The blogosphere is chock full of helpful advice when it comes to what to do to improve your marketing. But where the rubber meets the road, the most powerful tool you have to attract leads is your blog. Even if writing is not your thing, we've boiled down it down to the bare essentials. And, if you are able to navigate these three elements, your company has at least a reasonable chance to attract prospects and turn them into leads.

1. Not blogging enough.

Sorry, but you can't get to critical mass, increase traction and build momentum if you’re only blogging once a month. Your carefully researched post on which 1960s Corvette has the most beautiful lines, by itself, won't attract enough prospects to your website and get them to view you as a trusted resource. Writing infrequently is better than not at all, but not by much. At a minimum, you should be posting an article once a week. In a perfect world, you’d also be sharing ideas, tips and insights at least twice a week. Just keep in mind that if your competitors are blogging more frequently, they have a better chance of ranking higher in search results, and therefore, have a better chance at capturing the attention of YOUR customer.

2. Not researching your topics.

If you're not putting in at least an hour a week to determine what your customers and prospects care about most, there’s a good chance you won't find them caring about YOUR product or service. Far too often companies write about topics that are important to them but don't resonate with their prospects. If you're opining for example, about how great your service is (we do it with a smile) droning on about the quality of your manufacturing process or that you've been in business since the Depression, you’re ignoring your prospects’ pain. Rarely can you convert prospects into customers by talking only about yourself. People buy from the group that best demonstrates that it can solve a problem sometimes determined by just price, perceived quality or variety. 

How do you go about finding out what's important to your customers? The best way is to speak with them. You may be thinking that it's a recipe for an awkward conversation, but the truth is we've found that clients appreciate our efforts to learn more about what THEY care about. Sometimes where warranted, hiring an intermediary to conduct these interviews will ensure both privacy and reduce a customer's fear of "telling the truth." Keep in mind that even though you live and breathe your industry, you may not have the best perspective on your customers. Just when you think that they're very price sensitive, you find out that your product's compatibility with others is highest on their list. You won’t know until you ask.

3. Not Providing REAL Value.

After writing your next blog post, read it over and ask yourself, “What, exactly, am I providing to my prospect?” Unless readers come away from each post with a new idea, a better methodology, discreet steps to solving a problem, you’re not providing real value. Recently, I came across a very well written blog post by a well-intentioned professional who blathered on about the importance of being original. Whether or not he argued his point decisively didn't matter, it had nothing to do with what he was selling, nor in any way did it help prospects with their buying journey.

What If I Don't Have a Blog Yet?

Our “3 critical mistakes” is a good starting point for those of you who haven’t started your blogging journey just yet. But there’s more you need to consider. If you’re in the process of establishing a blog, one way to determine how successful your efforts will be is to ask yourself, “If I had the time what would my competitors hate to see us doing well at?” Get out a paper and pencil and write down all the things you want your most fearsome competitor to see. Your list might look a little like this:

• Blog a lot – multiple times a week – and in the process give our prospects (who are also THEIR prospects) valuable information they can use to make themselves more effective and their companies more profitable
• Promote these blog posts and website on social media
• Demonstrate our competitive advantage by talking about successes with customers
• Position ourselves as domain experts
• Help prospects in a way that will keep our company top-of-mind when that prospect needs a product or service

Now use this list as a starting point for your own blog strategy – and stick to it, because if you're not taking advantage of this platform to speak to potential customers, your competitors surely are. Blogging requires commitment and resolve and without both you're missing out on a powerful way to engage your prospects and generate more qualified leads.