As the holidays approach, and home-based entrepreneurs take the time to conduct an end-of-year business review, chances are, they’re drafting up some early resolutions to get out of the New Year starting gate with a bang.
These resolutions are usually created after a little trial and error. Knowing what you know now after some experimentation, you might resolve to refine your elevator pitch, partner with another like-minded company, or build up your social media following.
One area that you might not think to add to your list of resolutions for the New Year is your company blog. Every entrepreneur knows they should have one and regularly write and publish articles on it, but it’s not benefitting your business if you’re just blogging for the sake of blogging.
Before you add “give my blog a serious overhaul” to your New Year’s resolutions list, conduct a content audit to see if you’re encountering any problems where a content revamp would be necessary and apply a few of these strategies to ensure a healthy blog in the New Year.
1) Blah Content
The content on your blog feels uninspiring, even to you. It feels like you’ve heard all of this advice before and keep repeating yourself on the same topics each year.
Keeping content fresh and engaging is a challenge for anyone who blogs, not just entrepreneurs. It sounds like it’s time to switch up the strategy for how you create and present this kind of content to the world. If you’re sick of writing long-form blog posts, ditch it in favor of a bulleted listicle. If you would prefer to tell a story or conduct a live interview that goes off the cuff instead of blogging and making frequent revisions, start up a podcast. Film a video that has you going through with a how-to project instead of writing down the step-by-step instructions for your readers. You might still be covering some of the same topics over time, but you’ll be doing it in a new way that engages both your fans and you, making you anticipate blogging all over again.
2) Accepting Low-Quality Work
Guest bloggers reach out to you and even though their articles aren’t the best, you publish them anyway because it’s good to have some content go live, right?
Guest content is an area of the revamp where you’ll have to use your best judgment. If it reads as writing that doesn’t have much value to add to your site or is written by someone you don’t know that may be a spam account, then it’s advised not to publish the posts.
However, don’t fully dismiss all the good that guest bloggers have to offer! Along with hitting refresh on your content presentation strategy, you might also want to do the same for guest contributors. Are there any influencers you admire? Reach out to them, introduce yourself, and inquire if they would be open to collaborating together or being featured on your blog via a podcast, video, or post. If you have other small business owner pals all in the same industry together, create a network where you can all write for one another’s blogs and contribute content across the board. Here, you know you’ll be getting quality posts and working with another like-minded entrepreneur who gets your readers and what they’re needing.
3) No Editorial Calendar
You don’t have a set schedule. Sometimes you’re active on your blog every week; other times you post every couple of months.
Consistency in business matters and this extends to other areas, like blogging and social media, that might weigh less on your agenda than others. Start the New Year off with a set schedule for your blog and try to stick to it as much as possible. Don’t push yourself to share content daily if you know you can’t deliver. Instead, do what’s comfortable for you and stick to a fairly predictable routine, so your fans and readers know when to expect new updates.
Have you done a content audit? What areas did you focus on during your content revamp?
Cori Ramos
Hi Deborah and Holly,
Thanks for sharing these tips with us, Deborah! I especially like #2. I get a lot of emails for guest posts but I don’t approve a lot of them because either it’s not relevant to my niche or it’s the quality of the writing.
It’s true that when we guest posts that frees us up to do other things for our business but we have to keep in mind that even though we didn’t write the content, it’s our name behind it.
Passing this along for sure! Have a great day and rest of the week ladies!
Cori
Holly - The Work at Home Woman
Glad you enjoyed Deborah’s post, Cori.
Janey B
Right , organization. It’s not easy for most of us to stay focused, especially on this digital era. The key is to stick to a plan, discipline and patience. Thanks again for sharing!