Is it still worth blogging for business in 2022?

IMPORTANT: THIS TRANSCRIPT IS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED. WE GIVE IT A QUICK CHECK THROUGH BUT WE DON’T CORRECT EVERYTHING AS IT’S INTENDED TO HELP YOU FIND PARTS YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO AGAIN - NOT AS AN EXACT TRANSCRIPT. SO THERE MIGHT BE A FEW QUIRKY WORDS/PHRASES HERE!

:: 00:01

Oh, you feeling frustrated because your website isn't generating enough leads and sales for your business. Perhaps you're blogging regularly on your site, but fail. You're still not getting the traffic you deserve. Maybe you started a blog, but gave up because you felt like no one was actually reading it. Maybe you have a podcast or a YouTube channel, and that's not getting the engagement that you want either.

:: 00:24

And by the way, that is a blog. If you're also publishing that content on your website, I'm Janet Murray, I'm a content and online business strategist. I'm also the creator of a bunch of content kits that will save you time and money in your business. My latest kit is the courageous blog content kit. So over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing a series of podcast episodes on the topic of blogging.

:: 00:47

Before I tackle the question, is it worth looking for business in 2022? I ought to start by talking about what it is. So there are tons of definitions of blogs out there, but the best way to describe it, in my opinion, anyway, is that blogging refers to writing photography and any other media that's self-published online personally. I don't think any content you publish on your website can be regarded as blogging though.

:: 01:15

I guess the difference for me is that a blog typically has the purpose of engaging and building an audience over time. Whereas other content published on your website. So for example, your about page or a sales page, well, that has a very specific purpose. And while people might return to that content, multiple times, you can't really build a community or a following for an about page or a sales page on your website,

:: 01:41

nor can your about page or your sales page help you to become an authority on a particular topic. There is a limit to the value of that type of content. Compare this to a blog where you show up regularly with the intention of becoming a trusted resource that people return to. Again and again, this is far more likely to help you for 30,

:: 02:04

right? And by the way, a blog does not need to be written content. So if you currently have a podcast, a YouTube channel, perhaps you publish your Facebook live show on your website every week. Maybe you're a photographer that publishes some kind of visual content or an artist. For example, that's is still a blog. If your aim is to build your audience and your authority on a particular topic,

:: 02:30

you do have a blog. So how can having a blog help your business? Well, if you've invested in one of my content kits, for example, my business basics kit, you'll be familiar with my three audiences theory and the infographic that goes with it, which is all about the three types of audience you need to create. When you run a business,

:: 02:51

if you haven't seen that, don't worry. I'm going to give you a quick run through. Now, when you run an online business and you need to promote products or services online, you really need to create content for three types of people and often refer to it as having three sections to your audience. So, first off, you've got your hot audience.

:: 03:11

So these are the people who are most likely to buy from you. So typically that will be existing customers, previous customers, or clients, friends, family, people who already have a relationship with you and crucially know like, and trust you. And these people are most likely to buy. Then you've got your warm audience. So this is typically engaged.

:: 03:32

Social media followers, email subscribers, Facebook group members. If you have one podcast, listeners, friends of friends, typically people who know you, there is some like, and trust there there's a bit of a relationship there, but perhaps they're not at that stage where they have made a purchase from you, or if they have, it's been a small one,

:: 03:52

this group is the second most likely to buy. Then you've got your cold audience. And this is the group that is least likely to buy from you because these people don't even know about you yet. They don't know about your product or service. They don't know about you. And quite frankly, they don't care, but they are out there searching for answers to questions or problems that they've got ones that your product or service could help with.

:: 04:17

So it really makes sense for you to create content, to attract these types of people. But you do need to bear in mind that while your hot audience could say yes to you today, or is that leap very quickly because you've already got that relationship that no life will trust. And even your warm audience may not take that long to convert your cold audience while you're going to need to factor in some time for those particular people to become your customers or clients,

:: 04:43

because let's face it. They don't even know about you yet. So a business blog can be a brilliant way to attract new people into your world. And in particular, that cold audience, there's people who don't know about you yet, but they have got the problems that your product or service solves having a business blog, where you answer your ideal customers or clients.

:: 05:05

Questions can not only help you get found by new customers or clients. It can also help you nurture that existing audience, your warm and hot leads. Plus it can also help you build your audience and your authority, both of which are vital when it comes to building trust with prospective customers and clients, and ultimately making more sales online. It's really important to remember that at any one time,

:: 05:31

you'll have people in your audience who are at a different stage in their journey with you, which is why you need to think about all three types when you're planning your content. If you have a copy of my courageous content planner, I think this will really help in understanding those four styles of content that I recommend. So using trends, inspire community and educate and how each of those can help you to grow your business.

:: 05:57

But typically your news and trends and educate style blog content is going to be most effective for attracting new people into your world via Google Pinterest, via podcasts apps and YouTube searches and inspire or community content can be particularly effective for nurturing your warm leads and certain types of inspire content. For example, testimonials will be really effective for sales. So yes, I absolutely believe it's still worth blogging for business in 2022.

:: 06:29

And if you sometimes find it challenging to come up with ideas for blog posts, or you find it takes you ages to write them, you should absolutely consider investing in my creators blog content care because it contains hundreds filling the gaps, blog paste, headers 24 blog posts, templates, plus templates for social media posts, email newsletters, and other content that will help you promote your blog content along with my 30 day blog content promotion plan.

:: 06:57

And by the way, you do need to promote your blog. If you've enjoyed this episode, keep an eye out. Or should I say an ear out for upcoming episodes also on the topic of blogging for business. And I will put a link to my courageous blog content kit in the show notes for this episode.