I was in the Guinness Storehouse last week at a client event and two people I had never met before came up to me and started chatting to me because of blogs of mine that they read. One of these conversations was on the way into the loo!
One of these posts was about the Jobbridge scheme and the other was about companies undoing the good by overselling.
Yesterday afternoon I came across an incredible blog post via Twitter , which gave me huge insight into the life of a friend of mine.
It struck home to me once again the reach and impact that blogs have and how powerful this activity has been for me and for our business, Fuzion.
I’m dedicated to writing at least one blog post every week, which I publish and circulate across my different social media platforms. Typically I will write it over the weekend on the laptop or first thing in the morning like this one ..
You could be reading this post from an email or direct from my blog site or you may have stumbled across it as a follower of mine or Fuzion on twitter, a friend of mine on Facebook, a fan of the Fuzion business page on Facebook or maybe on LinkedIn, either as a status update or posted as a discussion post on a LinkedIn group.
In any scenario I write my blog post, which gives me the ability to reach a big audience across a variety of platforms.
Hopefully anyone who reads them will find the posts interesting (I vary them between technical marketing orientated posts, some business observations and some very random personal and other posts) and as a result will form some sort of an opinion about me and Fuzion. Hopefully these opinions are good and if the need arises for our range of services we will be in the frame as a possible provider!
Yes, that is a reason that I write them but I also write them because I enjoy writing, connecting and receiving feedback. I get a buzz from them … Sad but true !
My blogs are hosted on the WordPress platform, which is easy to use, is well optimised and it provides me with great stats and insights about how readers came to my site and which posts have been read the most (or least!).
In terms of ideas I use a little notepad on my iPhone where I jot them down when they come to me and when I have time I have a peep at my list …. sometimes I see these notes and I just can’t figure out what I had in mind when I jotted them down!
So …. The big question – why blog at all?
Here are my reasons why you might consider it –
Social Media Noise – it is hard to grab attention online at this stage as it is a very congested place. By generating your own (hopefully quality) content you can stand out.
Expertise – what better way to demonstrate your expertise about your business than writing about it?
Passion – if you are passionate about what you do, your blog is a terrific way to demonstrate this. Passion is hard to hide!
Optimisation – at a very practical level if you write online about your subject matter enough and use the right keywords and follow some simple SEO protocol you will be found much easier by people searching
Writing Skills – blog writing sharpens your writing skills and it also helps to formulate your ideas and thoughts properly around your topics
Idea generation – once you commit to a blog a week/day/month you will be surprised how ideas come to you and how much sharper your mind gets after a while
Testing topics – you can gauge media potential for a topic through a blog post
Rant! – sometimes you might need to take on a topic or issue online and writing a blog and distributing it through your social media platforms can be extremely powerful.
Business – if you do it right with a clear focus and some patience your efforts will result in new business
Personality – your blog is a great way for people to get to know you, understand you, see what motivates and inspires you and possibly wish to do business with you. The platform gives you an opportunity to be less formal on a website for example.
Social Media Raw Material – After a while you will build up a bank of blog posts, which can provide valuable material to feed your hungry social media platforms. Many of your blog posts, depending on the topic are capable of being recycled – great tips and advice will not date.
This prize is there waiting for you (most of your competitors surprisingly won’t grab it) so it is up to you to seize the opportunity and be the one in your sector who is winning by blogging.
It might feel strange at first but like everything practice makes perfect and in no time at all you will be flying ..
Go on …you are just one click away!
Check out Tips about Blogging and Making some Noise
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency in Ireland with offices in Cork and Dublin
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 