Size Matters

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Vary your length a little

Vary your length a little

A friend of mine uses the word “basically” to start way too many of his sentences when he speaks.

It’s always “Basically…this…Basically that.”

He knows he does this if you point it out to him, but he just can’t get out of the habit for some reason.

“It’s a bit of a tick,” he says.

Boring Blogs

It’s important you don’t get into the habit of using repetitive phrases when writing your business blog. Regular readers will spot them a mile off and even newbies might get put off if you use the same phrases repeatedly in a single post.

Similarly, I’m a firm believer in varying the length and style of blog posts. It’s good to mix it up a little to keep your blog fresh: list posts, how-tos, mixed media, you name it. It all helps spice up your blog a little.

What’s more, by varying the kinds of post you publish there’s more chance you will speak to the different kinds of readers who visit your blog. Some people will prefer video content over audio; other’s will be looking for text posts they can snack on.

If you’ve got a team of bloggers writing for your site, you’re at a distinct advantage because you’ll naturally get more variation. But even so, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a communications team, plan to keep your blog posts varied. Size, after all, does matter.

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More on B2B Blogging & Conversions

September 6, 2010 By 2 Comments

I‘ve got a guest post up on Mark Schaefer’s brilliant blog today about how business blogs often fail to convert visitors into clients.

By means of a follow up I was thinking about how we as online communications, marketer and PR folk can convince businesses that they really should invest in blogging.

It’s Not About Conversion

When it comes down to it, my experience with clients has shown that blogs aren’t really about converting to sales. Yes, they might be an important part in the process of generating a sale, funnelling site visitors to specific landing pages; but as anyone involved in B2B marketing will tell you, the sales process is much longer than B2C. You have to convince different levels of an organisation that your product or service is just what you need. And persuading everyone through to the top brass can take time.

So I tend to see blogs are part of that initial journey to the sale.

For small online businesses, or would-be internet marketers, blogs are a vital cog in the sales wheel because so many internet marketers make their money with affiliate links or the sale of ebooks or training courses. But the techniques they use, won’t / don’t necessarily wash if you’re selling printers; or consultation services.

So What Are B2B Blogs Good For Then?

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Businesses that Blog Generate More Leads

April 23, 2010 By 6 Comments

If you’re still not convinced about the value a blog can bring to your business, check out HubSpot’s recent study of 1,400 customers’ inbound marketing activities: The State of Inbound Lead Generation (free download).

The report reveals that businesses that blog regularly generate more leads than those that don’t blog.

leads business blog

Have you got enough leads

The number of posts you’ve published also has a direct effect on lead generation with fewer than 10 posts having no tangible effect whatsoever; in fact, you might as well not even bother blogging at all!

The tipping point seems to be 24+ articles published for leads to start coming in. And, unsurprisingly, the more articles you publish, the more leads seem to come along.

Why Blogs Are Good for Lead Generation

The reason blogs work better than “ordinary” websites is partly because they help your business increase the number of pages it has indexed in Google. With more pages indexed, and more keywords ranking in Google, you’re more likely to be found.

Blogs are also typically very good at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) straight out of the box, although there are things you can to do improve them even more.

Finally, blogs can be a great way of building and sustaining relationships with visitors to your site – although Facebook Pages seem to be increasingly popular places for this now.

Beware Blogging with Abandon

Although you might be tempted to rush out and start blogging right away on the basis of the HubSpot report, it’s important to bear in mind a few things to begin with:

1. www.yourdomain.com
Host your blog yourself. Don’t run a business blog on one of the free services like www.wordpress.com or blogger.com. You want all the google juice for yourself! It’s even better if your blog name / domain name includes your keyword: E.g. A dog trainer’s dream domain would be www.dogtrainer.com because people look for “dog trainer” in Google.

2. Design Matters
Although you don’t have to spend masses of money on getting a custom design, the more professional it looks the better. Appearances count, especially in B2B business blogging. Don’t just take my word for it.
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The Malcolm McLaren Approach to Business Blogging

April 11, 2010 By 17 Comments

I‘m a couple of years too young to have experienced the heyday of punk rock, but I was moved to hear of the death of Malcolm McLaren this week, one of punk rock’s greatest pioneering spirits.

malcolm mclarenFor all its opposition to mainstream culture, anti-authoritarianism and anti-capitalist ideology, I think that those of us involved in content creation and business blogging could occasionally benefit from approaching business blogs with a bit of punk attitude.

So in honour of Malcolm McLaren’s passing this week, here’s: A Punk Guide to Business Blogging.

DIY

Small business just starting out? Don’t be intimidated by the big business blogs out there. You can do it yourself. Define your niche, get an install of WordPress fired up, customize a great theme like Thesis and away you go. Make it happen.

Rebel

Whether you’re new to business blogging or have an established site, why not think about what you can do differently?

There’s a plethora of blogs out there that all sound the same, look the same and ultimately leave readers feeling the same.

One of the great things Malcolm McLaren did was stick the proverbial two fingers up at the establishment and the standard way of doing things.

How is your blog rebelling? Are you getting a reaction? Are people talking about you?

Be individual

Being yourself is essential. Don’t try to be another Chris Brogan or Seth Godin. And definitely don’t try to mirror your brand on something else. Look at your strengths and what makes your take on your industry different and play to them.

Give readers of your company blog a different flavour to the rest of blogosphere. Although some won’t like what you’re doing, you may well find there’s an audience who’ve been looking for a voice like yours.

sex pistols

Malcolm McLaren took on the world with the Sex Pistols

Celebrate the freedom of thought

One of the great things about the punk movement was the way bands, artists, poets and magazines broke the rules and tackled the topics they wanted to cover. In any way that they wanted to cover it.

Mashups aren’t just the domain of Web 2.0. Punks were mashing up all kinds of eclectic diversity with their creativity.

Ask yourself: what topics interest you? What way do you want to express yourself. Embrace the freedom of thought like a true punk and dare to be different.
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Ghost blogging? Just Say No

March 22, 2010 By 29 Comments

Do you think ghost blogging is okay? Are you looking for a ghost-blogger for your corporate blog? Are you too busy to band out the text yourself?

Er… then maybe you shouldn’t have a blog!

Ghost blogging is a Tricky Business

The whole issue of ghost blogging for corporate clients is a tricky one (Cf The Ghost Speaks).

ghost blogging

Ghost blogger not for hire!

I’m the first to admit that I’ve done a bit of anonymous ghost blogging for major corporations here in Sweden because they’ve either been overloaded with work or needed someone to write in English.

I’ve ghost blogged in the past because like everyone I need to work and pay the bills and I haven’t always been able to pick and choose clients. Especially when the credit crunch really hit Sweden.

But no more. I’ve decided that if I’m going to blog for someone, like I regularly do for Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet, then I’m much more comfortable writing under my own name. In fact, I’m love writing blog posts. There’s something inherently conversational about the medium that allows for more freedom and variety than the more formulaic journalistic writing I do.

Ghost blogging lacks authenticity

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Business Blogs Don’t Attract Loyal Readers

March 14, 2010 By 6 Comments

80 percent of business blog traffic comes from first-time visitors, according to a recent survey of corporate blogging and social media trends by US-based Compendium.

The survey, which gathered data from 266 US companies about blogging traffic, visitor trends and Twitter usage, seems to pooh-pooh the idea that business blogs have a major group of loyal readers.

What this means for your business blog?

80 percent is a pretty high figure and seems to imply that the business blogs surveyed aren’t doing enough to make readers come back for more.

Without knowing what strategies these blogs are using, it’s pretty hard to assess their performance. But if you check your own data and see that you’re getting something similar, you might want to take a look at the kind of approach you’re taking to your business blog.

For example;

  • Are you updating daily?
  • Does your blog have personality?
  • Can readers connect with the person or people writing the blog?
  • Are comments actively encouraged?

Even a business blog needs regular updates that tell a visitor that this is an active community. If I’m a first time visitor to a B2B blog and see that the last update was over a week ago, chances are I’m not going to add it to my RSS or subscribe. I tend to value bloggers that are continually engaging

5 Reasons Your Business Blog is Failing

Another turn off for many business blogs is that they just don’t have any personality. Blogging, by its nature, is more personal and conversational in tone. It shouldn’t use the same kind of corporate speak that your website uses. Brendon Sinclair, for example, is a great business blogger, who oozes personality and has a genuine swagger to his writing.

Business blogs also need to work hard to create a sense of community by encouraging comments and promoting discussion. A business blog that has the comments turned off or worse, ignores comments, is a real turn off.
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