If you’re working online as a marketer, then a blog is a virtual “must-have” for your business. It’s the home for all that you do – the place where you can point people to so that they can find out about your products, your services, and your great insight.
It’s hard to manage more than one blog productively, but some people do manage it. Your writing needs to be consistent in terms of frequency, so if you have time to keep several blogs up among other Internet Marketing tasks, go for it.
There are some tips you can use to help you produce great content for your blog.
The Right Tone of Voice for Your Blog Content
Where offline writing is more newslike, written in a third person voice, a blog’s content is written in first person or second person voice.
First person is when you use “I” in your writing. You might say, “I bought this tool and I wanted to share what I’ve learned about it.”
Second person is when you talk to the reader, like this: “Have you ever wondered if you’ll succeed in Internet Marketing?”
Third person is what you typically see in a newspaper print article, like this: “Internet Marketers are gaining steam with their work at home success.”
It doesn’t mention the author or the reader directly. It’s cold, sterile – and has no place in the world of blog content.
Second person writing is used a lot online – and many new bloggers use it because they’ve been told to address the common question of “What’s in it for me?” that the reader will have.
But I want to caution you about relying solely on a second person point of view. While the reader definitely has a desire for you to address their needs, they also have to build a connection with you personally in order to trust what you’re saying and convert into a paying audience.
It’s best to use a mix of the two and simultaneously share your personal viewpoints and focus on the readers’ needs. If you rely on one or the other alone, it leaves a gap with your audience that makes them want to learn from someone else.
Technical Tips to Help Readers Enjoy Your Writing More
When you’re writing content online, one of the great perks you have over offline writing is that you can customize the look and purpose of the text. If you were to have an article published in your local newspaper, there would be restrictions on:
- Length
- Text only (in most cases)
- Style
…and probably more aspects of the content. But online, your blog has no boundaries like this. You can write a short blog post or a long one. You can create a series of blog entries.
You can hyperlink the text in your content – and have it open in another window so that your reader stays right on your page while going to read the resource you pointed them to. Offline articles can only print a URL, which means they’re relying on the reader to go type it in online instead of simply click a link.
The style you write in has no restrictions. You can bold words or phrases, italicize, underline, change the size of some of the text, work with different colors, and more!
Make sure your content is black text on white space. It’s easier for everyone to read. Don’t go overboard with colored text. Sometimes it’s good to include a different color if you need something to stand out, but it can easily become a distraction.
Also make sure you create an easy-to-read blog post. Don’t try using big words on your audience to impress them. They’re more impressed with a good flow that doesn’t make them pause to o to a dictionary online.
Break up the text so that you have short paragraphs, like this eBook you’re reading. That makes it more manageable than a paragraph that’s half a page long and they have to scroll through while making sure they don’t lose their place.
You can also break up long blocks of text with different forms of media. You can add an image or embed a video that you made (or found online with embedding privileges).
Sharing Great Insight
Many newcomers to Internet Marketing believe that the #1 purpose of their blog is to sell, sell, and sell some more! Nothing could be further from the truth. Your blog is your platform to show people what a great leader you are – what great insight you have to share.
You want to wow them with your blog entries so that they will buy your products or trust your recommendations whenever it comes time to promote to them.
Does that mean your posts should be void of selling? Of course not! You’re here to make money. But keep in mind that slapping up a keyword-laden article on a blog with zero personality won’t get you a conversion, either.
Instead of focusing on keywords, you want to look at the needs of your audience. Look at their comments on your blog, at the emails they send to you, and their posts on forums in your niche.
Address those issues and be the hero in your niche – the one people come to for advice and motivation.
Conducting Product Reviews
Writing product reviews can be hard for some people who are new to Internet Marketing. There’s not really much to compare it to offline, so you’re left winging it by comparing yourself to how others do it.
A good product review is rooted in honesty.
That’s where most marketers go wrong. They’re taught to create a glowing review of a digital or tangible product and for good measure, throw in a half-hearted “con” into the mix, such as, “The only drawback to this product was that I wish it was longer!”
Your reader can see right through that. They want to know what your experience was with it. If you don’t really own it, be honest about that – just explain why you wanted to research it and share your findings.
There are two types of product reviews – those for tangible items and those for digital courses. The approach can be slightly different. In both, you want to say what the pros and cons are.
But with a tangible item, you may not own it, so you’re relying on the overall consensus of paying consumers to help your audience make a firm buying decision.
There will be many technical details to cover. Try to dumb it down to some degree so that your average reader can understand what you’re talking about. If there’s a technical term for an electronic piece you’re reviewing, then share with them in layman’s terms what it means and how it will affect them.
With digital products, you’ll do best when you implement the product and report back what your findings are. Share everything from the impression it makes on you during the buying process, to your final results. People want to read about your excitement and frustrations so that they know how it will affect them.
Curating Content for Your Blog
Curating content is a wonderful way to write on your blog because it shows you’re a sharer. Bloggers who go out and find great insight to share with their readers are givers – they’re not afraid of sharing the spotlight.
Curation isn’t stealing, though. It’s going online and finding snippets of other people’s work to share (like a quote or short paragraph), and linking back to the original creator to credit them.
You can curate quotes, content, images (if allowed), video and even audio. But curation isn’t about just bringing in content form others – it’s giving your commentary on the pieces to tie it all in together.
You’re doing a service to your readers because you’re taking the burden off of them to have to scour the Internet and find good information. You’ve already gathered it for them, and your blog can become a rich resource of the best the web has to offer.
Editorial Calendars and the Scheduling of Blog Content
Offline authors for papers, magazines and other print media always have an editorial calendar. They have a schedule they stick to for publication, too. Your blog allows you to do the same.
There are plugins that you can download to your blog that allow you to create an editorial calendar, showing you what topics you need to blog about on what day. Of course you can be flexible with this schedule, but it helps you whenever you’re in a rush or can’t come up with a new idea.
Scheduling on a blog is great because it helps you tend to your other online marketing tasks. For example, you can sit down and write 5 blog posts on Sunday and schedule them to post online once a day for the following week, Monday-Friday! This is great if you’re traveling or just want to take some time off of blogging to work on other areas of your business.
Blogging is a great way to position yourself as a leader in your niche – a guide who leads your target audience through a maze of information to solid solutions.
