The million dollar question (18 posts)

  • I was wandering how to creat great, original, clever and useful blog contant without enough experience in the specific industry field where you should blog? I am extremly grateful for all help! Have a great spring for everyone!

  • @rekaesther - I do this now for a recruiting firm I am helping. I do all the blog writing- but have never been a recruiter. 
    This is a quick explanation of how I have set things up:
    1. Working with the head of the firm, we came up with the main categories that are important to their target markets. They have 2 main groups- the candidates that they place in jobs and the client companies that give them the job orders and pay their fee. They need both groups for a successful business.
    2. For each group, we brainstormed post ideas that they would be interested in.
    3. Once we had a big list, we were able to put them in an order that made sense
    4. We decided how often to post- We post twice a week. One post is aimed at candidates and one is aimed at client companies.
    5. Now that we have our posts decided, I plugged them into an editorial calendar, so we can see which posts are happening on which day. I did this for 3 months out.
    6. I then created a form that has a space for the post title, the main idea, some bullet point key thoughts and a place to put a link to any supporting articles, links, etc.
    7. I have the head of the firm use the form to jot down the main things he wants to get across for each post. He did all 3 months worth over one weekend.
    8. Now I take that info and write each post. I read everything he wrote. Sometimes that is enough to give me a direction. Most of the time I want to do a bit more research before writing.
    9. So I google some of the key ideas he has down and find articles writing about those ideas. I try to get 3 for a variety.
    10. Now usually after reading all of that, I can get an idea for the direction I am going in for that post.
    11. My posts are not usually huge articles, but several paragraphs with some bullets. I try to stay on one pretty focused idea per post.
    12. I try to stay at least 2-3 weeks ahead of the calendar and just schedule out the posts in wordpress. That way it just happens behind the scenes without me fussing with it.
    I hope that helps- you could skip #7 if you don’t have someone who knows about the topic and just go straight to google if you have a main idea.
    Just be sure to never plagiarize. Always use your own words and ideas. I read the other articles to bring me up to speed on the subject, not to copy from.
    I would love to hear how other people do this. I am always willing to improve my method!

  • @rekaesther Invite people to write guest blogs on your site. You get content they get links back to their site. I’m sure there are loads of tutorials online about how to let guest bloggers know you are in the market?

  • @lynnewilson You are good! Actually till #6 I do like you, than things goes messy :) I try to adopt your method, it seems very helpful! Thanks a lot!

  • @hmmarketing hi Martyn! thanks for a tip, for sure I need to do that a lot in the begining. Thankx a lot!

  • @rekaesther HaHaHa! I had the same problem at first, which is why I added those steps on. I  have a clipboard and that is where I put my forms for the posts I want to write that week. I also have a master checklist of all the posts and their date to be published. Then i can see at a glance where I am and what needs to be done.
    Let me know if you come up with any tweaks with your method :)

  • @rekaesther Depending on your blogging goals, you can always start with content about the things you are learning in your field.  This will attract an audience that is at the same level as you.  Then, as you learn new things in your field and grow, write about those experiences and your audience will grow along with you.  Along the way, as your content goes from beginners to intermediate, you will begin to pick up less new beginning readers and more intermediate readers.  Then as you go from intermediate to advanced and expert, your audience will grow in that direction.  That’s the way I went with my blog at least.  :)

  • @rekaesther If you’re learning about the industry, try writing about the things you are learning and share that knowledge.

    One thing I learned when I taught college classes about public speaking is that I only had to stay one chapter ahead of the students. When you write your blog posts, you’ll be writing about the things you’re learning.

    Eventually you will collect enough knowledge that you will be surprised at how much knowledge you actually have.

  • @lynnewilson  Your strategy is great!  Thanks for sharing.

  • great question @rekaesther and wonderful strategy, Lynne, thanks for the great info@lynnewilson

  • @kristi-hines what can I say…. very clever advice. That’s the true recepe :) ))))

    And thanks God I like to learn, so i’ll try to be brave to share it! Thanks a lot Kristi!

  • @erikdeckers exactly!! and I reallyI felt your positive energies! And your right, I will learn and share! Thank you guys I started to feel it! :)  

  • @dianebianchi It really does! :)

  • @dianebianchi It really does! :)

  • You do not always have to be the expert. Sometimes following someone’s learning curve can be equally as interesting and often more trustworthy.

    There are too many people claiming to be experts, it may be a breath of fresh air to see see someone who is not pretending to be an expert talk about their experiences and their learning curve.

  • @dee__kumar you are not long ago member, and already helping to others, that’s nice! :) liked your answer a lot! Thankx!

  • Great way to dial into guest bloggers is http://BloggerLinkUp.com/  What I suggest to clients if they’re, for example, writing about historical places that show up in their books, is to set Google Alerts (or visit alltop.com) for those keywords – it yields both media pieces they can blog about and reference, as well as other bloggers talking about those topics that they can connect with for guest blogs… Hope that helps!

  • @sharijstauch Hi Shari! I am terribly grateful to you, I just requested right now guest post by the link you have sent to me. Thankx a lot!!!! :)


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