Denise W.
Online Marketing, Visibility and Business Blogging Consultant for Service Professionals
What are the essential Do's and Don'ts to ensure having a successful business blog?
I was invited to answer a similar question about social media and realized it's a great question about business blogging as well. I'm going to compile the Do's and Don'ts into an article and will credit and link to all contributions I use. Thanks in advance for your expertise, insights and opinions.
Good Answers (15)
1. Blog On Your Main Business Website
A business blog is better than no business blog. And the best option is to have it on your main business websites, for example www.company.com/blog/
2. Post Consistently
Pick a posting frequency, ideally at least a couple times a week, and then be consistent about it. Doing so will build the habit of posting regularly.
3. Create Scannable Content
People have different reading patterns on the web than they do on the printed page. They tend to scan down web pages rather than read every word. So give them what they want! Break up your content with shorter paragraphs, headings and bullets. Add images. Incorporate video.
4. Organize Around Keywords
Choose a handful of the most important keywords for your website and organize your content around them. Good tight categories will make your blogging easier and more effective at the same time. WordPress makes it easy to use those as your blog categories.
5. Write Compelling Post Titles
The title of your posts should draw people in. The whole point of the title is to get people to read the first sentence of your post. Your title is what will show up in the search engines. More compelling titles get more click throughs and more traffic.
6. Be Engaging
Write like you are a person talking with other people. It is OK to share some of your life and what goes on day to day in your business with your audience. Corporate speak and formal press releases have a purpose. But in your blog they are boring. The idea is to pull the curtain back just a little so that folks see that there are real people behind your business.
7. Market Your Blog
This is critically important. Build time into your schedule to market your blog. You've got to put some effort into steering people to your blog posts so that they actually find the great content you are creating. Here are some ways to market your blog.
* Leave value adding comments on other blogs in your niche
* Tweet about your posts on Twitter
* Share your blog posts on Facebook
* Add your blog's feed to your LinkedIn profile
* Link to your blog in your email signature
* List your blog on your business cards
Really the list of ways to get the word out about your blog is endless. Just understand that some effort marketing your blog is important so that more people will learn about it. In fact it's a good idea to spend as much time marketing your blog as you do creating content, especially when your just getting started.
If you do all that your business blog will get way more traffic than those who aren't as focused as you are. And that's good for your business!
Links:
Rich B.
Web Marketing Strategist, Chief Blogger, & President of flyte - web design & internet marketing for small business
Best Answers in: Professional Networking (1), Blogging (1)
Do's:
* Own your own domain. Just say no to mycompany.blogger.com, mycompany.typepad.com, even mycompany.wordpress.com.
* Create compelling, keyword rich titles that address your audience needs
Don'ts:
* Get too self-promotional. At least 80% of your content should focus on helping your audience.
Links:
Boris M.
Social Media and Online Marketing Coach, Speaker & Author, iBizAcademy.com
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (9), Direct Marketing (4), Web Development (2), Financial Regulation (1), Viral Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Public Relations (1), Sales Techniques (1), Organizational Development (1), Blogging (1), E-Commerce (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Before starting a blog (or any web site) do some keyword research. First, compile a list of keywords (and, more importantly, keyword phrases) you think your business should rank for. Then, go to Google Keyword tool and type in those phrases to find out how many *actual* searches are done per month. You would be surprised how different Google's list may turn out from your own. Use the list google suggest as your starting point.
You want to find keyword phrases with low competition and high search volume.
If your blog is promoting a business with a local focus, such as a beauty salon, pay attention to the local search volume, rather than global.
Then, when you've decided on the main keyword phrases for your blog (or home page of the blog), use the same tool to generate ideas for blog post titles and subheads.
Links:
Sydni C.
Expert Business & Marketing Coach for Service Businesses - We focus on achieving your goals and increasing your profits!
Make time to respond to all of the comments you recieve. A primary purpose for business blogging is to build a strong relationship with your audience. When you reply to their comments, your readers will appreciate your personal interest and this will build credibility and trust in your expertise.
I love the CommentLuv plugin for WordPress which makes it easy for folks to comment and to be notified of your reply.
Christopher G.
Procedure Writer at JPMorgan Chase
Best Answers in: Engineering (1), Professional Networking (1), Small Business (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
The biggest do: make it about the audience--not about you.
So many business blogs seem like reading the same stale brochure each time there's an update, until finally stopping regular updates.
Obviously, if somebody is creating a business blog, they're hoping the people reading will buy something, use a service, etc. But if the blog isn't written by somebody in love with what they're writing about, why would anybody else be excited?
The other big do: give it time. It takes awhile to build real relationships.
A big don't: don't obsess over stats. I saw the guy in charge of Web video for the X Games and many other big events give a presentation recently. He talked about his personal blog and how it didn't get many hits. The hits is did get, though, were network executives who viewed him as a source of great information.
Fifty or a hundred loyal followers who regularly read your blog are much better than 1000 people stumbling upon a blog through a keyword search and bouncing away after little more than a quick glance.
Helio D.
Head of Strategic Accounts - Latin America
Best Answers in: Wireless (5), Telecommunications (1)
I have some things to say, most on the category of DO's (I don't like the negative way, anyway):
1. If you are doing a business blog, you should use your company's own domain. Don't go for something exoteric that people won't find how it is connected to your business. An exception to this rule is when you are a kind of a "Guru" and your "Guru Blog" is designed to push your image (and as a consequence your business) without being directly connected to it.
2. In case we are talking about corporations, have more than one person blogging there. You could use separate blogs for each person (i.e. http://blogs.mycompany.com/username/), or have all blogging together in the same flow.
3. The blog should add something to the readers regarding the experience they have with your organization. Many corporate blogs are just not interesting enough because they focus on internals and other things that are simply not interesting to the general audience.
4. MOVEMENT !!! Use video, sound, pictures. Don't spend all your time in writing only.
5. Off-topics are welcome, as long as they touch subjects that are interesting to your community.
6. Publish the RSS feed of your blog to Twitter and to a Facebook page. This will enlarge much the number of potential readers. You can use tools like www.twitterfeed.com or Yahoo!Pipes for this purpose.
7. Keep the blog dynamic: I would say an interesting blog needs at least one post per day. However, never less than 4-6 posts per week.
8. Allow talkbacks/comments: the ability to comment is very important for making a dynamic and interesting blog. If you can, both for security and for lead generation, require setting up a user account for being able to comment. If your blog is interesting, you will be surprised by how many people will be ready to register for posting comments.
Clarification added October 18, 2010:
Just to clarify, in my item 7, when I write about posting 4-6 posts per week, I am not talking about posting junk as Scott tries to imply. I am talking about posting real posts which are interesting to your readers. Keeping a frequent flow of posts helps the blog success in two ways: first, it builds on your readers the habit of returning to your blog everyday or at least checking the RSS feed. Second, it builds in you the habit of researching and looking for interesting material, which is imperative for you not to give up on posting after some months.
Scott A.
Digital Marketing Strategist | Digital Media Mogul
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (31), Blogging (8), Business Development (4), Professional Networking (3), Internet Marketing (2), Career Management (2), Starting Up (2), Public Relations (1), Lead Generation (1), Small Business (1), Web Development (1)
DO:
- Blog on your own domain, period. It should also be under "yourdomain.com/blog" subdirectory rather than "blog.yourdomain.com". This lends some of the search engine goodwill earned by your blog to your root domain.
- Keyword research, with an emphasis on long-tail opportunities. Search engine traffic is still one of the major benefits of blogging.
- Know your IDEAL audience. Don't worry about what your current readers want -- think about your ideal readers. Attract the people you want, rather than feeling obligating to serve the people who are there already. If they're one and the same...great! What I see all too often is bloggers writing what they think their readers want to read, rather than what you want to write about. Follow YOUR passion and you will attract people who resonate with it.
- IGNORE the people who tell you that you have to blog 4-5 times a week. If you've actually got that much good content, fine. But never, ever, EVER post "filler" just to meet some arbitrary target posting frequency goal. Also, don't sacrifice more important business activities because "you've got to get a post up on the blog today". Posting frequency matters for certain types of businesses -- for example, a coffee shop that has events going on almost every day should be posting almost every day. Or if your blog IS your business and you're making money from ad clicks, then of course it matters. But a B2B services firm? Several times a week is probably overkill. I've gone (and had clients go) weeks at a time without a post and not seen any significant impact on their BUSINESS metrics (blog metrics don't matter -- business metrics do -- great point by Christopher above).
- Spend as much time engaging as you do creating content. Some of that can be on your own blog, replying to comments, but a substantial portion of it MUST be on other blogs in your industry. Competitors are a touchy situation -- you really have to take it on a case-by-case basis. But vendors, clients, industry associations, industry thought leaders/authors/speakers, etc. -- you should definitely identify all of them and be engaging on a regular basis.
Links:
Heidi C.
Web Development/Design, Internet Marketing Strategies, Social Media at heidicool.com
Best Answers in: Web Development (73), Blogging (38), Internet Marketing (28), Search Marketing (16), Business Development (8), E-Commerce (7), Viral Marketing (5), Graphic Design (5), Computers and Software (5), Using LinkedIn (5), Advertising (3), Writing and Editing (3), Professional Networking (3), Public Relations (2), Customer Relationship Management (2), Lead Generation (2), Starting Up (2), Mentoring (1), Direct Marketing (1), Branding (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Ethics (1), Small Business (1), Databases (1), Software Development (1)
Do: Define your target audience and develop a content strategy that they will find interesting, entertaining or informative. Don't focus too closely on product. As a Twitter friend once said, if you make dog food, don't talk about dog food, talk about dogs.
Do: Write up an editorial policy that you can publish to show readers what the blog is about and to guide you and other authors on what to post.
Do: Establish an editorial calendar that helps you plan for future articles and topics. Set reasonable deadlines. If you know you can't publish daily, don't establish that as your goal.
Don't: Publish junk just to keep up with your calendar. It's better to miss a post than to post gibberish.
Do: Respond to comments in a timely fashion.
Do: Make your RSS feed readily available.
Do: Read other blogs in your niche, comment on them when appropriate and forge connections with your peers. Reinforce these connections on Twitter, Facebook and other relevant channels.
Don't: comment for the sake of commenting. Make sure you add value to the conversations you join on other sites.
Do: Have a clear plan in place for handling criticism and negative comments. Take the high road and respond to these comments carefully, and politely.
Don't: Respond immediately to criticism when emotions run high. Sit on such comments for an hour while you collect your thoughts.
Do: Have an about the author(s) page that let's readers know who is behind the blog.
Do: Host on your own domain and include the blog in main navigation and match the design to the rest of the site. (Make it look like an integrated part of the site.)
Do: Customize your templates and menus to make it easy for readers to explore page articles. Make good use of categories and tags.
Do: Use SEO tools such as Headspace 2 to customize titles and descriptions, etc.
Don't spend more time fiddling with SEO tactics than you do concentrating on good content.
Do: Incorporate keywords that users would search for when seeking the type of content you provide.
Don't: Get overly hung up on keywords--if you write for humans first the robots will follow.
Do: Use social media monitoring tools, RSS feeds, etc. to listen for what people are saying about your brand, products and the topics you cover. Use what you hear to develop article ideas.
Do: Aim to become the go-to resource for information in your topical niche.
Do: Include your personality in your prose. Watch out for jargon, write for people.
Do: Include enough details to properly explain your position, so readers aren't left wanting more.
Do: Link to other resources that support your point of view or that offer additional insights your readers might find valuable.
Do: Pay attention to stats and comments to get a sense of which articles most resonate with readers, then write more like those.
Do: Include images, video or audio when such media helps to illustrate your message.
Don't: Include video just for the sake of adding movement.
Do: Establish relationships with other bloggers to share tips and ideas and to keep learning. Sunday night #blogchats on Twitter are a great way to do this. Also look for local blogging groups in your area. In Cleveland we have our Lake Erie Moose Society group that meets once a month in person for casual blog discussions.
Do: Let your blog evolve as you learn more about what your target audience and other readers want.
Don't: become so hung up on the rules that I and others have shared that it keeps you from making posts. Sometimes you just have to write something and throw it up there to see if you are on the right track.
Good luck with the article!
Links:
Kyle D.
Web Strategist and Entrepreneur
Best Answers in: Web Development (7), Internet Marketing (3), Search Marketing (3), E-Commerce (2), Ethics (1), Blogging (1)
Hello Denise, hopefully these tips are helpful for you -
DO: Use a variety of post types. Some posts can be a quick paragraph, while others are a deep dive into an important issues. Some posts should be based around a video, some should be based around text content. If you mix things up you will keep the blog interesting, expand your list of post ideas, and fight the tendency for blogger burnout.
DO: Use feedburner to create your RSS feed. Feedburner offers analytics tools so you can see how many people are subscribing, as well as a slew of other tools.
DO: Split really long articles into an article "series." This will give you more posts, keep the length of articles manageable, and perhaps build anticipation in your audience waiting for the next installment.
DO: Include a "Conclusion" paragraph at the end - readers will appreciate the opportunity to cut straight to the point of the article by reading the conclusion, and if it is compelling enough they may read the rest of the article.
DO: Include "related posts" at the end of the blog article to encourage visitors to keep clicking and engaging with your content.
DON'T: Disable or heavily censor blog comments. Commenting is one of the best ways to engage and you may get called out if you filter out all negative comments. Use negative comments as an opportunity to respond graciously.
DO: Consider podcasting if you include audio or video content frequently in your blog. Podcasting can be set up with feedburner at the click of a button and listing your podcast in iTunes and other podcasting subscription services is another great avenue for exposure.
Hope this is helpful, best of luck with the article!
Links:
Des W.
Social Media Strategist | LinkedIn Expert | Business Coach
Best Answers in: Career Management (1), Professional Networking (1), Blogging (1)
Lots of great advice already.
This suggestion is about having fresh content, which probably means someone or a small team who *love* the business and *love* sharing about it will be able to and enthusiastic about producing content that is fresh, interesting, informative, etc etc and happy to keep on doing that. A big Don't is Don't subject them to blogging by committee approval.
What that means in practice will vary greatly depending on whether the business is a multinational megacorp, a 20 person or so consultancy or a 1-2 person microbusiness. Whatever it is, there need to be ground rules and processes designed to facilitate speedy, fresh updates. That might mean in a big company, and/or where there is a tough regulatory framework (e.g. pharmaceuticals) or owners very twitchy about their intellectual property) having someone at C-level able to sign off on posts, with legal or PR dept clearance only by rare exception. I.e. don't blog by committee or you will bore your audience and the in-house blogger at the same time.
The key to achieving these results is to remember that if you’re going to be involved in blogging, you have to actually be involved! This means that you are actively and continuously cultivating relationships with your readers and giving people a reason to come back time and time again to read what you have to say.
1. Dont expect instant results
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is assuming that because they have a blog, people will automatically read it. All you can do is keep doing what you’re doing and slowly cultivate relationships that will expand your readership.
2. Find the right balance of keywords
Keywords are important for improving the ranking of your blog in search engines and for increasing visibility and readership. However, more is not always better. You want your blog post to read like a conversation you are having with a person face to face. Yes, it is important to incorporate keywords into your blog, but it is more important to do it
3. Focus on building relationships
Developing ongoing relationships is at the core of a successful blog. Start by finding blogs related to your industry that you enjoy reading. Leave a few comments, email the author, and encourage readers of that blog to check out yours. Next, ask thoughtful questions on your own blog and respond to all of the valid (non-spam) comments that you receive.
4. Find a sustainable blogging schedule and stick to it.
DO blog regularly. DON'T get burnt out. It is easy to get overwhelmed when you tell yourself that you have to blog every day. Despite what some say, there is no magic number that dictates how often you should blog. When it comes down to it, it really depends on you and your business. What is important, however, is regularity. Regular blogging does not mean every day, or even every week, it just means that you pick a schedule that works for you, and stick to it.
5. Write about interesting topics
There are an infinite number of topics to blog about that are all related to your industry. Out of those endless blogging possibilities, choose the topics that you think your readers will find most interesting and valuable. As a business owner, you are an expert in your field, and your readers want to learn from your insights and ideas. Share your opinion about new industry developments, predict future advancements, or provide relevant advice that you have learned throughout your career.
Links:
Terri B.
Certified Online Specialist helping Women Entrepreneurs build and manage their online business
*Do speak to your audience.*
Answer the questions they need answered. Do your research and listen through Facebook and Twitter to what their problems are and what issues they face.
*Don't take for granted you know what your audience needs.*
Survey and ask them what three things they struggle with in their business. This one exercise could have you supplied with relevant blog posts for weeks. But also, you will be providing great information to your readers to keep them coming back for more.
*Do keep your your content fresh*
There are so many ways to keep your blog fresh and engaging for your readers. Through audio, video, polls, guest bloggers, reviews and more.
Links:
Barbara R.
Social Media Consultant & Speaker | LinkedIn Sales Trainer | Improving Your Image, Visibility & Results
Best Answers in: Blogging (3), Event Marketing and Promotions (1), Public Relations (1), Writing and Editing (1), Small Business (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Hi Denise:
Wow! Tons of great answers here. Adding two quick comments for do and don't. Looking forward to reading the recap!
DO
After attending my fourth BlogWorld, two "do" words stand out for me: passion and content. If you're passionate about what you write and your content is good, people will come.
DON'T
Blog superficially and by this I mean blog without goals or intentions. Make a plan and stick to it. We're working with our clients now to evaluate 2010 results and map out a 2011 publishing calendar that develops and supports marketing, PR and business goals.
Forget that you're a blogger. You'll have to define what that personally means to you and your business, but remember that you're writing for someone on the other side of the screen. Whether it's on a cell phone, iPad, laptop or desktop, there will be someone there reading what you write - and, because you're a blogger, they can write back. So, engage them.
Barbara
Wow, there is a lot of great feedback, so I will try to make this simple and to the point. You must remember the purpose for the blog. The primary purpose is to attract and engage with potential customers.
Do's:
1. Have the blog on your business website in a subfolder. (company.com/example blog)
2. Do target content that will be interesting to customers. Look at your FAQs and marketing resources to target good, informative content.
3. Do included pictures and videos when applicable.
4. Do monitor feedback, and respond when necessary.
5. Do share your industry expertise, but do not go overboard in deep material. (unless your target audience would appreciate the in depth posts)
6. Practice quality SEO. (KW research, Good title tags, Good H1s, Good URLs)
7. Promote: Syndicate RSS feeds to services like (pingomatic.com)
8. Track: Use analytics to see what your best performing posts are.
9. Do post frequently and consistently (1-3 posts/week for a smaller site)
10. Do interact: Check out other semi-related blogs and provide meaningful comments (not SPAM).
Here are some things to be wary of.
Don'ts
1. Do not write for the search engines. (KW stuffing, awkward wording)
2. Do not post low quality posts for the sake of posting.
3. Do not be self promotional. No one wants to read why your products are the best, they want information and help.
4. Do not be boring. Be engaging! Make people want to come back or subscribe.
5. Do not host on another site like blogger or wordpress. Sure you get an external link, but why not have all of that quality content on your site.
6. Do not, not monitor. You want to see if people need more information or are complaining about something. It looks horrible when bloggers do not address important issues.
I am going to be starting a blog for my company, and I can't wait to put to practice many of these good practices.
Phil G.
Keynote Speaker and Chief Connections Officer - Connecting you to the people and ideas you need to make 2012 GREAT!
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (1), Organizational Development (1), Professional Books and Resources (1), Career Management (1), Starting Up (1)
Hi Denise - great question.
My biggest do is make sure you have a real live person behind the blog. Add their photo, and their name, and their role in the company. It's ok to outsource to get help, but for most authentic connection, have a real employee available to guide, to answer questions, and to provide a true look inside the organization. Even if you only have a few people in your company, this is vitally important.
One don't I think is really key is don't ignore negative comments, and even more importantly, don't delete negative comments. This makes it look like you have something to hide. Instead, respond to them where the comment was made, and if need be, create a separate article or point people back to another article on your site that explains things in more depth.
By the same token, don't think you have to let people be mean and take personal snipes at your employees or the other commenters on your blog. Set some ground rules, and remove jerks quickly so folks know it's not ok to behave that way.
Links:
More Answers (11)
Joel L.
District Manager at Euler Hermes Collections North America
Best Answers in: Corporate Debt (14), Risk Management (3), Using LinkedIn (2), Accounting (1), Financial Regulation (1)
I have a blog dedicated to my industry. One of the things DO is provide current and relevant information about the latest news and happenings that affect my industry. I DON'T shamelessly plug myself or my company in the process because I feel like it will detract from the value of my posts and my credibility. However, if my company releases information that I feel is useful to the masses I DO share it because it adds value to others. In the end, my business blog is visited by over 100 people a day which leads me to believe that I'm doing something right. My blog has also lead to a great deal of exposure for myself as a professional such as becoming a columnist for one of my industry's leading trade publications. I hope my input helps you.
Links:
Paul M.
ROI Driven Lead Generation, Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Paid Search, Media Strategy, & Content Marketing; Speaker
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Search Marketing (1)
http://www.nusparkmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Video-59.wmv
Jeff H.
The Article Marketing Network l Social Article Marketing Speaker l More Prospects, Traffic, Publicity & Profits
2 Things:
Thing 1: Regular posting - 3 - 5 times a week with at least one regular feature on the same day each week, and
Thing 2: Be interesting please!! Almost anyone can share a decent strategy with you. People want to be entertained and know about who it is that is blogging.
Ex: You can say post 3 - 5 times a week as I did above, OR you could tell the story about how your kid asked "why do you type so much on the computer and who are you talking to?"
All of these are great answers, but without excellent content, and the discipline to execute that content at the right times, the coolest looking company blog is actually a negative on your interactive marketing efforts.
Along with all the other wonderful comments, especially the importance of good, relevant content, I'd add..
DO
Make your content easy to share using WordPress plugins and/or RSS feeds
DONT
Be too text heavy. Readers visit numerous blogs and don't want to read a text
Jim S.
Helping business executives improve their team and their own performances, leading time and project management workshops
Best Answers in: Blogging (2), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Direct Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Organizational Development (1), Ethics (1), Small Business (1), Starting Up (1)
Hi Denise, My answer is like many others:
1) Choose to blog about something you feel strongly about and has enough in it to be able to create a large number of posts over time.
2) Once you've chosen your core subject(s) do the keyword research using at least the Google keywords tool
3) Brainstorm a set of headlines for every post
4) Write a post that uses a key keyword
5) allow your readers to share your post with others
6) allow your users to sign up to read new content
7) Ensure that you're posting onto your own domain
8) take full advantage of the Wordpress blog platform and its plugins
9) Have some fun with it
dhara K.
Product Evangelist at iBloom Technologies Pvt Ltd
Best Answers in: Compensation and Benefits (1), Business Development (1), E-Commerce (1)
You may get additional and useful information on your question from the link below.
Links:
Erica F.
Social Media Optimizer, Publisher at ALC Publishing, President of Yuricon
Best Answers in: Blogging (48), Using LinkedIn (37), Internet Marketing (32), Business Development (20), Web Development (8), Small Business (7), Writing and Editing (6), Advertising (5), Viral Marketing (5), Search Marketing (5), Change Management (5), Professional Networking (5), Staffing and Recruiting (4), Branding (4), Career Management (4), Job Search (3), Mobile Marketing (3), Public Relations (3), Customer Relationship Management (3), Positioning (3), Communication and Public Speaking (3), Compensation and Benefits (2), Work-life Balance (2), Direct Marketing (2), Organizational Development (2), Starting Up (2), Computers and Software (2), Customer Service (1), Facilities Management (1), Purchasing (1), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Mentoring (1), Event Marketing and Promotions (1), Government Contracts (1), Personnel Policies (1), Internationalization and Localization (1), Lead Generation (1), Sales Techniques (1), Business Analytics (1), Labor Relations (1), Planning (1), Derivatives Markets (1), Product Design (1), Professional Books and Resources (1), Professional Organizations (1), Ethics (1), Incorporation (1), E-Commerce (1), Enterprise Software (1), Computer Networking (1), Telecommunications (1)
Since so many other folks have discussed relevancy, I'll also suggest being as authentic as you possibly can. People know when they are being fed a party line, or propaganda. We know when we're being marketed at or PRed at. Be as real as the circumstances allow.
Caitlin K.
Author: "Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail" (Portfolio, April 2011)
Best Answers in: Mentoring (5), Public Relations (5), Freelancing and Contracting (3), Staffing and Recruiting (3), Organizational Development (3), Small Business (3), Customer Service (2), Job Search (2), Customer Relationship Management (2), Writing and Editing (2), Change Management (2), Career Management (2), Ethics (2), Using LinkedIn (2), Travel Tools (1), Occupational Training (1), Compensation and Benefits (1), Sales Techniques (1), Labor Relations (1), Planning (1), Philanthropy (1), Communication and Public Speaking (1), Professional Networking (1), Blogging (1)
Do: Be real.
Don't: Be stuffy, dull, pompous or use bizspeak jargon.
I've recently blogged about the process of selling and writing a book (or vice versa) and it's been extremely popular and appreciated (two posts were chosen -- from 300,000+ blogs on Wordpress as their daily "Freshly Pressed" picks, each getting 8,000 to 11,0000 views)-- partly because I offered a lot of timely, solid advice and information but also because of my tone, which is down-to-earth, personal and sometimes funny.
The blogs I enjoy reading most are clearly written by someone with lot of wisdom and insight into that person's field or industry, while offering a great read that leaves me wanting more.
A blog isn't a lecture hall or a billboard (i.e. one-way or solely self-promotional communication), but, ideally, a place for people who are hungry for good information to find you and start to see you as a reliable and trustworthy resource.
Links:
Know what you mean when you say successful. Are you tying to get more sales? Develop relationships? Inform current customers? Having a specific goal will shape the rest of your strategy.
Many great do and don't lists, but never forget the quality of your content is most important. I monitor quite a bit of social media search results on a daily basis and I see a lot of content - not very much of it is good. There's content creation and then there is content curation. Quality content separates good blogs and websites from the pack. Improve your SEO, but don't lose sight of the fact that people read and share content. There is a great tippingpointlabs post on the subject of information overload. I'm constantly looking for filters and time-savers to improve my methods. My credo (and your customer/reader, too) - don't waste my time with your content.
