Does Blogging Have to Be Epic To Be Valuable?

What is stopping you from starting a blog for your business right now? Or from writing more posts for your existing blog?

• Don’t think you have enough to talk about?
• Worried about search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords and the right length of a post? (Or maybe you’re not even sure what SEO means!)
• Not sure anyone is listening?
• It takes too much time to write.
• Do you think what you say isn’t valuable because it’s not “epic”?

I will admit that while I enjoy writing, those are some of the thoughts I have had myself. I’m sure there are lots more to add to the list. Those thoughts have sometimes made it really hard to pick up a pen or put fingers to keyboard and just get down to it.

Just to clarify, by epic I mean:

• Thought-provoking, conversation-generating or impressively great
• Extensive, long

But if you’re not a blogger (making money from writing your blog posts to earn a living) then you probably are busy doing the things in your business that are your zone of genius, that you love, and that brings in the revenue.

So I’m telling you that it’s really ok to create some content that is simple, to the point, and serves your customers…without taking up a lot of your time.

Everyone has a purpose and has knowledge that no one else has. We all have a unique perspective on the world. We all can provide advice, tips or information that someone else is looking for.

There are always 2 (or more) sides to every argument. I’ve seen and heard lots of blogging advice. You know what? One person says X is what you need to do…to get more website traffic, to get found in online searches (SEO), to get people to listen to you, to get found in a Google search. Person Y says exactly the opposite. Person Z says they don’t even measure that stuff and yet they are still successful.

How can they all be right?

What works for one person's business isn't necessarily a good fit for your business. Click To Tweet

Don’t be afraid to try things out – test and do some research – and see what makes sense for you.

Here are some blogging ideas that might not be epic, but your clients or customers will be happy that you shared the information with them.

• Industry news – what changes are taking place? Updates or revisions on products or services that will affect your audience.

• How-to articles – Keep your blog post simple and to the point. Cover one idea, or one question your clients are always asking or that is currently a hot topic.

• Reviews – Books, products, tools, or software you use – these could help your clients make better decisions, make their lives easier, save them money, or save them time because they don’t have to do the research themselves.

• Interviews – Which experts do you know in your industry that you could interview that would give value to your readers? You could do a written Q&A session via email, or record an audio or video to add to your blog post.

• Personal – Remember to share your personal side. Did you attend a trade show that you could talk about and share photos of in a blog post? How about a “day in the life” video? Or a video demonstrating how you created something.

• Curating content – Finding good content and sharing it in your blog, but be sure to just use the most relevant headline or quote and give credit and link to the original article. Curated content is good for SEO and if you give your own opinion or spin on what the curated article is saying, you can build credibility by establishing your own voice. Even if your opinion is controversial ( sometimes that is a good way to start a discussion).

Not everyone’s goal is to be a thought leader. Sometimes the value is in the service you provide to your online community – which in some cases, might simply be passing on relevant information that they can read about from someone they trust.

So what is stopping you from writing a blog post this week?

Do you think every blog post has to be epic to be valuable?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.