The Better The Story, The Better The Blog

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What is a blog post really for? telling a story with your blog

Ultimately, you want your reader to be able to really get into your story, see him or herself in your writing, and have the desire to move to the next level. To take action.

The easiest way to become better at writing is to create your blog posts like you would be telling a story to a potential customer. How would you speak to them?

“Selling isn’t fun and most people don’t enjoy it.”

You may agree with that sentence, but does it really motivate you to want to take the next step or to find out more about what the person is saying? Compare that to:

“Jane hated selling. She hated it so much she almost decided to close her business because of it. She loved working with the clients, making them happy, and following up with them after the sale. But it was always the initial meeting that made her nervous. She never wanted to come across as a used car salesperson. She didn’t want people thinking she was pushy.”

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The 21 Laws Of Blogging Success

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I’ve been blogging now for around 7 years. For the first few years, I blogged mainly as a way to add content to my sites. I didn’t see the true benefit of blogging – only that it was a great platform for sharing information.

Around 2 years ago I started seeing blogging as its own unique platform. I 21 laws of blogging success started seeing how blogging was a perfect traffic generator, and how you can really have a profitable business that is solely built around your blog (or in my case, multiple blogs).

Over the past couple of years, I’ve discovered there are “laws” to blogging. Things that I’ve done over and over again that work every time. So I thought I’d share those Laws with you.

So here are the 21 Laws Of Blogging Success:

Law 1 – Define your purpose before you start blogging. Are you trying to sell products? Services? Are you making money through affiliate links? Or do you simply want the traffic for future sales?

Law 2 – Don’t blog for your entire business structure – niche it. I work with many types of small businesses. But a small business blog is too generic. So I niche to photographers, bloggers, social media writers, wedding coordinators, etc.

Law 3 – Build one blog to success before starting in on another one. It’s easy to get completely overwhelmed when you have too much on your plate. Get one blog working before you dive into another.

Law 4 – See your successes. It’s important to see one success in your blog each day. Sometimes it takes awhile to build, so its important to congratulate yourself for each success. One comment, a retweet on Twitter, one person signing up for a free report, or moving down the Alexa rankings are all something to be celebrated.

Law 5 – Identify a problem. In almost every industry you can find a blog that reaches out to your target market. Your job is to reach out differently. Identify one problem your clients and prospects are having, and blog all about that.

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10 Downsides Of Using A Free Blog Platform For Your Small Business

Filed Under Blogging Success | 2 Comments

1. Free is free. If a free platform decides it doesn’t like your blog, doesn’t agree with your posts, or has someone cry out “spam”, they have the right to delete all your work, no questions asked.

2. With free platforms like Blogger, you have limited customization control. You can’t fully brand the site to have your look and feel.

3. You lose the professionalism of having your own domain name. Your clients will view you differently when you tell them your blog is at MySmallBizBlog.com instead of MyBiz.Blogspot.com.

4. Limited control over advertising options. Want banners, special navigation, or sponsorship links on your blog? Free blog platforms don’t give you the flexibility to create a unified look.