Blog Posts and Small Businesses

Could blogging give your business a boost?

There are currently 5.5 million small businesses in the UK. A small business is any business that has between 0-49 employees. When you run a small business, you’ve likely wondered whether blogging is a good use of your time. With a 6% decrease in the number of small businesses over the last year, it’s more important than ever that we as small business owners are able to market ourselves effectively. The addition of blog posts to your website is an efficient and simple way to drive traffic to your website, as well as answering some frequently asked questions at the same time.

We’re all busy and the prospect of sitting down and writing a blog post for your business might be the last thing you want to do. Some people just don’t like writing, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of or worry about. That’s where people like me come in. You see, blog posts can’t be lazy or too promotional. They have to be well-written and informative so that they bring new clients to your website, and then make them feel confident enough to order your services, whatever they might be.

There are five main benefits of blogging…

Grows online traffic.
Nurtures and converts customers.
Keeps customers engaged.
Makes you stand out from a crowd of potentially similar businesses.
Grows interest in your product.[1]

Running a small business is all about gaining clients and keeping them.

You can’t keep clients unless you have them in the first place. Providing a first-rate service only goes so far, and hopefully this is at the heart of everything you do, but you need to do something to introduce yourself to the customers initially. This is where regular blogging comes in. The addition of a blog means that you can focus on SEO (search engine optimisation) in order for your website to appear higher up the search results on Google, leading to more clicks and more customers being introduced to your business. The magic is that the more blogs you add to your website, the more of the above benefits you’ll see.

Blogging is about more than SEO.

Blogging shows that you are knowledgeable about your area of expertise and by writing informative and well-written content, or hiring somebody to help you out with that, it is more likely people will take you seriously. They might even share your blogs or include links to them on their own social media, meaning that more people will find your small business and benefit from the services you offer.

The best ways to get blogging…

First, you need to create a blog section on your website if you don’t already have one. After that, you need a strategy. Regularity is key. I’m terrible at practising what I preach in this regard, so you’ll have to just take my word for it. Decide how often you’re going to post and keep up with that. If you’re hiring somebody to write the blog for you, then discuss this beforehand to ensure you keep to your schedule. Also consider, who you are writing the blog for, what topics you’ll cover, and how you’re going to promote it. Social media is a fantastic way to do this! For blogs, it’s definitely a case of quality over quantity, so stick to something manageable and topics that fit your niche.

Hiring somebody to write blog posts for you…

There are a few things to consider when hiring somebody to write your blog posts for you.

Do your readers expect the blog to be written by you?

If yes, then your blog is clearly at the heart of your business and you need to make a decision as to whether outsourcing your blog is the right move for you. You might need to consider whether you would share with your readers that somebody else will be writing your blogs or whether you are going to keep that to yourself. As a ghostwriter, I have no issues with writing content for other people. However, the content I write is usually their own ideas and information, and I write it in a way that the reader can consume. If your readers believe they are reading something you’ve written, but in fact, you’ve had no input in the writing process, then this can lead to a break of trust with your consumers.

A possibility here is to introduce the new blogger to your audience, and maybe continue to publish your own blogs every now and again (at least for the time being) in order to allow your readers to build up a relationship with the blogger, after all, they are representing your brand.

What kind of writer do you need?

If your business is incredibly complicated or niche, it might be worth finding somebody with a background in that area to write for you. However, most blog writers, like myself, are happy to research content and will do so thoroughly, ensuring the information is correct and ready to be consumed by your audience. Just as a heads up, if you are expecting the writer to research a certain area prior to writing your blogs, this will be a touch more expensive to accommodate for the time spent researching.

Ask yourself – is the writer capable of writing for your blog? Can they match your personality and writing style (if that’s something you need)? How long have they been writing online content? Are they skilled and experienced? Can they help you achieve your goals? A good rule of thumb is to ask for examples of their previous work and to see reviews from their clients. All of my own reviews, or most of them at least, can be found on Fiverr through which I find most of my wonderful clients (Sarah Jules Writing Fiverr).

How much are you willing to spend on a writer?

Good writers don’t work for free, I’m sorry to say, and they will need to be compensated for their time and experience. For example, a 500-word blog post from me will set you back around £30 (depending upon a few different variables). You also need to factor in the time it would take you to write the blog post and whether it would be of the same quality as it would from a professional writer. This can help you to weigh up whether it’s worth it for you or not. There’s no harm in trying it out for yourself and then deciding to hire a writer or vice versa. Just like most things, it can be a case of trial and error.

So, what comes next?

At this point, you might have an idea about whether including a blog on your website would benefit you or not (it most likely would!) and so you need to decide what your next steps are. If you are considering writing the blog posts yourself, then definitely do it! I love writing blog posts, although I don’t have as much time to spend on writing them for myself as I’d like. But, that comes with the territory of writing them for other people! You might find that you like it and that you start to see benefits for your business. If not, then reach out to a writer and ask for their input. I’m always willing to discuss potential projects and find that my diary can be quite flexible in terms of fitting blog posts in. If you don’t think I’m the best fit for you, that’s totally fine too, there are loads of great freelance writers online on websites like Fiverr.

In the coming weeks, I plan to write a blog post about writing blog posts (talk about Inception!) to get you started if that’s something you’re interested in. However, in the meantime, here’s an article about writing blog posts to support your small business. How to Write a Business Blog.

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to discuss hiring me to write your blog posts, then please do reach out. I look forward to hearing from you!

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