Writing a business blog is a unique and interesting experience that is unlike any other type of writing. You have to provide interesting content to your potential customers, but aside from that, there really aren’t any rules. There is no specific technique you must follow in order to have success. In a way, that makes blogging a bit exciting. But it can also be quite challenging.
If you’re having trouble with your business blog, fear not. We have some tips to help you have great success at it.
Do your homework
You may not be writing for The New York Times or a scholarly journal, but that doesn’t mean you can skimp on the research. Your visitors need to view your content as valuable and informative, and they won’t see that unless you do your homework. Spend some time learning about every topic you write about and include tidbits that you picked up in your research. One of the few rules of business blogging is that your content must be valuable to the reader; otherwise, you’re going to have a hard time convincing them to provide contact information in exchange for a content offer.
Keep it professional
Professional doesn’t mean stodgy or boring; it just means you have to take this writing seriously. What do I mean by that? Proofread it thoroughly, ensuring there are no spelling or grammatical errors and that the content makes sense. Have a second set of eyes look it over, to catch problems you may not have noticed yourself.
You might also consider adhering to a certain style format, such as AP Style (used by journalists around the world). AP Style was meant to enhance readability and AP Stylebooks are pretty inexpensive, especially if you purchase an edition from a year or two back. Just keep in mind that the Stylebook is updated annually, and certain rules have been known to change over the years.
Take chances
The previous tip was meant to encourage you to treat this task seriously, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take some risks along the way. You should take some chances with your blog articles (with your boss’ approval, of course), because you never know what will appeal to certain readers.
For example, we created a “Buzzfeed style” blog article that was like an homage to the popular website. It included many silly gifs and wasn’t especially informative, but it was fun and different. Mixing in some articles like that for a change of pace is an excellent idea.
Don’t forget to have fun
To take the previous tip a bit further, remember that although you have to be professional and informative, this is also the perfect venue for having a little fun with your writing. Refer to yourself and pull material or examples from personal experiences. Make jokes (that are tame and within reason, of course). Just because you’re informing readers doesn’t mean you can’t try to entertain them, too.
As long as your attempts to have fun don’t interfere with your ability to be informative, then feel free to give it a shot. If you can teach a reader something, they’ll appreciate it; but if you can teach them something while also making them laugh or smile, they’ll love you.
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