How to Write a Popular Blog Post – Without Writing Posted on February 15, 2016August 25, 2022 by Jessica Lunk How do you become a leading voice in your industry? For that matter, how do you even get your foot in the door? The answer is content —blog posts, eBooks, whitepapers, articles, infographics and more. BUT – what if you don’t like that answer? What if the thought of sitting at your desk and hammering out a blog post on your keyboard sounds about as appealing as gouging out your eyeballs with a dull spoon? Then this post is for you! Finding the motivation to Write relevant blog posts and consistently share great content positions you and your business as an industry leader. But finding the time and mustering up the talent to put together great content can be really tough. That’s where lists – those irresistible listy listicles – come in. You don’t have to be much of a writer to create content that gets eyes on your brand and people to your website. By curating content, you can leverage excellent articles that already exist to keep current and potential customers engaged. You’ll become trusted voice in your industry, a disseminator of trusted and reliable information. And you won’t have to do the dirty work of writing original content. Creating a List Post that Gets Found and Shared Online Just like where you sit at lunch dictates your popularity in high school, the company you keep online can make or break your brand. The power of list posts is that by linking to and mentioning other websites, thought leaders and influencers, you give lift to your own brand and gain exposure to new audiences. Here are 9 types of list posts to create and share with your audience: Ask influencers: Tweet a question to people in your space that have a big presence and compile their answers into a blog post, like we did with our post, The Most Important Online Marketing Lessons of 2015 for Small Businesses. Ask your audience: Your customers and prospects want to hear from people who are just like them. Ask your audience a question to come up with a list of engaging, fun content – similar to when we asked our audience of small business owners about their Thanksgiving Traditions. Tap into employees: Ask your employees one question and put their answers in a blog post. We did this with our blog post, What Our Core Values Mean to Us. Use comment sections and reviews: Is there a topic that’s sparking conversation? Show your readers what others are saying about a hot topic in the comment section of your blog or other blogs, linking back, of course. For instance, we compiled what our customers were saying about us on several review sites in this blog post. Make a list of resources: Are there business tools you use that you would recommend to your customers? For instance, a bank might have a list of the 20 most affordable colleges within 100 miles, or a used car dealer may have the 10 best subcompact cars with links to each company that builds them. We put together a list of the 8 Marketing Podcasts Every Entrepreneur Should Hear for our audience of small business owners. Help your audience find more content: Where do you go to find content about your industry or niche? Create a list of blogs or resources for your audience, like our list of 21 Great Small Business Blogs. Be an inspiration: What keeps you motivated and moving every day? Put together a list of quotes or a fun list of internet memes. We shared small business inspiration in our Monday Motivational Quotes post. Find examples: You know a good thing when you see it in your niche. Curate and share those instances of excellence using images and links to tell a story. For instance, at Hatchbuck, we know good content marketing when we see it, so we put together this post on 12 Awesome Examples of Content Marketing Done Right. Link to old posts: If your business and blog have been around for a while, you probably have a good amount of blog content. Find a theme and make a list – kind of like we’re doing in this post right now! When it comes to content marketing and blogging, creating a list of curated content might sound a little bit like cheating. But, the reality is, these types of post aren’t just easy to create, they’re easy for your audience to digest and share. Mentioning other brands, leaders, and even your own employees can get new people to share your content, broaden your network and help your list posts gain instant popularity. When you don’t want to write a blog post, make a list. You’ll save time while growing your audience and showing potential customers your value.
20½ Small Business Tips For Blogging Posted on February 12, 2016June 20, 2018 by Jessica Lunk Content is the driving force behind your marketing strategies. You want something to send your potential customers in an email. You want to connect and reach more people on social media. You want a way to communicate the value you provide as a business owner in a conversational way. Blogging is a great way to expand your reach, build a relationship with your audience, and start converting more website visitors. Starting a blog is the easy part. Creating a place where potential customers return for valuable content is where there hard work comes in. Here are 20.5 tips for blogging we put together to keep in mind as you start building up your blog content: Know your audience. Create personas. Write to that one person. Your blog posts will resonate more when you know who you want to reach, their motivations, and how to speak to them. Set a goal for your blog and create your strategy. Start with picking the right platform for your blog. There are so many platforms out there for you to use depending on the personas you create. Just make sure it’s mobile-responsive! Make a big list of topics you want to blog about. Then start writing potential headlines for each topic. These lists are great to have when you hit a block and are not sure what to write about next. Decide if you or someone on your team will write for the blog. We encourage having more than one person on your team write for the blog to cover all aspects of your business. If you are looking to increase your content strategy, think about hiring a freelancer to cover a couple posts a month. Your headline is just as important as the content within. Make sure it is enticing enough for your reader to click through. Shoot for 500-750 words. Throwing long-form content (1000+ words) into the mix is great for SEO. Experiment by patching together multiple blog posts or writing on a topic that you have a lot to say about. Collect emails. Adding a form with a clear call to action to subscribe on your blog will help you start building an engaged list. Write seasonal and timely content. These are good on social media so you can expand your reach using trending hashtags. Write evergreen content. You will build SEO points so your blog post will strengthen in rank as time goes on. These blog posts have a longer lifespan and enhance your email marketing campaigns. Include guest authors. Current customers, influencers, or partners help you get another perspective on your blog and builds your audience up. Tell a story and get personal. You audience will feel connected to you with a funny, touching, or passionate story. Bring in research and stats but make sure to always link to the source. Lists are still hot on social. Create a list with images, gifs, etc… The more creative and relevant you can get with your lists, the more it will stick out. Include great photos as a featured image or in the post. If you can, take your own photos. If not, find free photos using the Creative Commons or The Stocks. Call out influencer and companies with similar audiences. They will be more willing to share your blog post and start building a working relationship. Just start! Once you start blogging more and more, you will begin to develop your voice and your style. It will change as you learn how you want to write for your blog. Be consistent. When you start your blog, write a few blog posts and determine how often you will be able to publish a post. Then set your goal! Be your authentic self. You can try to be someone else, you can try to be something else, but nothing will resonate more than just being yourself. Create a distribution strategy and process for all your new content. It will vary by how often you post but it will ensure your content is getting in the right places! Great, valuable blogging is not an overnight strategy. When you ramp up your blogging and content strategy, it will take a few weeks and even months to start seeing progress. Don’t get discouraged! Some days you will feel like you are the first person at the party, but then your audience will slowly start to trickle in. Have any questions about blogging or content strategy? Send the Hatchbuck Marketing team your question on Twitter. We are always happy to help!
21 Great Small Business Blogs Posted on November 10, 2015August 2, 2018 by Jessica Lunk If you’ve ever searched for small business blogs, you know how ubiquitous they are—everyone, it seems, is blogging about small business (as well as entrepreneurship and startups). Most of these blogs are just marketing tools–their creators try to lure you in with a few bits of generic information and advice and then comes the pitch for whatever they want to sell to small businesses. There are some blogs, however, that do provide guidance, insight and advice for small business owners about how to build successful ventures. Here are twenty-one of the best blogs out there for small business owners—providing education, information and inspiration: BizSugar A blog with small business news and tips that is crowd-curated. BizSugar’s community of readers share business blog posts, videos and other content from which readers of the blog can learn something, For those that share content, they are reinforcing their reputation and brand and bringing online visibility to their content. The community votes on member-submitted tips, advice and information, advancing the most popular (and what’s considered by the community to be most useful) posts to the home page. Top posts are pushed to the top or can make it into the BizSugar Top 10 list. Kabbage Kabbage is redefining how small business find and apply for loans online and their blog is full of tips to grow, manage, fund, or innovate your small business. Social Triggers A blog from Derek Halpern, who writes about sales, marketing, entrepreneurship and the world of social media. Halpern was called “the master of social media” and the world of online communications by Inc. magazine. DIY Marketers Small business owners are often limited by their marketing budget. DIY Marketers focuses on those creative marketing strategies that help you reach more customers for less money and Ivana Taylor makes it fun. Penelope Trunk Raw, funny insights from the entrepreneur Penelope Trunk about starting, running and marketing a business. You’ll also find advice on productivity, management, blogging and other business-related issues, as well as life lessons—all of them Trunk’s, of course, but useful nonetheless. Marketing Profs If you’re looking for a digest of the latest and greatest marketing tips and news, Ann Handley’s got you covered. Her aim with Marketing Profs is to educate the modern marketer using real world data and examples. With the PRO membership, you get access to their best content. Both Sides Of The Table A blog written by Mark Suster, a two-time entrepreneur who sold one of those companies to Salesforce.com and then became a venture capitalist. (Get it? Both sides of the table?) He’s a general partner in Upfront Ventures and blogs about startups, entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, management, leadership and more. Copyblogger The mother of all content marketing blogs. Copyblogger will help you advance your content marketing skills across the board. They produce some of the most valuable content resources on the web and their topics cover a wide range. Writing well is a skill that requires frequent studying and practice and Copyblogger can be an excellent guide to improvement. AVC A blog written by Fred Wilson, managing partner of two venture capital firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures. Wilson is a leader in the entrepreneurial community and has been a VC for more than 20 years. He has been writing on the blog everyday since Sept. 2003 and the topics are wide-ranging but related to starting and running a business (while also trying to live a somewhat normal life). Small Business Survival This blog has been around since 2006 and is geared toward rural and small town small businesses, with how-to articles and an emphasis on social media marketing, plus a chance for business owners to share good news in the blog’s weekly “Brag Basket.” OPEN Forum American Express has really knocked it out of the park with OPEN Forum. They’re covering topics from agile marketing to building company culture and everything in between. Adrian Swinscoe Blog of consultant and speaker Adrian Swinscoe, which features interviews with business people and posts about customer experience, building a customer-centric business, service, social media as well as employee and customer engagement. Buffer All social everything! What I love the most about Buffer is their transparency. They are not afraid to share their data, what they’ve failed at, and what they’ve learned. They have a buzzing community of people who want to discuss what they’ve learned from the Buffer blog. Chat with Buffer’s content creators and grow in a fun, exciting community! The Franchise King The blog of Joel Libava, otherwise known as The Franchise King®. Libava is a franchise ownership advisor and the author of Become a Franchise Owner! The Star-Up Guide to Lowering Risk, Making Money and Owning What You Do (John Wiley) Everything you ever wanted to know about researching, choosing and buying a franchise. Evergreen Small Business Written by Stephen L. Nelson, a Seattle-based CPA who specializes in serving small business owners, this blog is focused on the details around running a small business, like tax issues related to LLCs, a review of do-it-yourself incorporation kits, Affordable Care Act information for small businesses and how to handle past due tax returns. Mixergy Mixergy interviews entrepreneurs on their successes and failures. Learn from a wide range of passionate business leaders who not only had a business ideas but a mission. Mission is #1 at Mixergy. Google Small Business This is Google’s official blog for small business owners, where the company discusses new releases, new Google tools and how to make the most of them, and instructional information like how to set up your first data feed, and experts weighing in on how to make the most of social media. The blog is somewhat promotional—after all, it’s mostly about Google products and tools—but it’s still very useful. Duct Tape Marketing John Jantsch is his name, and the “World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert” is his game. He runs Duct Tape Marketing, providing reliable marketing advice to small business owners and marketers. Farnam Street Have you been meaning to read up on the great philosophers but don’t have the time? Farnam Street will teach you how to think, read, and perceive the world around you the way the famous big thinkers do. Become a better leader and “go to bed smarter than when you woke up.” Fast Company So there’s Fast Company… and then there’s the Fast Company blog. They do things differently by using Tumblr as their blog platform filled with beautiful pics, gifs, and that same digestable information we crave from Fast Company. They cover leadership topics as well as design, productivity, business, and useful life topics. Richard Branson Because who doesn’t like the dude? This post was updated on August 2, 2018.
5 Sure-Fire Lead Generation Tips for Your Blog Posted on January 23, 2015September 8, 2022 by Jessica Lunk Blogging leads to small business success. In fact, small businesses that blog gain 126% more leads than businesses that don’t. When it comes to building business, blogging is a no-brainer. But, is your business blog working as hard as you do to generate fresh leads for your company? Here are 5 fool-proof lead generation strategies that can turn your blog traffic into revenue for your business: 1. Add a Blog Subscription Sign-Up There are over 78.5 million WordPress blogs across the globe. That doesn’t even include the millions of blogs on Tumblr, Blogger, Technorati and more. People love blog content, but there is so much info online. It can be tough to build a loyal following of visitors. Adding a form to your blog so that visitors can easily subscribe to new posts helps you stay top of mind, instead of getting lost in a sea of millions of other blogs. To make sure you don’t miss out on sign-ups: Include a clear call to action to sign-up on your blog Indicate how often you’ll be emailing blog updates to avoid spam complaints Losing out on connecting with ideal prospects who are visiting your blog is scary. Instead, capitalize on the excitement visitors feel when they’ve hit your blog. Capture prospect info by offering a subscription to your awesome content so that you can stay in touch. 2. Tap Into Evergreen Content for Conversions Some content never goes out of style. Those blog posts or articles that light up your prospects and customers long after they’ve been written are pillars of content that bolster your brand and messaging. Evergreen content strikes a harmonious chord with your ideal buyer independently of time or place. Evergreen content is powerful, because your audience will continue to share it with their social networks regardless of when you published the content. In addition, pillar content also appears in coveted top-of-the-page search results, driving valuable organic traffic to your site. You can turn organic visitors that come to your website via social and search engines into a wealth of opportunity for your business. So how do you make the most of evergreen content? Here are a few places to start: Spruce Up Evergreen Content: Give your evergreen content a refresh from time to time. As your business evolves, update evergreen content so it remains appealing and relevant to your audience. This includes making sure that evergreen content falls in line with your keyword strategy as search terms and phrases change. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to help generate keyword ideas. Drive Visitors More Deeply into Your Site: Don’t let potential buyers bounce from your site once they’ve hit your evergreen content. Add links to relevant pages on your site, like a related blog post or article. This will keep them engaged with your brand, raising awareness of who you are, what you do, and the problems you can solve. Capture New Leads: For top-of-the-funnel evergreen content, add an enticing call to action to gather contact details from new visitors to your site. For example, encourage visitors to subscribe for more great blog posts, or to download a game-changing resource or guide. The key to turning these captured leads into new customers is not just to capture their information and let it sit on the sidelines, but to keep your business top of mind by nurturing them with relevant content over time. Drive Opportunities: For bottom-of-the-funnel evergreen content, drive opportunities and customers by adding a call to action to learn more about your products or services. For example, ask visitors to schedule a consultation, take a demo, or request a meeting. Here’s an example from the Leadpages.net blog. At the end of the post, they include a call to action to sign-up for a resource. This helps to capture information from strong prospects who have hit their blog from social media or organic search: Evergreen content is fertile ground for tapping into a rich channel of prospects. Optimizing evergreen content can help fill your pipeline with both top-of-the-funnel leads that are just looking, as well as bottom-of-the-funnel opportunities that are ready to buy. 3. Syndicate Your Blog Content Consistent blogging is more than an awareness exercise – it can add to your bottom line. The key is to get your riveting, targeted blog content in front of the right audience. Email marketing and social media are both avenues that can increase traffic to your blog. But if you want to extend your reach to an even larger audience, there are lots of sites that will push out your content by syndicating your blog’s RSS feed. Where to start syndication? Check out these sites: Alltop shows readers what’s trending in the topics they’re interested in. By syndicating your feed here, you can reach an audience that is enthusiastic about thought leadership and news in specific categories. Business 2 Community is a reputable content aggregator for business professionals. They manually screen contributors, maintaining a high quality of content that attracts a large number of readers. The site’s content is also picked up by third parties including Yahoo Small Business Advisor and Google News. Scoop.It lets you curate content on the topics that apply to your interests and industry, but you can also share your content there. Sign-up for the free personal account to share up to 10 links a day, and get your content in front of a new audience. Social Media Today is a community of PR, marketing, advertising and other professionals that require a social media background. If your content has a social media spin to it, this is a great place to become a contributor and submit individual blog posts or submit your RSS feed. Syndicating your blog content can help a brand new audience gain awareness of your brand. For syndication to really work for your business, choose sites that align closely with your ideal buyer to generate quality leads for your business. 4. Gate Your Best Blog Content Repurpose your best blog content and recycle it into downloadable bundles. Offer these blog bundles as resources to your audience, giving you another tool for generating new leads for your business. Pull together related posts to put everything you have to say about a popular topic at your audience’s fingertips. Or, bundle together all of your posts so your audience can download your blog as a whole. Gating blog content is a great strategy because the content already exists, so you don’t have to create anything new. In addition, your original, individual posts stay live on your website so they can continue to do their job to boost organic search traffic. Turn your blog posts into lead generators by bundling them up in exchange for the contact details of prospects in your audience that fit the profile of your ideal buyer. For example, here is a bundle of our most popular blog posts on lead nurturing: 5. Feature Your Team Members When it comes to generating new leads, a little transparency can go a long way. We do so much business online, so giving your audience a glimpse behind the scenes of your company generates trust in your brand and opens the door to create new, fruitful relationships. Feature your team members on your blog to put your talent and expertise on display. Introducing team members to your audience also drives home how your business’s mission and values are aligned with your team members and the culture they’ve created. J/E Bearing & Machine does a nice job of highlighting their employees and also adding social links, making it super simple for potential prospects to reach out to team members. While you’re highlighting team members and your awesome company culture, take the opportunity to attract great talent your way. Mention job openings, emphasize opportunities for growth, outline employee perks, and let interested job candidates know how they can get it touch. Not only does an open call for talent attract potential team members, but it also sends a positive message to your audience – your business is growing. No one wants to work with a business that is going to disappear the next day. Calling attention to opportunities within your company sends the message that you’re not going anywhere and are here to stay. Providing that sneak peak into your company’s culture and talent pool not only attracts the right employees, but attracts the right type of customer. With a few improvements, your business can be wildly successful at generating quality leads from your blog.