Wanna know the two biggest lies I hear about blogging in 2023?
- Blogging is dead
- I’ve never written a blog
I’m serious. If you tell me you’ve never written or tried to write some kind of blog (lookin’ at you, Tumblr and Blogspot), I don’t believe you.
I mean, maybe it’s possible I’m the only one who’s attempted and failed to keep up a consistent writing practice, but I doubt it.
You’re not here to read about my amateur blogging attempts, though.
So let’s get back to that first blogging misconception — is blogging dead?
Spoiler alert: no freakin’ way.
Blogging regularly is one of the best ways to produce consistent, high-quality content that you can repurpose and promote across the rest of your marketing channels, including, of course, Pinterest.
Why is blogging so beneficial for businesses? And how can you realistically keep up with it? Glad you asked…
Why You Should Be Blogging for Your Service-Based Business
Blogs are one of the best marketing tools available to business owners. They’re relatively easy to create, they help improve your SEO, and they can be the deciding factor in a potential client reaching out to inquire about your services.
Blogging drives organic traffic through SEO
If you’re only relying on your social media presence to drive traffic to your website, you could be missing out on tons of traffic and inquiries from dream clients. Blog posts are absolutely bursting with opportunities to improve your site’s SEO.
- Search engines love fresh content
- Blog posts are naturally keyword-rich, especially if you’re using an SEO content strategy
- Creating valuable blog posts increases your chances to earn backlinks (another site linking back to your site)
- You can link to other pages and blogs within your posts, which helps Google understand the larger context of your content
Basically, by blogging, you get so many more opportunities to show up in front of your ideal clients in their search results, which can then turn into booked, paid-in-full dream projects!
Blog posts build authority and demonstrate expertise
If those dreamy clients are finding your website from a random Google search, blog posts are a great way to back up that you actually know what the heck you’re talking about.
Think about it – if you’re getting ready to spend multiple 4-figures on working with an online service provider, you’re going to want to feel confident that they’re the right choice.
When you, as an online service provider, have a backlog of blog posts answering your audience’s top questions and showing off your industry chops, that can be super reassuring for your potential clients.
(This is especially true if you’re actually blogging consistently. One rando blog from 2 years ago doesn’t count.)
Beyond demonstrating your expertise, blogging can actually help your audience make a purchasing decision. Blog posts like “when is the right time to hire a social media manager?” or “the ROI from investing in your website design” provides your audience with the crucial info they need to go from a casual reader to a send-me-the-invoice-now client.
Blogging generates more leads
This one’s all in the numbers. Blogging is 62% less expensive than other forms of traditional marketing, while generating 3x the amount of leads.
Of course, if you’re a solopreneur and your own marketing team, it’s all the same. But time is money, and your time is really valuable. I’m all here for marketing strategies that do more with less time and effort.
Blog posts give you content to repurpose on Pinterest (and other marketing platforms)
Now we’re getting to the real reason I want you to start blogging for your business. It gives you TONS of fresh content to promote across all of your marketing channels, including Pinterest, Instagram, and even your email marketing.
Pinterest wants its users to be posting plenty of fresh content, and what better way to get it than by blogging? One blog post can be turned into an endless amount of pins, not to mention repurposing your blog posts as carousels, stories, newsletters, you name it!
How to Blog Consistently
The idea of blogging – and blogging consistently – can be intimidating. Adding on creating long-form content to your already full to-do list of client work, business admin, and that doctor’s appointment you’ve been meaning to schedule for months? Um, yeah, that’s a lot.
That being said, you already know why blogging is so important for businesses, and you know you want to start blogging, so let’s figure out a way to do it sustainably.
Keep a Running List of Every Idea
You think you’re going to remember that half-formed idea that popped up during your nightly Netflix sesh, but you’re not.
To capture every idea – good, bad, and messy – I highly recommend keeping a master list of content ideas. It doesn’t have to be fancy; I use my phone Notes app.
Here’s the trick: write down everything connected to the idea that’s popping up in your head. If you’re like me, when the brain blast strikes, it comes fast and messy, but you’re going to want to remember those random phrases when you’re sitting in front of that blank Google Doc.
Commit to a consistency and schedule time to make it happen
Set a realistic goal for how often you want to blog. If you want to use your blogs for Pinterest content, I recommend writing 2-4 blog posts per month. Next, the most important part of setting any goal is creating a plan to actually achieve it.
Whenever you normally have time blocked out to work on your business content, whether that’s a CEO day or a few hours once a week, add in a dedicated time to write your blog posts.
A goal + a plan of action = *chef’s kiss*.
Repurpose Your Social Media Content
Writing a new, brilliant, value-packed piece of long-form content every week seems like a gargantuan task. But what if I told you you’re already doing exactly that?
We’re in the golden era of lengthy, storytelling-based carousels. Every day I see business owners put out ridiculously good content on Instagram, which dies out in about 48 hours and then they have to do it all over again.
And again. And again.
If you’re looking for blog post ideas for your business, head to your social media accounts first. I guarantee there are at least five posts that are primed for repurposing! Depending on how long you’ve been posting, there might even be more.
Even your more simple posts or Reels could be repurposed into a blog post as long as you expand on them.
When you repurpose your social media content into blog posts, make sure you’re not just copying and pasting your caption. A good blog post will likely need a bit more content, context, and structure than what you’re posting on Instagram.
That being said…
Simplify wherever possible; perfection isn’t real
Sure, it’s great to have a blogging calendar based in SEO and content strategy, but if doing it “perfect” is keeping you from blogging at all, ditch the strategy and 50-point checklist.
When you are trying to start blogging consistently, building the habit is more important than writing the perfect blog post. It’s okay to phone it in some weeks, write off the cuff, and hit publish.
If you look back at the post in a few weeks or months and cringe, just go in and update it when you have the capacity and brain power.
Here’s a quick and dirty list of absolute blog post must-haves:
- Title with a target keyword
- No less than 300 words (but really you should probably have 1,000+)
- Headings and/or lists to make it skimmable
- Meta description
Like I said, these are really just the minimum requirements to be a blog post, but we’re aiming for done, not perfect. We can cover how to write the best blog posts later.
Blogs can be a fundamental building block of your content marketing strategy.
There’s no reason you need to be creating brand new content for every different marketing platform, every week. Reinventing the wheel over and over again is an easy way to hit burnout fast.
If you’re looking for a sustainable content marketing strategy, I recommend investing your time and effort into one piece of high-quality, long-form content (like a blog) that you can then repurpose across the rest of your marketing channels.
Convinced, but not sure what you should be blogging about? Grab your Pinterest Toolkit for Online Service Providers, which includes content ideas for every industry to help you get your blog and Pinterest marketing strategy off the ground!
