Less than 15 years ago, “blogs” were still glorified public diaries, written by a few brave digital pioneers willing to bare their souls to the masses. Now, with the demand for unique, relevant, shareable content at a seeming high, small business owners are working to establish their presence in the blogosphere. Using a blog writing service can be a great way to produce quality content, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the blogs your ghostwriters can, and arguably should, take their lead from are other bloggers in your industry. Of course you should always give credit where credit is due and avoid the dreaded “content spinning,” but you can actually build community and gain followers by creating blog posts that are part of a larger conversation with your industry.
Getting Started: Listen and Learn
If you’re not sure how to start working with a ghostwriter for your blog, one way to begin is to start paying attention to other successful blogs in your industry. You can start with a simple Google search, or use hashtags on Twitter to sort for relevant trends in your industry. Once you’ve located a few decent blogs that seem to get followers and receive comments, you can choose a few that you’d like to use as springboards for your own content for your company. Try sending a link to one of these posts to your ghostwriting team along with your impressions of the content. Then, your writers can create a piece of unique commentary in the voice of your brand that includes a link back to the original blog post. In this way, you can add your own take on a conversation that has already begun, and create space for your customers, fans, and followers to share your impressions with you about the topic at hand.
Leave Room for Responses
Once you start to get the hang of this blogging thing, you can start creating original content that leaves room for your peers and followers in the industry to join in the conversation. Encourage your writing team to include open-ended questions in your blog posts so people can leave their remarks in the comments of your blog, or write a response post that addresses the questions you’ve raised. This is a great way to build community, which is arguably the most important reason for engaging in the world of content creation in the first place. Remember: these conversations can take a little while to get started, so keep at it for several months and slowly establish your company’s blog as a reliable, consistent place to find fresh takes on the conversations of the day.
Caitlin C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
