What Can You Do When You Don't Know What to Blog About?

Tips for a smooth social marketing strategy

Where does new material come from? How do all those writers come up with such fantastic ideas for their next popular storyline? For those who blog, writer’s block tends to be a stumbling block for just about everyone who ever puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). 

Three Ways to Combat Writer’s Block 

Having writer’s block is something that can disturb many writers, but the best practice is to avoid it in the first place. 

1. Start by writing down ideas regularly. Don’t wait until you sit down to write your blog and think the ideas will come to you there and then. Put your technology (for example, your smartphone) to good use and jot down ideas as they come to you. Never assume that you’ll remember them later – and if you do forget them, great opportunities could all too easily slide by without you even noticing. 

In fact, it is generally great practice to get an idea and let it take seed in your mind. Writers often take years to contemplate a complete story, which you don’t really have time for in a blog. But, you can always generate an idea and let it grow, at least for a few days. 

2. Researching different subjects is another brainstorming idea. The worst thing you can do is focus on what you think you know, because you will quickly run out of ideas like that. Discover new opportunities and research new materials. In short, be forever learning. 

Study popular questions that your customers have asked. Consider researching ten of the most popular questions you’ve been asked recently. This is a great opportunity to produce word of mouth marketing, since your audience will be able to interact and directly relate to your material. This particular source is perhaps the best material from which a writer can derive quality substance in order to manufacture material that will create conversations that can be shared. 

3. Study hot topics and consider how they relate to your brand. What trending material could you incorporate into your brand’s blog? It’s generally good practice to incorporate keywords and hot topics into your subject material, but you don’t want to do so in a fashion that detracts from your brand. Maintain common ground and share in moderation.

You don’t have to let writer’s block interfere with your blog so long as you keep your ideas fresh and steady. Be open-minded and keep an eye and ear out for anything that strikes your interest because it is more than likely to get the attention of your audience also. 

Promote Your Blog with Marketing Word of Mouth

Social marketing tips for your blog 

Manufacturing a blog and its content is only the first step a writer must take. The next is that you must be able to effectively market your blog in order to generate visibility and publicity for your personal brand. You can promote yourself and let others promote you as well through word of mouth strategies. 

So, what specific methods are most practical for marketing your blog? There’s more than advertising to consider in this situation, and quite frankly there are numerous tools and methods by which you can help your blog improve your audience response.

Coming up with promotional content

When it comes to basic blog content, there are several important characteristics that you should include in your material and content strategy. 

Blog honestly. This sounds simple and really is. It is in fact more difficult to try to be someone you’re not- and the audience will pick up on it. Stick to your field of expertise and acknowledge when you’re reaching into a different department. In many cases, the honesty will help improve feedback, particularly from other field experts that may have advice or recommendations. 

Blog regularly. Don’t make your posts erratic and unpredictable. Consider your blog as if it were part of a regular newspaper; delivering opinion, facts, and updates frequently to an expectant audience. If your readers know when and where they can expect to find fresh material, they’re more likely to subscribe and read your blog.

Include appealing photos/images in your content. Simple as it may sound, there are certain characteristics a photo/image should have. The most important is that it should be relevant to your content. Graphs that simplify complex data or information are a great place to start. Infographs can also be incredibly helpful, just make sure that the text is legible (size and color of font in relation to the background). 

Utilize keywords appropriately. It is completely necessary to include related keywords in your content, but you don’t want to overwhelm your content at the same time. Overuse and/or wrong placement of keywords may deplete the quality of your blog’s material. Getting the reader’s attention is important, but keeping it is a necessity. 

How to attract readers

One of the best ways to start enunciating your blog is by linking to social networks- such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest (you can link the pictures to your blogs, just make sure they provide relevance). Be sure to include any forums, groups, and blogging communities that you are a member of as well when making links.

Don’t neglect to sign up with the RSS feeds, since this is one of the best and simplest ways for readers to subscribe to your material. When fellow readers can see subscription numbers, they are more likely to subscribe themselves. Numbers can say more than words sometimes, as though it were an indirect recommendation from other readers. 

Then there are the benefits of linking through “popular reading” blog sites. These sites promote blog material and are great for improving blog visibility as they basically list a large network of established blogs that readers are already familiar with. They can be incredibly handy and are a great place to position a new blog. They include:

• Stumbleupon.com
• Digg.com
• Reddit.com
• Delicious.com 
• Technorati.com 

These sites also present an opportunity for you to do a little footwork in order to achieve more. Reach out by writing related articles, blogs, and social posts, and also by commenting on the material (such as giving advice or answering a question), then add in your blog’s link. Be sure to read the comment rules, since some will require that you shouldn’t post any links or your comment will be deleted. Though for the most part, they will only block out the link and leave the comment itself. 

There is also the option of syndicating your blog through certain sites. These sites are networked and reach different audiences around the world. An example is Amazon.com where Kindle owners can read your articles (you even get paid for each read). Others, like Networkblog.com and EvanCarmichael.com are perfect for building blog traffic for your business related material. 

Email newsletters are still very effective and should include your blog link (s) for your most recent posts. Keep mailing lists of already positively established contacts as they will give you a great chance to ask for feedback from frequent readers.

When it comes to blogging, you can create quality material that is attractive, but it won’t receive the visibility it truly deserves until you promote it properly. Design your material with promotion in mind and set up a network of sites where your blog can reach a broad range of readers who will appreciate what you have to say. 

6 Things to Avoid in Starting Your Company Blog

Blogging tips for an effective social marketing campaign

Have you ever wondered what you should do when starting a blog? What about what you shouldn’t do? Targeting an audience, creating quality material, and basically generating interest in your brand are the ultimate goals, but there are a few habits that tend to reduce the value our blogs bring to our brand image.

There are certain situations to avoid when constructing and ultimately posting a blog. Start by developing a plan. Basically, your blog should start out as a summary of your profile and goals. But, there are a few more important details to keep in mind when setting up your blog. 

Top Six Things that Must Not Be Overlooked

1. You don’t have to make a blog a group project for your entire business. While advice and even guest activity are welcomed when helping construct material, it shouldn’t be the task of every part of your brand to simultaneously establish a blog. In some cases, it can be useful to spread out the development process, such as investigating a portion of your business separately in each blog. Just be sure that it doesn’t interfere with your brand managers’ endeavors, since that would affect the material in the blog and the ultimate success of your brand. Basically, don’t allow the work on the blog set-up to become a burden - or else it will cost you…

2. This leads to the issue of being unreliable. When a business owner is focused on their business, establishing a blog can seem like a to-do project that can wait on the back-burner forever. But, one of the worst things to do is to establish a blog and fail to follow up regularly. Just like the material in a newspaper, people look for new material regularly, whether it’s in the Sunday comics or the sports. Don’t ever neglect to put in your allotted time and be sure to maintain a regular flow of material.

3. Of course, you don’t want to rush yourself or generate for the sake of posting. A common mistake is to write in order to gain SEO favor instead of creating quality content. Keywords are important, but are only to be used sparingly. Sure it’s a great idea to gain visibility – but only temporarily. SEOs look for current “hot topics” that are favorable and will abandon materials that lack quality content relatively quickly. Additionally such blog material doesn’t really generate interest or conversation, making it something that an audience will see and forget as quickly as a mouse click.  

4. This brings us to the important fact that people avoid blog posters who tend to be just plain boring. You can write a whole lot of words and end up with nothing if you have no structure, readability, or even humor (a little humor goes a long way). 

The main principle is to generate interest and thereby improve word of mouth marketing. You want people to talk about you, not just read the material and continue to surf the web. Make them stop and consider for a moment a simple but applicable point that you make that they are able to relate to their everyday life.

5. Of course, time is valuable to everyone, especially to a business owner or brand operator- hence the reason for ghost writers and guest bloggers. It can be useful at times to gain the aid of a helping hand, but it’s even more important to ensure that the content won’t hurt your brand.

To enunciate we target copyright issues and infringement. There are certain apps available to ensure the content is original, and it is important to filter it through systems so your blog isn’t just a repeating machine or even worse an infringer. Nothing is more upsetting than finding that your material is the result of “copy-and-paste,” even if you weren’t the one to do so. You are responsible so make sure you take all action to ensure the security and sanctity of your material. 

6. Then there are the links to consider. Too many sites have links that don’t work and that fact is noted in the comments. That doesn’t reflect well on your image at all, even if the comments contain praise for content. It can paint you as unprofessional or unprepared if your links don’t carry your audience where they want to go with the click of a button. Speed and availability identify your brand as reliable and efficient. Be sure that you apply yourself in this department. 

Generating a blog can be simple, as long as you avoid some common mistakes. Don’t misuse your publicity or it may cost your brand in the long run. 

Keep People Hiding and Staying Away

Social networking tips for your small business or personal brand

Have you ever wondered why you have plenty of “likes” but so few interactions or conversations on your social pages? You post material and only get five likes and one comment on your feed, which leaves you wondering why no one seems to be paying attention to your feed.

When it comes to Facebook or other feed related social networks, getting a “like” or comment raises your visibility, but time also plays a role in visibility. How often they view your page also matters. Do they regularly check on you or interact with your feed? There are several variables that generate improved visibility. 

But, this means you have to start at the beginning. How do you get that attention?  What are you doing that is keeping your visibility low on your social network? What might you be doing so that viewers either un-like you or hide you in their newsfeed?

Maintaining visibility

Have you ever considered the fact that you are guilty of scaring people away? Whether you are saying the wrong thing or saying it far too often, there is the possibility that you are boring! Take it seriously, because everything comes down to generating interest, especially in a social, high-speed environment. And consequently, intimidation comes in many forms. You could be guilty of several different tactics that are hindering your social visibility. 

What makes up your feed? Are you selling it too hard, too much, or too often?

“If your feed is limited strictly to making sales or blatantly selling, many people will not pay attention to it. “ [tweet this].

Few people would constantly watch commercials all day long because they would rather be entertained. 

This brings us to the posts about random and irrelevant material to your business. They liked you because of what you have to offer them. Be sure that’s what you provide. Talk about things that are relevant, yet have a trendy application to them.

Then there is the art of: Memememememe! The worst thing you can do is think that it’s all about you! Be sure to include the activities of your contacts, customer conversation, and associated topics into your social campaign. If your viewers post something, follow up on it and turn it into a conversation (by the way, you need to comment on your own posts as well). Avoid thinking that everything on your page is about you because in a network, it’s all about everyone. If they share, you share. This is the basis for word of mouth marketing because if you present content that others are willing to share, many more will see what is going on with you.

This means that you should strive to make the experience interactive. Don’t limit yourself to just speaking to a crowd of wandering participants. Create games, generate questions, and get your audience interacting with you and each other.

Consider what you can do to keep your feed line smooth and applicable so that your viewers enjoy reading it. It takes quality information for an audience to want to interact with it rather than ignoring or hiding you from their feeds. 

Content Strategy Vital to Word of Mouth Marketing

Your content strategy is essential to your word of mouth marketing

Every business is faced with creating marketing content. What they say, how they say it, and primarily what context it’s placed in will decide how effective it will be and how the audience will receive it- be it positive or negative.

When it comes down to generating content for your business, there are various content strategies which can be applied. Do keep in mind that combinations between all of them will be the most practical tactic. Certain strategies are only as effective as the situation they are applied to. 

Outside

Some of the best sources to search for good content are easy enough to find, especially since you’re already looking at them. Start with the most likely place- customer questions and your responses. Customers see from the outside in, which means they also see all the things you don’t always see. This is a great time to learn and apply new information to create new and better content- especially since it’s what the audience wants to hear.

Also, consider all the value that customer stories hold. Nothing speaks stronger than a recommendation from a customer. This is a great way to employ word of mouth marketing strategies. When they share with you, share with everyone else. 

Inside

Of course, one can never forget themselves. You and what inspires you are great sources of content. Talk about what it is that drives you to do what you do. This is the opportunity for your audience to be able to relate to you and understand who they are doing business with.

Don’t forget about your own content. Have you written a book or another article? Write a blog that incorporates them as well and explains the content. 

What is it that makes that content source good? Well, it always depends on how it’s presented. These sources are great places to start, but it’s essential to have a good way to channel that content through technique and proper application.

New!

Talking about anything new within your business is always a plus. Defining efforts to better your business help to ensure your audience that their experience with you will only get better. Also be sure to cover in detail any new products and services that you’re about to launch or even considering launching. It can be very beneficial to get customer feedback before you release something. 

Educational

Throughout the online world, one of the most favorable content strategies is to provide information and educate the audience. The majority of people that search the internet are often looking for answers. If you can provide answers, they will come.

Describing

Talk about yourself and your business. Sometimes they can be together, sometimes apart. People love hearing about people. It helps to bring your business down to earth so that your audience can relate to you as more than just a name or title. They will relate to you as a person.

Showing

Infographics are relatable in several ways. Visuals are great for sharing complex information to a general audience and they save the reader time. If they see that your content shares more than just words, they are inclined to spend more time studying what you have to say or show.

Shocking

Creating controversial content can be a very helpful tool- depending on how it’s done. Considering that the “shock” effect of a very controversial marketing strategy can upset some, but also entice others to interact with you. 

So consider that this is most effectively done in small doses. Take for instance, asking a controversial question or making a statement. This gives you their attention without offending. 

Sharing

Have you ever considered responding to your competition- in a positive way? Sharing has always been contagiously effective in marketing. While both you and your competition are in business to succeed, that doesn’t mean you can’t work together occasionally and strategically. What happens when you award your competition for providing quality products and services? They like it and are just as likely to share what you said about them. That means they are going to share you in their content. Consider what you would do if someone complimented you. Wouldn’t you want to share it, even if it was from someone on another team? In fact, the compliment means more when it’s from competition. It’s only natural to share good news about yourself. 

The purpose of content is to educate and persuade your audience. To do this, you must be able to find good content to work with and properly apply it to your marketing strategies. 

Blogs are Effective for Personal Word of Mouth

Personal word of mouth and your blog

Blogs are perhaps one of the leading outlets for business networking strategies. Through this medium, we can talk about our business and how it relates to present trends and your audience’s needs. There is more to a blog than stating the facts though. Remember that facts tell and stories sell. In other words, the content of your blog must appeal to your audience in every way possible. 

Designing an effective blog requires the creator to focus on several important topics. Content must be grammatically correct, organized, and above all, relevant to your purpose. 

You keep saying this word, but I do not think you know what it means…

Clean and neat is the primary technique. As a professional, you must be an exceptional spokesperson, using words effectively and correctly. You need to sound intelligent, but you don’t want to speak over your audience’s head. If they don’t understand what you’re saying, they won’t want to read what you have to say. 

If you are using technical jargon or exotic vocabulary, consider using a few words in a way that would improve your reader’s vocabulary. Then provide the definition and a story of how you did not know what it meant until you looked it up. Be sure that you maintain relevance to your purpose though. You don’t need to go off on a tangent to do this. Keep it purpose directed so that the education is relevant, especially if it is vital to your point. 

Keeping things organized…

As for the structure of the blog, it needs to be well organized. Use bullets and lists when appropriate to make the entire article easily navigable. Separate the structure into distinct sub-headings to avoid confusion, especially if you have several points to make. 

When comparing within the article, balance is often difficult to achieve. Some start with one point, followed by a completely separate analysis that disproves or proves another point. This can be confusing, especially if the reader is only scanning the content for points. Instead, when arguing a case, use your point and counter point as a heading. Then discuss. 

Quality that intrigues holds attention…

One thing in particular is the content of your blog. A good blog affirms your selling point- targeting the audience directly. Content such as stories and related subjects can be included, especially if they are viral, trending, or relatable fad, just as long as you can relate it to your business. Your content must sell your image and intrigue the audience. 

Content that reaches beyond and improves visibility…

An excellent practice is to make links inside of your blog. If you have relatable articles elsewhere, link back to them as a reference within your blog’s content. This is an excellent technique for increasing readers, especially if you post a hot topic. It will help navigate readers to other content you have, including videos, social links, and your website. Using your links as references and using terms such as “this is how I utilize my social networks and it has greatly improved traffic to my primary website” would help expand your content and improve visibility. 

Remember that social links are especially beneficial within a blog because it allows readers to share that information within their own network. Through these tools and techniques, you improve your personal word of mouth marketing strategies and allow your blog to reach a much larger audience through networks where individuals can recommend you to their friends. 

Blogs are designed to generate conversation

One thing to consider is that a blog is originally a statement and a question. You state what you know, but it leaves room for speculation and analysis by readers. They interpret what you have said and enjoy expressing their own related ideas. 

Be sure you keep this fact in mind when generating your content. Ask opinions of your audience. What do they think about the subject? Do they have ideas or techniques to add or discuss? A blog is an opening for discussion- primarily through comments. After you post a blog, don’t leave it alone like a forgotten newspaper article. This is a social outlet and discussion is going to be the next task. 

Blogs are for networking, education, and increasing visibility. Your blog should not only be able to intrigue your present audience, but also draw in new networking members. With quality content, a well-organized delivery, and effective marketing tool usage, you can create a blog that will raise awareness, create conversation, and improve your sales. 

Powering Up Your Personal Word of Mouth with Best Blogging Practices

Power up your personal word of mouth with these blogging tips

It is true that word of mouth marketing has been with us for as long as commerce has existed. Interestingly, word of mouth marketing has dramatically changed in recent times, especially since the advent of the internet. Information technology has transformed word of mouth marketing into a new specialty in marketing that can be planned, is actionable and can be tracked just like other major forms of marketing. It has therefore come to be a general term to refer to several techniques that are used to energize and engage customers. It has come to include blogs, viral marketing, loyalty programs, social media, emails, discussion boards, mobile texting, and other strategies that get customers to talk to others about your products.

In particular, there are several ways in which you can harness the power of word of mouth marketing through blogging sites and other social media to significantly boost the exposure of your company. You can use blogs to give people and potential customers a reason to speak and talk about your products or services.

Word of Mouth through Blogging

Blogs can significantly contribute towards your word of mouth marketing in various ways. Firstly, blogging software like Wordpress and Blogger.com do not need you to have any special programming skills or knowledge. This means that even a technically challenged employee or business owner can easily post a blog and tap into the online market.

Secondly, due to the fact that blogs are meant to be regularly posted, they are very helpful in increasing a business's exposure through the provision of new and useful content for search engines to comb through.

Thirdly, blogging enables the company or business owner to have control over the content being marketed because the business owner or the company can choose which topics to post. As a business owner, you can start a blog that will elicit a discussion that is centered on a particular aspect of your products, and everyone will be discussing about your product in those angles through their posts. In addition, blogging is a good way to encourage customers to provide feedback by submitting their comments. The fact that the customers' comments can be viewed by everyone who visits the blog makes this a perfect word of mouth marketing technique that is worth pursuing for any business owner.

Just like blogging, you can harness the power of word of mouth marketing through discussion boards on certain blogs. Discussion boards are very helpful especially if you want to develop relationships between your business and your customers. By offering a forum for individuals with common interests to share their thoughts or their interests, discussion boards can be successfully used to create a sense of community. As a business owner, you can take advantage of this format by presenting an initial topic of discussion with relevant information that will encourage customers to post comments and even ask questions. This is a very effective word of mouth technique that will ensure your products or brands are discussed by thousands or even millions of customers and potential customers.

Some important Points to Note

One important step that you should consider when generating word of mouth marketing through blogs is to have a clear understanding of the blogs that are most likely to generate a significant impact on your target audience. Although the largest blogs will normally have the widest reach, you need to consider if they are the ones that will best relate with your target audience. You will need to work with bloggers who have between 100 and 1,000 people linked to them because according to experts, it is this category of bloggers that can enable PR individuals to successfully reach niche markets.

Nevertheless, you need to remember that bloggers will never be journalists, and they will not just publish your press releases. They will usually write stories with opinions, views, and angles, thus a plain, mass-targeted advertorial or press release will basically not cut it. It is not possible for you to tell the blogger his/her own opinions, but you can assist them by developing an informative and interesting story in a way that will relate to their target audience. You should keep in mind the fact that bloggers intend to publish stories and not a sales pitch.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, word of mouth marketing depends on customers sharing their views or opinions in an open public forum, and the internet has significantly boosted the exposure that businesses can gain by using this technique. Through the use of blogs and other internet resources, you can do several things to get more from blogs without actually blogging.