Anyone who takes the time and effort to create and regularly post to a blog or other social media channel will want to build and retain a loyal band of followers.  The best, and arguably the only, way to do this is to give your readers a regular flow of fresh, original content that is of interest and will add value to them.

Whilst most bloggers adopt a ‘the more the merrier’ philosophy when it comes to gaining readers you do not necessarily need to have hundreds of them to achieve success with your business blog.  Your objective should be to appeal to a specific niche or category of followers that will gain most benefit from what you will be saying.  The first step of course is for you to clearly define your ‘niche’ audience!  Once you have done this you should spend some time researching which blog or article topics are the most popular i.e. which topics generate the most comment or feedback.

So now you have identified your audience and also identified some topics to write about.  The next step is to turn this knowledge into a series of interesting posts that will ultimately generate some income for your business.  There is one simple rule with blogging that must be observed – at all times:  Never use your blog to make a direct sales pitch!  It rarely, if ever, works and you risk alienating all those loyal followers you have spent so much time building up.

The ‘hard-sell’ approach is a “no no” then – so what can you do?

Let your audience know what you can do for them

Any business that has a blog is likely to have something to sell, be it a product or a service.  As stated previously you should not use your blog to start selling your products and services to your readers. What you can do however is use your blog to let your readers know what your products and services are and how they could help them.  Be honest about what your offering actually does – do not over promise.  Tell your readers how the product or service has helped people, either yourself or others.

Again be honest, do not say it can do something unless it actually can do it.  If you over promise and under deliver you will be ‘dead in the water’ – remember social media is a powerful and viral tool for circulating both good and bad news – very quickly!

Only when you have been blogging for several months, or even years, and you have built up an established and loyal online following who feel as though they know, like and trust you, should you even consider using your blog as a direct sales tool.  Even then, do this only very occasionally when there is a genuine ‘value added offer’ available to your readers.

Business Blogging done well is arguably the most powerful social media channel for businesses.  It gives your business a ‘human face’ to your customers and prospects.  If you are not using blogging to create awareness about your products and services you really are missing out!

If you would like more information about our social media services for UK businesses please leave a comment below or visit GB Web Marketing– WSI Digital Marketing Services for businesses in Surrey, Sussex, Kent and throughout the South East of England.