“Why blog when it has all been said before?”
I was on the phone to a new prospect the other day when they raised this question and I do admit it’s a valid one, especially when it comes to hiring a blogger to write on your behalf.
Google any single thing you can think of and there will be thousands of results. So what’s the point of throwing your own content into the mix?
Well, there’s a lot of reasons. I’m going to use a home builder as an example, because I work with a lot of builders and the basic the job of each one is the same: build houses.
Here are five reasons why you should blog, even if the topic has been covered 100 times before.
It hasn’t been said by YOU
When it comes to building a home, the steps are the same. Get the land, work with an architect, get council approval, etc etc.
As a builder or project manager, you live and breathe this, so much so that every fact seems unbearably obvious. But to your clients, it’s not. And in between the lines of the basic steps of building a home are some points or services which you alone can share with your audience. (Ever heard of a unique selling point?)
Every expert has their own approach. So while a blog titled ‘How to build a house’ has been before, it has never been written from your personal perspective.
It hasn’t been said to your target audience
Recently, I did a job for some builders in New Zealand. They specialised in difficult terrain, which NZ has a lot of.
So their post on ‘How to build a house’ will become ‘How to build a house on a hill”. All of a sudden, it is speaking more directly to the people they want to work with. Some of the steps may be the same but there are elements which only apply to the owners of steep property. As the copywriter, I spoke to the business owner about the challenges of these homeowners so I could craft a more specific message.
If you don’t say it, others will
Builder A lives in Sydney’s Castle Hill. Builder B does as well.
Customer A wants someone to build a house for him. He goes to the web but he doesn’t just want to click on ads. He wants information.
Whaddya know? A blog, on ‘How to build a home’, written by a local business.
How helpful! If Builder A has his website optimised with a lead magnet and some clear contact details, the odds are better that the customer will reach out.
(Note: I just tried this by typing in ‘How to build a home in [WHERE I LIVE]’. The third result was a local business with a blog answering that question.)
So, do you want to be Builder A or Builder B? It doesn’t take long to build a blog, it doesn’t cost a whole lot and the content lives forever.
Search isn’t the only way to reach your customers
The challenge with ‘How to build a house’ is you may find websites like realestate.com.au and US sites dominate the first page of Google’s search results.
Write your blog anyway and don’t wait around for people to discover it. Hit publish, then send your content to your database. Share it on social and promote it for that target audience of yours.
Add customers to your lead magnet funnel and make your blogs part of your automated email sequence. For every click, your website is telling Google it is worth checking out.
“What you seek is seeking you” – Rumi
As shared by Problogger, “ It is very challenging to write completely original content. Quite often, the best we can do is present known content in a new way or combine it with another idea.”
So while your content may not even have a single word of originality, if it makes its way in front of someone who wants to be more informed, it will be news to them. For the reader, you’re now a credible, go-to source of information. And that makes you the person they will be more likely to buy from.
Blogs create revenue
The return on investment of blogging has been proven. I share my posts on LinkedIn and Facebook and more often than not they result in an introduction or an old client getting in touch.
There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing someone say “I read your blog…”. The value becomes quite easy to measure for a microbusiness like mine.
I’m always interested to hear from my clients whether or not blogging works for them. One company I worked for recently started sharing blogs with their database on a regular basis. After just a couple of email blasts, they’d brought in over $1 million worth of new business. They had the edge because nobody else was making any effort to blog in their niche at the time. Seeing the content triggered a bunch of old customers to get in touch.
Why hire a blogger?
There are always new ideas which you can share with your audience but you may not have time to focus on blogging, or you may not be a good writer.
If you’re working in a detailed niche, you may be nervous about hiring any old person to write your blog. You can get around this by finding a specialist, who may charge a bit more. You can also book a time to have a half hour chat. Do a ‘brain dump’ of information and your blogger can lay what you have shared out clearly in a written post.
Alternatively, if you have manuals or training documents, you can share them with your blogger and they can refer to them for specific details.
When you hire a blogger, they can do research and put a unique spin on your content for you. They will write clearly and ensure SEO keywords are optimised. Work with them on a regular strategy and keep your website up to date with fresh content to give your customers a reason to come back to your business.
Read more: Three low-cost marketing strategies which have brought me new leads
Read more: How much should you pay for website copywriting?
P.S. Google ‘Why blog when it has all been said before?’ and there are a zillion articles. But… you’re currently reading this one. You’re getting to know me and what I do (which is blog for people… find out more here).
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
