Learn how blogging can help your business get found on Google and convert new leads on your website. Channel the power of calls-to-action, landing pages, keywords, social media and email to get the most bang from your business blog.

1. The Why, The What and The
How of Business Blogging
# S M P S

2. Kathy Heil
C O - O W N E R
I N B O U N D M A R K E T E R
@ K AT H L E E N H E I L
25 YEARS
SALES & MARKETING VETERAN
PASSIONATE ABOUT RESULTS
MOM TO THREE AWESOME
TEENAGERS

3. Share Via Twitter
# S M P S
Follow Us
@ S T O RY T E L L E R M N

4. Our Agenda
• STARTING WITH WHY
• WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
• HOW DO I GET STARTED?
• KEY TAKEAWAYS

5. Definition of a
BUSINESS BLOG.
A collection of articles that provide helpful, valuable, educational, and remarkable
content to your target audience. By providing this value, blogs can easily and
effectively draw prospects to your website.
# S M P S

6. # S M P S# S M P S

7. Top Reasons Why Businesses Don’t Blog
• Don’t understand the benefit
• Don’t know where to start
• Lack of resources
• Don’t have the expertise
• Don’t have good writers
• Don’t think there is meaningful content
• Management doesn’t buy in
# S M P S

8. Starting with WHY?
PA R T 1 O F 4
# S M P S

9. vs.
T R A D I T I O N A L I N B O U N D
Cold Calling
Cold Emails (SPAM)
Interruptive Ads
Marketer–Centric
SEO
Blogging
Attraction
Customer–Centric

10. S O C I A L LY
C O N N E C T E D
O W N T H E I R
S H O P P I N G
E X P E R I E N C E
I N C O N T R O L O F
T E C H N O L O G Y
D E M A N D
C O N V E N I E N C E
E X P E C T L AT E S T
T E C H N O L O G Y
C O N N E C T E D T O
T H E I N T E R N E T

11. # S M P S

12. Paid vs. Owned
# S M P S

13. 0
2000
4000
6000
8000
Don't Blog Blog
434% More Indexed Pages for
Companies That Blog
# S M P S

14. 0
575
1150
1725
2300
Don't Blog Blog
55% More Website Visitors for
Companies that Blog
# S M P S

15. 0
100
200
300
400
500
0-1 2-3 4-5 6-10 11+
201+ Employees
26-200 Employees
11-25 Employees
1-10 Employees
Impact of Monthly Blog Posts
on Inbound Leads by Company Size
# S M P S

17. What Do I Need to Know?
PA R T 2 O F 4

18. Know Your Audience.
If the content on your blog doesn’t appeal to your
target audience—your buyer personas—you’re
never going to convert all of that traffic into leads
and customers for your business.
# S M P S

19. # S M P S

20. # S M P S

21. Focus on
ONE TOPIC
per blog post.
If you find you’re writing
about something other
than what you planned
to write, it’s time to
break up your post.
# S M P S

22. Publish as often as you want to get found online.
Blog consistently and frequently.
# S M P S

23. “The ideal length for
a blog post is that there
is no ideal length.”
# S M P S

24. 1. Promote blog articles
through social posts.
2. Answer questions and link
back to a related blog post.
3. Use blog content as fodder
to engage in a meaningful
conversation.
U S E S O C I A L M E D I A .

25. 1. Use your personas (and
their interests/pain points)
to segment your leads and
send relevant blog posts.
2. Include articles in an email
newsletter.
3. Create a weekly or monthly
blog digest email.
I N C L U D E B L O G
P O S T S I N E M A I L .

27. # S M P S

30. How Do I Get Started?
PA R T 3 O F 4

31. 1. Interview Sales
2. Interview Management
3. Interview Customer Service
C R E AT E B U Y E R
P E R S O N A S

32. D E V E L O P Y O U R
K E Y W O R D
S T R AT E G Y

33. 1. Identify Your Contributors
2. Leadership, Marketing,
Sales, Customer Service,
Engineering
C R E AT E A
C O N T E N T C A L E N D A R

34. # S M P S

35. 1. Case Studies
2. FAQs
3. Video
4. Pain Points
5. Culture
I D E A S F O R C O N T E N T

36. 1. Put a badge on your website
2. Include it in email signatures
3. Publish it on social channels
4. Incorporate into sales strategy
5. Create landing pages
S H A R E Y O U R
C O N T E N T

37. K E Y TA K E A WA Y S
5 5 %I N C R E A S E T O
W E B S I T E
T R A F F I C
6 7 %
I N C R E A S E
I N L E A D S
5 7 %O F C O M PA N I E S
G E N E R AT E
R E V E N U E F R O M
B L O G G I N G

38. • Start publishing now
• Identify your contributing writers
• Create your plan and stick to it
• Include calls to action
• Monitor results
• Be patient
• Keep writing!
K E Y TA K E AWAY S F O R
N E W B L O G G E R S

39. 1. Start a free blog, continue to blog and then blog some more!
2. Use Google Adwords to help determine your keywords.
3. Create Landing Pages with Unbounce to convert visitors to leads
($49/month).
4. Use LeadIn to understand who is engaging with your content.
5. Use Google Analytics to monitor visitors and traffic.
W H AT C A N Y O U D O T O D AY ?

40. +

41. “The secret to getting
ahead is getting
started”
# S M P S

42. Download Our Blogging Cheat Sheet:
http://www.storytellermn.com/smps
Leverage Video Blogs on Your Website:
http://www.storytellermn.com/smps-2
I N T E R E S T E D I N B L O G G I N G T I P S ?

43. Still Stuck? Invite us to do a workshop
Content Marketing
Inbound Marketing
Video Marketing

44. Questions?
?# S M P S

45. The Why, The What and The
How of Business Blogging
# S M P S