Use your small business blog to leverage the content you create. Through your blog, you can cross-promote small business happenings, such as when you or someone in your business makes a major presentation or generates news coverage.
Turn small business news into blog content
Each time you distribute a news release about your small business, rewrite the information in blog style using a conversational tone; incorporate links to any relevant photos, video, or supporting resources; and post it on your blog. From there, you can push it out via social media, using blog posts as the backbone of your content-distribution strategy.
When your news release results in media coverage, repost the information on your own site, either in full or by breaking the piece into small segments that you precede with a summary introduction and end with a link to the originally posted content. Use the same approach to extend the reach of articles or blog posts you publish on other sites.
Give longer life to small business presentations
When someone in your company gives a major presentation, turn the event into content you can share online in any of the following ways:
Turn the speech into a blog post that you feed out through social media and your e-newsletter, place as an e-article, or offer as a guest post.
Post a recap of the event, along with a list of questions people asked.
If you presented slides, post the deck on SlideShare, the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. Simply click “Signup” to establish a free account and then upload your presentation slides, video, or documents for public or private sharing. Then post the link to the presentation in social media status updates.
Embed your presentation on your website and blog, along with a keyword-rich title and description, so your visitors can view it without leaving your site and you can post social media announcements that feature the presentation link.
If your presentation was taped, post the audio or video on your site and then announce it via social media.
Be sure to add a call to action, inviting viewers to join your mailing list or to subscribe to your newsletter or blog to receive information on upcoming events. And always include “share” buttons. Who knows, your presentation could go viral.
Why you should add lists to your small business blog
On January 4, 1936, Billboard published the first Hit Parade. Decades later, vinyl records are antiques and the stars on the initial list are history, but Billboard still makes news with its roundups of chart-topping songs, albums, movies, and now even ringtones. In other words, people like lists.
If you can’t think of what to blog about, offer your wisdom in the form of a list. Here’s why lists work better today than ever before:
Lists make a clear promise. In an over-communicated world, lists specify exactly what they offer: The top five trends in blogging. Three reasons for inviting guest blog posts. They tell journalists and consumers exactly what they’re going to get, and they assure readers that the information is concise, organized, and authoritative.
Lists get talked about, retweeted, and reposted. According to viral content experts, lists get retweeted at triple the rate of other posts. Plus, the words top and ten are among the most retweeted words. Need more incentive? Most people retweet without ever opening the link they’re sharing, which makes the promise of a list headline even more valuable.
Online users search for lists. You’ve done it yourself if you’ve entered top into a search engine. Example: Top home-pricing tips.
Lists establish you as an authority. When you blog about top trends this year or five ways buyer preferences are changing, you post unique, highly shareable information, and you establish yourself as a thought leader in the process.
Best of all, when you publish a list, people read the whole thing. You don’t change the channel away from David Letterman until you hear “the number one reason,” and people will stick with your post for the same reason.