Blog Word On Paper Post ItIf you don’t know what a blog is by now, stop reading, there is no hope for you. I am glad you are still with me. There is overwhelming proof that blogs, when done right, are great for your business. They drive more traffic while establishing you as an authority in your field. Unfortunately, there are those that haven’t seen the light and fool themselves out of blogging.

Let me list you some of the lamest excuses I hear:

  • Blogging doesn’t work for our kind of business.
  • I don’t have time to blog.
  • I don’t have anything to write about.
  • It may work for those other guys, but it won’t work for us.
  • I am sure you could come up with your own list in no time.

Here are some of the best reasons you should never accept any of the sorry excuses above:

Anyone can make time to blog. If fortune 500 CEOs can blog, then so can you. If you are really honest with yourself, you know you can make time. Even if you are super busy, you can record yourself during your commutes, hands free of course, I don’t want you to get in trouble. If you record a few hours of material a week of your expertise you can have it transcribed and posted on your blog. In addition to the text, you can post the audio file.  It is always good to give people a choice as to how they consume your content. Some people love to read while others much rather listen to the audio. Of course, video is another great option.

I don’t care what business you are in, you too can have a great, and yes, exciting blog. To a large degree, how you say it matters just as much as what you are saying. Don’t just focus on what you are writing about, but also on developing your own unique style. For Pete’s sake, forget about what your English teacher taught you. You are not writing a college term paper, so don’t be boring. It takes a while, so don’t expect to become Mark Twain over night. The key is to keep blogging and ask for feedback, preferably, not your friends and family, if you want honest feedback. You can connect with others on LinkedIn, Facebook, or wherever and ask people to read some of your posts and ask for their honest feedback.

The best writers are voracious readers, so make time to read at least a few blogs. Don’t just read content from within your own industry. It helps your writing to read about almost anything. It helps if you read a few different styles, so you can experiment with what works for you. If you really don’t have time to read, subscribe to several podcasts and listen as often as you can. They will help you get new ideas and perhaps even think about old ideas in new ways.

As you write, it is essential that you don’t pitch. There is a time and place to pitch your product or service, but that is not why you blog. Think of the 80/20 rule, most of what you blog about is what your market cares about. You have to write for your audience about topics they care so much about that they’ll want to come back for more. For example, if you are a web designer, it doesn’t mean that all you should write about is design, seo, wordpress, drupal, PHP, and other geeky topics.

95 percent of blogs are abandoned because people lose interest or give up too soon. If you want to succeed, you have to be ready to constantly read and learn about new things. You have to be ready to communicate new ideas or old ones from new and unusual angles. Another key to success is sticking to a schedule. Saying “I’ll write when I have time won’t work.” Instead create your own editorial calendar and stick to it the same way you would stick to your appointments. If you don’t think that you’ll stick to a routine ask someone to keep you accountable.

I hope that now you realize that you do have time for blogging, and that you have a lot to say. Start now and keep growing by one post at a time.