Fun day to be talking about blogging for business as a marketing strategy.  We have been working with a client for about a month on a blogging platform we delivered.  It can always be a little tough getting started with your blog.  What will I blog about?  When should I blog? I don't have time for this!  All familiar comments we hear, but as you progress, your blogging for business radar starts to heat up.

Our client is a rehab therapy staffing company with lots of passionate folks.  And they're busy - really busy - supporting hundreds of traveling therapy professionals and trying to fill thousands of jobs.  Along comes this guy from a Cincinnati marketing firm towing the blogging for business line.  So we get them started, slowly at first, at looking for things in their day that would make for great blog posts. The management team has also had some fun promoting the blogs internally, and today held their first blogging for business lunch.  Free lunch for anyone who's willing to eat & blog.

The results?  Happy staff and 11 new blog posts today!  Hats off to Monica, Autumn, Lindsey, Larry, Luke and Katie for creating some great new content. 

They've got blog posts on everything from how to find a great job and the Fish! philosophy, to working with recruiters and hospitals, and even a post about flying monkeys. 

They're having fun with it now, and starting to form even tighter relationships with a market that their blogs are beginning to help them grow.  This is exactly what blogging for business is all about.  Let the outside world in.  Empower your people to be positive public voices for the company.  Let the passion out. 

Here are a few quick steps to help your team develop some energy around blogging for business:

1.  Spend a little time educating your team on what a blog is and what it's for.
2.  Train the team on what to blog about, how often, and exactly how to do it.
3.  Coach them along the way with content ideas and suggestions for including keywords to get the SEO benefits
4.  Encourage candid (but appropriate) dialog on the blogs
5.  Make it fun.  Share fun stories with your audience, not just the hard facts.
6.  Provide incentives. Hold 'blogging for business' lunches, have a contest for the most frequent blogger, etc.

But the first step?  Just get started.