Many businesses have blogs now but how many are really using them to their best advantage? Once you know the answer to What Can Your Blog Do For You it becomes much easier to focus on how your blog can benefit your potential visitors.
Let’s start with why anyone would read your blog. It must have a purpose so what is it? For most businesses, their blog should offer answers to their potential buyers questions and help them make up their mind about purchases so they can buy with confidence.
While that may seem challenging it isn’t really. You just have to approach each post from the viewpoint of your buyer instead of your business. Ask yourself what challenges they are facing and what solutions you can offer.
For example, someone might be looking for a last minute gift. What solution you post to your blog depends on what solutions you can offer to solve that specific challenge. Here are some suggestions:
- A Gift Ideas site would offer a range of last minute gift ideas or recommend an online store with dependable expedited shipping for personalized last minute gifts.
- An ecommerce store that sells gifts and offers fast gift engraving and shipping might blog about offering that service or they might blog about specific types of gifts or offer last minute gift selections for the upcoming seasonal holiday or a particular type of person.
- A florist might blog about their ability to ship flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals and balloons anywhere overnight or more importantly, that you can order locally from your favorite florist and ship anywhere.
- My favorite online bakery could blog about their most popular dessert for a particular holiday or their famous fruitcake and mention that if you phone them they can send it by expedited shipping – and ONLY if you phone them. They don’t have a blog yet – but they could. (We sent their Texas shaped Ya-hoo Map Cake to our relatives and they wouldn’t eat it until they showed it to all their neighbors. They said it was “too pretty to cut” but when they finally did it turns out it was the best fruit cake with cherries, pecans and chunks of chocolate they had ever eaten. I didn’t know they loved fruitcake but now I do. If they had a blog we could share our story with others. They could also let their blog readers know about their Chocolate Lover’s Sampler and their Cheesecake Trio. They could tell you what the nice lady who took my order told me: that she keeps a Cheesecake Trio in the freezer so she can have one slice any time by just setting it in the refrigerator. Their blog could share that idea and suggest ordering an extra one for your freezer too. These are great ideas that are best conveyed in your blog – if you have one.)
- A vacation destination or a travel agent could blog about surprising your loved one with a weekend away or a much desired vacation.
- Any business could blog about their gift certificates that can be downloaded and printed, emailed, or they could offer to send them by overnight mail or even telegram.
All you have to do to increase the value of your blog posts is determine what challenges your potential buyers are facing, put yourself in their shoes, and offer them your best solutions written so that someone with no background in your business can understand.
Simple – yes. Easy – no. Many copywriters and bloggers are paid high sums because they have this unique and valuable skill: to write for their readers. Learn – or hire someone – with this skill and your blog becomes your most effective, always available, tool.
I close this post on how blogging can increase your business with the DoshDosh blog as an example of what quality writing coupled with a tight focus on the target audience can achieve.
As always, I encourage readers to comment and drop links to related posts and blogs. Comments are a reliable, easy way for bloggers to find each other and increase their own readership.
RELATED POSTS ON BLOGGING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS:
- Blogging 101: Crash Course for Newbies
