Ghost Blogger

In an SEO newsletter the other day, I read the Twitter question of the week regarding how often should one blog. The answers were all over the place because...

It's the wrong question! 

How often one should blog depends on one's blogging goals. Even as a professional copywriter who ghost blogs for clients, I blog with different frequency depending on their goals.

Below are some of the blogging goals I've come across as a freelance copywriter. Figure out which ones applies to your blog, then you'll know how frequently to blog: 

Blog Goal #1--Internet marketing via SEO: If you're blogging to get found in search engines, then first off I'm assuming you have a great list of targeted keywords picked out. But that's not what this copywriter blog is about, so we'll just leave it at that. As far as frequency, you must blog frequently to win searches. You want to be found in Google? You'd better be blogging at least once a day, preferably more often. The more general (and popular) your keywords, the more often you must blog. For some companies this will even mean hundreds of (very short) blog posts PER WEEK. I'm not kidding. This is not simply blogging. It is Internet marketing, and like all types of marketing, you have to put something in to get something out. In this case, your time.

Blog Goal #2--Thought leadership: You're probably doing this to market yourself, not your company. If you want to build a reputation among your peers, your customers, your friends, you don't have to blog as often, and your blogs will be longer and more meaningful than those of the person pounding them out for SEO. You can blog as frequently or infrequently as you want, because it will be the content that matters, not the keyword usage.

Blog Goal #3--Meaningful blogs that also work for SEO: This is my favorite kind of goal as a ghost blogger, because the content should have real value but it also includes keywords for SEO. If this is your goal, you're less concerned with search engine results, so you don't need the frequency of hundreds of posts per week...but you still need some frequency. As a professional copywriter who ghost blogs for clients, I do one post per day for this goal, as keyword rich as I can make it and as meaningful too.

Obviously if you're using blogs as marketing tools your goals might be a mix of all these. And if you're blogging for other reasons, like to write a book, and not to blog, this copywriter blog post is irrelevant. :-) But I hope this helps you realize that when asking how often to blog, that's the wrong question to ask first. The question to ask first is, "What do I want to accomplish by blogging?" 
 

Earlier this week, this freelance copywriter spent the day on the Seattle waterfront at Market to the Max. As always happens at these marketing conferences, my brain went into overdrive with blogging topics! Here’s the first…

During a (disappointing) panel on getting results from social media, I heard one insightful statement: Large companies can use social media to have small conversations. (Social media meaning blogging, social networking like Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

And that’s one more advantage small business marketing has that too few small business owners take advantage of. If you’re small business blogging, you’re already having small conversations. And you’re uniquely positioned to do so. The CEO of a major corporation might blog (or seem to blog using a ghost blogger), but you’re not going to walk into his factory and meet him in person.

But if it’s Michael at Kona Kai or Harpreet at Punjab Sweets, guess what? You are going to meet them in person when you walk into their place of business.

Part of the appeal of spending your money with a small business is knowing the owner and/or staff. There’s a real relationship there, one that can grow and be nurtured via small business blogging.

Small business blogging also enables you to tell stories that engage, to keep people up-to-date on your business and events, to even turn customers into evangelists when they can share your content.

I’m not sold on other social media tools for small business marketing. But I’m definitely sold on small business blogging.

Another (also disappointing) panel on blogging made me aware of how much confusion there is about why to use blogs as marketing tools, especially for small business blogging. More on that in this copywriter’s next blog…

Why the *&^%$ aren’t more businesses blogging? And even more frustrating, why don’t I see more small business blogging?

I’m a firm believer in blogs as marketing tools. An advocate, even. And I’m continually amazed at how many businesses still don’t use blogs as such. Whether you’re striving for search engine optimization or thought leadership or both, you should be blogging. Period.

I’m such an advocate for blogs as marketing tools, I work as a ghost blogger for some clients. Some people have an issue with that, they think blogs should be written by the CEO or whomever. But they’re missing the point of blogs as marketing tools. That’s great if your CEO can write intelligently about topics people want to hear about, using the keywords that matter most to you in the search wars. But it ain’t gonna fly if that CEO lacks the time and/or ability. Especially if your reason for blogging is getting found online. And for most businesses, especially small businesses, that should be your number one reason for using blogs as marketing tools.

So some of my copywriting clients have me ghost write their blogs, and I work hard to make sure the content is compelling and useful, and the keywords are used the way they need to be. One client’s blog has been very successful, getting noticed and subscribed to by experts in the industry, even though our primary reason for blogging is SEO. (And we’re doing well there two. Last time I checked, we are on the first SERP in Google for our two top keywords, and on the second page for another keyword.)

If this client relied on the CEO or someone else at the company to blog, it would rarely happen, the content wouldn’t be as rich, and the SEO results wouldn’t be as good. I as the ghost blogger make sure I write three posts a week for them, so the frequency is there. I work hard to learn about the issues and provide useful content in a well-written way. And I am able to use keywords, because I’m an SEO copywriter. The result? The client scores big time with me as the ghost blogger, without ever having to worry about whether it’s getting done or not.

Small business blogging is particularly cost-effective marketing and SEO, especially as more and more people go online to find local businesses. If someone’s searching for a coffee shop with free WiFi in Kent, Washington, or a tavern in Burlington, Washington, that coffee shop owner or tavern owner will do well to blog and win those local searches. Search engines favor blogs over static Websites, meaning small business blogging can even take the place of a Website for some small businesses.

Are you small business blogging? If so, tell me about it! If not, tell me why not?

Why are so many small businesses so slow to start blogging? Why aren’t small business marketing consultants encouraging them to do so? This morning I’m reviewing a prospect’s marketing plan in order to come up with a copywriting estimate for her. I recognize the name of the marketing consultant who created the marketing plan. And I’m disappointed to see she suggested this small business do the same old, same old kind of marketing…especially given that this small business wants to be found in search engines.

Getting found in search engines takes more than an SEO copywriter (i.e. me). It takes more than targeted keywords, keyword rich content and great title tags. I won’t go into SEO 101 here, but using blogs as marketing tools is a fantastic way to win searches and drive traffic to your Web site.

This plan also suggested the small business owner get positioned as an expert in the field, again without any mention of blogging. The plan recommends writing articles, doing an email newsletter, etc. All the usual stuff. OK, I don’t mind repeating myself, using blogs as marketing tools is a fantastic way to position yourself as an expert too!

Maybe small business marketing is slow to catch on to using blogs as marketing tools because marketing consultants are slow to recommend them. In my job as a copywriter, I consider myself not just the one who helps craft the messaging, but the one who also knows how to deliver it, from email newsletters to wikis to Web sites to blogging, etc. For years people have asked me why I don’t call myself a marketing consultant since I know so much about marketing. I say because I stick to what I know: I know copywriting. But I’m a copywriter giving my clients more value because I keep up with what’s going on in the world of marketing.

Marketing consultants must do the same thing. It’s 2009. If I were a small business owner, I’d be extremely wary of any marketing plan that left out blogging. You can’t use 2005 techniques in a 2009 world, especially with a tough economy!

Small business blogging is one of the most cost-effective ways a small business can both be found in search engines and be positioned as experts. If marketing consultants don’t know this and aren’t going to recommend it, they shouldn’t be handing out any advice.

If this small business had invested in a ghost blogger instead of a marketing consultant, they’d be way ahead of the marketing game.

In an earlier blog, I offered a bunch of small business blogging basics. See it here: http://www.weknowblogs.com/blog/sharons-marketing-missive/0/0/small-business-blogging-basics--a-guide

I’m “just” a copywriter (not!) but part of my job is keeping up with marketing trends beuacse it’s not just what you say (the words) but when and how you say them (the delivery). So I’m happy to pass along that MarketingSherpa has a goodie for you: a special report titled “Marketing Wisdom 2009.” It’s a free pdf of lessons learned, contributed by real-life marketers like me and you.

I have only just started going through it, looking for the marketing wisdom most useful for me as a copywriter, but in my opinion, any insights to be gleaned via the experiences of other marketers and copywriters are worth downloading this document.

Even if you only read the Letter from the Editor, you’ll be a step ahead of other marketers. There Managing Editor Bill Rupp outlines three key trends identified while compiling this marketing report:

One, email is not dead. Great news for someone who specializes in copywriting for email marketing! (meaning me!)

Two, build social networks. More great news, as I’m a firm believer in blogs as marketing tools and figuring out how to market via social networks…and I’m a ghost blogger too!

Three, search engine optimization (SEO). Yet even more great news, as a Web site copywriter whose sweet spot is SEO copywriting!

Hmmmm… maybe I’m enjoying this report because it’s telling me all kinds of things I as a freelance copywriter want to hear? And that’s cheering up my dreary Seattle day a little?

Still, it’s free, it’s useful and it’s written by your colleagues. Take a look: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31039.

Oh, and if you can use more free marketing advice, ask me for my ebook of 104 marketing tips geared towards small business marketing but useful for marketing any size business.