is ever enough.” Having a great product or service isn’t enough. Now you have to market it. Putting up a storefront or website isn’t enough because now you have to go out and direct traffic. Blogging isn’t enough because now you have to learn, implement, and keep up with SEO strategies.

When it all seems overwhelming, step back into the mindset that formed the mission of your business in the first place. What are you offering and why? Who are the people you are trying to reach? How are you trying to benefit their lives? If you were meeting a customer for coffee and conversation, what would you be listening for? And what would you say or do to create a beneficial solution for your customer?

This mindset is at the heart of blogging. Embrace that and you will naturally, enthusiastically start growing your skillset for blogging to improve SEO for your business.

And yes, they will come.

The post How To Use Blogging To Improve SEO Of Your Business Website appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.

Or would you?

Knowing how to increase traffic to your website using social media is an all but assumed skill set in today’s tech-driven economy. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — if you’re not managing your own presence across these and other platforms, you’ve probably got an admin doing so for you. 

Or do you?

The worth of blogging is in the audience it draws. Why else would you spend all that time writing blogs for business? It takes enormous effort to produce scintillating content that gives people what they want. It also takes savvy intuition and skillful expression to leave them wanting and coming back for more.

If you feel a drizzle of cortisol in your veins as you contemplate adding yet another must-do to your business growth, you’re not alone. Growing and connecting with an audience, then converting that audience to paying customers, can seem overwhelming. After all, you’ve been in the thick of creating your product or service — things you know people want and need, right? Who has time to learn all this other stuff, let alone do it?

Let’s cut to the chase. Will blogging without social media still grow my business? Change “will” to “can,” and the answer is yes.

It’s easy — almost unavoidable — to get swept up in all the assumed requirements of marketing. You assume you need to be in all places at all times, and meanwhile your bank account is starving to death.

If you pause long enough to consider one thing, you can redirect and maximize everything: Time is your most valuable commodity. How are you going to spend it? 

Remember what social media is for. It originated as a means to build communities and evolved into a collateral business-building tool. It’s also trend-dependent, always watching and responding to user demands and behavior.

Remember, also, that people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Social media, when best utilized, is a means to connect and engage with an audience. 

So, even if you plan on blogging without social media, your goal should be the same. Focus on the connection, and the conversion will come. 

Back to the time thing….

Blogging has a few essential purposes. And first among them is your delivery of something important to your audience. 

You exist, in their world and minds, to provide information that they need. You are there to answer a question — sometimes a question they didn’t even know they had. And, in doing so, you establish yourself as an authority in your niche. You become reliable, trustworthy, sought-out.

Providing that kind of freebie takes…you got it…time. You are using your blog not only to build your audience, but to build your reputation. 

Social media platforms don’t lend themselves to long, information-rich content. They’re all about the scroll-through, replete with emojis and memes to consolidate information and attitudes in quick visuals. 

The idea of blogging without social media, therefore, isn’t crazy or off-the-grid. You don’t need to completely nix social media as a way to grow your audience. But you certainly don’t need to devote a sixth work day to keeping up with it.

In terms of utilizing social media, select one or two core platforms and optimize your presence on them. Which platforms are best-suited for your product or service?

And where is your audience showing up? 

Well, then, be there when they get there. 

Get it out of your head that this is about you, and make it about your audience. What does your audience want? What does your audience need? Where does your audience spend its online time?

If you aren’t ready for social media at all, there are still ways to optimize your blogging efforts. 

Informative blogs lend themselves to organic searches on the web. Someone seeking who-what-where-when-why answers is more likely to hit up Google than to scroll through Instagram.

This is where being SEO-savvy plays to your advantage. SEO-rich blogs have staying power on the web. Unlike a Facebook post that is here this morning and buried by noon, a blog written for SEO can be located years from now. 

And, by building relationships with influencers, you can reap the benefits of “hanging in the right circles.” One good influencer connection can make good on the cliche, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

If you keep in mind that blogging — especially blogging without social media — is about building relationships, you will feel more natural in your efforts. 

For example, it’s not just your potential customers who warrant your attention. Other bloggers can and should become part of your community. And there are several ways you can build that connection.

Blog commenting is a way to participate in conversation about a topic in your niche. Select a few blogs a week and provide a substantive response in the comment feed. Where you enter your name, include the name of your own blog. By leaving a response worth reading, you will naturally inspire readers to come over to your blog.

Sharing blogs is another way to build your community. It may sound counter-intuitive to share what someone else in your industry has to say. But, again, focus on your audience and what your audience needs. 

Connecting to other well-reputed bloggers makes you look good and like a storehouse of awesome information and contacts. It also builds rapport within your blogging community.

Along the same lines as sharing blogs is guest blogging. When you guest blog on the blog of a more popular blogger, you give yourself a big boost. Think of the warm-up band at a concert. The exposure that a new performer gets by piggy-backing on a hot-ticket performer can be career-launching.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power and need for an email list. While a social media audience may grow in number of followers, it may not convert to dollars. Your email list, however, becomes your community of loyal followers and can eventually be monetized.

Blogging is an important way of building and connecting with your audience. When and where you do it is also important. Being everywhere at once and spreading yourself thin will ultimately be counter-productive.

The concept of quality time doesn’t apply only to families and friends. It applies to business, too. And, when it comes to blogging without social media, it is especially relevant.

You may not generate the sheer number of followers as social media will provide. But, if you focus on delivering a quality product to your followers and building authentic relationships, you will see the quality of your traffic increase. 

It all comes down to being intentional with your business.

Need help writing SEO-rich blogs for your business? We can help. Schedule a free conversation to discuss your needs with one of the KJ Content Marketing experts.

The post AMA: Will Blogging Without Social Media Still Grow My Business? appeared first on KJ Content Marketing.