Why, How & What to Blog?

Why?

Blogging is the perfect way of engaging your target audience by gifting them a snippet of what you do, to ideally whet their appetite for your paid content. Can you imagine having an endless stream of interested individuals who love what you do and are ready to part with their cash on your products? The blog sits as the foundation of your offering; it is easily accessible, free to all, and imparts information, tips, and the building of what is to become a beautiful relationship between you and your new potential customer.

How?

Your blog can be featured on your website, in your newsletter, and why not see if any industry magazines, social media groups or online newspapers are looking for writers in your field with valuable content.

Commitment to your blog is imperative. Once you have ‘put it out there’ to your community that you’ll be sharing interesting information with them, then you have to step up and keep that pledge. A blog is an ideal platform to show your clients how consistent and reliable you are; by showing up every single month/week/day (decide on what you can commit to) no matter what. When it comes to buying into your service/product, your customer is going to trust you because they already know they can rely on you.

What?

Once you’ve made this decision and are ready to begin, what are you going to write about? My greatest piece of advice around blogging is to only write about what you are passionate about. Your words should come from the heart, be honest, and flow onto the page effortlessly. It helps to make notes through the day of any ideas you may suddenly have, sometimes it is from one brief conversation I have that the idea for a whole blog begins to form; I have notes on my phone, laptop, and folder; literally ideas bubbling up left right and centre that will be shared in the near future.

Sometimes I have an idea for a meme (graphic) for the blog before the words form, and the written content then falls into place around a picture. We all work in different ways and it’s important to discover how this is going to work for you and your unique business.

Planning out content can be incredibly helpful too; there may be particular subjects you’d like to talk about in specific months that are relevant to your customers. And remember that a blog is non-salesy and should target your customers’needs, not yours! However, also make sure you don’t give too much away; you don’t want your reader to be so impressed with what you’ve written, sign up to your paid content, and then be disappointed that there is not that much more on offer.

It is a fine line that the blogger walks; giving enough to keep potential clients interested, yet not over-delivering and squeezing yourself dry. Yet the rewards are massive, when you get it right you can regularly expect emails like this,

“Your email EVERY DAY at around 7:45 each morning (without fail) is a gift

I’m grateful and I’m honoured to receive your wisdom

Thank you”

Do you think the above potential client would trust me when I bring out my next paid programme? Of course they would, and so the blog delivers one more paying customer…

Many thanks to Jo De Rosa for this guest blog. Jo is founder and director of Inner Guidance Retreat Centre in Suffolk (www.innerguidance.co.uk), and the award winning revolutionary addiction programme Quantum Sobriety (www.quantumsobriety.com). Jo has written her ‘Daily Motivation’ blog for the last two years, and is committed to changing the conversation around addiction.