7 secret strategies used by savvy small businesses to boost their blog ROI

Posted on by michaelrbarton
How to boost business blog ROI

With a little imagination, your blog could put real thrust under your sales

It amazes me how small and medium-sized enterprises fail to maximise the potential of their business blog. If you think that writing a blog and posting it to your website is the most your efforts can produce, it’s time to rethink your blogging strategy. Your blog is the gift that should keep on giving, and help you to reach out to new audiences and nurture warm leads.

In this post, you’ll learn about seven key strategies that will help send your blog ROI into the stratosphere.

1.      Leverage local press

Have you noticed how local newspapers are packed with more adverts than ever, especially the free papers? There are two reasons for this. First, they sell their advertising space really well to businesses that want to sell in the local market. Second, they need the revenue to increase their profits.

But, here’s the thing – very few people would bother picking that local newspaper up if it didn’t have worthwhile articles. And, very few people actually look at the adverts unless they want to find a specific product or service.

Why not offer to write an article for your local newspaper? I can tell you now, most local newspapers are desperate for copy, especially of the free variety. It only takes a small amount of work to repurpose your blog as a newspaper article. And you’ll find that the returns will probably be better than those you get from your paid-for advert.

A few years ago, I started a writers group where I live. For six weeks running, we posted adverts at the cost of £50 per week, to try to get people to come along. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Then I offered a weekly article, free of charge (and repurposed from our blog). Within a month, those articles had tempted eight would-be writers to join our group.

If you’re a franchise, or company with more than one location, you can use the same article to support the marketing efforts in different areas. Incredible bang for your buck… or blog, should I say?

2.      Spread the word with a newsletter

If you publish several blog posts every month, then with a little extra effort you should be using these to publish a newsletter. Write an intro, add a feature article, and make sure you highlight your most popular blog post of the previous month.

It’s a great way to build your email list – create a landing page on your website, or make sure that your blog posts carry a call to action to sign up for your newsletter. Sign up to an email service such as MailChimp or Infusionsoft, and personalise and automate your newsletter emails.

Every newsletter is a direct sales opportunity. Marketing gold dust. Continue reading 7 secret strategies used by savvy small businesses to boost their blog ROI

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5 editing basics every business blogger should practice

Posted on by michaelrbarton
blog editing for businesses

Fail-safe your business blogs before publishing

Your blog might just be your company’s most powerful marketing tool. A well written blog can attract new customers who are looking for the products and services you supply. It engages current clients, and builds loyalty. It keeps your brand name in front of people. Yet, when poorly written, your blog also has the power to turn customers away and send them to your competition.

In this post, you’ll learn how to edit your posts so that they scream ‘quality’. Continue reading 5 editing basics every business blogger should practice

13 blog post styles to keep small business customers coming back for more

Posted on by michaelrbarton
blog post styles for small businesses

Attract, inform, educate, entertain, and influence customers with your blog

I doubt that I need to tell you why your small business needs a blog. You may already have mind-mapped a stream of blog content, and then created a business blog calendar by:

  1. Committing to regular rotation of blog posts
  2. Thinking about your customer journey
  3. Considering your upcoming events
  4. Remembering the outside world
  5. Considering your customer profiles

You can read more about this in my blog ‘5 steps to turn content ideas into a business blog calendar’.

The question now is, how do you write engaging posts that capture your audience? How can your blog help convert readers to business leads and prospective customers? Continue reading 13 blog post styles to keep small business customers coming back for more

5 steps to turn content ideas into a business blog calendar

Posted on by michaelrbarton
business blog calendar

Planning your blog to achieve your business objectives

In my last blog, I discussed how to create a constant stream of content ideas for your SME business blog. If you’ve mind mapped effectively, you will probably have hundreds of ideas for blog posts. Now, your problem is a much better one to have. You need to decide which ideas to promote to your A team blog, and which to keep on the subs’ bench.

You need a business blog calendar.

In this article, you’ll learn how to take your content ideas and turn them into a content stream that will support your business on every level. Continue reading 5 steps to turn content ideas into a business blog calendar

How to produce a constant stream of content for your SME business blog

Posted on by michaelrbarton
blogging and mind maps

Never run out of blog post ideas again

Whenever I begin working with a new client, one of the biggest challenges they face is coming up with a stream of ideas for their business blog. They know that the stats prove small businesses that blog are more successful. They understand that to write great blogs takes time, and each blog needs to be composed in line with the 11 essential elements for small business blogs to crush their competition. They even have a couple of fantastic topics lined up, but then they struggle after that.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use mind mapping to create content ideas for a blog calendar. You’ll never run out of ideas for your business blog again. Continue reading How to produce a constant stream of content for your SME business blog

13 Blogging banana skins for small and medium-sized businesses to avoid

Posted on by michaelrbarton
business blog errors to avoid

Nix these errors and your blog will perform to its potential

You know that you need a blog for your business. It’s the number one long-term marketing tool available to you. I recently posted the six statistics that show why SMEs that publish business blogs are more successful. Here’s one more:

  • According to HubSpot, businesses that prioritise blogging are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI on their marketing efforts.

The best business blogs build leads, engage prospects, and develop customer loyalty. Unfortunately, business blogging isn’t easy. It takes time, planning, patience, and dedication. Sometimes results can take weeks or even months to become apparent. But when they do start coming through, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to put a business blog calendar in place.

However, owners of small and medium-sized businesses don’t often make the best bloggers. As an owner running a business, you’ve got a hundred and one other things to do. Committing time to researching, writing, publishing and promoting your blog soon falls down your list of priorities. When this happens, all the work you’ve done on your blog unravels very quickly.

In this article, you’ll learn the most common mistakes made by small and medium-sized business blogs. Avoid these, and your blog will be half-way to achieving its potential. Continue reading 13 Blogging banana skins for small and medium-sized businesses to avoid

Six statistics that show why SMEs that publish blogs are more successful

Posted on by michaelrbarton
Blogging for small and medium enterprises

Blogging is the heartbeat of all winning content marketing strategies

For small and medium-sized businesses, blogging should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. It’s a great way to connect with your target market and grow a list of warm leads. You know that people and businesses who read your blog are interested in you, your services and products.

Blogging is also highly cost-effective, with an ROI that kicks other marketing methods into touch. You could pay the same amount of money for an ad in a local newspaper as you do for a professionally written blog post. The ad becomes chip paper within a couple of days. The blog remains a marketing tool for eternity.

Here are six reasons why the most successful small and medium-sized enterprises are those that blog: Continue reading Six statistics that show why SMEs that publish blogs are more successful

Six statistics that show why SMEs that publish blogs are more successful

Posted on by michaelrbarton

Blogging is the heartbeat of all winning content marketing strategies

For small and medium businesses, blogging should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. It’s a great way to connect with your target market and grow a list of warm leads. You know that people and businesses who read your blog are interested in you, your services and products.

Blogging is also highly cost effective, with an ROI that kicks other marketing methods into touch. You could pay the same amount of money for an ad in a local newspaper as you do for a professionally written blog post. The ad becomes chip paper within a couple of days. The blog remains as a marketing tool for eternity.

Here are six of the reasons why the most successful small and medium enterprises are those that blog.

1.      Business blogging helps your website to perform 424% better

According to Tech Client, a website with a regularly updated blog has a 434% better chance of being ranked by Google’s search engines. Your target market will find you more easily and more regularly.

2.      B2B blogs encourage 67% more leads than non-bloggers

When you publish content that is interesting, informative, and inspiring, you get more leads. Others see you as a trusted subject authority. Your blog helps guide interested visitors through the customer journey, to a point where they become a red-hot lead. According to Hubspot, B2B marketers who use blogs as an integral part of their content marketing strategy get 67% ore leads than those who don’t.

3.      Business that blog double their results from email marketing campaigns

Blogs communicate to potential clients. Get your blog working with your email marketing campaigns, and you are likely to see positive results double (via Hubspot).

4.      8 out of 10 consumers trust companies who blog

In a study run by BlogHer, 81% of US online consumers said they trusted blogs as a source of advice and information. People and businesses search for solutions to their problems. Your blog is an ideal medium to connect with them and provide options, stories of your customer’s experiences, and the information they are searching for. Every time you do so, your rating with them moves up a notch. They take one step closer to becoming a new customer.

5.      7 out of 10 marketers say content is superior to direct mail

You know all that junk mail that comes through the door. The stuff that’s addressed to you, even. Well, it appears that savvy marketers understand that much of it is wasted. The Custom Content Council found that 69% of marketers believe that delivering valuable content is more important. Only after this should you hit prospects with direct offers.

6.      SMEs that blog get 126% more leads than those that don’t

If you think that blogging is a waste of time, money, and effort for your SME, think again. Blogging drives traffic to your website. Blog statistics give you an instant insight into what is important to your target audience. Blogs keep you and your customers connected. Just some of the reasons why SMEs that blog consistently get 126% more leads than those who don’t (source: ThinkCreative).

Don’t know where to start with your business blog?

Your hard work, effort, investment, and commitment deserve to be rewarded. If you’re not blogging, or aren’t seeing at least the average results shown by the above statistics,  email me today for your free copy of  my eBook “How to write engaging blog posts and grow your online audience”. I’ll reply personally and attach my eBook for you.

Because quality content matters,

Michael

11 Essential elements that help small business blogs crush their competition

Posted on by michaelrbarton
Why small businesses use business blogs

Blogging tips for small businesses to take on the big boys

If you haven’t got a business blog, or your blogging isn’t hitting the heights you expected it to, then you definitely need to read this article for small businesses. When you get your blogging right, it could prove to be the most cost-effective marketing tool in your armoury. Get it wrong, and it’s time and money wasted.

A great business blog can drive traffic to your website, introduce you and your products to new markets, establish your credentials as a subject expert, and increase sales. Every single blogpost you write should have the potential to do all this for you time and again – pretty much forever. It’s not like a newspaper or radio advert that disappears as soon as it’s been published or broadcast. For smaller businesses, it really is possible to compete with the big boys thanks to the global reach on the world wide web.

In this post, you’ll learn the elements your blog posts need to make them leap off the page and into your visitors’ memory banks. Continue reading 11 Essential elements that help small business blogs crush their competition