5 blogging lessons you can learn from an athlete
Starting a new business? Planning to market your existing business online? One question you should consider is whether to blog or not.
Why blog?
There’s no doubt that blogs are a very powerful Internet marketing tool. One huge advantage of blogging is that it is an easy way for you to add fresh, new content to your website on a regular basis – something that Google and Co. thrive on and will reward you for with better search engine rankings. Blogging is also an excellent means of communicating with your customers and prospects. Through your blog, you can give out the latest company news, information and advice to your audience, and even listen to their feedback. The list of blogging advantages goes on…
But is blogging really for you?
Or rather, are you fit to blog? Let’s face it: most blogs that start up are doomed to fail. You see, blogging is pretty much like training to be an athlete - it takes effort and perseverance, and the results you are looking for probably won’t happen right away.
Now, that last sentence is also true about starting and running a business, but you’re not letting it stop you, are you? And neither should you allow it to hinder you from blogging your way to online success!
So, without more ado…
5 things an athlete can teach you about successful business blogging
An athlete needs stuff like good shoes, proper equipment, training facilities and an experienced coach to succeed. As a blogger, you will need eye-catching web design, a memorable blog name, RSS feeds, subscription lists and a few other things that our web designers at inQbation can set up for you. Let’s say you have all that and what’s left is the blogging itself. Here are 5 things about making your blog work that you can learn from an athlete.
1) Know what you want to achieve
An athlete trains to achieve specific performance targets. In the same way, always keep your goals in mind as you blog. Of course, one of the main aims of your business blog will most likely be to develop a growing number of regular readers who are interested in what you’ve got to say, so you can capture their attention and offer them your products or services.
2) Be committed to the success of your blog
As you start blogging, it is easy to wonder if anybody is reading at all. Don’t get bogged down with that! An athlete knows that the results that matter come with time. Make a commitment to your blogging, do it regularly, and your readership will grow day by day, just like faster lap times, lower heart rates and improved skills come to the athlete who perseveres. Similarly, the search engines will eventually start taking notice too.
Yes, you’re busy, but work out a blogging schedule and stick to it. Twice a week or more? Excellent! But if all you can afford is four times a month, that’s not a bad start as long as you go for it with the discipline of an athlete!
3) Find a focus and specialize
Athletes may come from varied sporting backgrounds, but the successful ones typically focus on one discipline and even find their niche as specialists within their sport – say as a quarterback or a long distance runner. If you try to make your blog all things to all people, its value will be diluted and your audience will lose interest because your message is all over the place.
Draw up a list of key topics you will be blogging about and decide on a focus for your blog. What are you knowledgeable about that will interest your audience? What sort of valuable information and advice can you offer your clients and prospects that will make them return to your blog again and again? Having a focus will help you find your voice quicker and even make it easier to write. Of course, you can deviate at times, but always try and tie your blog posts in with your core message.
4) Practice makes perfect
If you find writing hard, or if you’re not sure whether your first few blog posts are any good, take heart! With a bit of practice, not only will the quality of your writing improve, but the whole process will become easier and quicker too, as you get used to putting your ideas into words. Remember that even the top athletes were once at a stage when running a mile would leave them short of breath.
5) Consistency is the key
Once you start blogging, stick to it. Your audience will notice if you’re slacking and they will start to lose interest. Just like an athlete falls behind after skipping a couple of training sessions, your blog will lose momentum if you go off the radar for too long.
At times when you cannot cope, rope in a colleague, invite a guest blogger, or even consider paying for a couple of blog posts to keep the wheel turning. Remember that you don’t have to blog alone. That’s one luxury the athlete simply doesn’t have!
This last point brings us full circle to the one main thing that distinguishes the blogs that become successful from the ones that don’t. Commitment! Be committed to your audience and they will be committed to you. Offer them quality information and they will reward you with their loyalty, turning your blog into one of the most powerful online marketing tools you can imagine.
