Many bloggers struggle to create a frequently updated blog. I’ve even heard people say not to blog frequently because they believe you can’t create quality and post frequently. The CMO of Satmetrix, Deb Eastman told me she can barely get to it once a week.
I vehemently disagree. You can create a frequently updated blog filled with great content – if you are creative and committed.
How do you create a lot of content? One way is to enlist an army. Hubspot told me almost all of their employees blog, which gives them tons of content. But what if you don’t have an army?
We almost match Hubspot’s remarkable output and I’m just one person. In addition to this blog on B2B lead generation, which publishes at least once a day, I also publish The B2B Sales Lounge on B2B sales, for our client, OneSource, which also publishes daily.
To do what I do, you need to take charge. Here’s how. My 5 Tips to Make your Blog ROCK!
Let’s first explore why we blog. A blog’s a great way to engage readers, and as Hubspot found, a frequently updated blog makes a big difference in attracting sales leads. Google also loves blogs, which makes blogs great lead generation platforms.
One important tip – make sure you sprinkle your keywords into the blog post, especially early. And hyperlink your keywords to pages on your website, like “want a free education on B2B lead generation?” (Wordtracker has a free plug-in for Firefox to track the use of keywords. Let me know if you need a link.)
Since I’m a very prolific blogger and I publish great content every weekday for two different blogs, here are 5 tips and tricks I’ve learned that you can use too:
- Create simple and easy serial content
For instance, I publish “Laugh and Learn featuring the Fearless Competitor” every Friday. How? Come up with an idea, create a prop, turn on the webcam and talk. It’s easy. And it is 20% of your weekly content. - Offer to interview experts and have them interview you
A Thought Leadership series is a great idea. Just create a set of questions and invite top experts. I did it with many top experts like Jon Miller of Marketo, Trish Bertuzzi of the Bridge Group, Kevin Temple of Enterprise Selling, Paul Dunay of Buzz Marketing for Technology and Brian Kardon of Eloqua. Post one a week and we’ve got 40% done. (When combined with the weekly video.) - Read other blogs and share great content
You can blog about other blog posts. For instance, Paul Dunay had a great article at Buzz Marketing for Technology entitled “Found the ROI in Social Media for B2B” It gave me a great idea for a blog article and I link it to Paul’s article. Bloggers love it when you link to them. - Enlist the aid of other bloggers and re-purpose your own stuff.
Invite experts to write a guest post for you and you write for them.I’ve written (or am writing) guest posts for HubSpot, Genius.com, Eloqua, Marketo, SavvyB2b and B2B Blogger. Here’s an example. Eloqua published a video interview with me called “RPM with the Fearless Competitor.” They can write for you too.
And you can reuse your own content. My popular blog post, The Best B2B Marketing Ideas of 2010, was turned into a Linkedin poll, a Slideshare presentation and four YouTube videos. And going back to prior years, I found great posts I could update and reuse.
- Build a community of experts
Genius has ConnectedMarketer. Focus has Expert status. You can connect thought leaders. Invite them to add content. Post comments and their blogs and invite them to comment on yours.
Think. All the time. Read a lot. Talk to people. Ask questions. You can become a content factory. B2B lead generation is all about content marketing today. Your content becomes the bait on the hook to attract sales leads.
What did I miss? Do you have other tips and tricks? We’d love to hear from you.
What do you think? We love comments and people who share.
