Have your thought about starting a blog?
As a business leader and entrepreneur, a blog can be a powerful tool to profile you as a thought leader and expert in a particular area. A blog can help to establish credibility and also communicate your personal brand to readers.
A blog can be a platform for sharing your expertise, expert opinions and help you to differentiate from your peers and competitors.
Some of the best known business leaders are avid bloggers. Take a look at:
- Richard Branson, Virgin CEO
- Alex Malley, CPA Australia CEO
- Caterina Fake, Flikr cofounder
But before you start a blog, here are 5 things to consider:
-
Plan your blog
First do some research by looking at other blogs in your area of expertise or industry, blogs from other leaders you admire and blogs you enjoy reading. Get inspiration on the types of posts that stand out, you enjoy reading and got interaction from readers.
-
The type of blog posts
One way to keep readers interested in your blog is to change the format up by using different types of blog posts. For instance:
- How to/tutorial posts – These types of blog posts educates the reader and gives them practical information about a topic, a task or an issue.
- List posts – Share lists of tips, strategies, tactics or tools that will be helpful to your readers. For example, top 5 business books to read.
- Case studies – As a business leader or expert in your field you may be able to share case studies that illustrate how your knowledge or area of expertise has helped a client or organisation you have worked with.
- Problem and solution – These types of posts allow you to pose a problem that you think is faced by your readers and solve that problem using your expertise.
- Stories – These are more personal blog posts where you share personal experiences to convey a point or message.
- Curate news – By curating or commenting on breaking news you can build your reputation as an expert.
-
Content planning
To keep your blog fresh and should be posting regularly to achieve your goal as being seen as a recognised expert. Here are tips that will help:
- Set a posting schedule – Just like a magazine or newspaper, your blog should have a publishing deadline. If you set a schedule, it makes the “I’m too busy, I’ll do it tomorrow” redundant.
- Editorial calendar – Plan ahead and map out a content publishing schedule for the months ahead. It should include blog post ideas/themes/topics and publishing dates.
- Set aside time to blog – Block out time in your diary dedicated to writing blog posts.
-
Tips for blog writing
Writing online is very different to writing for print. People tend to scan information online and browse your site before deciding to click through to another page. You need to adapt your writing style to suit online reading.
- Length – Posts should be a readable length of about 300-600 words
- Keep paragraphs short – Keep your writing concise and avoid repetition and over explanation
- Use subheadings – Subheadings can be useful signposts to guide readers through your content and enable easier scanning
- Use dot points where necessary – Dot points draw attention to important facts without having to do into large amounts of detail
- Know your audience – Understand your readers and write content that will appeal to them
- Check spelling and grammar – Good grammar and spelling ensures professionalism
- Hyperlinks – Hyperlinks are a great way to link to other online content and a useful way of providing more information.
-
Increase your readers
One of the most effective ways of driving readers to your blog is to write often and write well. Here are some tips to attract more readers:
- Add share buttons – Great content gets shared more often
- Use images – Images are important for sharing on social media and makes your post for noticeable
- Share your posts on social media
- Comment on other blogs
- Tag your posts – Adding metadata to your blog posts will make a huge difference to how easily that post is found by people and search engines.
- Offline sharing – Add your blog URL to your email signature and business card.
Starting a blog takes commitment but if you spend the time and energy to build a great blog where you share your expertise, advice and insights, you’ll be surprised at the impact it can create for your personal brand. So start blogging today.
Want more PR and social media tips? Download our FREE ebook.
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.PublicRelationsSydney.com.au.
