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Before You Start Blogging, Ask Yourself These 10 Questions

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This article is a guest post by Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42 Match, a free resource to help businesses find expert content providers. Joe blogs regularly at blog.junta42.com. hubspot blog starting

 

One of the most frequent questions I receive while traveling is about blogging. The questions revolve around how to get started, what to talk about, and what software to use.

I usually reply to these people with questions of my own, which startles them, because so many start thinking about blogging in terms of what they want to say, instead of what their target audience needs to hear. 

Here are 10 questions I frequently ask bloggers just getting started:

1.  Who are your primary and secondary targets for your blog?

2.  What do you want to tell them?

3.  Do you understand what the key informational needs of the audience are?

4.  Are you reading other blogs on that topic, and ones targeting your customers and prospects?

5.  If you are reading, are you leaving comments that add to the online conversation on the blogs you cover?

6.  Do you have a firm grasp on the types of keywords to focus on that would be relevant to your blog?

7.  Do you follow those keywords on Technorati and Google Blog Search?  Do you have alerts set up around those keywords at Google Alerts? (or possibly even use a reputation management system?)

8.  Can you commit to blogging at least two-to-three times per week? (consistency is key, based on the expectations you set with your audience)

9.  What is your ultimate goal in starting a blog?  In one year from when you start blogging, how will your life be different?

10.  Are you looking at blogging as a challenge or something that could be fun?

Of course, I don't ask all of these in fear I would scare them off, but these are the general starter questions.  These questions should be the same for individuals as well as businesses.

The majority of blogs out there don't make it.  The worst thing you can do as a business is start a consistent dialogue with your customers and then stop.  Better not to do one at all.

Remember, blogging is just a tool.  Some businesses aren't ready to commit resources or change their culture (full transparency) to adapt to a blog.  That's okay.  But all businesses must understand the power of blogging.  Your brand is what people read about and talk about online. You have to decide if you want to be a part of shaping that conversation around your brand.

 

internet marketing


Posted by Rick Burnes on Mon, Oct 27, 2008 @ 08:44 AM

COMMENTS

Thanks for the great blog tips. In working with clients I feel having a blog is very important on many different levels. (SEO, organization of goals, talking directly with the customer.  
 
 
 
So having blog is so important (in my mind) it may more important to start a blog and then look for tips on how to improve it.

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 9:36 AM by John Flynn


Great post.  
 
I would have also added "Would you be willing to blog even if you never made any money from it?"

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 9:46 AM by Jennife Barthe


Great post Joe. Could not agree with you more. If one does this right, then it is easy to measure and make adjustments along the way, rather than saying it does not work and having to abandon it. These metrics alos become great talking points to getting buy in from the management and also to update them regularly on the success of the effort. 
 
 
 
Plus, it keeps you it is a constant gauge on how well you are serving the needs of your audience.

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 9:57 AM by Gopal Shenoy


I have been trying to come up with the right questions both to use when I have a client who wants to blog but isn't ready, and for those who really need to blog. 
 
 
 
Thanks for saving me some time.

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:13 AM by wendy soucie


Of all of the blogging tips I've read during the last year, these have been the most helpful. Thank you. 
 
 
 
Cheers, 
 
 
 
Kelley

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 3:07 PM by Kelley Mitchell


Great quality content is always the key, but you do have to keep it up on a continual basis. 
 
The worse thing possible is to start out with a bang just to fizzle out a couple weeks in.

posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 at 7:28 PM by Jeff Przybylski


I think one of the things that gets severely underestimated is the time commitment that consistently blogging takes. A lot of people are avid blog readers prior to venturing into blogging themselves. But, until you start actively blogging, many don't understand the time that it takes to decide on topics, research and develop content regularly.

posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:06 AM by Justin Levy


@Jeff You are correct. Consistent blogging is the key. Starting and stopping may actually hurt your relationship with customers and prospects. If you start and stop, it's better to have not started at all. 
 
Best 
Joe

posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 1:50 AM by Joe Pulizzi


thanks, all ten points are really good and one should keep them in mind before starting a blog. I didn't know about Google alert before, thanks a bunch

posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 5:30 AM by Social Media Marketing Blog


It's informatic blog. Great job keep it up

posted on Saturday, November 01, 2008 at 12:14 PM by Kristin Sundberg


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