After a two-month hiatus I’ve finally got myself organized into writing another blog and I thought this would be a good time to talk about blogging and motivation. I’ve been an avid and regular blogger for years and I always look forward to writing my weekly blog as a way to stay in touch with the people who so generously read it. So, first of all, thank you for reading!

My blog is one of the ways I generate business for Crossman Communications and it’s proof positive, to me at least, that blogging works. Every time I write a blog I receive at least one inquiry from someone who wants to talk about how we might be able to help them with their online content. One satisfied client is worth many thousands of dollars to my business over the course of a few years and so the conversations I have with people after they get in touch are important ways of determining whether we’re a match, and whether we are going to move forward into a productive business relationship.

My blog also serves to build my reputation as an expert in content marketing (and other things), and I hope that sharing what I know about the content marketing world will help people become better informed as consumers of content marketing services.

But my marketing strategies have become so successful that I haven’t had time to provide fresh content myself. Crossman Communications is in a strong growth phase and we are going to need to hire again soon. Isn’t that an interesting pickle?!

How did I get here?

My very first foray into content production, aside from my first website, of course, was my blog. I went to a social media marketing workshop and at the end of three hours had managed to set up my Twitter, LinkedIn and WordPress blog accounts. I got very excited about this idea of writing a blog.

I’m a writer – a blog should be easy for me. And, even in the beginning, it more or less was. My first online marketing mentors didn’t tell me how to develop an editorial schedule or how to really target the needs of my clients and potential clients, but I jumped in and started writing about whatever struck my fancy. Lo and behold, nothing happened.

For six months.

I’d been told to stick with it and remember that a blog is not a fast path to cash (it generally isn’t) but I think I could have generated more results faster if I’d been more strategic in the beginning with what I was saying, and to whom.

I had done no work around messaging, I had no editorial schedule and I had no calls to action. As I went along and learned that these were all important parts of the content creation continuum, I began to get more and better results.

So what happened next? And how can you turn your blog and website into lead generators for your business? Find the answers in next week’s blog! And, in the meantime, if you would like to talk to me about how to improve your business’ online content marketing efforts, please get in touch with me at susan@crossmancommunications.com.