Recently I was asked to submit some social media do's and don'ts to a blog post. As I reveiwed the previous submissions, I noted that there were virtually no tips about business blogging even though, in my opionion, blogging was an early social media tool. After all, what are comments all about? Naturally I focused my tips on business blogging.
In case you can't find the comment I submitted on the original post, my tips are posted here. You'll notice they are all Do's. I'm not big on Don'ts. The subject got me thinking though that it would make a good topic for a longer article so I decided to get input from other smart, savvy bloggers and I posted a request on LinkedIn Answers. I got so many great do's and don'ts it's going to take me a week to compile and organize the tips into a coherent article. When it's ready, I'll let you know...
While my position is generally that there are no "rules' in blogging, there are best practices that will help your business blog succeed. Here are eight business blogging do's:
1. DO: Know your “Big Why” – why are you in business? What is the purpose and your ultimate goal for serving others? Clarity about your purpose, your goals, your ideal client and how you transform people’s lives will help guide all your marketing messages on your business blog and various social networking sites.
2. DO: Have a blog for your business. It’s your online real estate and the hub of all your social marketing. You own it and control the content, look, navigation, etc. You do NOT control Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site so you must have your own domain and site on the web.
3. DO: Keep search engine optimization in mind – know your keywords – but don’t get obsessed. Write for your readers first, the search engines second. [Note: ScribeSEO can help with this process.]
4. DO: Find a optimal posting schedule that works for you. The more you post on your blog, the more traffic you’ll attract. But more than frequency, focus on posting quality content consistently and constantly.
5. DO: Keep the Four E’s in mind when writing your blog posts: Educate, Entertain, Engage and Enrich.
6. DO: Repurpose your blog content in multiple formats like audio and video in order to leverage your time and extend your reach on the web. Your audience likes to consume content in multiple ways so give them choices.
7. DO: Automate syndication of your blog posts to your social profiles.
8. DO: Give your blog readers the tools to amplify your message to their own communities. Have a retweet/tweet buttons, Facebook Like button, Digg, Stumbleupon and other relevant social sharing buttons on your blog posts.
Do you have some business blogging do's and don'ts you'd like to add? If so, submit them in the comments and I may include them in my article (with attribution of course!). Blog on!
Business Blogging is important and more businesses should consider it a vital part of their business plan.
Great points in your post. And one of these days I'll share more information about what I do to automate my own syndication to Twitter (I have 11 accounts all based on a keyword), Facebook, Google Buzz, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, and more.
Charlie Seymour Jr
Posted by: Charlie Seymour Jr | Tuesday, November 02, 2010 at 10:51 AM