9 Small Business Blogging Secrets You Can Use Today

This post came about as a result of a conversation over lunch about how to make a mark with your small business blog. I shared these ideas with the person who asked the question and thought it might be useful to share with you.

Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean that you can’t blog with the best of them. That’s the great thing about the Internet – it creates a level playing field. Even if you run a business out of your bedroom closet, you can blog like a pro. Here are 9 Blogging Secrets that you can use today for your small business blog.

1. Write Magazine Headlines

Write headlines just like magazines use. Take a look at a magazine and see how their headlines grab the attention of the reader. Try to create titles that make the reader think, ‘Wow, what’s this?’

2. Talk to Your Reader

The biggest mistake business bloggers make is that they write as if they’re talking to a suit instead of a real person. Use a conversational tone and write just as if you’re talking to a friend. Keep paragraphs and sentences short and to the point.

3. Share Everywhere

Don’t be stingy. Share your content with everyone everywhere. Rather than just posting it on your blog, put it everywhere you possibly can. Install an RSS feed on your social media sites. Never feel like you’re giving away precious nuggets of knowledge with your content. It’s this free helpful information that’s going to get them coming back for more.

4. Make Sharing Easy

Encourage readers to share your content and make it easy for them to do so. Put Facebook “Like” buttons, Twitter “Tweet This” buttons, Pinterest “Pin it” icons, and any other sharing plugins on your blog that you can. Your goal is to get everybody showing your content to their friends. This means massive exposure. If you notice on the posts here on my blogs I have share buttons to the main sites and they are all provided through a free plugin called Shareaholic.

5. Not Just The Written Word

Your blog doesn’t have to be text only. In fact, it shouldn’t be. It’s easy to embed pictures, videos and other multimedia on most types of blogs. Give your readers something to look at and something to do in your blog posts.

6. Always Use Images

For every blog post, use at least one image. You can either pay for these from copyright-free image sites, or contact image owners and ask for their permission to use their images. Another idea is to create your own image (your products, for example). These can then be shared on Pinterest for more traffic and links.

7. Link to Other Blogs

Lots of people tend to forget that blogging is social media. One of it’s great advantages is that you can build a network of like-minded bloggers. Link your blog to other blogs and visit once in a while to read what they’re blogging about. Leave constructive comments on their blogs and hopefully they’ll do the same on yours.

8. Encourage Comments

Ideally, you will want your blog to get comments. It’s tough at first, but you can get comments by ending your posts with questions like, ‘Have you ever experienced this? If so, please share.’ You might also think about installing the free plugin Commentluv, which displays your commenter’s latest blog post from their own website. This encourages them to comment and gets you traffic.

9. Treat It Like a Business

Your blog isn’t a hobby. It’s part of your business and it should be treated that way. Get into a regular routine of blogging and set aside specific times for blog maintenance. Take it seriously and your readers will too.

Wondering what to blog about? Check out online forums, social media sites and Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers and search for keywords related to your business. You’ll see what people are talking about and asking questions about. Use these as blog post starters.