Five Survival Tips for Corporate Bloggers
Getting started is the hardest part. I remember when I launched my first corporate blog. I had a backlog of posts and had worked late nights and weekends for six months. Readership was almost nothing. I knew this would happen, but it didn’t make me any happier. It’s easy to throw in the towel during the first few months, but that means giving up all the return for the work you’ve already expended. Stick with it!
The first 90 days are all about survival. To help you get through them, here are five tips that I learned the hard way.
1. Be realistic
You’re not going to fill up the internet the first day. You won’t even fill up your blog. Start with measurable, attainable goals — the first being to get your blog up and running. Then, work on building a backlog of stories (this will get you some much-needed breathing room later). Once you get comfortable with your corporate blog and have worked it into your other responsibilities, set more aggressive targets.
2. Spread out your best stuff
Not every piece needs to be a heavy hitter. I’ve always been happy to run one piece out of every five as a longer, more important story. Use shorter pieces that may not be as powerful to help you fill the gaps. This will give someone who reads your main story other material to read, translating to more clicks and continued exposure to your brand.
3. Develop a backlog
I’ve always been fanatical about this, and it always wears me out. I like to have at least a month in the can and topics for three months. At first, you’ll have neither. Start by writing a week in advance. By Friday, you should be ready to go for the next week. Then, slowly stretch your backlog to two weeks, and so on. If you don’t have a backlog, you’ll be scrambling every day, and you’ll exhaust yourself. The quality of your blog will suffer, as will your interest in it.
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