This document provides tips and best practices for blogging for business purposes. It discusses how frequently blogging can help acquire customers and generate more leads. The objectives of a business blog are outlined as positioning as an expert, marketing products/services, attracting new website visitors, and generating revenue. Pre-blogging tips include timing posts effectively and anticipating reader needs. Key aspects of an effective business blog are highlighted as having a unique voice, distinctive images, enticing content, and engagement with readers. The document provides specific suggestions in each of these areas to help create an impactful business blog.

1. Blogging for
Business
Angela LaRocca, Brand Manager
Jennifer Espelien, Marketing Manager

2. To Blog or Not to Blog, that is the question.
Here is your answer…
Blog frequency impacts customer acquisition. 92% of companies who
blogged multiple times a day acquired a customer through their blog.
Source: HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing, 2012
B2B marketers who use blogs generate 67% more leads than those that do
not.
Source: InsideView
90% of consumers find custom content useful, 78% believe that
companies behind content are interested in building good relationships.
Source: TMG Custom Media

3. Objectives of a Business Blog:
position yourself as an expert
Brand engagement rises by 28% when consumers are exposed to both professional content and user-
generated product video. (Source: comScore)
market your product and services
78% of chief marketing officers think custom content is the future of marketing. (Source: Hanley-Wood
Business Media)
attract new visitors to your website. Establish a relationship. Keep them wanting more content.
92% of companies who blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer from their blog. (Source:
HubSpot)
TO GENERATE REVENUE!

4. Pre-blogging tips:
Timing is everything.
Help me help you.
Anticipate your readers‟ needs.

5. Checklist for a rockstar blog:
Unique Voice
Distinct Images
Enticing Content
Engagement

6. Unique Voice

7. Unique Voice
You know your business best.
Show off!
“Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” ~Oscar Wilde

8. How to:
Capture the
Elements of
the Story
Beginning, Middle & End
The Hook
Why are you writing it?

9. How to:
Capture the
Elements of
the Story
What do you want readers to DO?
Calls to Action
Get your readers to be proactive
while reading your blog.

10. Be a Story Teller
"Upon arrival to the beginning of the conference, I learned about an
opportunity that immediately sparked my interest. The word on the street (in
the expo hall) was that one could earn a certificate of completion for attending
back to back seminars on a particular search marketing track on the first day,
also known as SMX Bootcamp."
~from Angela‟s latest blog, “The Adventures of Paid Search
Fundamentals”

11. Distinctive Images

12. How to:
Create
Distinctive
Images
How do I catch the reader‟s
eye?

13. How to:
Create
Distinctive
Images
When and how do I use
captions?
Justin McVay, UNLV Business Startup Center Director, works with a
student to offer free business counsel advice. Unidev supports the
Startup Center by offering complimentary tech development

14. How to:
Create
Distinctive
Images
When do I use text?

15. How to:
Create
Distinctive
Images
What do I do if I don‟t have an
image?

16. Image Tools
Editing Tools:
Pic Monkey
Pic Stitch
Gathering Images:
Flickr – Creative Commons
Stock photo
Use your own images!

17. Inviting Content

18. When writing your content…
Be your own audience.
Proofread, then have a trusted set of eyes review.
Earn your authorship. Write what you know.
Search for your content online and strengthen your message.

19. How to:
Create
Content Like a
Pro
Benefits of Inserting Links into Content:
- Good, content-relevant links improve credibility of your
website
- Analytics lists sites that link to the site as „referrers‟
- Potential to have sites link back to your site
- Gives your readers more
Use Tags in Content:
- Page title
- Meta description
- Keywords or labels – becoming outdated
- Authorship

20. How to:
Create
Content Like a
Pro
Image Titles:
keyword-descriptive-concise
Blog Length:
500 words
Consistency:
1-4 blog posts per week

21. Be an approachable, friendly expert
Don‟t take yourself too seriously! Be accurate and informative while making it fun
for your readers.
Be the person people look to for something new.
Share something others will want to pass along.
Ask for feedback. Give your readers a purpose by posing content-relevant
questions.

22. Engagement

23. If you engage them, they will act.
Use coupon or discount to incentivize readers to do something.
“Why won’t people comment?”
CASE STUDY: 8 Tips for Digital Networking, TNI Blog 11/27/13
“Create a community to encourage interaction.”
~ Founder of CupcakeProject.com, Stefani Pollack

24. “Platform is Queen.”
“Content is king, but Platform is queen.”
“Creating a platform is about building a social media presence, a stage for yourself to be
seen above the crowd.”
“Social media can be great tools to drive traffic (to a website), but it is the blog that will do the
most to build a platform.”
Source: boss.blogs.nytimes.com

25. How to:
Use the social
media
channels
Support your clients, friends,
partners, prospects, family and
anyone you want to know in 10
years on their business networks.

26. Help people find your blog
Write comments on other blogs.
Email contacts directly and ask for their input or comment.
Use a rating widget to get precise feedback on your blog.
“Write a guest post on a more successful blog.” 
Source: www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com , Ramit Sethi

27. Benefits of a Blog:
1. Establish authority and position your brand or company as an expert!
2. Create a two-way conversation to connect with potential, current and past
clients!
3. Better search engine result rankings…now and in the future!
4. Generate more leads with opportunities for conversion!

28. Thank you & stay in touch
Angela LaRocca
@AngelaLaRocca
@TheNetImpact
http://www.thenetimpact.com/angela-larocca-author-
page.aspx
Angela.LaRocca@TheNetImpact.c
om
636-532-4424
Jennifer Espelien
@JenniferEspe
@TurnkeyTec
jespelien@turnkeytec.com
636-237-2283