Three Back-to-the-Basics Questions Every Blogger Must Ask

A few of my fellow Sitewireans and I recently taught a class on blogging to small business owners looking to jump into the social space. While their industries varied widely, from divorce mediation lawyers and belly dancing instructors, to long-haul trucking service owners, they all seemed to share certain commonalities: they’d been relying on word-of-mouth and ‘shoestring budget’ traditional marketing since opening their doors, and they were all overwhelmed by this notion of “social media.”

We calmly let them know that for the most part, marketing hasn’t changed over the years. The tools have just been updated, and some of those tools have strange names. I’m talking to you, Twitter.

As the class evolved, I realized “best practices” for blogging apply across the board. Whether you’re a retired CPA running a framing shop with your husband, or a master blogger speaking to the masses, here are a few best practices that I’ve found tend to get swept under the rug all too often.

If you have a blog, ask yourself these three questions:

Remember your audience? Those people you’re speaking to?
It’s easy to fall into the self-serving trap and not even realize you’ve done it until your CTRL + F search is bringing up many more “I’s” than “you’s” and “we’s.” Always put on your customer/client hat, and consider the challenges they may be facing and how you can be the best resource to them. Also, remember to focus. In trying to serve everyone, you serve no one. Bottom line – make sure they’re still sitting next to you in the driver’s seat, and not three cars behind you, tuned out and no longer listening.

Remember why you started this blog?
You probably had some specific goals when you kicked off your blog all those posts ago, right? Are you still speaking to those goals? Sure, there’s always room for some variation when it comes to goal setting. It only becomes a problem if you’ve completely veered off course, and suddenly find your blog in a full-blown identity crisis. Take a moment to review your last few weeks of posts to see if you need to dust off the roadmap and get your wheels realigned.

Are you still the nurturer you once were?
If you’ve been blogging for a while, posting good content, you’ve probably garnered some comment love. At first, you were probably giddy with excitement at the fact that someone read your words and decided to chime in. Has your euphoria worn off, though? Are you letting comments slip into “awaiting approval” purgatory? If you have, it’s ok but it’s time to get back on track. Don’t let the relationships you’ve cultivated become stale and untended. Take a cue from Jay Baer on this one and check out his comments section on any post. He’s wildly successful, yet still down to earth and ALWAYS present.

What are some other best practices worth resurfacing that you’ve either let fall away, or noticed on other blogs you’ve read over time? Drop your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll be certain to follow up if you do.

Tagged as: blog, blogging, blogging help, blogging tips, corporate blogging, jay baer, Small business, small business blogging, social media, twitter