Now before all of you kill me in the comments, I know most of us blog for our businesses or clients because we are trying to get more business or clients. But is that the only reason you do it? I have had some interesting conversations over the last couple of days that has really got me thinking about this topic, so let’s have a conversation and see if you feel the same way about why you blog (or why you should) when we’re done.
When somebody is passionate about what they do does it come across? Think about those blogs that really gets your attention. The ones you really love to read, and not because it has “a lot of useful information”. They have a personality, a character about them that goes deeper than the depth of the info you can glean from the pages. They have passion and it shows!
Melissa Mackey is a great example of this for me. She is not only someone who “knows her S*%#”, but is also passionate about everything she writes about. If you don’t believe me check out some of her posts. Here is a great Top Ten List of PPC Blogs. How can you be passionate in a post like that? Well you can, and you can tell she means what she says.
So love doing what you do. Write about topics you genuinely have an interest in sharing. Figure out what fires you up and put it to pen and paper (or in this case keyboard and internet). Not only will you enjoy writing the blog posts more but your readers and audience will actually enjoy reading them more.
How many of us have answered the same question more than once? Have any of you had to do that? I know I have, and I am positive almost everybody else who actually does their jobs and is good at it has answered questions multiple times. So what?
I’ve done the statistical modeling (in my head) and there is a 99.99% chance that the question you were asked will be asked again in the future. Seriously do the math yourself if you don’t believe me. So if somebody is likely to ask the question again, is there a good chance somebody would “search” for it as well? Of course there is, that’s where we go for answers these days.
And if a client asked you the question? How nice would it be to say, “Great question! Here is a quick answer for you, but we thought it was such an important topic that we actually put some time into writing a more in depth response. I’ll be sure to send you a link as soon as we get off the phone”
This is not only a potential traffic generator to get people into your conversion funnel, but also a great resource to use internally for training as well as to provide to your customers you care about so much.
Stare at computer screens with huge Excel files much? What about tons of analytical data in dash boards? Ever had to write 1000 different ad copy in a day? Yeah, me neither (J/K)!
Any of those tasks above when done day in and day out without any type of break is a great way to burn out. Especially if you happen to be one of the few people (I’m being sarcastic) who work longer than 9-5 in our industry. I know nobody ever burns out in our industry but just to make sure it doesn’t happen,one thing you can do is take some time to blog.
Blogging will give you an opportunity to step back and get a fresh perspective on things. It can allow you to take an hour out of your week and dig into one aspect of the many challenges you have on your plate. Putting thoughts into written word, can also help you come to realizations you may not have before you just started to “Punch the Keys!” Break up the monotony and let your creative blog juices flow. As a side benefit it can on occasion give you the opportunity to rant about something that really bugs you in the industry.
Try it for a couple weeks.
Set aside one hour a week to blog about something you are passionate about and relates to your work.
You will come to find, it triggers ideas, and helps you step back into the ring a little more rejuvenated. You may start conversations in the office you wouldn’t have otherwise. You may impress your boss, or gain some credibility with a client. Shoot… sunshine, rainbows and unicorns may start following you where ever you go. But if for some reason they don’t, keep on trucking on, be passionate, and if nothing else, you will eventually find that you actually start getting some of that traffic and customers you were hoping for in the first place.
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