The importance of blogging, according to 7thwave
Blogging is often overlooked as an effective tool for businesses to promote themselves. This is unfair, as blogging can be very powerful if done well and consistently.
7thwave
Copied
The new 7th Wave blogging platform is simple to use; we keep the technology in the background, giving YOU the opportunity and the time to express yourself and build a loyal following for your blogs.
Blogging enables you to reach millions of people that use the internet. Blogs help you to promote yourself or your business; by creating a blog that’s of value and interest, you can attract an audience and eventually convert them to customers, partners and loyal followers.
On 7th Wave you can register your own domain name and be up and running in no time. The platform uniquely connects businesses and communities by matching subject and content. Your blog acts as YOUR window to the world – make your content succinct and coherent on subjects close to your heart.
The founder of 7th Wave spent a number of years building websites and developing e-learning content for schools and colleges. It became clear to him that, if you could deliver content that was up to date, relevant and pertinent, many businesses would see the benefits - whether through increased sales, improved customer satisfaction or visibility in the virtual world. Blogging allows your company or business to develop a stronger brand and wider influence.
Following its launch, the 7th Wave team noticed that many of their competitors’ blogging platforms were supported by advertising; they would also strive to feature one or two ‘star’ bloggers who were solely interested in self publicity. 7th Wave wanted to change this. They aim to give small and medium-sized businesses the help to promote their products and ambitions, to share their stories within their particular industry sector.
Two years on, blogs on the 7th Wave platform cover everything from educational issues to climate awareness, to the importance of health and wellbeing and everything in-between.
A blog is useful when supporting the multimedia representation of your company. It will help keep the audience interested, promote your company and, over time, build up an archive of relevant content for your present and future clients. The 7th Wave platform allows you to schedule your publishing dates so that you can prepare multiple blogs well in advance.
Blogging is one of the quickest ways to express yourself online. It’s important that your post is of good quality - here are some top tips.
Golden rules for blogs
Create posts with a promise in the headline, e.g. ‘10 things that make…’ or ‘3 things to share…’ or something along these lines
Blog posts with images are shared two to three times more, on average
Concerning posts with images, 75 -100 words per image will be more likely to retain interest
Infographics are best to present statistics
Create posts that represent your personality and character
Don’t forget to ask people to follow your blog (the green button on the main menu)
A quick way to create content: repurpose existing assets
Some content is evergreen and never goes out of fashion. Recycle your existing content to expand your content library.
Break up a guide or report into 10 individual blog posts
Upload an existing presentation in PowerPoint
Repurpose printed material, such as brochures; turn handouts into online presentations, articles and guides
Survey results
We live in an age of big data. It’s effective to use statistics to draw conclusions and back up opinions.
Send out a quick poll to check the pulse of your audience, then write up a blog post on your findings
Survey your current members and create a sharable report
Images, slides and infographics
Search for images of powerful infographics that speak to your audience.
Embed (and attribute) an infographic in a blog post
Send a link to a helpful infographic in an email
Use tools like PowerPoint or Prezi, which make quality content look even better.
Break up an article into digestible chunks for a sharable presentation
Create a workbook using a PowerPoint template
Use slides to highlight individual data and facts
Team members
Often, content creation falls on one person – which could be anyone from the team leader to the administrator. If you’re the one driving content creation, don’t forget to reach out to your team members for help.
Interview a team member for a Q&A article
Ask a team member to write a blog post about their niche or to give their view on a topic
Lists
Pick a topic and run with it. A top 10, the best of, the greatest, etc. – lists are addictive, easily consumed and your audience will share them.
Curate a list of articles
Compile a list of fun photos or small animations
List stats, facts, or data
News
Have you been mentioned in an article? Is your industry in the national spotlight? Have you had some recent sales success? Share these achievements with your audience.
Videos
Share informative and entertaining videos.
Embed a video within a blog post
Curate videos on your YouTube channel and share the link
Photo inspiration
A photo is worth a thousand words. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a confident photographer or designer. Tap into the talents of others to inspire your audience. Try www.unsplash.com for royalty-free images.
Creating your own content is extremely valuable, but it can be time consuming. Don’t be afraid to supplement the content you’ve created with trusted third-party resources. Not only will your audience appreciate seeing something fresh, inspiring, entertaining or educational, you’ll gain some good karma by sharing in today’s social world.
Whatever your needs, a blog post is a great tool for increasing your website traffic, growing an audience, and bringing in new prospects.
Even more motivation to put your time and efforts into a regular blog:
Create something you’re proud of (here at 7th Wave, we’ve started writing Haiku…!)
Challenge yourself (I’m now writing a book to include the Haiku..!)
Strengthen your knowledge. You’re never too old to learn new tricks
Gain confidence. Producing content on a schedule and building an audience will bring even greater benefits as you build up your knowledge and become more comfortable with writing great content
Blogging is the current way to market a business. These days, companies are crazy if they’ve not yet embraced the blogging world. It’s all very well having a professional website, but if you use a blog that’s regularly updated to show current offers and promotions, clients will see you as more approachable and current – and, most importantly, more involved with your business.
Create opportunities. Perhaps the most important reason to start a blog. Blogging projects your personality to the world and gets you noticed.
Have fun and enjoy sharing your story!
Want your article or story on our site? Contact us here
