If you're just getting started with blogging for business purposes, follow these guidelines to get up and running with content marketing and find success through your blogging efforts.

1. BLOGGING FOR BUSINESS 101
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BLOGGING
Nikki Little| identitypr.com | @nikki_little

2. WHY GET SERIOUS ABOUT BLOGGING?
o Showcase expertise/build online reputation
o Your own publishing hub
o To promote yourself or your company
o Generate new business leads
o Advertising/sponsorship opportunities
o Media/guest post opportunities
o Presentation/speaking opportunities

3. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PEOPLE
WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU (AS
LONG AS YOU PROVIDE VALUE)

4. FIRST STEPS: ESTABLISH GOALS,
CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORM

5. BLOG PLATFORM OPTIONS
o WordPress (my favorite!) – Tons of customization
options, very popular, great for self hosting, use your
own domain name
o Blogger – Good for text, one of the first blogging
platforms, less customizing available, use your own
domain name
o Tumblr – Great for images, use your own domain name
o Medium – A “beautiful space for reading and writing,”
less customizing options, nice user interface
o LinkedIn – Blog right within LinkedIn on your profile
page

6. BENEFITS OF SELF HOSTING
o Access to more customization/themes/plugins
through WordPress.org (WordPress.com not for self
hosting)
o Unique URL
o Custom analytics
o Site support through your domain and hosting
companies
o You own it – WordPress doesn’t

7. IMPORTANT: INSTALL GOOGLE
ANALYTICS ON SELF HOSTED BLOGS

8. CRANKING OUT CONTENT –
WHERE DO I FIND INSPIRATION?

9. CONTENT IDEAS
o Your customers/clients – What questions are they
asking? What do they care about?
o Your employees
o Keywords that bring people to your site (look in your
analytics program for keywords beyond “not set”)
and Google AdWords Keyword Planner
o Company news
o Events/philanthropic efforts
o Your culture

10. CONTENT IDEAS (CONT.)
o Customer stories/testimonials
o Quora
o News and blogs related to your industry – build off
their content (don’t copy – add something new)
o Book reviews, recaps of
conferences/events/Webinars/seminars
o Content idea generator sites (Portent’s Content
Idea Generator, Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator)
o Good old Google

13. TIP: CREATE A CONTENT
CALENDAR, ASSIGN
DEADLINES & AUTHORS

14. 7 TIPS TO CREATE A KICK
A** BLOG

15. #1 – UPDATED & CONSISTENT
CONTENT

16. #2 – PHOTOS & VIDEOS

17. #3 – SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS

18. #4 – COMMENTING &
SHARING OPTIONS

19. #5 – RESPONSIVE DESIGN

20. #6 – SEO ELEMENTS

22. #7 – CALLS
TO ACTION

23. IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL NOT
COME!

24. PROMOTING YOUR CONTENT
o Share on social networks – personal and company
o Email signature – WiseStamp for Gmail
o URL in online profiles and on business cards
o Comment on other blogs
o Paid ops: AdWords, LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter ads
o Guest blogging
o Share with relevant groups/people online – be selective!
o Link to previous posts within your content
o Use for new business follow ups/customer retention
o Include in e-marketing campaigns

25. QUESTIONS &
DISCUSSION

26. THANK YOU!
Email: nlittle@identitypr.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilittle
Twitter: http://twitter.com/nikki_little
Blog: http://nikkilittle.com
Identity: http://identitypr.com

27. PHOTO SOURCES
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/7225903096/
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelanman/366192378/
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaibara/2756361218/
o http://www.flickr.com/photos/73194085@N00/253074522/
o http://www.smartlaunch.com/wed-love-to-hear-from-you/
o http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/12/13/6-lessons-from-the-top-bloggers-a-beginners-guide/
o https://www.flickr.com/photos/98652633@N00/385474331/
o https://www.flickr.com/photos/48540847@N03/10967338094/
o https://www.flickr.com/photos/13426843@N08/4840216091/
o https://www.flickr.com/photos/81413866@N05/7460434194/
o http://moz.com/blog/visual-guide-to-keyword-targeting-onpage-optimization