Blogs are a powerful tool in your company’s marketing arsenal to attract more clients, but they are often overlooked as dreadful tasks you’re forced to throw together out of obligation. You hear how valuable blog posts can be for SEO, so you might pepper them with some search terms that sound like a good fit or maybe you have no idea what you’re supposed to write. However, your blog is not something to ignore—especially if you want more business—and it’s so much more than just a place to splash pretty photos with some well-placed keywords!
Instead, your business’ blog serves as a home base for all your content, be it pictures, videos, expert advice, or step-by-step guides. While you might think your Instagram or Pinterest profile fills that role, remember that your website is the only place you own. You get the freedom to create, design, organize, and store your content however you’d like—and you don’t have to worry about losing it all if a social media platform becomes defunct. Consider your blog like an insurance policy for all of your work.
Not to mention, your blog isn’t full of ads and distractions pulling people away from your content. Instead, it provides a space solely for you to speak to a captive audience who want to know more about you and what you do. So give them what they want!
For most, a blog is also the only place where self-promotion is encouraged. What might feel braggadocious on social media belongs on your blog. It’s a place for you to promote your business and celebrate its accomplishments.
Think of your blog like a mini-magazine whose sole purpose is to promote your brand. As the editor of your own blog, it’s your job to share about all of the good work that you’re doing and to tell the world that you’re the expert at your craft.
If better blogging as a means of attracting and booking more clients is on your list of 2023 goals, the best time to start is now. Here’s how to use the remaining weeks of the year to build a lasting blog strategy that will produce results for your business.
Create a blog plan around existing content.
One of the biggest obstacles holding back entrepreneurs is figuring out what to blog. Some topics feel too challenging to write, while others feel overdone and tired. Should you write about seasons? Locations? The lack of direction is enough to cause decision paralysis.
Here’s the thing: As an event professional, you already have plenty of content at your disposal. You are constantly working on beautiful celebrations that can (and should) live on your blog. You are regularly answering clients’ questions and helping them solve problems. All of this makes excellent fodder for your blog!
During slower seasons, sit down and create a blog plan around existing content. For instance, you can turn every single FAQ on your website into a full blog post. Likewise, every event, custom order, or project you’ve done in the past year can also become a visual journey as its own blog post. There’s no need to recreate the wheel—work with what you’ve got!
Make blogging a regular habit.
So often, event entrepreneurs claim they don’t have time to blog. It’s true—you’re busy and you can only dedicate so much time to marketing. But if you can show up on social media, why not allocate more of that time to your own “social platform” where you are the editor, algorithm, and content creator?
Consistency is key to blogging success, but it starts with your mindset. You’ll never make time for something you dread. Instead, start thinking of your blog as a sales tool to get more business—and there’s no such thing as being “too busy” for more sales! When you understand the benefits of blogging, you’ll always find time to make it a priority.
Know what makes a good blog post.
For many people, hesitancy around blogging is due to a perceived fear of failure. Business owners think they don’t know what it takes to write a good blog post, so they’d rather just skip it altogether. But learning how to win the blogging game is a matter of research, and it’s a valuable skill that anyone can improve.
Spend some time educating yourself about how to write a blog post in proper technical form. Learn about the correct structure, ideal length, use of headings and subheadings, and other details that you’ll pick up quickly. It’s also wise to research SEO basics to get the most out of your blog content. You don’t need to become an expert, but a little knowledge goes a long way regarding the anatomy of a well-done blog post.
As for writing, aim for engaging and informative blog posts. Write as if you are speaking to a potential client, but in a tone you would use with a friend. If it helps, consider recording yourself talking aloud and turning the transcription into a natural-sounding blog post. A blog post done right will pay dividends for years to come, but a blog post done wrong is nothing more than a waste of time.
Avoid blogging perfectionism.
Let it be clear: A good blog post does not mean it’s perfect. Consistency is far more important than perfectionism (especially to Google!), so don’t overthink it and let perfect become the enemy of good. It’s OK if a blog post isn’t engaging or doesn’t break the Internet; the most important thing is that it’s done and published on your website.
The beauty of blogging is that you can always go back and edit older posts with new information or a fresh perspective, which also happens to be an excellent practice for SEO. Or you can forget about the less-than-perfect posts and move on to new content.
Remember: You are blogging for your business, not as a business. You don’t need to be an award-winning writer; you just need to create content. If you have no words and can only do an all-photo blog post, that’s fine! Not posting because you think you’re a poor writer is, without a doubt, worse than posting a poorly-written blog post.
Find a rhythm that works for you.
Some people work best with time blocking, while others prefer to tackle to-dos as they land on their plate. There is no right or wrong way to blog, so long as you do it. If batch blogging once a quarter is the only way you’ll get content on your website, make a recurring date with yourself to spend the afternoon writing at your favorite coffee shop!
If the idea of writing back-to-back blog posts makes you want to hide from your computer, don’t force it. Instead, try building a weekly or monthly habit of writing one post and getting it out of the way until the next time. Knowing what you’ll post and when is far more important than how they’re written and published.
Repurpose your content from other platforms.
Social media, especially Instagram, is often considered micro-blogging. So, if you’ve posted at all on Instagram in the past year about your events or your clients, you already have blog posts nearly done. Simply take your caption, the photo, expand on it a little bit and you’re blog post is done. And, if it is a carousel of photos, you’re even farther along on your blog post than you thought.
There’s no penalty for repeating content from your social media platforms and your blog. Look through your social media accounts and be sure that you’re getting the most out of content that you’ve already created. Whether it is a video, a selection of photos, or a long caption, you worked hard to create that content in the first place; it makes good business sense to repurpose it and get the most out of it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it also makes even better business sense to post it and store it on a platform that you own—your blog—where it can pay dividends for years to come and live in in perpetuity.
Don’t get too stressed about the numbers.
In this digital age where sometimes it feels like we have have access to more data than we can understand, try not to stress out too much about your blog’s analytics or how much traffic a certain blog post is getting or not getting. If you were blogging as a business, certainly you would want to keep a watchful eye on your blog’s stats and try to play the numbers game. But, remember, you’re blogging to support your business and you have much different goals with your blog.
If you have one blog post that features an amazing project that you worked on or provides a helpful tip that shows you're the expert in your field, and it helps to seal the deal with one potential client who was on the fence about hiring you, that’s enough to make blogging worth it, isn’t it?
Your business’ blog will pay off in ways that you’ll be unable to quantify. Just remember, when it comes to your blog’s traffic, especially for businesses in the service industry, it is a quality over quantity game. While it might be helpful to keep your eye on your analytics and data, know that it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Blogging doesn’t have to feel like a daunting chore in your business. It can offer you new ways to connect with your audience, position yourself as an expert, and provide valuable content highlighting all your business has to offer. You may even learn a thing or two about how you can sell to prospective clients more effectively in the new year!
Julianne Smith is a nationally recognized wedding accessory designer, digital media strategist, and small business educator. In addition to being the owner of The Garter Girl, a stylish wedding garter design company, Julianne helps creative small businesses throughout the wedding industry who are struggling with their online presence.
