It’s Not All about You

When you first start out blogging for your business, it can be tempting to write press release style posts for your blog. You know the kind of thing: all perky and full of news about how well you’re doing and what new products you’ve got lined up for this season. It’s safe. It’s what you’re used to writing. And after all, blogging is part of your marketing strategy, isn’t it, so you should be marketing your business like mad on your blog - shouldn’t you?

Think of a business that you might have contact with in your own life. Your dry cleaner. Your local restaurant. Your accountant. Your car manufacturer. Would you go and read their blog regularly if all they talked about was how fab they were, what deals they had on, what new staff just joined them? Of course they’d say all that, you think to yourself: I get enough junk mail through the letter box and junk email in my Inbox without spending my internet surfing time voluntarily subjecting myself to more of the same.

I’m not saying that you should do the opposite and blog in a way that is damaging to your business and say how crap you are, what a rip-off your prices are or anything that might be your personal “Gerald Ratner Effect“. Remember Ratner? He infamously bankrupted his own jewellry business by declaring in a speech that their products were “crap”.

The thing is blogging is different from marketing. Blogging is about making a connection, engaging in a discussion, sharing stories, views and ideas. It’s about conversation and community. It’s about your readers. Your audience. Your customers and clients. Your friends and colleagues. It’s about what they are interested in and what engages them. What piques their curiosity. What fires them up. What keeps them coming back to your blog. And to you.

So, what would make you read a blog by, say, your dry cleaning company? Off the top of my head, for me, I’d like to learn about: what it’s like running a small business in my local high street; what the heck is “dry” cleaning anyway and how is it different from washing; if it’s a Mr and Mrs business, I’d like to get to know them as people a bit; what’s going on in my high street that they are best placed to share with me. I’m sure you could think of some more ideas.

Yes, of course, blogging is ultimately about you and your business. It’s just that it is not ALL about you. So, there is a time and place to include the newsy type stuff about your latest products and your successes - you can fit them in alongside all the other things you can talk about with your readers.

So, take a step back and think about who you want to be reading your blog.

Then think about what they might be interested in. How your blog might be of service to them. How it might entertain and amuse, provoke, engage, inform.

Now, get blogging.

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If you run a dry cleaning business and have a blog - - or you know someone who does - I’d love to hear from you! Or if you have - or someone you know has - a business blog that reaches out in a fresh way to your community of readers and customers, let me know. It would be great to feature your blog on ZenGuide.

Here’s my friend Melanie Crowe’s blog - Therapeutic Massage . She’s a massage therapist but she blogs about health, how to de-stress and work/ life balance as well as massage. She offers tips on healthy eating and tells you how to be a good client (to get the best of your massage session). Yes, she writes about the courses she goes on to improve her skills but that’s just part of the holistic message of her blog - that massage is part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Photo: thanks to dukejeffrie on flickr.com (CCL)