Blog

A good blog article is well-written and either inspiring, informative or entertaining and, importantly, not obviously promoting your business. But blogging can be a great way of subtly promoting your business.

Show the reader who you are

A blog article about something that interests readers will result in more people checking out your business via your website.

If your blog is in your own website, readers who enjoyed the article can check out your other articles or find out more about you from your website.

If you publish your articles in a different site (e.g. a social media platform) you should always end each article with a short blurb about you and your business, and a link to your website and other articles. That way, readers who enjoyed the article can check out your other articles in your blog or find out more about you.

Subtly write about what you sell

If your blog article gives good information about what you sell and is actually about those goods or services themselves (not about the fact that you sell them) it can show your readers that you really know your stuff. This information-sharing is likely to result in the reader feeling like they’ve been given something for nothing therefore positive about you and your business.

Some of the topics I cover in my business blog are about what I sell: editing and proofreading, audio transcription, scribing and business writing. The main aim of my articles is to inform the reader about the subject (e.g. editing and proofreading). But at the same time as sharing information, the articles are showing the reader that I really know what I’m talking about when it comes to editing and proofreading. This may prompt them to click the ‘editing and proofreading’ tab on my website; or next time they need something edited or proofread, they might remember that article or my website and look me up.

Write about other topics

A business blog about topics that have little relevance to what you sell can also subtly but successfully promote your business.

The benefits of publishing blog articles that have no direct relevance to what you sell are:

• the reader will perceive the article has been written purely for information-sharing; that there is no ulterior motive
• if the article is inspiring, informative or entertaining the reader will feel they have been given something for nothing, and positive about the experience
• the reader may then be interested in who’s written the article and/or check out your other blog articles and business website .

Some of my articles have no relation to what I sell – except, of course, that because I have written them, they all indirectly showcase my writing and editing skills and services. I write articles about work-life balance, working from home and other issues around freelancing or managing sole trader businesses, as well as blogging.

At the end of the articles I include a little blurb that says who I am and what I sell, and provides links to related articles and/or my business website.

Be honest and professional

Your business blog is one of the main shopfronts of your business.

If your article is presented clearly, is easy to read and shows that you know what you’re talking about, the reader will perceive you as someone who not only knows their subject but is also professional. Depending on the subject of your article, they may also get the feeling that you’re honest and reliable. That is, people may be won over by your article.

On the other hand, if your article is about a subject you don’t know very well, this will be evident and the article will turn people away from your business.

If your article is not presented professionally – for example, contains typos or grammatical errors – this will also turn people away.

So be honest: only write about what you know. And be professional: make sure your article – your shopfront – has been well-written and edited.

Your articles will then potentially win new customers for your business.

For more articles about this subject, go to: Business blogging.

Sally-Anne Watson Kane has been owner/operator of her sole trader business On Time Typing since 2002. On Time Typing provides report-writing, scribing, editing and proofreading services to clients across Australia. Sally-Anne has been blogging since January 2016. For more information, go to: About us.