I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging consistently for over a year now. Despite writing hundreds of posts and overcoming the initial fear of rejection and eventual writer’s block, I’m still struggling with developing a consistent blogging schedule for this business blog. Since starting this blog in January, I’ve developed a running list of potential post ideas but when it comes to actually writing them, too often misgivings and audience confusion sets in.
So, today I decided to be brutally honest and tackle this subject head-on. I’m not one to let fear hold me back. I’m also not one to skirt an issue or give up. Let me explain a little about my blogging history and then we’ll tackle the issue of how to tackle business blogging.
From Personal to Business Blogging
I started as a food blogger. I was writing practically every day and because I had worked with bloggers for years and knew how to market appropriately, I quickly developed a following. I still share posts three times a week on my personal blog and cut back from posting daily to allow more time to post to this blog. However, until now, that hasn’t been happening.
You see, I have the honor and self-imposed burden of being surrounded by super smart, industry relevant bloggers who have been honing their craft for years and many of them are on the cutting edge of marketing. They’re all super supportive and I know they would happily read my posts. At the same time, I’m trying to interact with start-up and natural food brands (the brands we help with marketing) through this blog and want to share topics that are useful and relevant to their industry.
Strategy Development and Audience Confusion
For these reasons, I’ve been struggling with what I’m calling, “audience confusion.” Basically, who am I writing for and what do they want to read? I bring this up because I think I have to in order to move forward with this blog. I also bring it up because it’s a very real consideration for brands who want to be successful in business blogging.
- Who is your audience?
- Are you trying to reach multiple audiences?
- What do they want to read?
- What would be helpful to them?
- What would they find relevant and interesting?
- How does it tie back into your brand?
These are all considerations that should be a part of your blogging strategy. On top of that, I’ve been wrestling with how I want to represent my brand AND myself on this business blog. Sometimes that’s appropriate and sometimes it’s not. You have to decide what best represents your brand and has the most potential to connect with your audience(s).
Just Do It
For me, through writing this post, I’ve decided to just blog. Just do it and do it consistently. At this point, I have the strategy and it’s time to move forward. Practically on this blog, content will include social media and PR how-to posts with some thoughtful and inspiration based posts mixed in.
Thanks for letting me work through this and reading along. I hope it helps to see that even experienced marketers have to hash through things and push themselves as a part of continual learning and success.
What’s your approach to business blogging? Do you keep it personal, business or a combination of both?
Kate Finley is the CEO of Belle Communications, where she provides results-driven PR, social media and content marketing for startups and natural food brands. She’s also a big fan of running and eating Paleo. Connect with Kate on Google+ and Twitter.
