While many people view blogging as a hobby, others use their blog as a platform to promote themselves and/or their businesses to potential customers, clients and partners. Blogging is a great way to establish expertise in a certain area and keep in front of potential clients. It’s also a great way to drive traffic to a business website. These slides are from a free webinar hosted by Sverve on 1/8/14. During the hour long webinar, I discussed: • What blogging can do for a business • Turning a blog into a business • Why you should view your blog as a brand • How a blog can make money (directly and indirectly) • Business blogging best practices

1. Webinar:
The Business Side of
Blogging
Wednesday January 8, 2014
presented by Jennifer Barbour

3. About me
¤ Chief Engagement Officer (CEO) for Another Jennifer
Writing Lab
¤ Writer, New Media Consultant, Teacher/Speaker
¤ Author of another jennifer blog (anotherjennifer.com/
blog), creator of Simple Giving Lab
(simplegivinglab.com) and curator of All Things LeftHanded (allthingslefthanded.com)
¤ Contributing author of The Mother of All Meltdowns
¤ Started blogging in 2007
¤ More here: anotherjennifer.com/about-jennifer/

4. About you
1. Are you a blogger wanting to monetize your
blog?
2. Are you a entrepreneur wanting to use a blog
to promote your business?
3. Are you a little bit of 1 and 2?
4. Unsure?

5. What we’ll cover
¤ What blogging can do for a business
¤ Why you should view your blog as a brand
¤ How a blog can make money (directly and
indirectly)
¤ Turning a blog into a business
¤ Business blogging best practices

6. via Seth
Godin

7. What a blog can do for you.
¤ Establish expertise, thought leader status
¤ Your platform to educate, advocate, entertain, etc.
¤ Build brand awareness
¤ Build a community
¤ Drive traffic to your website (SEO)

8. Why blog?
¤ 78% of internet users conduct product
research online
¤ 57% of businesses have acquired a
customer through their company blog
¤ Companies that blog get 55% more web
traffic
Source: HubSpot

9. Why blog?

10. Your Blog as a Brand
Brand = Personality of
your business
What are you portraying to
potential customers, clients,
brands, partners?
[own your truth!]

11. How a blog can make money
(directly and indirectly)
¤ Advertising (direct, affiliate, network)
¤ Sponsored posts (PR firms, brands, communities)
¤ Selling products or services
¤ Marketing your business
¤ Networking
¤ Building a platform (or a portfolio)
¤ Building an audience (your biggest fans!)

12. Turning a blog into a business
Some questions to ask yourself (and be prepared to
answer):
¤ Who is your audience?
¤ What do they relate to?
¤ What keeps them coming back for more?
¤ What makes your blog / you truly unique (your USP)?
¤ How will you make money without compromising
content? (Also: How much do you want to make?)
¤ How will you keep track of finances, clients, etc.?

13. Business blogging best practices
¤ Have a strategy (tweak as needed)
¤ Keep posts simple and short, include an image
¤ Aim for at least 1-2 posts per week (more in the beginning) – be
consistent!
¤ Use tags, categories, social media sharing options
¤ Monitor, reply to comments
¤ Share/publish posts on other social networks (and offline!)
¤ Make sure your About and Contact pages are easy to find and
updated!
¤ Be authentic!

14. Blog Content Ideas
¤ Your specific expertise
¤ Success stories / testimonials
¤ News / current events
¤ Upcoming events or product launches
¤ Helpful tips
¤ Answer common questions
¤ Guest post or cross-post
¤ Write a regular series (ex., Philanthropy Friday)

15. Answer this question
*What can your
audience
relate to?

16. Stay Connected
Jennifer Barbour
email: jennifer@anotherjennifer.com
phone: 207.653.4542
website & blog: anotherjennifer.com
facebook: facebook.com/writinglab
twitter: @anotherjenb
linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jenbarbour
stumbleupon: stumbleupon.com/stumbler/anotherjenb/
google+: gplus.to/anotherjennifer
youtube: youtube.com/user/anotherjenb
pinterest: pinterest.com/anotherjenb