The Wax Blog

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

A great blog should attract regular feedback from readers. Any subject that provokes thought, whether it’s because visitors love or hate what you wrote, entices them to leave a comment. They might ask for further clarification, leave an opinion of their own, or thank you for the information. Sometimes if your opinion or perspective in an article really irks them, they’ll even bash you on a personal level. Comments are comments and they’re all fantastic, because you know you made an impression on your readers.

You might think that the only reason to answer comments is for courtesy, like the obligation to return a phone call when a voice mail has been left. It is the polite thing to do, indeed, but you can also use comments to keep your readers talking. (more…)

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

If you’ve got a business blog, at some point, you’ve probably considered writing a guest post for another blog or online publication. Some bloggers are hesitant about doing this, thinking “why would I drive traffic to someone else’s site when I can focus on doing the same for my own?” Well, like many things these posts have addressed about blogging, that’s another misconception.

Here are some of the reasons why guest blogging for another blog will help you improve your own blog’s web traffic and help advance your business. So open yourself up to the idea, and it’ll be a good thing!

Photo from fOTOGLIF

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

In last week’s post about writing headlines we touched a little bit upon keyword usage and the tools that are available to determine the right terms to incorporate. Relevant keywords must appear in your blog content as well as in your headlines in order to fare well with search engine results. To use them, you’ve got to learn how to determine what relevant keywords are with regards to your blog and each individual topic you choose to focus on. The term SEO tends to scare many new bloggers, but it’s not necessary to get all technical in order to get the right results. (more…)

By Beth Graddon- Hodgson

You might think that it’s only your actual blog content that is going to get people to stop by and read, but images play a big role, too. They can help make your blog posts appear more professional and attractive, but that’s really only a small portion of their benefits.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

For one thing, the images can drive traffic to your blog. People search for usable photos just about as often as they search for information online. When you post a photo and use your blogging tool to upload it with a title, relevant keywords and a caption, you’re creating another way for people to find you on search engines. This can encourage them to either read your blog content while they’re already found themselves on your site, or give you a link back if they decide to use your image on their own blog or site.

Of course, photo usage needs to be done carefully, or you might find yourself at the losing end of a lawsuit. Not all of the pictures you upload on your blog need to be yours, but these are the guidelines to follow before you put a picture on your post: (more…)

By Beth Graddon- Hodgson

It might not be the most interesting component to read about when it comes to getting traffic to your blog, but it’s so often overlooked regardless of its importance that you really should keep on reading. Really, the success of your blog depends upon it.

It may sound melodramatic to say that blog scheduling can make or break blog success, but I’m not kidding. The unfortunate thing is, few bloggers actually think about this element or recognize what a difference it can make so more often than not blog scheduling is breaking rather than making a blog.

I guess before we go any further I should explain what I mean by blog scheduling specifically. It means more than simply using the function in WordPress (or another blogging tool…is my bias showing?) that allows you to input a specific date and time that you’d like your blog post published. What’s important is not that you can use that function; it’s what you put in it that counts.

Decide how many days per week you’re going to be blogging to start, and then pick convenient days to write. Say you’re going to post 3 times per week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday can be your chosen days. If your blog has more than one focal point, pick a day for each. The focus area for each day doesn’t need to be clearly indicated (for example, the trend amongst casual bloggers to post just a picture on their bog for Wordless Wednesday) with a name or category unless you want to. It’s just about setting the standard that each Tuesday on the blog you’ll find a guest post (from me in this case) or that every Friday on a green news blog , you’ll find a “how to” style guide.

Now that you’ve got a grasp of what to do when it comes to blog scheduling, here’s the why that you might still be wondering about.  Blog scheduling is about setting a standard and consistency. It’s about attracting regular readers; sure, you’ll still drag in people at random who are interested in one specific article from Google, but you want people to subscribe and visit week after week.

Consider blog post scheduling like the arrival of a daily newspaper or weekly magazine. How annoying would it be to step onto your front porch at 8am to find your favorite newspaper has yet to make an appearance? It works that way with a blog too. It might be tempting to write when you’ve had a specific thought or to comment on something big that’s happened in the news. But use those posts to supplement everything else that appears on your blog.  It should be the rule, not the exception, that your blog follows a publishing schedule when you’re blogging for business!

To learn more about how a blog scheduling tool can help you maintain your timeline, check out WordPress Support . If you want to take the whole scheduling aspect one step further, you can also read about how to schedule blog postings  to be sent out as newsletters here.

Beth Graddon-Hodgson is a professional writer/blogger and the founder of WriteSourcing a professional blogging, writing and editing service. You can read her posts on blogging for business here at the Wax blog every Tuesday.

Last week’s post focused on choosing or understanding the two main writing styles you can use for your blog. That post went into incorporating the personal into your business blog – this one will focus on what I like to call topical blogs that have more of a business feel and remain directly relevant to hot issues in the industry your business is in.

But first things first. In the last post I mentioned there’s a very fine line between adding a personal blog for business and sticking to something topical and I asked for some guesses on what style that particular post used. As far as I’m concerned that post was more topical than it was personal, and here’s why. I did write it in first person, providing a feel that’s engaging to readers, I didn’t actually use any personal examples relevant to my business.  I also used other examples of good, personal blogs.

What my post from last week didn’t have was any points that you could easily relate to me on – it was based on fact about my industry.  Even though it incorporated some opinion and personal experience, it wasn’t presented in a way that was about ME. If you want to see what I consider a personal post when I write, read yesterday’s post on my blog.

So, with that little introduction to topical blogs, here are some of the components that should appear:

1. Use of factual information – think of what’s happening in your industry at the moment, or what your clients are most likely to be concerned about and present relevant facts. Whether you use statistics, tips in a “how to” format or a blurb with commentary from a recent press release; you’re on the right track with your topical blog.
2. Consider the format – my post from last week was presented in paragraph format, but often for readers to quickly pick up information, it’s easier to read if you use bullet points or numbered steps where relevant.
3. Avoid tying yourself to factual statements – when you’re providing a topical post as a reference or guide to readers, don’t introduce it with “I think XYZ”. You may agree, but no you don’t think if they’re universal facts and not your opinion. To be an authority in your industry, you don’t always have to be the one coming up with the innovative ideas; sometimes you can just be the one relaying them.

Keep in mind that a topical blog doesn’t need to be boring, incorporate a bit of the personal, but make the factual information the focal point.  There are some major benefits to using this style – the first is that your readers will know that you’re up to date on industry news and knowledgeable enough to share tips or indirectly address questions prospective clients may have. As a plastic surgeon’s office, you will know that a patient’s number one concern is typically risk factors, so outline the risks of those procedures so they know you’re open and honest, and will have a great understanding by the time they call you. The second relates directly to client recruitment. Keep in mind that someone considering plastic surgery is likely doing their research for a great cosmetic surgeon and in searching for their areas of concern, they will come across your site and you may have earned yourself a new client.

Find the blend of styles that works best for your blog. You don’t need to write exclusively topical or exclusively personal blogs, so pay attention to the stats and reader comments and see what they find more engaging. You may find it works best to do half and half each week, or to dominate with topical posts with a first-person style and throw in a more personal post once a month. There is no ideal formula, but with an understanding of both styles, you can find the combination that works for you!

Coming up next – picking specific blog topics to attract readers each time you sit down to put together a post, and the importance of blog scheduling.

Beth Graddon-Hodgson is a professional writer/blogger and the founder of WriteSourcing a professional blogging, writing and editing service.

When starting a blog for your business the first thing you need is a topic. Obvious, perhaps, though you’d be surprised to learn the number of people who don’t think establishing a topic is essential. There’s a belief that if you just start writing, people will come. That might be true when writing a personal blog, but it doesn’t apply in business.

With a business blog, you need to ATTRACT your audience. With a personal blog, you’ve already got people who have a vested interest in what you’ve got to say. Just because you work in a specific industry and have knowledge of your craft doesn’t mean you’ve got a voice that people want to listen to just for the sake of it. You’ve got to give them something to lure them in and keep them coming back. That all begins with picking the right topic. (more…)

Beth Graddon-Hodgson

After Beth Graddon-Hodgson wrote her last guest post I realized there wasn’t much out there in terms of advice for companies wanting to use blogging as a marketing tool outside of SEO. How do ou REALLY use a blog to inject your brand voice into the growing global conversation? I’m very pleased to tell you that Beth has agreed to write a weekly post for the Wax blog on topics concerning just that…how does a business use a blog to their best advantage? I can’t wait to learn more.

You might wonder about Beth’s experience blogging for business…I asked her to tell us a bit about herself. You can also follow Beth on Twitter

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Thank you to professional writer and blogger Beth Graddon-Hodgson for giving us the insider info on how pro bloggers work…and how to pay them. Check out her website or follow Beth on Twitter

As many companies jump on the blogging bandwagon, they’re faced with one major dilemma as they wonder “what the heck do we pay these people?” The problem is that there are companies and independent writers who have set standards that go to two extremes – those who accept bottom dollar rates just to get the business, and those who gouge their clients for all that they’re worth. With this in mind, most companies have the wrong idea about reasonable payment. (more…)