Our house was built in 1905. It has a lot of odd nooks, crannies, and mysteries. Possibly a few ghosts. They’re friendly.
It also has an old wood-burning stove that nobody uses. Located in a wood-paneled room at the top of a narrow, wrought-iron spiral staircase, with a metal chimney cut directly into the wooden-raftered roof located mere feet above it, it’s an astonishingly flagrant fire hazard.
Somebody thought that stove was a good idea at some point, but we wouldn’t dream of actually using it. So now it just sits there.
Kinda like most blogs.
Useless. Outdated. Sad.
We’re pretty sure we know what the original purpose of the wood-burning stove was. Sometime during the disco 70s, it was installed along with several other features: Brown shag carpet. Skylights. A hot tub.
And mirrored walls.
Um.
So.
At least it HAD a purpose.
Many blogs never really do. They are begun out of a sense of obligation, or an idea that they’ll automatically add marketing value or because someone feels like they have something to say.
But they never really accomplish anything other than amusing their owners for a while, and perhaps an occasional guest.
Ahem.
It’s honestly a crazy waste of money and a bad look for the blog’s owners.
But of course I would never say you shouldn’t have a blog, any more than you shouldn’t have a source of heat in your home or a nice cozy nook to entertain guests.
It’s just that you have to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it–and HOW to do it.
In my six-part series on the Anthony Gaenzle blog, we’re exploring these issues step by step. I’m laying out the framework for establishing, maintaining, and growing an effective and productive blog with a minimum of hassle.
This week, I’m discussing the 5 primary types of blog entries you need to understand, and how to use each type.
Learn what types of entries to use to:
- Build authority
- Improve SEO
- Increase social engagement
- Demonstrate how to accomplish something
- Optimize marketing time and resources
Use the list to jump start your blog topic planning, but only after you are clear about your purpose and audience, which I discussed in the first entry of the series.
Follow these steps, and, although I can’t promise no fires (this is fine, just fine, let’s call it “going viral”), I do guarantee your blog will serve its purpose well (let’s call it “return on investment”).
Click through, enjoy, and stay tuned for the rest of the series over the next few weeks.
