You've decided your company will start a blog. You've developed a strategy, picked and configured a platform, set a few general goals and put someone in charge. You are off to a great start.
Now what?
It's time to ask another very key question in the blog process: how will we get the most out of our blog?
Whether the goal is building customer relationships, providing technical support or generating new business, it is essential not to underestimate the time and effort a successful blog requires. It is an easy mistake to make. The "hard" costs of blogging, like hardware, software and IT support, are negligible; believing the time investment will follow the same path seems natural. But two blogging necessities -- writing and marketing -- require intense, daily attention employees seldom are ready for. Yet, with proper planning, training and, in some cases, outside help, your staff can do the job with relative ease.
Writing. Effective blogs add posts at least once a day, and often several times a day. This can quickly become tedious, distracting and time-consuming. Moreover, when a blog becomes popular, the staff may find itself inundated with comments demanding quick and careful response. The following actions go a long way toward overcoming such challenges:
Assemble a writing team. Multiple contributors spread out the workload and strengthen the blog with different writing styles, expertise and points of view. Appoint an editor. By issuing an editorial calendar, an editor speeds up the writing process. Without a calendar, writers are forced to chew up time just picking a topic. Another key editorial function is editing posts. Besides cleaning up grammar and sharpening content, an editor reviews posts from a strategic and legal perspective; important concerns for a business blog and ones which employees or outside writers may not be equipped to evaluate. Implement a comment strategy. Determine whether anyone can leave comments, or only registered users. Decide whether comments will be reviewed before or after publication. Set standards for how quickly and in what way you will respond. Give the editor discretion to decide whether comments will be allowed on particular posts, and if or when commenting on a particular post should be cut off.
Marketing. Without an audience, your well-written posts will go unread -- and unacted upon. Conversely, a large audience or the right niche audience virtually guarantees your blogging goals will be achieved. Thus, it is imperative to devote time to social networking and on-line marketing techniques. If you pay attention to these details, your marketing efforts will succeed:
Social networking means taking an active role in the blogging community by visiting other blogs, leaving comments and building relationships with influential bloggers. This translates into referrals, links, and most important, new business opportunities. Understand networking takes time, patience and ongoing attention. On-line techniques include registering your blog with search directories; developing a "blogroll," or listing of blogs displayed on your own blog; search engine optimization; promoting RSS subscriptions; and managing paid-advertising campaigns.
Some tasks can be handled effectively by outside sources. A growing number of search-engine-marketing firms have learned how to market blogs. Copywriters and some advertising agencies are well-equipped to share the writing workload and perform the managing-editor function. Start with realistic expectations, a complete plan and a clear division of labor. Your blog will quickly blend into the normal flow of business, giving you the time you need to make your blog a success.
Related Articles
- How To Use Your Blog to Market Your BusinessHave you just started blogging? Or have you been blogging for a while? As you may already know, a blog is an excellent tool to let the world know about your business or your product, to connect with potential customers and promote your expertise. But how can you maximize your blogs impact? Here ar....
- How To Get Multiple One Way Links To Your Blog FastThere are probably many methods to get links to a blog. A blog hosted on blogger or any other blog platform still needs to be optimized for search engines.
- Make Money with Your BlogBlogging for cash is a simple concept, but a lot of people seem to be blogging for free. Theres no point in driving traffic to your blog without having some way to profit from all of that traffic. Once youve taken the time to research keywords, plan your blog posts and set up your blog, the next.....
- 7 Quick and Easy Ways to Increase Your RSS SubscribersIts no secret that a lot of blog readers prefer to read your blog through RSS. These readers may never see your blog but crafty bloggers know how to make RSS subscribers come to their blog.
- Start Generating Traffic to Your BlogPeople love highly niche related blogs. Search engines love blogs focused on a target market. Even your website loves the blog it is connected to.
- 5 Biggest Blogging Mistakes1. You have your own domain name and web hosting but you decide to host your blog elsewhere.
Why? If your website is www.anythinghere.com then your blog should be hosted at www.anythinghere.com. - What is a Subdomain?When you have yourself a pie, chances are you are not going to want to eat the whole thing yourself. Instead you will divide the pie into several pieces so that it is easier to manage and everybody can get some. Think of a Web hosting account in the same way...
- 5 Reasons To Use Wordpress As Your Blog SystemI have tried many blogging system to hold my blog. Starting from free blog systems like blogger.com to open source blog programs. It is not until I found Wordpress and settle down with it. There are 5 reasons for you to choose Wordpress as your blogging system, in the order of their importance. ...
- 7 Instant Ways To Load Your Blog With BacklinksIf you have a blog here you find proven methods to get backlinks. Most methods can be used to get links to your website, but some are exclusive for blogs. Some methods give you one way links, other help you make a lot of blog link exchanges fast. The fastest way to start is to join a forum.
- 11 Ways to Promote Your BlogOn the road to a getting a successful blog, every ping means money. Heres a list of the best ways to get higher ping rates for your blog.