Starting a Blog for a Small Business: Tips, Ideas, How-To

Blogging is one of the most effective ways to provide new content and give people a reason to come back to your site. It also can immensely help continue to optimize your site with the right keywords and relevant content related to a topic you want to rank for.

But, like any web 2.0 tool (or is a blog 1.0? I’ve lost track), the time cost of blogging is what really gets you. All small business owners struggle with the perpetual question: How to run a successful business while still finding time to market and grow it.

I come from a print journalism background, and what we used to call “editorial strategy” is quickly becoming “content management strategy,” and it includes not only topics, scheduling and interviewing, but has evolved to include community engagement, search engine optimization (seo) and branding.

When I talk to business owners, I remind them that it doesn’t take more than what you do every day. You find time to browse magazines, read up on your competition and watch message boards for updates and discussions. Blogging is just finding time to consider what you’re taking in every day, and putting a little of that back out with your own spin on it. Think of it as something you’d forward in an e-mail a colleague or peer in the same industry – “Look at what I saw in Gourmet magazine today. Do you think we could mass-produce? Here’s how I’d change the menu and ingredients to make it cost efficient for a big group…”

Here are a few great tips for kicking off your small business blog:

Start with a list of topics and key words.

Build them into your site structure as categories and/or tags. For example, an event planner might want to include topics like weddings, parties, and corporate events plus trends like colors, menus and flowers.

Carry out your branding graphically.

Picking a generic template from a free site (Wordpress, blogger) is temptingly free, but it's better to spend a little once to get a custom design. If you just can't, at least take the first step of picking a blog that allows for a custom header. Make a banner and possibly some little graphics to sprinkle into your blog to make it your own.

Choose custom colors.

When you’re searching for blog templates, check if you can change colors of links, lines and backgrounds. Pick something legible first, and then what relates to your brand. Pull colors from your logo, then find complementary colors. Use hex codes to ensure you’re being true to the same purple every time.

Schedule, schedule, schedule.

Helping people know when to look for updates ensures they’ll be back regularly. Do whatever it takes to consistently post. Don’t start off with a three-page post and wonder why you can’t do that every time. Make a point to take 45 min. once or twice a week to write a few paragraphs. It’s tough. You’ll hate it sometimes. Keep in mind that you are marketing, not just blabbing – think of how much money you’re saving in advertising by advocating for yourself.

Stock up on ideas and posts.

Keep an ideas folder of articles, photos or links that made you think. If you have time one weekend morning, delve into it and crank out a few posts – then you can place one a week. People want to hear what's cooking in your brain, what makes you and your business unique. It's not just finding the trends, it's your opinion and use of them that makes your posts unique.

Comment and respond.

You can’t have a garden without seeds. Comments on your blog and on others’ blogs are the seeds that help grow traffic. Responding is important, because it establishes credibility, makes you a voice in the space and adds to the engagement factor.While you’re starting out, just link your comments feature to your email. Responding to posts and comments will just become part of your checking e-mail ritual and eventually part of your blogging patterns. Try and find a few relevant blogs – friends, competitors, potential customers, anyone – and make a point to comment and include a link back to your blog.

Be yourself.

While your first priority should be building your image as an expert and professional in your industry, people want to know you as a person, too. Sprinkling in personal notes, images or feelings can help your blog feel authentic and give it personality. If it’s just the random creative juices spewing out of your brain, great.

Create a voice.

If you talk in a certain way – lots of exclamation points! Always very excited! Ready to rock! – it’s ok to reflect that online. While journalistic detachment and non-biased writing was at one time required, now it’s better to speak and write in a way that is memorable, and in keeping with your brand image.

Strategically place keywords.

Use keywords in places like your text, headlines and title tags (the text that shows up at the top of the browser window of the page).

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We've been trying to practice what we preach over here at Upward Brand Interactions... and writing what we're thinking isn't always easy for us either. But we're doing it -- and you should too. If you need someone to just ask about how you could blog for your business, I'm your girl. I'm @sparklegem on Twitter, or you can e-mail me at colig(at)oxiem.com or call 614.448.1812. Happy to chat.