It’s the million dollar question (well, probably). More importantly, it’s one of the number one reasons why people are put off writing a blog for their business. You probably already know about all of the benefits of blogging, like getting your customers to know, like and trust you, but somehow it keeps getting put to the bottom of the to do list.* If you’ve googled ‘how often should I blog?’ you may well have encountered articles that talk about putting a new blog post out once or twice a week. Yikes. The good news is, you don’t have to write a blog every week if you don’t want to. Here are some things to consider when you’re working out how often to blog.
*If your blog is at the bottom of the list because you don’t know where to start, click here to book your place on my last ever full day blogging workshop.
SEO
SEO is often one of the first things that gets mentioned in connection with blogging. It can also be a bit scary, so let’s get it out of the way early on. Blogging is great for boosting your search engine rankings because it gives you regular updates to your website. It encourages the Google spiders to index your site more frequently and helps it to be seen as relevant, so you’re more likely to turn up in a search. There isn’t a set definition about what ‘regular’ posting actually means, but the general consensus is about once a month.
It can help to give your blog posts some longevity too. If your blog turns up in searches people can still find it months or years after you wrote it. That means that you don’t have to post constantly to keep getting new visitors to your website.
Quality over quantity
One of the main objectives of blogging is to offer your audience something they’ll find useful so they see you as someone who knows what they’re talking about. You stand a much better chance of that happening if you give yourself the time to write a good quality post. If people read what you’ve written and enjoy it they’re much more likely to read the next one and the one after that. If you’ve churned out three or four posts without putting much thought into them, people won’t come back for more.
When you’re coming up with topics, think about the areas where you have something valuable to say. (If that sounds scary, read this blog or come along to my workshop.) If you write one blog post a month you only need 12 for the whole year.
Give yourself time
I sometimes feel as if marketing has taken over my life. Thankfully, I’ve now recognised that as a sign that I haven’t got myself organised. Winging it generally ends up with faffing and suddenly an afternoon’s gone with nothing to show for it. Planning ahead, whether it’s for the whole year, the next quarter or even a month at a time, gives you a focus. Then when you sit down to schedule your Facebook posts or write a blog you know exactly what you’re doing.
Only you will know how long it takes you to write a blog post. If you’re writing for the first time maybe block out an afternoon to focus on it. Then make it a regular thing. Put it in your diary once a month – if you’re busy and it’s too much you can reduce the frequency. Alternatively, if you have the funds you can always write a couple and outsource the rest.
If you’d like to learn more about blogging and develop some seriously good blogging skills of your own, join me for my full day workshop at Bawdon Lodge Farm on 4th June. It’s the last one I’m doing so book now if you’re even remotely curious. Tickets are available here.
I’ve been along to a few different networking groups since I started my business. You meet an incredible range of different people with all kinds of businesses. These days I find myself speaking to a lot of people who have a job and a side hustle. Some of them want to turn the side job into the main business and others just want a bit of extra money every month. It all means that I’m hearing more and more conversations about the right time to leave a job.
Have you ever asked yourself that question? I hear it a lot and it’s often from people who are hesitant about blogging. I suspect that there are even more people who don’t ask how long their blog needs to be. They assume that they need to write ‘War and Peace’ for every blog post.
I’m going to say something that might make you go a bit twitchy. When you’re marketing your business you need to decide who you want to target then focus on them. It sounds fairly logical, doesn’t it? Yet small business owners everywhere get very nervous when they hear it. They say things like ‘but I might make someone feel excluded’, ‘what if I lose a customer because they don’t think it’s for them?’ or ‘but I can sell to anyone’. I understand the worry. As small business owners we need to work hard to attract new customers and build trust. The idea of putting people off just seems counterintuitive. However there’s another important factor to consider. We have limited time so we need to spend it wisely. When you get to know your customer you can do just that.
There are three questions I always hear when I talk about blogging. One of them sometimes isn’t a question at all, just a statement. “I would write a blog but I don’t know what to write about.” (The other two questions are ‘how long does my blog need to be?’ and ‘how often should I be blogging?’ – we’ll get to those another time.) When it comes to finding topics for your blog, there are hundreds of different ways to go about it. I’ve written about a few in 
Blogging is wonderful as a business marketing tool and a creative outlet. If you’re writing a blog to promote your business it’s important to know what’s going to appeal to your audience so you can tailor the content to them. You can also air your personal views via blogging. There’s loads of scope to talk about whatever you choose.
There have been a few times recently where I’ve started to feel that no-one else gets it. Logically I know it isn’t true but there’s no accounting for the wobbles a human brain is capable of having. As I write this my mood has improved considerably and I feel much less isolated, but I still think it’s worth talking about the time where I felt really lonely. That’s the only word I can use to describe it.
It’s easy to think of storytelling as being something you do with your children. You can cuddle up at the end of the day and send them off to sleep with a lovely bedtime story. Mine are still young enough to watch CBeebies so we sometimes get the added bonus of a tale read by Tom Hardy. (I even know people without kids who tune in to watch him anyway!) If that’s how you think of storytelling you might be forgiven for having dismissed it as an effective marketing tool. Actually, it’s one of the most effective approaches you can take.
I suppose the question should really be – are you bored of going to workshops that all blend into one? Or are you the person who’s responsible for organising them? It can be tough to find new ways to make learning more interesting. That applies whether you’re a sole trader looking for some good quality training or part of an organisation where there’s a set pattern to your sessions. When it comes to blogging training, it is possible to find workshops that work for you. I can design a session to include whatever works for you. In the meantime, here are some ideas for things to look out for at your next workshop.
What springs to mind when someone suggests you should write a blog? Do you think of all of those influencers that you see on Instagram getting wined and dined in return for a good review? Or maybe you think it’s something for professional writers or marketing agencies? It’s true that you can pay a professional to write your blog for you (me for instance). You could even do some blogger outreach to get product reviews or more social media exposure. But there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from writing your own blog if you want to. There are lots of misconceptions about blogging. I’m going to tell you about a few of them – are any of these getting in your way?