How To Create a Must-Read Blog : Let’s not beat around the bush. Blogging successfully takes some hard work. You have to write quality content every week and generate some new ideas for blog posts. You also need to be involved in an email and social media campaign.

There are times in the lives of most bloggers when they have to ask themselves “are my efforts paying off?” They don’t know if they should keep it up, write more anyway, or step up their promotional efforts.

They even entertain the thought of just quitting. Not having to worry about what your next blog post will be can be appealing. They’d have more time to spend with friends, read a book, or go sight-seeing.

The reason quitting should never be an option is because the benefits to blogging can be awesome. It can change your life. Blogging generates web traffic, builds your authority, and brings you leads. You blog is the nerve center of your business and social media activities.

Case studies reveal that many companies and entrepreneurs fuel their businesses by blogging. For me, blogging generates nearly all of the leads for my business.

So what exactly can you do to turn your blogging efforts into a raving success, engage your visitors, and create more business without working yourself into a stupor?

I have listed some of the best advice to help you streamline content creation, engage visitors, and close the deal with potential clients who will find themselves wanting to work with you.

Let’s get started…

How to Streamline Content Creation

(1). Create a publishing schedule and stay committed to it. Plan it in a way that works well for you as well as for your readers. Never overextend yourself. It’s not necessary that you publish on a daily basis. Some bloggers post weekly or even bi-weekly.

(2).Throughout your day when good blog post ideas come to mind, stop and write them down. When clients ask questions add those answers and the ideas that come from them to your list.

(3). Create an outline for your posts. This can keep you on point so you don’t wander off on short tangents that are not relative to your post. It helps save time on both the writing and the editing of your posts.

(4). Always have a few backup posts ready for times when life throws you a curve and your time and attention is needed elsewhere.

(5).Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Follow blueprints of blogs that are tried, tested, and proven. Blogs are structured in a fairly straightforward way.

(6). One neat little trick is to take a kitchen timer and set it at 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes take a break and reward yourself with something like a cup of coffee or a donut. Getting up from your chair is what helps you. When you get back to it you are more re-focused and more energized.

Naturally, streamlining blog content is a great idea. However, never turn it into a speed-writing contest. Blog for the sole purpose of helping and delighting your target audience.

How to Win Customers & Get More Business

If your blog posts all sound like a sales pitch, you’ll have a hard time finding loyal readers. You could alienate your targeted clients. Your blog could easily end up as a whisper in the wind with no-one around to hear what you have to say.

The majority of people don’t want to hear a sales pitch. Some don’t even care about your business. They are looking for something for THEMSELVES. If you want to create business using your blog, don’t think like a salesman and step into the shoes of being a ‘mentor’ for your readers.

You achieve this by –

a. Knowing your target audience. That means understanding what they’re looking for, their desires, their needs, secret wished, and dreams. Put yourself in their shoes and ask the questions they would ask, and then give some good answers in your blog. Work at ‘helping’ them.

b. Never go click-chasing using hyperbolic headlines. Aim your writing at your clients.

c. Don’t worry about alienating some people. You only want to attract the right ones, the ones who will understand you and respond to your message.

d. Define the purpose of your blog. Decide what it is you want to achieve through it. I, for example, teach small business people how to create more persuasive content to help them get more business.

e. Study blogs that are successful and find out what makes them that way. Analyze them carefully and learn from them.

f. Write when you find yourself feeling inspired or enthused. Energy can be contagious and can flow through your words when you write your posts.

Salesmen are always wondering how they can make another sale. Mentors care about what the students are learning and how they are making out. A mentor has a desire to help the students get ahead so they can live a life that is more fulfilling.

Readers are smart and will notice immediately if you are the salesman type or mentor type. Become a mentor and you can watch your business grow.

Creating a Must-Read Blog

There is poor content spread out all over the Internet. Yawn-inspiring blog posts are a dime a dozen. The stock photography is so boring you want to pull your hair out.

If you want to create a ‘must-read’ blog, then make it stand for something. You should be an authority for whatever your blog is about. That means never rehashing old content that is already saturating the web.

8 Major Focus Point for Making Yourself an Authority:

1. Develop a strong opinion and don’t be afraid to say it the way you think it. A true leader stands his/her ground.

2. Leave out the ifs, buts, and maybes. Avoid saying ‘in my opinion’ because it is naturally your opinion if you’re the one writing the post.

3. Don’t waste people’s time with posts that are shallow or plain common sense. You want to add value to the conversation and not fill it with generic babble.

4. Don’t use the ‘free stuff’ ploy that many bloggers do. What you want to give away free is good solid ideas and unique information. Those are the things that will generate loyal customers.

5. Drop names of heavy hitters. It doesn’t hurt to add some clout to your posts by quoting industry experts. It shows you’re on top of things in your area of expertise.

6. Never try to impress people with big, hard to pronounce words. Write things in simple language that anyone can understand.

7. Take advantages of case studies and relevant examples. They help to breathe life into your content.

8. Show up on a regular basis with good quality content.

When you are generous with your advice and ideas, potential clients are going to find your blog and then purchase your products.

How to Keep Your Readers Coming Back Time and Again

Being an authority can sometimes be a boring place. If you mishandle it you can create a total catastrophe. You will never win friends by keeping yourself on some kind of high-horse and lecturing them. They should be treated the same as you. Everybody is on an even keel.

Keep your readers motivated, energized, and inspired. Work at being a great mentor. Empathize with them, try to understand where they’re coming from, and help them find solutions to their problems.

Don’t diminish your most valuable information and tips by listing them beneath very drab subheads. Your subheads need to be vibrant, strong, and appealing. They should appeal to your reader’s curiosity.

Let your readers get to know the real you. Share little insights into your life while remaining focused on how you can help your readers. Sprinkle short little questions throughout your content. That makes if feel more like your readers are involved in a conversation and not a lecture.

Inspire your readers when you write your closing paragraph. Sum up the problem and state the solution to clarify the point of your blog post.

Practice the art of infusing your ideas into the minds of your readers. As the writer you have a lot of control over the interaction taking place between you and them.

Create a voice that is uniquely you. Your readers should be able to recognize your writing style whenever they come across it, and know what you mean and why you say things the way you do. Add personality to your posts.

You are not selling, you are having a conversation. Their decision to buy will spring from a feeling of trust and confidence in you. Work every day on polishing your written communication skills. Create ideas that are worth writing about and never be afraid of being unique. Be passionate about your blog and readers will respond to you.