On 20 June, I hosted a business blogging workshop, with Milton Keynes’ own resident words expert at the wheel – Suzan St Maur.

Suz has many years’ experience in the world of copywriting and blogging – she’s even published some very successful books on the topic – and her website, howtowritebetter.net, has several thousand hits a day from across the world.

Beginning with our customary introductions, so that everyone makes some new local connections, we then heard Suz’s blogging basics, before moving into breakout groups, where we focussed on each other’s businesses and swapped ideas and suggestions.

These were some of the top tips from the workshop that our networkers took away with them:

Number 1

If you’re not blogging for your business, start now. the “customer journey” begins a long way before deciding to buy, and your blog is a great way to introduce yourself to new visitors, and flesh out your business’s online identity.

Number 2

Think carefully what you’re writing – is this what your audience wants to read? You may be able to write eloquently about a specialist side of your business, but it might not be interesting to your readers. Put yourself in their shoes – as a customer, which bits of your knowledge and experience would they find useful and engaging? What’s going to encourage them to think you are the company to buy from?

This was an exercise we did in breakout groups; looking at each business in turn, we all brainstormed some blog post ideas that we would like to see as potential customers of that business. There were some great ideas, and some that our businesses hadn’t ever thought of!

Number 3

Host it on your own website, and share share share on your social media outlets. Hashtag it and tweet it, post it on LinkedIn, and on your Facebook page. Never underestimate the power of a hashtag – you can end up with shares and mentions all over the world, and the more exposure the better.

 

Feedback from the workshop attendees was so positive, and we are looking at running more sessions about actually writing blog articles, and maximising your SEO – as well as repeating this session later in the year. To find out more about SJPoole Network sessions, check the Monthly Events page.