3 Steps to Better Business Blogging

Blogging is one of the single most important things you can do to drive qualified traffic to your site. But many inbound marketers struggle to blog consistently and well.

It comes down to this: If you want to succeed at Inbound Marketing, you need to become a better blogger. There is no subsititute, no short cut.

But there are three things that can help -- and help a lot.

Step 1 - Set specific goals

Sit down for five minutes at the beginning of every month and decide what it is that you want you blog to do for you that month. Be specific, and set a time limit.

One more time: Set a clear, concise, measurable goal for your blog for this next month only.

For example, you might decide that you want your blog to generate ten new leads that month. Or fifty. Or a hundred. This will put the focus this month on writing content that is targeted to the visitors who are far down enough your sales funnel to be ready to fill out a form.

It will also mean you'll want to put an effective CTA button at the end of every single post, and experiment with different landing page design and offers.

But you might instead decide that you want your blog to generate ten new inbound links for your site. This will, in turn, dictate a somewhat different approach to your blogging this month.

Now, write down your clear, concise, measurable goal for the month on a large piece of paper. Post it next to your computer where you can see it. Put it where everyone can see it.

Step 2 - Create an Editorial Calendar

Now that you know what goals you want your blog to accomplish, decide exactly how you're going to get there by creating an editorial calendar. Take out a piece of paper, or open a new Google calendar, and actually, physically, mark down the days on which you plan to publish a blog article.

Depending on your goals, you might decide to write twice a week. 

Now, decide exactly when you will publish your content. Which two days? Every Tuesday and Thursday? Every Monday and Friday? What time of day will you publish? 

Now decide what topics you will write about. Think in terms of small, bite-sized chunks of information that your readers want to read.

Mark it all down on your calendar. Post your calendar in a prominent place near your desk. Better still, near somebody else's desk. Somebody who likes to bug you.

Step 3 - Stockpile a few articles now. Yes, now.

The best of intentions won't help you when it's the end of the month and you're running ragged. If you have a history of putting off blogging until the last minute, what makes you think that's going to change this month?

Plan ahead to be overwhelmed with work.

Look at your list of small, bite-sized article topics. Are there two or three or five that you could dash off in about an hour? 

Not sure you have an hour to spare to write a few short blog articles? 

How about you take a look back at the clear, concise, measurable goal that you created in Step 1.

Is an hour of your time worth chasing after ten, fifty, a hundred new leads? 

Well, is it?

Write a few simple blog articles now and leave them in draft form. You'll be so glad you did later in the month, when you are pressed for time and still want to meet your goals for the month.

What do you do each month to become a better blogger?

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