Good Blogging Behaviors

Amazing, the way Robby Slaughter’s newest book “The Battle for Your Email Inbox” is so applicable to business blog writing! All three of this week’s Say It For You blog posts are based on Slaughter’s email-related advice.

No, we cannot change the behavior of others, the author admits, and no, we’re not responsible for other people’s actions. But if, through email, Slaughter points out, we control our own behaviors, we have the power to influence the behaviors of others. What do we control?

• When we send email
• How quickly we reply to email from other
• What it is that we write.

“The secret to managing the timing of your email is calmness and consistency.”

Consistency is the very backbone of business blogging success. It’s crucial for business owners and professional practitioners to understand that nowadays it’s only recently updated information that is likely to impact the success of their online marketing.

Once-in-a-while blogging just doesn’t do the trick, even if it’s high-quality stuff.  To satisfy a search engine, your blog material must be updated frequently, and I mean very frequently. 
“Before you decide to write an email, you should determine if email is the appropriate place to have the conversation at hand.”

In blogging for business, the topic of comments is one that elicits different responses from clients, largely because of fear those comments might be negative or critical. In truth, comments are actually more likely to be either negative or posted to promote the commenter’s business rather than yours.  On the positive side, social media, including blogs, help business owners control their message and exercise damage control.  But if the blog itself is not the appropriate place to have the conversation, it can be taken offline.

In certain instances, it’s better to pick up the phone or have a conversation in person, advises Slaughter.  One example is when you’re critiquing someone’s work or giving negative feedback.

Nowadays, apparently, it’s OK (or at least legal) to knock a competitor by name.  But, although one possible approach in a business blog is to compare your products and services to others’, it’s wise to do that in a positive way.