A how to guide for businesses and organizations looking to improve their blogging.

1. The How and Why Of
Professional Blogging:
A Complete Guide
John Patton
Principal, Catalyst Digital Partners
catalystdigitalpartners.com
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2. TUTORIAL OUTLINE
Section One: Why Blog?
• Content Appetite
• Expanding Influence
• Knowledge sharing platform
Section Two: Changes in News Consumption
• Where do people get their news?
• How the web has changed news
• Snapshot of a typical blog reader
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3. TUTORIAL OUTLINE
Section Three: Writing An Effective Blog Post
• Improving Scanability
• Format & Post Length
• Engage and Provoke
• Additional Tools
Section Four: Template Suggestions
• Writing Headlines
• Intro
• Body
• Conclusion
• Call to Action!
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4. SECTION ONE: WHY BLOG?
Content Appetite
• Are people reading your posts?
– Knowing whether your content is falling flat is a
blogging fundamental
• Develop metrics
– Use Google Analytics to track readership growth
– Determine your most successful posts and build your
success from that
– Is your blog trending upwards in readership?
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5. SECTION ONE: WHY BLOG?
Expanding Influence
A well crafted blog post can:
• Influence trends
• Create a breakthrough idea
• Provide information
What does influence mean?
• A single blogger can define a new theory, term or
idea
• That theory, term or idea can be virally shared
across the web and influence something as large
as an industry
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6. SECTION ONE: WHY BLOG?
AN EXAMPLE OF INFLUENCE
SHARING AN INSIGHT:
Thought leaders in the Education space can share insights
for the classroom via a blog post. That blog post can inform
teachers and shape classrooms across the globe.
Image courtesy of itprism.com
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7. SECTION ONE: WHY BLOG?
KNOWLEDGE SHARING PLATFORM
• Disseminate timely knowledge in your
“thought network”
– A single blogger with an internet connection can
break a story before CNN
– Become an exclusive provider of exciting and
timely content
• Engage in two way communication
– Audience and peers can comment directly with
you via a blog or social media channels
– Provides immediate feedback
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8. SECTION ONE: WHY BLOG?
A MEDIUM FOR IDEAS TO GO VIRAL
• Whether it‟s a news update, an
infographic, case study, white paper or
webinar, a blog post is the perfect
vehicle for sharing your content
• Sharing your blog post in an email
newsletter, social networks or via
syndication in another blog makes the
blog post the perfect medium
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9. SECTION TWO: CHANGES IN CONSUMPTION
WHERE DO
PEOPLE GET
THEIR NEWS?
Image courtesy of schools.com 9

10. SECTION TWO: CHANGES IN
NEWS CONSUMPTION
HOW THE INTERNET HAS CHANGED NEWS
• Democratization of news
– Online news sources can be created at almost zero
cost
• News is FREE
– Blogs, twitter and other online platforms are free to
use
• Decentralization of News
– News can come from anywhere at any time
– An unknown blog can break the biggest story
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11. SECTION TWO: CHANGES IN
NEWS CONSUMPTION
SNAPSHOT OF A TYPICAL BLOG READER
Because your reader is looking at a computer screen it
means that:
Average reader spends only 96 seconds
reading a single blog post
People read 25% slower than reading on paper
Only 16% of people read blog posts word for word
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12. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
IMPROVING SCANABILITY (IN YOUR POSTS)
The Problem:
This problem exists
across all platforms:
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Inboxes
• RSS Feeds
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13. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
IMPROVING THE SCANABILITY OF A BLOG POST
THE SOLUTION:
– Grab your reader‟s attention by breaking through with:
photo, video and infographic content (multimedia!)
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14. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
FORMAT & POST LENGTH
• A distribution of blog posts by word
count
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15. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
FORMAT & POST LENGTH
Perception: Blog posts have to be long and heavily
researched
Reality: Shorter, more frequent posts (150-600 words) are best
Some Tips:
• Take less time to write
• Consider the 96 second average!
• Increase your frequency in news feeds
• Increase RSS pings
• Increase SEO ranking
AN EXERCISE: What is your organization‟s average blog
post word count?
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16. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
ENGAGE AND PROVOKE
• Problem: Blog posts can be boring, esoteric
and too internally focused
• Soution: Create a list of provocative questions
and set out to answer them in your post.
– Use a question at the beginning of your blog post
to draw the reader into a two-way discussion
– Keep a list of your questions for when your blog
posts get tweeted
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17. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
• Curate
– Help people see your organization as a
thought leader with a timely perspective
by offering insights on current events,
reports or studies
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18. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
• Add Value
– Offer critical observations or inquiries
• Link Up
– Use hyperlinks to reference other parts of
your website or external sites
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19. SECTION THREE: WRITING AN
EFFECTIVE BLOG POST
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
• When in doubt, post!
– Don‟t let this guide handcuff you
– If you feel like your blog post is out of line
with these principles, write it anyway.
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20. SECTION FOUR: TEMPLATE
SUGGESTIONS
WRITING A GOOD HEADLINE
• Problem: Readers are often deterred by bad
headlines
• Solution: Create something informative and
engaging that leaves the reader wanting more
• Example of a BAD headline:
– „Qatar TV Channel Acquires New Hardware‟
• Example of a GOOD Headline:
– „Al Jazeera International Chooses Apple Technology‟
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21. SECTION FOUR: TEMPLATE
SUGGESTIONS
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
1. Start with values and framing of why
the subject is important
2. Evidence, anecdotes or current
events
3. Focus on the unique knowledge
being discussed in your post
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22. SECTION FOUR: TEMPLATE
SUGGESTIONS
BODY
1. Support your key message(s)
2. Use language that is simple, straightforward
and understandable by your target
audiences
3. Think about how this post could be shared
across different social networks
– Include a few sentences that could be used on
these platforms
– Refer back to the initial questions being asked
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23. SECTION FOUR: TEMPLATE
SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSION
1. Provide information about what your
topic means for your broader thought
network
2. Provide ways for people to get more
information if applicable
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24. SECTION FOUR: TEMPLATE
SUGGESTIONS
CALL TO ACTION!
Whether you are selling an ebook, promoting a
cause, or providing consulting services, your
blog post should push the reader to act
Different Calls to Action:
– Download buttons
– Add to cart buttons
– Trial buttons
– Learn More buttons
– Sign Up! buttons
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25. NEED HELP WITH YOUR BLOG?
Does your company or organization need help with
their blogging strategy?
Catalyst Digital Partners offers custom tailored
online strategy. We offer tutorials and seminars for
Executives & Staff to illustrate the benefits of
blogging.
Call or email us today for a free consultation
Phone: (202) 681-0814
Email: info@catalystdigitalpartners.com
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