Blogging is important for small businesses and thought leaders. It allows you to rank for certain topics, and differentiate yourself or your business in the marketplace. It's also great for SEO!

1. Intro to Blogging
for
Small Business
Catherine Morgan
Business Consultant | Career Transition Expert
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

2. Starting your blog

3. Why have a blog?
• Thought leadership
• Differentiation
• SEO

4. Tell your story
• Manage your message
• Attract ideal clients

5. Differentiate your business
• Why are you different?
• Why are you better?

6. Answer FAQs
• What questions are you always answering
during the sales process?
– Create content around these topics

7. Your team, the face of your business
• When possible, use the real faces of
your team – not stock photos
• Showcase individual team members
• Add pictures to executive bios

8. Rank for specific terms
• What do people type into search?
– Example: job search vs. career transition

9. Maintaining your blog

10. Anatomy of a blog post
• Short form – 450-750 words
• Long form – more than 1,500
• Posts should always have a great picture
– Posts with pictures get shared more
– Some experts suggest multiple pictures
• Think about your key word(s) and incorporate
into text several times
– But not so many that the reader can tell!

11. Compelling headlines lead to clicks
• Lists
– Top 10 Tips for Staying Productive at Work
– 3 Reasons to Quit Your Job Right Now
• Don’t do this
– How to Irritate a Podcast Host
– “Didn’t Get the Gig? Maybe It’s ‘Cause Ur
Illiterate.”(By Catherine Morgan)
• X things not to do
– Don’t Do These 3 Things If You Want to Be Rich

12. Include hyperlinks
• Are you referencing someone else’s content?
Make sure you link to it!
– You can include links to your own content as well

13. Online writing best practices
• Enable visual scanning
– Pictures
– Subheads
– Bullet lists
– Short paragraphs
• 1-4 lines – no more

14. Are you stuck for topics?
• AnswerthePublic.com
• Hubspot’s blog topic generator
• Chris Brogan’s 100 blog topics
• Your inbox
– What questions are your customers asking?

15. Content calendar
• Commit to publishing dates
• Spread out different kinds of content
– Small business content example:
• Marketing
• Selling
• Customer service
• Social media
• Mindset
• Productivity

16. Switch it up – embed media
• Embed podcasts or videos
– Google owns YouTube and may rank
posts with videos higher

17. Guest blogging – sharing the wealth
• Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media always says
you shouldn’t blog alone
– “Guest Blogging: The Right Way to Pitch a Blog
Editor” (by Catherine Morgan)

18. Posting your content elsewhere
• Can you syndicate your content?
– Related websites? Article databases?

19. Getting the word out

20. Promote more than you think
• Derek Halpern of Social Triggers says:
– Create 20%
– Promote 80%

21. One possible promotion schedule
• Twitter
– Tweet 2-3 times the first day 8-12 hours apart
(says Guy Kawasaki)
– Continue to promote periodically going forward
(if evergreen content)
• Facebook
– If you have a business page, pay $5 (or more)
to promote FB post so people actually see it
• Organic reach is ~ 10% (!)
– Share it on your timeline from your page

22. Reposting on LinkedIn
• If you’re a thought leader:
– Post first on your blog
– Wait 3 days (so it gets indexed by search engines)
THEN post on LinkedIn Pulse
– Promote it both times (and promote again
periodically, if evergreen)
– Include a short bio at the end of your post on
LinkedIn for people who aren’t connected to you

23. Promotion pro tips
• Reach out to people who create similar
content and target a similar audience
– Ask them if they would share your post
– Remember to return the favor with their stuff 
• Team up with others and support each other
on an ongoing basis!
– That’s a big win-win
• Tag people if you have
a relationship

24. Repurposing content
• Social media posts
• Memes
• Short videos
• Podcasts
• Interviews

25. Questions?
Catherine Morgan
Business Consultant | Career Transition Expert
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
877.672.5333
Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/pointatopointb
Twitter @PointA_PointB