Remember when content marketing was new and only a few forward-thinking businesses had a blog. It was like the wild, wild west, everyone doing their own thing because there weren’t very many rules or ideas about “best practice.”
Those were the days, right? Back then, content marketing was fun. Now, keeping up with all the things you’re supposed to do to get results, it’s work.
So I wanted to share 7 things you can do to regain some of the fun of business blogging.
1. Don’t take your blog too seriously.
Be human. Adopt a style and approach that allows you to be yourself.
2. Know what you’re trying to achieve.
It’s easy to get distracted by new tactics and tools. But if you have clear goals, it’s easier to stay focused.
3. Focus your topics as well.
Talking about anything and everything creates more work in the long run. Create a tight focus so you attract the people who are most likely to convert. You can still be creative inside the boundaries of your chosen topics.
4. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Best practice is best for a reason. Do what’s been proven to work, and test new ideas periodically—but only if you have good reason to believe they’ll improve your results or reduce your work.
5. Stay on top of the trends—without feeling you need to cater to them.
For instance, ten years ago, 400-word articles were all the rage. They were easy to produce and people loved them, so that was a good trend to follow. That said, I hated it because the articles were way too shallow. But now the trends have caught up with me, and today, we’re publishing higher quality content less often. That’s a trend I can get on board with it helps you get results without selling your soul to your blog.
6. Don’t adopt formats or processes that aren’t your strength.
Who cares if video is huge. If video isn’t your forte, don’t worry about it.
7. By all means, experiment!
Try new formats and approaches to find something that’s fun for you. If you hate writing, don’t do text. If you hate being on camera, don’t worry about doing video. You have my permission to create whatever format of content you like best.
The bottom line is this, you need to figure out what works for you and make that your process. Content marketing is as individual as you need it to be, so do what works for you and, for goodness sakes, have fun with it.
