Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day – take that same philosophy and apply it to your blog.  You may have developed your posting schedule, are writing what you consider to be really great content and are utilizing many tools (more on that in an upcoming post) to get your blog noticed but it’s still slow going in your eyes.  

You’ve been consistently posting for over three months and are not seeing a lot of growth and frankly, you’re starting to become discouraged.  What to do?

Unfortunately, there’s no magic bullet that’s going to immediately catapult you into getting mega traffic and one million plus readers.

Like the old tortoise and the hare story, you’ve just got to keep persevering.  No one becomes an expert in anything without putting in the time, continuing to learn and developing their skills.

For most of us, success doesn’t just happen overnight – it happens because you’re continually working toward your goals and developing your expertise on whatever it is you’re working on.

 

Give Serious Thought to the Purpose of Your Content – again, before you write, think about what your long term goals are before hitting the keyboard.  Are you trying to brand yourself/company?  Have you taken a good hard look at what your customers are looking for through their comments and conversations?  Have you checked out your competitors to see what they’re writing about?        

Using your writing time effectively means taking time to really THINK about what you want to achieve in the long run and how you can utilize your posts to get there.  What role are you playing and how are you positioning yourself to accomplish that?  In other words, how do you want to be perceived through your writing – as a teacher?  As an informed expert?  As a no-nonsense person who tells it like it is?   It’s ok to wear a different hat, depending upon the type of post you’re writing. 

 

Take a Hard Look at What it is You’re Offering – put yourself in your customer/client’s shoes and ask yourself the following:   what can this company provide for me?  How can these products help me?  How can I get more value from them?  Why would I want this service?  Etc.  

No matter what line of business you’re in, you should be able to come up with answers to these questions.  Once you do that, you can then create content that addresses these questions.  Think of different ways you can spin your writing to educate and amuse your readers by creatively getting your points across.  Don’t forget about telling stories to help you do this.  Variety is the spice of life so don’t be afraid to mix up your content delivery.

 

Engage Your Readers by Asking Questions and/or Asking them to Perform an Action -- this could be sharing your post with their friends so they receive something free (relatable to what your post is about – an item, a free report, etc.)  Also try incorporating some contests for your readers, especially if your business is product driven. 

 

Try Reciprocal Marketing – find others that have complimentary products that you can align with and share blog posts with.  For example, if you sell handmade hair jewelry, you can hook up with hair salons, other jewelry makers, etc. and share blog posts to get more exposure and traffic to everyone’s sites.  Your blog post can be seen on their site and vice versa so you get more bang for time spent writing and now you’ve even got a group to team up with for marketing events, etc.

As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to be continually thinking out of the box to grow your business.  Exploring new territory and not being afraid to align yourself with like-minded individuals is a great way to continually add fuel to your marketing fire. 

 

If You Don’t Already have a Social Media Presence, it’s High Time to Jump on that Bandwagon -- start with the two most popular sites – Facebook and Twitter.  Check out YouTube for training videos to learn how to use the power of social networks to grow your business.  Having multiple places to post and talk about your business gives you more opportunities to get yourself and your company out there. 

 

In summary, content marketing can be a real asset to your business’ growth if you take the time to map out your strategy.  In the long run, it will help you to focus your writing on what your customers’ really want and also provides an opportunity for you to begin positioning yourself and your company as a credible resource in your field.

Whether you’re just starting out in the world of blogging or have been at it for some time, you definitely should check out a new free blogging platform that is beginning to gain some traction and offers a lot of really great tools to take your business to the next level.

Go to:  https://markethive.com/workfromhomebusiness101