Blog posts and articles are the perfect platform for direct sellers and network marketers to showcase the usage and need for their products.
It keeps an open dialogue with your audience and also offers value to put yourself above your competitors. It’s also excellent for SEO.
But, how can you efficiently and effectively get the perfect blog post? Let’s look at it step-by-step.
Step 1: Know your business inside and out
Before you begin writing, ensure that you have an intricate working knowledge of your business and the brand you’re representing.
When you’re new to a brand, there can be a lot to learn, but it’s worth investing time in getting fully up to speed. Read all the relevant literature, attend trainings and meetings, and reach out to your mentor or team leader.
When you’re armed with knowledge, it will shine through in your posts, and you’ll be able to answer any questions that come your way.
Step 2: Identify your target audience
The learning never stops when you’re building a business! Think about who you’re aiming your content towards, and who will gain the most value from it.
Build a profile of your ideal customer based on the demographic information, such as gender, age, location, preferences, and spending habits. Then, keep them at the forefront of your mind when planning, writing, and promoting blog posts. Write as if you are having a conversation with this person.
Don’t forget, readers will be those you’ll be building relationships with, so it’s important to know who you’re talking to directly.
Step 3: Choose relevant keywords
To make the most impact on search engine rankings, every blog post needs keywords. These anchor your posts and help potential visitors to find you when they make relevant online searches.
Use tools such as Google Analytics or Wordstream to find the most suitable keywords for each blog topic, and integrate them into the main copy.
It’s also a good idea to use related keywords to complement and enhance each post. These can be found in seconds by searching your keyword in Google and scrolling down to the ‘related searches’ section at the bottom of the page.
Don’t be heavy-handed with keywords, however; integrate them naturally.
Step 4: Include real examples
Don’t just write in theory. If you’re discussing your products and their benefits, reference your testimonials, conduct a case study of previous users or draw on real-life experience.
People are more likely to invest if they have proof and can see things working for themselves. Potential customers look to the experiences of existing clientele to get an idea of what they can expect.
You could show off your happy customer base by including prominent testimonials in your blog posts. Don’t forget to seek permission from the reviewer first, and include a photo wherever possible.
Step 5: Make it valuable
Ensure that every blog post is well-researched, pertinent, and engages your target audience. It must be valuable in some way; whether it’s informational, inspiring, or entertaining.
The reader must feel like their time is well-spent on your blog. From your perspective, the quality of content also serves a business purpose. This could involve expanding brand awareness, increased engagement, or making sales.
Remember not to write posts for just the sake of it. You’re better off posting high value content less often, than the opposite which can damage your reputation.
Step 6: Use relevant images
It’s widely acknowledged that adding images to a blog post helps to increase engagement, but did you know that posts with an image for every 75 to 100 words receive double the social media shares of those without? Images are powerful!
When selecting photos and graphics for your blog post, include those that are relevant and visually pleasing. Add extra value by producing infographics—images rich in information with a sprinkle of creative flair.
Step 7: Refer to authority sites
Authority sites are well regarded websites in your sector, run by the experts.
Linking to their content within your own blog posts might seem like a counterintuitive move, but research has shown that outgoing links are taken into account within search engine algorithms, and choosing high-quality external sources actually has a positive effect on your blog’s ranking.
Researching authority sites can also provide inspiration for your own content.
Step 8: Link back to your own posts
Keeping visitors engaged and maximizing their time on your blog helps to bring about your business objectives. A simple way to encourage visitors to stick around is to cross-link relevant blog posts.
As an extra step, use subject tags to categorize all of your blog posts so visitors can click on a topic and read all of your applicable content.
Step 9: Provide a call to action
At the close of each blog post, inspire your visitors to make a conversion by including a call to action (CTA).
The action itself could be signing up for a newsletter, accessing complementary content or an exclusive discount in exchange for an email sign-up, creating an account, or making a purchase.
Make each CTA bold and noticeable—graphics work well here—and ensure that the action is easy to complete.
Step 10: Share and share alike!
Once your blog post has been published, promote it across the social media accounts you’ll be using to support your brand. You can also make an agreement with other network marketers and business owners to mutually share and interact with one another’s posts.
This allows you to expand your reach whilst helping other entrepreneurs. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Blog posts don’t have to be complicated, they just have to add value to the reader. Ready to optimize your brand’s online impact? Click on the image below to access the free network marketing monthly content planner.
