Long Term Planning for Your Small Business Blog

blog planning

While teaching a blogging class to small business folk recently, we were doing an exercise to get us thinking about our blogging strategies beyond the next post or the next month.

We posted flip chart sheets around the walls and together filled in all the topics and themes we could think of for each month (or season). The answers reflected the different types of businesses represented in the room - lots of variety. By walking through the months, paying attention to the many holidays and seasonal activities, we mapped out the whole year.

Sure, we all know when Christmas is, and that September is back-to-school. Some people are romantic at Valentine's, and others are gardening in the summer. Go the extra step and think about how your target market is impacted by these events, how they're feeling about these things.

Even if you can't solve their biggest problems, maybe you can make them feel better by helping in a smaller way.

To find those opportunities, you'll want to think beyond the event or the season. Try to walk in your customers' shoes. Making people feel good is where it's at and you can absolutely do that on your business blog. (This applies to more than blogging, too!)

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REAL Twitter Users Don't Schedule Tweets

Image
PHOOEY on that, I say! I’m tired of hearing that to use Twitter ‘properly’ you have to be there to have conversations. Apparently some people have no problem being there 16 hours a day. Those are the Twitter divas… the ones who look down their noses at the rest of us who can only spare a half hour a day from our busy schedules to have these deep conversations. They’re also the people who have found a way to make money by being on Twitter. Or they’re unemployed and have nothing better to do with their time? Anyone with a REAL job surely can’t spare all that time. These Twitter divas assume that the rest of us are there for the same reasons they are. And if we’re not, maybe we’re supposed to be somewhere else? See, not everyone I want to connect with is on Twitter during that specific half hour I can spend there every day. Even if I spend 2 half hours, I’m still not going to reach very many people. Let’s get real. How many people can you have deep conversations with in a half hour ...
Keep reading »

The Moral of the Story

Image
Aesop's Fables have a clear moral lesson backed up by a little story. The story makes it more interesting than just passing out advice. It demonstrates the results of heeding or not heeding the advice. Advice delivered as a 'fable' appeals to both our emotions and our intellect. Fast-forward 2600 years to the present. Technology has made it easier than ever before to tell fables and share advice. We don't even have to know each other. Our fables today are perhaps more fleeting than Aesop's, but are made more real by the use of photos and videos. A photo can tell a whole story, including the moral, sometimes without words at all. Social media, blogs and newsletters are excellent venues for sharing fables. If you're looking for some 'content creation' inspiration, try this long list of morals for stories. The moral of this story? "Lessons are not given, they are taken." Click to Tweet this Article Originally published in Work B...
Keep reading »

Leave Out the Parts People Skip

Image
Has anyone really read every word of Gone with the Wind ? Be honest now. I've read it twice and I remember skipping whole pages of scene-setting descriptive text. When I read this quote by Elmore Leonard, whose books I read, it resonated with me. "I try to leave out the parts people skip." ( click to tweet this ) This is a great principle for marketing , too. Recall those bags of brochures and business cards you've thrown out after conferences. What's the practical application? Have a look at your website with a fresh eye from the perspective of your ideal client . Better yet, have one of your ideal clients take a look. Ask them to 'browse' and then find out what they skimmed over, or skipped completely. You can also do this for your brochures and bios, your articles and newsletters. You could even get carried away and do an audit of all your marketing materials . Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Original Content Makes YOU Unique!

Image
Do you really need any more information than what you’re already getting? Do your readers? How do you compete with ALL that content that’s readily available? You give them something they can’t get anywhere else! A list is easy - here’s one way to think about it: Static resources : original writing, photos, videos, slide shows, presentations, and more Live resources : webinars, teleseminars, lunch and learns, other events, and more The execution is maybe not so easy. Developing original content requires energy and inspiration. Plan your content in advance - even if only in your head. Take advantage of inspiration when it comes because it often won’t at midnight when facing a deadline. So, what if you can’t write, sing or dance? (That I strongly doubt, but let’s pretend.) Does it mean you have nothing to share? Not by a long shot. Think context. It may not be original content pieces - it might be the way you arrange them, the context in which you present the...
Keep reading »

Resist the Urge to Ask

Image
Received this message on Facebook : What is your opinion about sending this kind of email below out? I am on the fence. (I've changed the name on their signature and company for privacy.) "Hi Natasha, We are doing a little organizing and noticed that it's been a while since you have opened any emails or shown any activity via the "XYZ" email subscription. No worries! We value your time! We just want to be sure we are bringing good vibes to the online community whilst not pestering anyone with unwanted emails. Are we bothering you? If you don't want to receive any future emails from us you can click here to unsubscribe from the mailing list. No prob. If you do want to receive these emails then you simply need to do nothing. Keep on keepin' on. Find What Feels Good. Love, A" Consider this: If the motivation for sending something to your list is personal, think twice.  Always give something of value - this email doesn't do that. Your emai...
Keep reading »

Content Template - The Newsjack

Image
Every part of your business needs some type of content. And you need to develop content consistently to reap the benefits. There's a content creation trick that can speed up the process by providing structure. Using a content template is sort of like filling in the blanks on a form, and often in a particular order. Don't waste time staring at a blank screen. Use a template and plug in your ideas to create fresh original content. This technique allows you to write quickly. The Newsjack Template The purpose of this template is to help your readers stay up-to-date with news that affects them, such as breaking industry news or new regulations. Click here to download this template now (.pdf). Get More Templates If you like that one, grab our mini workbook Quick and Easy Content Creation which has 15 templates, plus some tips for using them to be more productive. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Milestones Mean Business

Image
I firmly believe that you manage what you measure . Numbers provide context so we know when we’re doing good or not so good. Sometimes we’re not even sure what the numbers are telling us and that requires a little more research and reflection. And sometimes we don’t know what to do as a result of the numbers. Take website stats for example – does anyone really know what to do with those? Reaching milestones - now those are numbers to celebrate! This newsletter is our 50th issue. That’s 250 articles we've shared – almost 100,000 words of wisdom for small business owners from 150 different authors. We hope that you've found some useful and interesting things over the years. Why are we celebrating? Our newsletter has brought us lots of great things. More social media contacts More subscribers = potential clients and referrers Enhanced reputation Improved technical skills Better writing skills - practice makes perfect More pageviews - blog and website More ref...
Keep reading »

Content Plans were Made to be Broken

Image
You might be very successful if you're working on your content once a week for a couple of hours, independent of your other business activities. You're working to a plan and that's great. Break away from your routine this week and be spontaneous . (The planner in me loves making plans and the rebel in me loves to find creative ways to break them.) You'll find the content you develop is more inspired if you can take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Here are some examples of short pieces of content you can write in the moment. You have a phone discussion or meeting with a customer. Write a success story , answer a question, describe a service, describe something that makes you unique. You receive an inquiry by email, or on Facebook or LinkedIn. Answer the inquiry on your blog and include the link when you reply. You learn something new.  Perhaps you took a course or maybe you read an article. Learning anything translates into great content. Check o...
Keep reading »

Colour of the Year for 2018 is No Shrinking Violet

Image
Purple is my favourite colour so I couldn't be happier about Pantone's latest announcement . Pantone says, "Inventive and imaginative, Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come." Purple is an emotional colour and has always been considered a little tricky for marketing, tending toward the sentimental and feminine. I'm looking forward to finding ways to use it in my own marketing. How about you? Will you use more purple in 2018? Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

What Feedback Do You Pay Attention To?

Image
Have you ever fallen into the trap of making a change because of one single piece of feedback? It's happened to me and I've seen it happen to others. Don't change your brand's font (or anything else) because one person doesn't like it. One person's preferences will never represent a significant sample of your target market. We want feedback, we ask for feedback, and when we get it, we feel we have to act on it. Not so. Instead, we need to think about it, give it careful consideration, and get more feedback from our target market - because it's their opinion that matters when it comes to our marketing. originally published in Work Better, Not Harder newsletter November 30, 2017 Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »