Best Darn Content Marketing Tool on the Planet: 7 Steps to Sustainable Blog Success

You may have heard me say this before…As The Blog Squad, I’ll come right out and tell you that blogs are the best darn content marketing tool on the planet!

But maybe you don’t see it that way. You may have a blog and find it a pain to keep up. Maybe you tried blogging for a while, but you didn’t see big benefits for your business.

I hear these complaints from people all the time…

“Help! Patsi, I’ll confess, I’m a reluctant blogger. I’ve been writing on my blog for the last couple of months. But I’m only getting a few visitors a week and no comments. I haven’t sold any products and no new clients have come to me from the blog. It’s getting harder to write on it, since no one seems to read it and I’m not seeing any results."

And quite frankly, after all the effort, what’s the big deal? If it’s not bringing in clients, sales and money, why waste time posting on a blog?

No wonder people become reluctant bloggers. Some estimate that 50% of blogs are abandoned within 90 days.

Some take to blogging like ducks to water, and others struggle. What are the secrets to sustaining a blog writing habit long enough to get results?

Very few people start a blog and from day one forward are able to whip out compelling posts that attract hordes of readers. (Even Brian Clark didn't do that, it took him at least a week or two.)

Here are some tips to follow so you can ramp up your business blogging habits and start seeing results.

1. Before you start your blog, make a list about what you hope to gain with your blog
2. Make a list of three main sub-topics (categories) and set up an editorial calendar for Monday, Wednesday and Friday
3. Research other blogs in your field where your ideal audience is hanging out (best resource for this is Alltop.com)
4. Subscribe to your favorite blogs and leave comments on them on Tuesdays and Thursdays (See my favorites here on Alltop)
5. Write a post that is compelling and concise (400-500 words) linking out to resources (best way to start working on compelling and concise is to make a list of 3-5 key points)
6. Make sure your blog posts are fed into your Twitter updates
7. Soak, rinse, repeat

That should get you started at a level that is comfortable and sustainable. By that I mean you should be able to go in, write on your blog, and publish in 30-60 minutes.

When you have this blogging habit under your belt, ramp it up to daily posting. An easy way to add two days of posting to your schedule is to use Tuesdays and Thursdays to post about other blog content you've found useful and relevant.

Another way is to bring in guest blog writers to compliment your knowledge. If you want to provide the best information and content for your readers, you shouldn't attempt to do it all yourself.

Interviewing other experts is also a way to provide content for your readers.

The advantages of publishing fresh content daily instead of 2-3 times a week are seen in blog traffic results. The more you publish, the easier it is for people to find you on the Web.

Your blog posts will be findable the more you publish solutions to problems people are searching for.

Comments

[Sara F]

This is an excellent article. When I first started to blog, it took some time for me to warm up to it. If I had a list like the one above about how to get a blog going and how to keep it going, I wouldn't have worried so much!
One thing that helped me was reading up about online marketing in general. Blogging is a great way to market your company, let clients know what's going on, and keep that personal aspect with you and the rest of the business world.

[Jenny Pilley]

I like reading your posts because they have insightful knowledge to getting started with writing. The fact you empathise with people makes you understand how to solve a problem.
Great reading!