Why Blogging Is A Must For Any Small Business | And how to do it right ... |
Posted by Roger Eddowes on 30/12/2021 @ 8:00AM Essendon has been blogging for a number of years and we publish a new post every single Monday and Thursday without fail. Doing this has brought in additional enquiries and started conversations that we wouldn't have received if we'd just had a website ... Our blog has brought in many enquiries by both phone and email! copyright: undrey / 123rf stock photo Your blog should be considered a marketing channel in its own right. Your website is designed for Google so needs good SEO to rank well and your blog is designed for social media so it's important to be able to share posts from it quickly and easily.
"Of course, there is a crossover here!"
You can share your website on social media and blog posts will rank in search, but generally, they can be considered as unique channels of your overall marketing landscape.
When you get a new website, your web designer will offer you a blog 'inside' your website. This would be at 'www.yourdomain.com/blog'. This works fine if you're just starting out or you have someone inside your business to blog for you, but what if you want someone to do it for you?
"Ok, you could give someone the keys to your website, but
there is a better way!"
At Essendon, we have our blog with SLO Media run by Steffi Lewis. Her platform combines the best of Wordpress, Hootsuite and MailChimp and offers everything you need, all in one place, all done for you on a simple monthly subscription.
Although Steffi is a 30-year veteran of the internet, she's not a web designer ... her platform is purely about business blogging and that's what makes it so good ... because it's so focused.
The first thing to note is that SLO Media has its own servers. When you get a blog with Steffi, it will be at 'blog.yourdomain.com' rather than the other way around mentioned above.
Many web designers will baulk at this idea, claiming your blog needs to be inside your website, but they're right and wrong at the same time ... your blog has to be inside your domain!
"Imagine what Steffi does as a blogging production line!"
Each week, I get nagged by email to send in some words of wisdom for Steffi's editors to turn into a blog post. I'll then spend 20 minutes jotting down my raw thoughts and email them over, they get scheduled and the day before publication will be edited.
On editing day, the words are spell checked, grammar checked and the focus and flow are tweaked to make it easy to read. All the bells and whistles needed for a finished, polished blog post get added and a licensed image is sourced.
And then I get to approve it so I can always be sure that the blog post fits the Essendon brand, it's in my own voice and that the changes Steffi's editor made still fit within the original theme of what I sent over.
"On our publication days, I'll get an email around 8am to
let me know it's been published!"
Later in the day, Steffi also emails it out to our client list and we have around a 40% open rate and a 10% clickthru rate, so I know that our clients are seeing our blog posts, week in, week out and responding when something I write about resonates with them.
I'm very happy with the blogging service Steffi offers. Since we started blogging in 2017, we've had many phone and email enquiries and lots of people have clicked through from our blog to our website to find out more, as well as our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages to connect with us!
As a tool for sharing Essendon's brand, our knowledge within the practice and our personalities, I can't think of a more comprehensive way to do it than blogging. And Steffi makes it so simple for me as a busy business owner.
You should try blogging yourself; and if that sounds like a lot of work, get Steffi to do it. Until next time ... 
ROGER EDDOWES
Business Godparent
Would you like to know more? If anything I've written in this blog post resonates with you and you'd like to discover more, it may be a great idea to give me a call on 01908 774320 and let's see how I can help you.
Don't forget to stay updated with our daily social media posts on Facebook. About Roger Eddowes ... |  | | Roger trained at Edward Thomas Peirson & Sons in Market Harborough before working at Hartwell & Co, followed by Chancery, as a partner. He started Essendon Accounts and Tax with Helen Beaumont in 2014 as a general practitioner with a hands-on approach.
Roger loves getting his hands dirty, working with emerging, small-to-medium and family businesses to ensure they receive the best possible accountancy advice. Roger utilises an extensive network of business contacts to leverage the best guidance and practical solutions. |
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