small business blogs 3 things to blog about to generate traffic, leads & sales Brought to you by

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1 small business blogs 3 things to blog about to generate traffic, leads & sales Brought to you by

2 One of the most useful parts of a business website is the blog. If you don t have one, you can learn how to make a business blog from another report we have created for you on our website. A blog is a great marketing tool, because it provides you with an opportunity to build trust with the prospects who read it. You can show them that you know your stuff by discussing topics in your industry, and you can allow them to get to know you as people, not just a company. People want to do business with people, and reading someone s blog is a very natural way to make a personal connection with a company, sometimes without even realizing it. Once you decide you want to use a blog on your website, you have to figure out what to write about. Here are 3 tips on what to write about on your blog to generate the most leads...

3 trust me. I m a Professional The primary focus of your blog should be to offer informative posts to educate your readers about your particular field. Prospects need a reason to read your blog. If you just write about how awesome your company is they will see it as another form of advertising, and they won t be a regular visitor. Your blog needs to appear to exist solely for the purpose of helping your prospects, educating them, giving them helpful tips from an industry expert (that s you!), etc. When prospects read post after post containing useful information that helps them in their everyday lives, they connect with your company. You helped them, so they feel more inclined to buy from you. It also gives you the chance to show your competence and expertise in your field. Let s say you re a landscaping business. You can post tips about how to choose the right plants for particular climates or seasons, which plants and flowers create great curb appeal, etc. You can also post about observations on what not to do. You can take a picture of poorly done landscaping, and show prospects how its particular flaws could be fixed. These kind of posts build credibility while making that personal connection with prospects. They start thinking things like, This business really knows what they re talking about. I hate doing yard work. I should just let him make my yard the envy of my neighbors. You build credibility, a personal connection, and give prospects a reason to come back to your website regularly, all by publishing educational and useful posts that help your prospects in their everyday lives. This trust makes them very likely to convert into a customer. 1

4 holidays Holidays are a great opportunity to get prospects attention. They bring excitement; and you, as a business owner, can turn this excitement into a marketing advantage. By tying your company, and its products or services, to a holiday you can translate the excitement for the holiday into excitement about your products or services. It takes a little creativity, but it can really make a difference in attracting prospects and making them customers. Let s talk about cosmetic dentists for example. You can use Valentine s Day to talk about the benefits of having teeth whitened by a professional cosmetic dentist, as opposed to doing it at home with an over-the-counter kit. The post could talk about how much you enjoy giving people pearly white smiles for that big romantic evening. Suddenly, your readers are thinking, You know what, it would be nice to have my teeth thoroughly whitened by a professional, especially since Valentine s Day is coming up. Bingo. Lead generated. Lead converted. Holidays are a great way to get your foot in the door, by grabbing the attention of prospects, then connecting with them on the common excitement of the holiday. All the while you are proving your expertise through an informative post. It s a perfect formula for marketing success. 2

5 get to know me As I have mentioned earlier, a blog s true value is found in the trust that it can build between your prospects and your company. In order for your prospects to trust you, they have to get to know you. You can solve this problem by occasionally giving prospects an inside look at your office, or a closer look at the staff. For example, here at PostcardMania, we like to do Meet a Maniac blog posts. This is a quick profile article on an employee. It helps introduce your prospects to the people they may be speaking to when they call in. These posts make prospects more comfortable with calling in to inquire about your products or services. You could also give them a look inside your office to see how you make the magic happen. If you re a real estate agent, you could publish a post with pictures of you scouting a neighborhood. The post could discuss Things to look for when you re in the market for a new home, and include pictures of you scouting newly listed homes, or putting in a For Sale sign. Opening up your company to be as transparent as possible with prospects helps them get to know you; and the more they get to know you, the more they will trust you. Letting them get to know your staff, and see how you go about your work, will go a long way in warming up the leads that your website (and blog) are generating. Hotter leads mean more sales, and more sales mean more revenue for your company! 3

6 the proof* that blogging means more website traffic and more leads Companies that increase blogging from 3-5 times a month to 6-8 times a month almost double their leads. Companies with over 200 blog articles generate more than 5 times the leads than those with 10 or fewer. The average company will see a 45% growth in traffic when increasing total number of blog articles from to articles. The fact is, a blog gives you the opportunity to generate more web traffic and more leads from online prospects. The simple fact that every post you publish becomes its own webpage means you grow your online presence with each post. This makes it easier for online prospects to find your website in search results. You know that blogs are a great online marketing tool, and now you know what to write about to begin building your blog. That means it s time for you to start making it happen! *

7 action items Brainstorm 4 Expert Advice posts. What topics are you and your company an authority on? What do you know how to do that the average person would not? That s the kind of content that people want to read. Brainstorm 4 holiday posts. We celebrate tons of them, so find a few that you can relate to your company and what it offers. Brainstorm 4 posts that introduce prospects to you and your company. You can write up a profile of a key staff member, describe the history of your company s beginning, or describe how a particular product is made. Let readers see you as people, and get a glimpse into your company s operation. It ll build a great amount of trust in prospects. Write the posts for the ideas that you came up with. Post the ideas on your blog. These steps should give you 3 months of blog posts, based on weekly posting, and will give you a great head start on maintaining a lead-generating blog.

8 thanks for reading! Remember, PostcardMania is always here to help you with designing an effective business website. We can also add your blog to your existing website and help you with writing your blog posts. Call us to find out more: Brought to you by