Writing a blog and publishing your words out into the great big wide world web is no longer a tiny act. Blogging grew up. The industry requires business thinking and strategy if you want your blog to be your business. If that point rings true for you, your first step is to develop a mindset that speaks to your blog as your money making business. Then, you build your team.
Don't get me wrong.
You don't have to shift your mission (whatever that may be) as a writer or content creator, generally. You do have to slow down and synthesize every piece of information and experience you've had in your bootstrapping blogging career path. Boil down the critical components and move forward from that point.
One big area of strategic growth that requires attention is your team. No woman is an island, friends. At some point, you will require assistance to build your business. When that happens, you need to have a plan on how to guide your new hires. These new hires are your family. How you leverage your team determines how successfully you and if you're going to take your blogging business to the next level.
Are you with me?
Download over 20 exercises to start your business planning for your blog.
How to Effectively Build Your Blogging Team
Make a Big Picture Visual
At your first meeting, give a big picture overview. For me that meant visuals. I had to draw my LLC as the umbrella and then branch out for each of my sites. This approach enabled me to truly define the strategy and focus of each site as well as give my new hire a solid overview of my business.
Teach Your Team How to Navigate the Blogging Platform
I am a fan of hiring the right personality for the job rather than the right job for the skill set. Does that make sense? I recently brought on a smart, quick-witted, strategic thinker to my team. She has zero experience in the blogging or online business world. That's ok in my book because she is excited to learn, passionate, and taking ownership of pieces of my business that were being neglected. Plus, I have the opportunity to outline in a cohesive way all that I have learned bootstrapping my way to building on online business with an influential social media presence. I am a huge fan of teaching to learn. School your new hire on the vast capabilities of WordPress.org and the Genesis Framework.
Make Sure Your Writers Know How to Write
Sounds obvious, right? It isn't. You can be a wonderful writer but a crappy blogger. Make sense? You have to know how to create curiosity within the first few seconds of your reader suing eyes on your work. You have to grab onto your reader and make sure they strap on for the ride.
As the blogosphere becomes more and more saturated, there will be more, how shall I put this, crap out there. At the same time, there will be increasingly competitive rock star writing coming out, too. So, being able to draw a reader into your article and keep them engaged is critical. I highly recommend Kelly Holmes' Sticky Blogging course. Her strategies based on 20 years of professional writing experience have been proven again and again as effective to building traffic and a warm community. Oh, and SEO matters a lot. That's for another post.
This post gives you enough to work on for now. Your next step includes creating a picture of your blogging business, identify the gaps, and organize your content. Decide which training to do first. Which trainings matter most to your business and to your time?
Marnie
