Starting a Business Blog - Remember the Planning Phase
by Mark White
When you start to put a Business
Blog together, there is one aspect which is often overlooked in the excitement
(yes, excitement!) of creating your new blog. This is the planning phase - a
critical element which you need to spend time on before diving in and writing
your first post.
In this planning phase, you should identify what you are looking to achieve with
your blog and who you are writing for. The result of this will allow you to be
much more focused in the content of your posts and help you to align them much
more closely with the requirements of those who will be reading them.
You should therefore make sure that you have the answer to three key questions:
1. What is the Blog looking to achieve? You need to able to clearly identify why
you want to start the Business Blog. Are you looking to use it as the focal
point for a network of contacts for your company, or perhaps to position
yourself as an expert in your field or promote a particular service / product
using 'educational marketing' as part of a soft sell approach. You might be
looking to use it as the development area for a new product and in the process
create a group of evangelists for it, or perhaps it will have an internal
communications focus, either for the company as a whole or specific teams within
it. All of these are perfect goals for your blog (or blogs), but you will need
to identify and focus on the one that you want to achieve in order to make it
really successful.
2. Who is the Blog aimed at? You need to decide who is the target audience for
your Business Blog, just as you do with your products or services, and
consequently who you are writing for. This will dictate the content of your
posts and also the way in which you write them - two elements which will
influence how you are perceived by your readers. You might be looking to
demonstrate your in depth knowledge of your niche to prospective partners,
create an interactive relationship with clients or motivate internal staff. Each
will require a different approach to both what you write and how you present it.
3. What results are you looking for? You should also be clear as to what results
you want to achieve with the Business Blog. While a blog is certainly not a
direct sales tool, there are nevertheless many ways in which you can measure its
direct effectiveness. These might include number of visitors, subscribers to
your RSS feed, sign ups to a newsletter, contacts initiated or clients achieved
through a contact form on your Blog etc. By identifying the results you want,
you will be able to measure how successful you have been and make changes
accordingly.
By spending time on this part of the set up of your Business Blog, you will reap
the rewards later. You will ensure that the blog maintains its focus in terms of
its content and, as a consequence, provide your readers with what they are
looking for and you with a successful blog for your business.
About the Author:
"Emarketing" Mark White is an
emarketing consultant and business blogging specialist working primarily with
companies in the UK. For blog set-up, advice, coaching or a free eCourse on
successful Business Blogging for marketing and business development, visit
Better Business Blogging Source of article:
www.goarticles.com
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