You’ve just finished writing a great new blog post. You’re excited to share your ideas and expertise with the world. But what should you do next?

As I work with more and more companies to develop social media strategies, blogging inevitably comes up. As it should. But this post isn’t about why a company should be blogging, it’s about how we can make that blog grow legs and turn it into a major traffic and activity driver for your business.

Setting the Stage: Create Good Bait, Find Your Fishing Holes

Before you start throwing your blog content blindly into cyberspace, you need to think strategically about the content that your target audience will find valuable (your bait). What assistance do they need? What are their pain points? Which formats might work best (written posts, video, audio, etc.)? You also need to do your homework to sniff out the best social media ponds in which your targets are swimming. For example, if your business is trying to reach C-Level executives in your local market, then using Twitter as your main promotional vehicle may not get you many bites.

Blog Post Promotional Tools: 11 Step Checklist Read the rest of this entry »