I Thought This Would Be a Fitting Start To Our Blog

I get more questions these days from friends, colleagues, and clients about blogs, blogging, and blogging for business, than about any other form of online marketing. I certainly understand why. Blogs and blogging is not just a trend or a fade that will be here today, and gone tomorrow, but should now be an intergral part of the marketing efforts of every company doing business online. The benefits of having a blog, and of blogging, is a post in itself, so I will leave that for another time. What follows are my 5 keys to creating (and maintaining) a successful blog.

5 Keys to Creating (and Maintaining) a Successful Business Blog

1. Focus - When creating and maintaining a business blog, it is important to keep yourself focused on the topics or themes of your industry. If your company makes Dog food, write about dog food, dog health, and dogs in general, not cats. It is okay to occassionally venture outside of your topic or theme, to gain a broader readership, but make sure you tie in your product, services, and company as it relates to the outside theme.
2. Voice - Companies do not blog, people do. It is paramount that you find one person, or a few people within your organization, to contribute to your blog. Companies are often uncomfortable with being personal, but you can be personal and still preserve your professionalism.
3. Passion - No one wants to read dull, boring, corporate fodder. Your voice, whoever that may be, must be passionate about your company, your industry, and your blog. There are too many other choices today - a passionate voice will attract and keep a passionate readership. A passionate readership is a loyal readership. A loyal readership can easily be turned into a loyal customer base.
4. Interaction - A blog should be a conversation; with your readers, with other bloggers, with your customers, and with your colleagues. Ask questions, solicit feedback, answer questions, link to others thoughts and ideas. Interaction and conversations build communities, and when combined with passion, you can create a legion of company evangelists.
5. Promotion - You should be proud of your blog. Do not hide it. Tell everyone about it - your current customers, your business partners, vendors, and other industry bloggers. While there are many advanced methods to build traffic to your site, the easiest way to instantly gain a readership (and to start building a passionate community) is to tell everyone you know about what you are doing.

One More Key, For Good Measure

Creating and maintaining your business blog may at first seem like a daunting task, but if you are able to effectively execute on the 5 keys outlined above, your hardwork will pay off. Remember that, in addition to the 5 keys listed above, you will to need to always be Creative, Original, Open, and Honest. This is tough, but important. Don’t be afriad to take things to the edge and get a little uncomfortable. The results will be well worth it.