Blog Basics for Business

I believe in Blogging for Business, if you really do it. Piddle around, do it half-way and you might as well forget it.

Or start following some of these ideas from Drew:

The training wheels of business blogging

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:39 AM PST

We've just started working with a client who launched his own blog about 6 months ago. We've re-designed his website (with the blog on the home page) and are just about to go live.

As one of the last things on the To Do list, I was taking his old blog posts from his original effort and moving them to the new site.

God love him....but yikes! As I was preparing a document for him on business blogging basics, it occurred to me I should share it here too.

These are by no means all inclusive, but they are the cornerstones that we preach at MMG. (with a nod to Mike Sansone, who taught me all of them when I started blogging back in the stone age!)

Short and Sweet: A blog post should hover around the 300 word mark. Yes, you can occasionally go much longer or shorter, but in general, people have the tolerance for a good 3 minute read. Which means you must stick to...

One and only one message: Lots of reasons for this but if you're going to stick to the word count and put some meat on the bone, you can only dig into one topic. So stay focused. And, it makes the post easier to read and remember. It also helps you to...

Write often: Our client was posting about once a month. At that rate, you might as well not bother. Business blogs are chock full of perks (SEO, define your expertise, attract new customers, etc) but only if you write on a regular basis. 3-4 per week is really what you should shoot for, if you want to build a legitimate blog. Now if you want actual readers...

Go out and find your readers: This is not a "build it and they will come" sort of deal. You have to be willing to step away from your own blog and go talk to the readers you want. Where are they? Odds are -- at other people's blogs. Go comment, share, and get elbow deep into conversations on blogs that parallel yours in terms of topic. If you're smart or interesting there, they'll come visit your blog as well. Another way to draw attention...

Link out: When you're writing about a specific topic or person -- link out to them. Especially bloggers who track their links like bloodhounds. You should try to include at least one link out in every post. Not sure where to find relevant writing? Use a free tool like Zemanta to help.

Of course, there's much more, but these are the training wheels of blogging! From your experience either as a blogger or reader -- what would you add?

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