Five steps to writing a great blog for your business – and why you definitely should!

For many business owners, taking the time to write about what you do seems like one task too many on an already long to-do list. But Anthony Caruana and Kathryn Van Kuyk, co-CEOs of Media-Wize, explain how writing and publishing regular blog content for your website helps your business grow.

What do your customers know about you? Chances are that when they visit your website or check you out through their favourite search engine, they’ll learn about where you are and what you do. They’ll discover the products and services you offer, and possibly a list of people in leadership positions in the business.

But they probably won’t know what you stand for and why you do what you do.

How blogging helps your business grow

In Simon Sinek’s seminal book, Start With Why, there are several anecdotes about companies and individuals whose success didn’t stem from being the best resourced. Their success came from engaging customers in a story about their ‘why’.

One way to engage your community in a deeper conservation about what you stand for and what matters you is to write about it.

Investing time in creating blog content is a way to engage your customers, prospects and the broader community in a conversation about why you’re passionate and motivated to do what you do. It’s a chance to discuss ideas, provide insights and share views on events that matter to your community of clients, partners and other stakeholders.

This is why Seth Godin said, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.”

Five steps to writing a blog for your business

The challenges for small business owners and operators is finding the time, discovering the stories they want to tell, and believing they have the skills to write compelling blog content.

Here are five steps to writing your first blog:

Step 1. Brainstorm

Start by brainstorming a list of ideas. Don’t filter them – write each one on a post-it note. They might be things about market trends or customer preferences. Perhaps you’ve learned something new, or you’ve had an insight into how some current event influences your business. It might even be a lesson you’ve learned recently.

Once you’ve made that list, put it aside for a day. Over that time, your brain will keep coming up with ideas or variations on those ideas. Make a note of them.

When you come back to your pile of post-it notes, add the new ideas and then start to order them from your favourite to least favourite – but don’t throw any out. Just because you don’t like an idea doesn’t mean you should toss it. Stephen King’s first bestseller, Carrie, was recovered from the bin by his wife. It may just take some time for that idea to develop into something worth writing about.

Step 2: Write

Pick your favourite idea. It’s likely to be your favourite because it’s the one you’re most comfortable with and have the most insight or knowledge about. Open a simple text editor – we’re fans of simple note-taking apps as they aren’t cluttered with formatting options and lots of icons – and start typing.

All you want to do at this stage is get your ideas on paper. Don’t worry too much about structure or grammar. This is your first draft.

Step 3: Edit

When you’ve finished writing around 500 words, the next step is editing your draft. The simplest writing rule to follow is to arrange the content into three sections:

1. Introduction: Explain what you’re going to tell them
2. Body: Tell them – this is the main body of the article and should be broken into sections for each key point you want to make
3. Conclusion: Summarise what you told them

Once you’ve done that, read it aloud and fix any clunky grammar or phrasing, and have someone you trust proofread with a fresh set of eyes to pick up any errors.

Step 4: Publish

When it comes to publishing the blog, there are lots of options. You can use services such as Medium or release the content over your social channels – LinkedIn and Facebook both support long-form content.

Or you can add a blogging platform to your website – WordPress is popular, but there are others. And you can also use the blog in regular newsletters to clients, suppliers and other people you interact with.

You don’t have to be a master wordsmith to blog for your business. As long as the content is clear and tells your audience a story, it is of value.

Step 5: Repeat!

It’s important to not make blogging too onerous. If you have the time, then weekly is a good cadence. But if that’s too hard, then fortnightly or monthly is fine.

Come back to your pile of post-in notes or pick a new idea for each new article you write. And if you have a team, encourage others to do the same and share the writing load. Collaborate and brainstorm together. You’ll feed each other’s creativity and you’ll soon have a great list of inspired ideas.

The value of blogging comes from establishing a regular line of communication with your community. It’s a platform to tell your stories and share your insights. It moves the conversation about your business from what you do and how you do it, to why you’re here.

And that’s always a far more interesting story.

This article was originally published on Kochie’s Business Builders, read the original here.

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