15 Oct The Future of Business Blogging
When you consider that 2.75 million blog posts are published each day on WordPress websites alone, it might be time to start questioning the future of business blogging.
How the heck are you supposed to get noticed when such a staggering amount of content is appearing every day? Clearly, marketers and business owners need to do things differently.
Earlier this week, I talked to prospective client who was adamant that she doesn’t want to publish blog posts on her website just to check off a box. I was thrilled to hear this, because I feel the same way.
Any blog post that I write – for my own agency or a client – has to add to the conversation. It has to be personal, thoughtful, inspiring and even ground-breaking. That might sound like a tall order for a simple blog post, but it’s not.
The future of business blogging
A lot of blog posts – including ones that I have written – are straightforward how-to’s. These are still valuable, depending on your audience. But they shouldn’t be the only type of blog post you write.
I believe the future of business blogging is in thought-provoking insights and analysis.
Now, I’m not asking you to write 3,000-word mini-dissertations each week. Unless you want to, and then by all means, go for it.
I just want you to put more thought into what you send out into the world. Here are four types of blog posts you can experiment with.
Connections and predictions
Are you a life-long learner? Do you read a lot and stay on top of trends (micro, macro, industry, societal)? Then writing articles that connect the dots might be right up your alley.
When you bring Big New Ideas to the table, you are showing that you have the finger on the pulse of what’s happening now and how the tides are shifting towards the future. Basically, it demonstrates that you’re a smart bad ass.
Personally, I love these types of articles. If I’m uttering, “Ohmygod” as I read, I know my ideas, opinions and biases are being challenged.
A great example of this is Scott Galloway, aka Prof G, who writes at No Mercy/No Malice. This is hands down my favorite blog of all time. Here is last week’s totally gangster post.
Experiments and results
These types of blog posts are written by curious people who wonder, “If I do this, what’ll happen?” They explain why they did “this”, how they did “this” and the outcome of doing “this”.
Reading the thought process behind an experiment is a valuable learning experience. Instead of telling someone to just do it because you said so, a deeper dive helps them understand you and what makes you tick.
It also shows that you are continually pushing yourself to do better and be better. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of person/company I want to work with.
I used this approach in a recent blog post on the marketing tactics and campaigns that have worked for my company.
Stories
There’s nothing new about storytelling, but I think it’s still an under-used business blogging tactic. Its time has come.
Above I mentioned the prospective client who doesn’t want to blog “just because”. While we were talking, I learned that her long-term customers aren’t aware of the company’s full spectrum of capabilities. Meanwhile, prospects don’t understand why they should work with her company over another.
My solution: tell customer stories. This will allow them to talk about their capabilities, demonstrate their expertise and showcase the benefits of working with them. Three birds, meet one stone.
One of my long-term clients follows this approach. In every article we work on together, she tells at least two customer stories. You can find a great example in this article on loving-kindness meditation (something the world desperately needs right now).
Your turn! What types of blog posts generate the most enthusiasm and engagement from your audience?
Image by Sincerely Media via Unsplash
Mark Peterson
Posted at 11:27h, 17 OctoberWell Monika, your blog post here, is a reminder and a motivator about how smart blogging, is a very smart strategy. Sometimes you feel like your screaming in space with blogging. with so much noise out there….you inspired me with this post, that’s the goal of a good blog post. And your intro to Prof G is much appreciated…good stuff. Thanks.
Monika Jansen
Posted at 09:51h, 19 OctoberThanks so much for taking the time to comment, Mark! I’m glad my thoughts resonated with you. Enjoy Prof G – he’s pretty awesome.