Industry Blogging: What It is and Why You Probably Need One

Whether your business is product or service based, read here about what industry blogging is and why you probably need it.

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There are many reasons why creating and maintaining an industry specific blog is beneficial to driving your business, online. The industry could literally be anything, for example if you own a juice bar, you might want to consider adding a health & wellness blog to your website. The blog would be centralized on what's good for your body, why it's good for your body, why it makes you look great, and what it tastes like. It could be filled with vibrant photos of fresh fruits, vegetables, roots, and clear and happy faces. And it's all true. That's what your juice bar has to offer, and you now become an educating voice on these matters, and at the end of all that- you have just the product that can deliver.

Or if you're a small boutique owner you could consider adding a lifestyle blog to your website. So for instance, if you own a sweet and sassy southern boutique, you could blog about entertaining guests, birthday and Christmas gifting, holiday & country décor, apparel trends, wedding accessories, maybe a few cookie batter recipes, and so on. Pictures would be of actual retail inventory in your shop, staged appropriately (all professionally edited of course), complete with direct links to purchase the pictured items. If you don't have an online shop set up yet, well, it's time to get one.

Maybe your business is a service, and not a tangible product. You never want to blog about how others perform (or don't perform) your same service. People know when they're being sold to, and while driving your blog can drive your business, it needs to be authentic. Because if done correctly, what inevitably happens is, you are honing your own craft, studying up, keeping abreast, which is what naturally sets you apart from the rest.

So perhaps you own a service, could be; cleaning, landscaping, teaching, a networking rental space, financial consulting, repairs, interior design, catering or event planning, the list is endless. There are so many things that could creatively be done to make visual and written blog content. Here a few simple examples:

• For a cleaning service a single blog post could as simple as

"How to Safely Clean Your Microwave"

• Landscaping

"8 Simple & Cost Effective Ways to Enhance Curb Appeal"

• Networking Rental Space

"Can you Name 5 Business Owners in Your Community?"

• Financial Consulting

"How Elder Millennials are Changing the Banking Industry"

• Repairs

"20 Things You Have GOT TO STOP Throwing Away!"

• Catering & Event Planning

"We Want to Throw you the Most Americana 4th of July Party of the Year!"

The reality is, most people will not do these tips and tricks from your blog for themselves because they are time consuming or there is a learning curve, or both. Or they'll try it, and realize that it does take some specialty to get it just right, and they know your business is there and can deliver.

"...a phenomenal way to let your audience know who you are, what practices your business participates in, what your beliefs are, and why they should date your company."

But blog content doesn't have to be wrapped around product use and "How To's", it's also a phenomenal way to let your audience know who you are, what practices your business participates in, what your beliefs are, and why they should date your company. People are interested in what causes their cash goes to now, and they want to know what they are supporting. So if your company has a strong involvement toward a cause or charity, this is a great platform to express that.

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Much like email marketing, a business blog is a place where you can directly communicate with your readers. They came here to see you. Your blog readers become your trusted business friends, your repeat clientele, your word-of-mouthers, your social media sharers, so give them something good of your business to spread.

• "3 Simple Ways We're Celebrating Pride Month" (LGBTQ Rights)

• "We Spent an Afternoon with the most ADORABLE Kids" (Special Ed/Down Syndrome/Autism Causes)

• "We're not just Wearing Pink"(Women's Health/Breast Cancer)

Industry blogging also tremendously helps to fill your social media pages, where people are always snacking, with meaningful and eye catching content. It gives your business something to share, to talk about, and allows your customer a space to engage with you, dating you back. Not to mention, it's a way to drive people to your actual website, where you hopefully have a shop set up or a service quote widget.

"A specific industry blog is how you gain earned trust from potential life-long customers..."

Industry blogging is essentially just blogging for your business. Many people however, view blogging as the fun-loving, young passion project, influencing, photography type of realm, and miss what it can do for them in a business sense. A specific industry blog is how you gain earned trust from potential life-long customers, becoming more than a customer and building a community and culture for your company.

From an algorithm standpoint, in this online world of Google analytics and showing up in searches, it's an easy way to cyclically link SEO content back to your website (which is what you want). You want to give as many reasons as possible to show up on someone's search. Blogging will do that for you, especially if it's gaining attention on social media.

Perhaps the best thing about food blogs, for instance, is they are so intimate. The blog literally ends up in the home of the potential customer, right on the kitchen counter. Suggestions of cookware and cookbooks are right there written into the recipe, with a link to obtain them. And that's the idea to carry on through industry blogging. How is your business going to end up in your date's kitchen? Or on their couch? Or in their bed before they go to sleep? Or in your house on the second (or third) date?

Content creation can and should be intimate, always thinking about the person on the other side. So start blogging for your business, create your niche, make your offers to make life enjoyable, and build your brand.