Today, more than ever, business owners are sharing their personal lives in their blog and social media posts. Despite fears of mixing business and personal, entrepreneurs are finding that their followers love seeing a more “real” side to business. Whether you want to call it authenticity, being genuine, or simply being you, it doesn't matter - being personal attracts others to you (and to your business!).
Do you struggle with writing captivating content in a timely manner?
I recently asked my Instagram community to share what they struggle with most when it comes to writing. The challenges they shared were all too common and ones I witness business owners fighting every day.
One day the struggle is not being able to think of anything to write, other days it’s spending way too much time editing. Some of these struggles, especially when experienced over and over again, make us feel like writing content isn’t worth it. But it is.
Are you getting the most out of your blog?
The thing is, blogging takes a lot of time, brainpower, and creativity. Those resources are in high demand as a small business owner, and frankly, I don’t want you to waste them! When you think about your blog, are you doing it just because you feel like you have to? Or do you have a clear strategy that guides you on what you need to do to make your blog work for you and boost your business?
As you read through this blog post, take an honest look at your blog. Ask yourself what you could be doing to leverage your blog to leverage your business. Not only will it help you get a better ROI, but it will help you serve your customers more effectively!
I have a confession to make that I am totally embarrassed to admit.
I haven’t written a blog post for Rough Draft Solutions since December. How in the world did I let that happen? As a content writer, this gives me a big dose of guilt. What kind of professional writer am I if I can’t even keep up with my own blog?
Well, the thing is, I allowed myself to indulge in a break over the holidays and didn’t have a plan for getting started again. And before I knew it, the weeks were slipping by, and I still didn’t have a plan. I didn’t feel inspired, and frankly, I felt like I was too busy with client work. While all of this may have been true, it didn’t have to result in me neglecting my blog for four months!
By now, as a business owner, you’re probably well aware of the benefits of blogging. But do you realize the harm you may be doing by NOT posting consistently?
The thing is, humans are creatures of habit. We like to have routines. We want to know that the businesses we choose to work with will deliver on their promises consistently. And frankly, grabbing the attention of your readers is hard enough. If you succeed in capturing their interest, you better not push them away by only posting interesting content once in a blue moon.
If you blog every week for a month, and then disappear for six weeks, your customers are going to wonder what happened. If you post sporadically, your customers won’t make it a habit to check your blog every week. You want to make sure you deliver content to them when they are looking for it! You want your readers to get used to coming to your blog every Wednesday, or whichever day you post!
Business owners are some of the busiest people in the world. It’s no secret that you’re juggling a million things. Often, writing content for your website, blog, newsletter, and social media platforms probably isn’t high on your priority list. But if you’ve been around here very long, you know how vital content is in enriching your customer's experience.
The truth is, as business owners, we have the tendency to put too much on ourselves. This isn’t because we don’t trust our staff or don’t know how to prioritize. It’s because we want to do the best we can for our business. But if you’re anything like me, you need to remember you can’t possibly do it all and it is okay to get help.
You’ve got a blog, you’ve scheduled the time to write, and now you just need one more thing. A blog post idea to write about.
Even though you’re an expert in your field, sometimes the hardest thing is to figure out how to capture your knowledge and ideas into a pretty little blog post. How do you balance sharing what you know and answering the questions your customers have?
Do you ever wish you could hire someone to write blog posts for your business and still get the credit?
Kind of feels like cheating on a test, right? Thankfully, it’s not. In fact, it is a recommended practice that will not only save you time but provide value to your customers.
A ghostwriter is someone who will take on your tone, style and persona and use it to write content for you, under your name. Not all successful small business owners are skilled writers, nor do they have an abundance of extra time. A ghostwriter can write your blog posts and newsletters, giving you the freedom to focus on the work you love and need to do.
As a small business owner, your biggest concern is probably not your blog. You’ve got clients to please, products to produce, services to refine, and a whole lot more. And yet, blogging is vital to the growth of your business and the support of your customers.
Your to-do list may seem endless, but you cannot afford to ignore your blog.
If you’re disenchanted with writing for your business blog, it’s important to refocus, shake things up, and find your mojo again.
Writing is one of those things that small business owners either love or hate to do. And as someone who falls into the love-it camp, it's still hard for me to find enough time to write for my business.
Who doesn’t want their blog to be more successful? Nobody.
As business owners and marketers, we are all looking for ways to increase readership, enhance engagement, and ultimately, get more mileage out of the blog posts we write!
A couple weeks ago, we published a short video “4 Ways to Make Your Blog More Successful.” We totally appreciate all of the wonderful feedback you gave! We wanted to provide a more in-depth look at these tips and share a few more tips we think you need to take your blog to the next level.
These are the tried-and-true strategies we have been using for the past year. Enjoy!
The truth of the matter is that some of us started blogging because someone told us we had to, and others started because they wanted to talk about their products and services. But those are not the right reasons to blog.
Watch our most recent video clip and learn about the top three blogging mistakes we encourage you not to make! Businesses who make these three mistakes are simply adding to the mountains of irrelevant content online and disappointing their customers by not offering the solutions they so desperately want.
Love it or hate it, blogging is here to stay. Every week I meet business owners who ask me about whether or not they should be blogging. Most times, my answer is yes, but under one condition.
Don’t be a dummy.
Okay, that may not be quite what I say, but if you’re going to write a blog you need to follow some house-rules. The rules aren’t complicated, in fact, they aren’t too different from what your 7th grade English teacher taught you in regards to writing a paper.
Awhile back, we made this blog writing checklist for a training session we did with one of our clients. This checklist is a quick and easy way to make sure you cover all the bases before you publish your blog post. Use this checklist as you get started writing and before you know it, blog writing will become second nature.
When it comes to blogging, one crucial and often, overlooked aspects of blogging is finding the time to do it! The idea of having a thriving, popular blog sounds fantastic, but making it happen is another story. You may have a plethora of blog topics you want to publish, but it’s tricky to find the time to blog when you have a hectic schedule.
Today, I will give you tips that can help you thoughtfully plan your time and dismiss the overwhelming stresses, so you can bring your blog ideas to life.
If you’re putting in the effort to blog for your business, you probably have an idea of how important Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is. This is what allows your beautiful blog to actually be seen and read! But do you know how to optimize your content while still being authentic?
Whether you have been creating engaging content and are well on your way to being a blogging master or are just getting started on your blogging endeavors, it's time to dig a bit deeper.
Are you still debating whether or not your business should have a blog? We think it’s time to make up your mind - and to start blogging!
Maybe you’re hesitant to start a blog because you think “No one will read it,” or “I have nothing to say…” Don’t worry, you’re not alone in this thinking. But you are wrong! We are fairly certain that you have a lot to share in your realm of expertise - and trust us, if it is unique, valuable content, people will read it!
Before I started working for Rough Draft Solutions, I had written one… maybe two blog posts ever. Now, I write one or two posts per week! Turning a blank screen into a page filled with high-quality, appealing, and informative content hasn’t been easy, but it has been beneficial to RDS, our clients, and myself as a professional.
After writing blogs on a consistent basis for almost a year, I have learned A TON about blogging. In part 1 of Business Blogging , I will cover the 6 things your company is missing out on by not blogging and what you need to do to get started. Writing blog posts consistently is not always an easy thing to do, but the benefits blogging brings to a business makes it worth it.
One of the most frequent questions I have received in the last 12 months has been “How’s business?” And every time I have been lucky enough to say “Absolutely wonderful.” I have had to pinch myself a lot because I can’t believe the success we’ve had this year is real-life.
If your business publishes blog posts on a regular basis, then you probably have a well-oiled routine. You put your last period on the end of another great post, hit publish, and reap the benefit of short-lived excitement before it is lost in an archive along with dozens of other posts and is forgotten. Kind of sad, but it’s true, right?
For some business owners the phrase, “Marketing strategies” causes them to cringe and quickly shield their wallets. However, developing strong marketing tactics doesn’t have to be difficult nor break the bank. Here are several inexpensive, effective ways to market your business that you could easily implement today.
The English language is arguably the most complicated language of them all. It has a structure that is vastly different from many foreign languages and rules with the logic that states, “Just because.” With a language like this, it’s almost too easy to make a mistake. There are those of us who catch these mistakes quickly and others who aren’t as tuned-in to the depths of language. For any writer, it’s hard not to become frustrated with the ins and outs of English grammar.
