As I’ve discussed in Blog 101: Why YOU Need a Blog and How to Make it Successful, the two most important factors to a successful blog are:
1. Building a community
2. Offering them something of value
Both require an understanding of your niche and your audience. It may take some time to discover what you have to offer that is unique and needed. I recommend doing your research, not just assuming you know what people will want from you. To start, ask your customers, your staff and yourself the following types of questions:
- Do our customers ask us for referrals or information that we don’t provide as part of our services?
- Is there information about our industry that we know would help our customers?
- Are there resources our customers find useful that we could easily provide?
There are no hard and fast rules about what you can and cannot offer. Use your imagination. If you have experience in your field, you most likely have an abundance of knowledge that your customers would be grateful to receive.
Below are examples of two blogs and the value they provide to their communities.
Local Choices is a community directory and resource for Organic and Natural Farmers in California’s Central Valley. They started the blog as a way to gauge the potential community for a health food store they wanted to open. Shortly after launching the blog they discovered there was not a single directory or resource to help people locate Organic Farmers or Farmers Markets in the area. In fact, most of the public had no idea how many Organic Farmers existed in their own backyard! The health food store has since been put on the back burner and the bloggers are now focused on helping farmers with their outreach through the web. Local Choices has provided a valuable service to farmers and the public in search of healthy alternatives in the Central Valley.
Enlighten Electric is a reliable Los Angeles electrician. He wanted a place for people to find him on the web but couldn’t afford a traditional website, so he launched a blog. After doing some research online, he discovered there was a lack of information available to consumers about how to choose an electrician or how to spot electrical hazards in the home. He also realized that he could use his blog a resource for other skilled tradesmen, as his customers are always asking for referrals. Enlighten Electric is just getting started but is already building community by providing valuable information to people in need of electrical advice and making a name for himself as a trusted resource and probably a darn good electrician.
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