Wednesday, I posted an exceptionally brief post on when to stop reading a blog. The gist was that, if you’re not getting something out of reading a blog, it’s a waste of your time. My hope was that you stopped to think a bit whether you truly provide something of use with your own blog.
Blogs are brilliant little things. They allow us to stroke our own egos, diligently record our lives, and provide the reasoning behind countless hours of “shiny thing” browsing. Is that how you’re using your blog?
Oh… maybe not. Maybe you think your blog is about marketing your business. And for certain, it is. It’s a place to put information about your business, why people should buy from your business, how your business was created, what your business is doing next Tuesday. Is that how you’re using your blog?
Eh… that sounds a little boring. Concerned your blog might not be creating a magnet for customers the way it’s supposed to? Keep reading. I bet you’re making at least one of these common creative business blog mistakes.
1.) You don’t ask why.
You post stories, inspiration, pretty pictures, funny links. You love it all and your small business blog is supposed to reflect you, right? Sure it is. But blogging isn’t about posting pretty pictures, it’s about asking bigger questions: WHY? If you fail to ask yourself WHY a picture, story, or link is important to you – and subsequently explain it to your readers – you’re not doing anyone any good. You’re simply adding to the noise of the blogosphere.
Consider why an image moves you… consider what it says about your character, your business goals, or your family. Consider how what little Johnny last Monday resonated with you & taught you a lesson. Always consider the usefulness, the experience, and the “takeaway” of what you’re posting.
The blogs that do that are the ones I remember, the ones I comment on. And they’re definitely the ones I go back to when I’m looking to buy.
2.) You think your SEO is broken.
In my job as a web designer/make-blog-go analyst, I am asked all the time if a website’s SEO is alright. Presumably, they want me to make sure that the right pieces of code are in the right places because the client is concerned it’s not. This is, of course, a valid concern! But more often than having “broken” SEO, a blog just isn’t writing about good stuff, using good words, and attracting the kind of attention that gets good links.
Good SEO happens when you are writing good headlines for interesting stories about relevant-to-you topics and those stories engage, challenge, and entertain your readers enough to want to link back to your posts.
Your SEO isn’t broken – but your blogging strategy might be.
Now, if you think you’re doing pretty good with that part but want to get better at the slightly more technical side, I would highly recommend my friend Dave’s ebook on SEO called Blog Post Engineering. You’ll be smarter & blog better after the first few pages. Promise. You can read my full review here.
3.) You don’t consider the bigger picture of your blog.
Finally, the mistake I see creative business bloggers making is that they haven’t considered the bigger picture of their blogs. You post when you’re inspired, when you have news, when you’ve created a new product. But there isn’t any cohesiveness. There isn’t a sense of anticipation.
To achieve this, you must ask yourself what larger questions your blog is answering. And then answer those large questions by posing tiny ones. Those tiny questions are your posts. As the answers to those questions pile up, you can link them together through simple category navigation, pillar content pages, or free resources.
By the way, if you run an image-heavy blog, this is one of the most important things to consider. How do your images play together between posts? Are you telling a larger story with the images you choose? Is that story calling your readers to action without words?
How’s your creative business blog doing?
Are you making one (two? all?) of those mistakes? Truly, there are many ways to make a blog successful but if you don’t consider the ramifications of the points above, you’re trying to reinvent the wheel. Providing value, actionable information, and true inspiration with your blog is rewarding in more ways that just warm fuzzies (I’m talking $$$ here, people).
What will you do today to remedy the problem?
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Thank you for reminding me
you’re welcome, suzy!
Thank-you for this – this is definitely a place I need to revisit, refuel and show me some of the ropes of successful blogging – so THanks!
you’re welcome, patty-jean! thanks for stopping by.
This post is AWESOME. Particularly the idea of taking your big questions and breaking them into tiny ones. Yes, yes, yes!!!! I’m truly indebted to you. Thank you. I just wrote this out as an exercise and easily have 2 or 3 months worth of posts sketched out. Easily. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
thanks, elizabeth! brainstorming for your blog topics is awesome – and so rewarding. it really helps to shape your blog into a more polished finished product. glad you enjoyed my post!
I think I’m doing things as you have illustrated, but would appreciate any feedback you may have about LIFE ON MARS-HIDEAHEART BEGINS blog HERE
I began the blog as an insight into the escapades of the Pitfalls and Promise of beginning a new biz and have found that it also serves as a way for me to share some of my ‘former’ life.
MCatherine
hi mcatherine! there are so many business blogs out there – and so many on the arts & crafts industry in particular. i like the very personal tone of your site. keep that tone in mind and remember that if you’re a beginner, you’re writing to beginners too and that means you’ll be best served sharing your mistakes, talking about the things you try, and generally showing that it’s a tough but fun road!
good luck!
Excellent information and insight.
Tara, what a GREAT read! I just launched my brand new blog {heartmade} and this is already making so much sense. Thank you so much for the awesome advice
you’re welcome, mayi! i can’t wait to see what you do with it.
hi tara,
i have just happened upon your site and i am so glad i did! you have such great information here. i just started a blog to help other mums like me build their own little business and many of the people i chat with sell handmade products, or do servies such as photography (which is my biz.) i love this post as it is more specific to creative businesses rather than a lot of other blogging information i have read which seems to focus a lot on information products. i know my readers will find this helpful and i will be passing it on to them.
cheers,
karen
thanks, karen! glad you stumbled by here too. my goal in posting here is to real reframe the information i learn about my own business into terms that creative, microbusinesses can use without reinventing the wheel.
looking forward to getting to know you!
These are fantastic! Such great reminders that really keep it all in perspective. Thanks for the tips- I’ll be linking to this post.
Tara – I’ve been reading Scoutie Girl for quite awhile now and just started reading this one as well. You always make me stop and think and for that I thank you. I’ve been spending this week trying to brainstorm ways to make my blog better and drive more traffic to it. I think I may have to read through your archives here and digest everything you have to say!
wow… thanks tara for really giving craft blogging some specific tips! I get lost out there in the digi-world and you have shined some knowledge down on me! I am on my third year as a blogger and I am eager to look over my blog with this post in mind. Thanks again.
I just ran across your blog and this was a great post. I started blogging less than a year ago and I’m still trying to figure out the “big picture” of my blog. Right now it’s just fun and random, maybe too random. It always helps to read ideas from other crafty bloggers.
You always ask great questions, Tara, and get me thinking. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this article. I am having some serious stone wall issues with figuring out the answer to number 3 for myself. I have absolutely no idea what my big picture questions are. It makes it difficult to think of smaller bite size questions/topics. I seem to really be struggling with this. It’s good I guess to get my wheels turning. Thanks!