This is a question I received a while back, tightly related to yesterday’s entry.

Mariangie asks:

Hi Lynette, I’ve been redoing my website and I plan to include a blog in the new design, because I know it is a great tool for repeat visits… the ONLY problem, the thing that is keeping me from it, is that I feel I don’t have enough to say to keep my blog alive. Thus my question is: How can I use and make the most of my blog without having to come up with “article” material so often?

Answer:

Hey Mariangie!

That’s a good question. Although to get the maximum effect of a blog, the key is making regular entries, that is not a rule set in stone. Many experts will tell you blog often but often is such an arbitrary word isn’t it? If you think back to the original blogs before anyone thought of using it for business – most of them are journals and journals are not exactly very consistent right? Sometimes you write everyday sometimes you slack off. In my personal opinion that’s the way business blogs should be also. Let me share a little secret with you. I do make a point to blog regularly but sometimes like last week for example I just couldn’t make it. There were also weeks where the time between entries was 7 days or more. But you know something? Looking at my logs, Yahoo and Google still come by as often as every other day. I guess in the beginning it’s important to establish that pattern. If you start regular then you get some slack when you drop off a little bit. Just don’t go weeks without blogging 😉

The next thing is, don’t make your blog a website. In websites we have articles, interviews, long drawn copy that takes time and thought to write. With blogs there is no such requirement. In fact, people expect to see your personality, they expect to see irregularity. There is no need to put articles in your blog at all so don’t feel pressured to come up with that kind of material. Instead you can write about something you saw, read, heard, think or feel. E.g. since your business is about pets and pet care, when you’re in town and you see a malnourished dog. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? How do you feel? What do you wish you can do? Blog that. Or maybe you are catching up on the news and see a headline “Cat rescues family from food poisoning” – blog that. Just something simple like “I came accross this today… what is amazing is blah blah” Or, maybe you saw someone post about their cat being sick. Blog about what the person said and maybe include info about how your products can help the situation. As fellow business people I know your business and the industry as a whole is on your mind quite a bit. We feel it in our hearts and minds and we surely have lot’s of thoughts about it. Just put those thoughts and feelings in your blog and you’ll soon find you’ll have plenty of material. Hope that helps!

Have you anything to add to that?