BLOG_FINAL-PPT.pptx

Editor's Notes

• #4: What is a blog? And why should you be doing it? Blogging basics Dos and Don’ts of Blogging Types of Blogs Blog Structure Blogging Exercise
• #6: A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order. Multi-author blogs (MABs) have posts written by large numbers of authors and are professionally edited. Microblogs, such as Twitter, help integrate MABs and single-author blogs into societal news streams.
• #7: Blogging helps establish credibility. Today’s technology buyer does 60% of research on the web before interacting with a sales person.1 It’s all about providing value to the buyer and establishing yourself as a subject matter expert. Produce great content and customers will come to you.
• #8: When writing for the company blogs, my intention is to establish credibility for the company, offer valuable industry-related information, and provide forward thinking solutions to common challenges that business leaders face Know your audience and write with intention. Intentional blogging is a simple concept of writing by design with a desired outcome in mind. Before you begin to write, consider the following: Why are you writing a blog? Who is the target reader of your blog? What message would you like to convey? What style, tone, and narrative does your message sound like? What is the intention of your blog?
• #9: Do Be original Be consistent Be professional Have a clear voice – use language and vocabulary your audience can understand Check spelling and grammar Use relevant keywords Reference resources Write to the C-suite (It's all about relieving a pain to them…) Maintain corporate brand and image Establish credibility Don't Plagiarize Use profanity or inappropriate slang Steal Photos Ramble on and on and on and on…. Use overly complicated words Duplicate content Posting the same blog on multiple sites can negatively affect SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) position Sharing your blog post by posting a link to it on multiple sites is OK Do not post your link into groups, forums, or comments unless you provide valuable information that is relevant to the conversation. Otherwise, it will be marked as SPAM. Be negative Write lengthy paragraphs Forget to fact check Get discouraged
• #10: Curated blog entries educate, engage, and attract readers and customers. It usually a collection of valuable information found, and curated, by the author. Curated blogs offer unique content with a fresh perspective. How-To blog entries teach readers how to do something by breaking it down in a series of steps. Readers assume they will learn how to do something faster, cheaper, or better than before. List-Based blog entries provide information in an easy to read format. When creating lists – aim to be consistent so that each item is roughly the same length and tone as the others. Newsjacking blog entries capitalize on current news and trends to support the post. When the story is relevant, writing about it can benefit the business. Always try to make it relatable by tying in corporate solutions or experiences to add perspective.
• #14: Each blog entry is made up of an introduction, body, and conclusion. Introduction – set the stage for the information you are about to present to the reader. Body – explain or elaborate on your key takeaways. How the body is structured will depend on the type of blog you are writing. It can be written in paragraphs, bullets, numbered lists, section headings, or a mix. Conclusion – wrap up your blog with a brief statement that is reflective or summarizes what your readers just read.
• #15: Write for the target audience – not SEO. In doing so, a lot of the SEO best practices will come naturally. There are, however, a few additional tips you can do to further optimize your blog and extend its reach. Add a keyword in the title Keep the title no longer than 55 characters Add images with Alt tags (Alt tags allow Google bots to “read” the image) Use link-backs to add credibility and extend reach Linking to a study you read, a webpage with more information, or a related blog post provides a way for the reader to get more information as well as help to increase web traffic and SERPs. Share blog posts to help SEO They say Content is KING which makes distribution QUEEN Every link that points to our website improves its relevancy for specific keywords and helps our SERPs. Google heavily weights inbound links to determine page rank. Links should always point to the most relevant page on the website (want them to contact us? Link to the contact us page.)
• #16: Activity – Blog Worksheet (15 minutes) Write intended audience. You can craft a blog based on industry, seniority, function, region, or a combination Think of your audience, what pain, goals or challenges do they face that we can help with? Now that you’ve got a pain point in mind, think of a specific solution that we offer that can help them. Each blog post should only focus on one solution at a time. Now, write down three ways our solution can help alleviate their pain, overcome their challenges, or reach their goals. Great! Now that you know what you are going to write about, lets get to it! 3 min: Write a compelling introduction that empathizes with the reader on the pain, goal or challenge they face. The introduction should explain the topic, empathize with the reader, and provide insight about what they will learn from the blog post. 5 min: The body can be written in paragraphs, with bullets, numbered lists, multiple headings, or a mix of all of these. For this example, I have used multiple headings. The body should have a bold headline to separate the Intro to the Body. Each new point should begin in a new paragraph, number, or bullet and have a minimum of 2-4 supporting sentences to add additional context. 3 min: Conclude your message by summarizing what the reader learned, or how they benefited from your post. Add additional value by offering them a way to get more information. This is generally referred to as a “Call To Action” or CTA. Make sure the CTA is relevant to the topic to increase engagement. Now that you’ve written a blog, read and refine it to make sure that it makes sense, flows well, and does not get off topic. Once you are satisfied with your post, it’s time to think of a title. 1 min: The title sets the expectation of what the post is about; therefore they should be compelling, clear, and concise. Also, blog titles should never be longer than 55 characters according to SEO best practices. Next steps: Once you have successfully crafted your blog, list three sub-topics that pertain to this one. Think of additional pains, goals or benefits of the solution/service you just wrote about. – I’ll give you a couple minutes. There you go! You’ve successfully crafted a rough draft of a blog post, and have 3 new topics to write about later. Let’s take a quick 10 minute break before diving into Social Selling.
• #17: Write intended audience. You can craft a blog based on industry, seniority, function, region, or a combination Think of your audience, what pain, goals or challenges do they face that we can help with? Now that you’ve got a pain point in mind, think of a specific solution that we offer that can help them. Each blog post should only focus on one solution at a time. Now, write down three ways our solution can help alleviate their pain, overcome their challenges, or reach their goals. Great! Now that you know what you are going to write about, lets get to it! 3 min: Write a compelling introduction that empathizes with the reader on the pain, goal or challenge they face. The introduction should explain the topic, empathize with the reader, and provide insight about what they will learn from the blog post. 5 min: The body can be written in paragraphs, with bullets, numbered lists, multiple headings, or a mix of all of these. For this example, I have used multiple headings. The body should have a bold headline to separate the Intro to the Body. Each new point should begin in a new paragraph, number, or bullet and have a minimum of 2-4 supporting sentences to add additional context. 3 min: Conclude your message by summarizing what the reader learned, or how they benefited from your post. Add additional value by offering them a way to get more information. This is generally referred to as a “Call To Action” or CTA. Make sure the CTA is relevant to the topic to increase engagement. Now that you’ve written a blog, read and refine it to make sure that it makes sense, flows well, and does not get off topic. Once you are satisfied with your post, it’s time to think of a title. 1 min: The title sets the expectation of what the post is about; therefore they should be compelling, clear, and concise. Also, blog titles should never be longer than 55 characters according to SEO best practices. Next steps: Once you have successfully crafted your blog, list three sub-topics that pertain to this one. Think of additional pains, goals or benefits of the solution/service you just wrote about. – I’ll give you a couple minutes. There you go! You’ve successfully crafted a rough draft of a blog post, and have 3 new topics to write about later.
• #30: All right – that about sums it up. Any questions?