Stand Out and Stay Connected with a Business Blog

Interview, Resume and LinkedIn

Business Blogging“Show, don’t tell” is one of the first tenants of good writing. The same is true of building your resume. Can a flat piece of paper fully encapsulate the colorful, lively story of your career?

No, it can’t. But a blog can add that needed dimension and give life to who you are as a worker and as an individual.

Getting started is easy. You can create your own business blog using these eight simple steps:

 

1. Pick a Topic That Interests You

One common mistake I see bloggers make—especially when using a blog to specifically demonstrate their knowledge and skills—is to write about anything that comes to mind. That’s perfectly fine for a personal blog, but in a professional space, there needs to be more structure and purpose.

Professional blogs should showcase your expertise in a field (one industry or subject matter, like social media marketing or event planning). There are no “wrong” topics, but be sure the subject you pick is something you understand well (or are in the process of learning more about) and that you can write about frequently—meaning you won’t run out of things to say about it in a week.

 

2. Choose the Medium and Tools

In the blogging world, WordPress and Blogger are by far the largest and most popular blogging platforms. Both are free but require different levels of technical knowledge.

WordPress is best for building websites and blogs and for those who want more control over the look and feel of their site. The limitless array of plugins can also help optimize and socialize posts.

Note: WordPress.com is the fully-hosted version and WordPress.org is the self-hosted version. “Fully-hosted” means there is no additional cost to you, but you will be stuck with a domain name like “blogname.wordpress.com” unless you pay an additional fee. Self-hosting allows for a custom domain name, but you will need to find hosting on your own through a company like DreamHost or BlueHost.

Blogger is best for those who want to hit the ground running. It requires little setup and fuss, but offers fewer options and customizations. If you’re looking to add a blog that is separate from your personal website or business page, Blogger is a good choice.

Other considerations are non-traditional blogging platforms like Tumblr and SquareSpace. Tumblr has a much younger demographic and offers more visual posts. If you’re in a more creative field or the majority of those in your industry uses Tumblr, then consider using it as your main platform.

 

3. Select a Clean, Simple Blog Design

Looks matter. If your blog appears cluttered (too many sidebars), messy (buttons galore) or flashy (blinking backgrounds), all your hard work won’t matter. The person who found your blog will assume a 14-year-old is pushing “publish.”

There are plenty of sites that offer polished designs at reasonable prices. My favorite is ThemeForest. Most blog themes range from $20 to $50.

ElegantThemes is another blog theme site and works by subscription. After paying $39, you will have access to 89 themes to download at your leisure.

 

4. Plan Ahead and Post Consistently

Even if you plan to blog casually (i.e. not for profit), you should still plan to update with new posts at least two or three times a week. This promotes the appearance that you’re active in the blogging community and are consistently contributing new ideas and information.

For those more serious about building a blog and a personal brand, post at least 20 times a month. This boosts blog traffic five times more than blogs that post less frequently, according to Hubspot. One way to ensure that you’re consistently pushing content out on your blog is to plan in advance by creating a content calendar and by utilizing the “schedule posts” feature on your platform.

 

5. Have an Opinion, Say Something Different

Why would someone read your blog? Are you offering new ideas and insights into your industry? These should be questions you ask yourself every time you write a post.

Don’t offer trite advice that’s been doled out over and over again. Think of innovative ways to say what you think—whether it’s a vlog series or an infographic.

As the famous consultant Alan Weiss recommends, become a person of interest. (Click here to tweet this thought!) People will be drawn to you (and your blog) because you’re refreshingly different.

 

6. Optimize Your Posts

In addition to posting at least 20 times a month, you can significantly increase attention to your blog by focusing on SEO, or search engine optimization. This means that posts are constructed in such a way that they’re more likely to be found in search engine results.

An easy way to get started is to use the Google Keyword Tool. Type in a few different keyword combinations and see how many times people search for those terms every month. For example, I blog about young adult books, so I would enter in terms like, “young adult books,” “young adult fiction” or “best YA books.”

Next, choose the most promising term and be sure to use the phrase in your blog title and throughout your post (not too much, though; it can become obnoxious).

WordPress users, make one of these free plugins do the work for you:

 

7. Share Your Posts on Social Media

Don’t be shy. If you’re going to all of the trouble of writing and posting blogs every week, tell people about it! Of course, sharing posts on your personal social media is great, but don’t forget about professional networks like LinkedIn and Google Communities.

Sharing links via social media also helps with SEO; Google has added a social search feature that allows users to find content their connections have shared on social media in their Google search results.

 

8. Ask For Help When You Need It

Still feeling a bit lost? There are a ton of tools out there to help you get started blogging.

My business partner and I have launched Start Blogging Now, a six-week blogging basics program. You don’t need any technical knowledge, just the desire get started. All of the topics mentioned above (like self-hosting and optimizing posts) will be covered. The first course started on August 8th, but bloggers can sign up at any time.

 

Don’t forget: blogging is a fluid space. Test and try new things every day. Whether you’re starting a blog to impress future employers or doing it to stay current in your field, blogging is the perfect environment to demonstrate your authority and expertise.

Lisa Parkin is the CEO and President of the social media consultancy Social Climber. Her creativity and determination lend themselves to working with a medium that never stops changing. Enjoying the heat lightning storms in the summer, Lisa lives in Florida with her husband and her orange cat, Meow Meow.

Image: photobucket

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