Who would have thought writing about a trip to the Eurovision Song Contest disguised as a Moldovan could lead to a new business connection? I wrote about my 40th birthday trip back in May – it was a mix of my adventures in Dusseldorf with a social media lesson not to let Twitter take over your life. A alien spaceship prepares to beam up Eurovision fans in Dusseldorf A real Moldovan - artist Mihai Grecu (photograph: Ion Chibzii used under Creative Commons licence)
Several months later I received an email from the owner of a design agency in Derby. He wrote that he had heard of me but we had not yet met. Could we do so? It’s always intriguing to get a message like that – how did I get on his radar?
So we met in his beautiful city centre offices and he was a man worth meeting. Creative, dynamic, fascinating. The most surprising moment of the meeting was when he told me why he wanted to chat. It was all down to Eurovision. He’d read my blog and said he’d really enjoyed it. I was, he said, a man who had an aim (to appear on TV as a Moldovan) and I achieved it. He wanted to meet the writer behind the blog.
This incident really demonstrates the power of blogging. Getting your name out there for people to find you, to know what you do. It gives people the chance to discover some of your personality and your passions – often difficult to do from afar in business.
I’m not a fan of blogging for blogging’s sake and I get asked how often should someone blog? Well only if you have something interesting to say. I know of one regular blogger whom I’ve stopped reading because her musings are too hit and miss on the quality front. Every blog you write should lead your readers wanting to come back for more.
Blogging can be one of the most rewarding things to do in the world. As a BBC journalist, I would sometimes broadcast to millions of people on national radio but I get much more of a buzz to see a few hundred hits on my blog – especially when it’s shared on social media. To know your creative writing is being appreciated is a wonderful thing.
Social media is a key way to promote your blog. Too many blogs remain unread because no one knows about them. And don’t be shy about promotion. Status Social Media Marketing manages the social media of Visit Cleethorpes, which includes a weekly blog. As well as plugging it on Facebook I use Twitter as a vehicle for traffic. Rather than just tweeting about the blog once, I tweet about eight times a day, each with a different headline, often with a different reason for reading. The result? Most of the traffic to the Visit Cleethorpes website comes through my blog.
So if you want blogging success, make sure your writing is of good quality and that EVERYONE knows about it. Especially if it mentions Eurovision and Moldovans…
Read Mark Saxby’s blog How I helped Azerbaijan win Eurovision
If you’d like to know how Mark can help you with your blogging, get in touch.
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