In Episode 61 of the Power Your Platform Podcast, we dive into the second platform: blogs.
So what makes blogs such a great platform to reach your ideal customer?
First, blogs are a powerful platform because they can help establish you as an authority in your niche.
Notice I did say "niche". Because if you’re going to have blog, you really do need to niche down and know what specifically you’re blogging about.
And once you DO niche down, then you’ll want to show up consistently on your blog to provide value, whether that’s in the form of tips and tools or guest interviews or links to other useful resources within the same niche.
The second reason blogs are a powerful platform is because they help generate important SEO which drives traffic to your web site.
SEO stands for search engine optimization and it’s a key component of getting web site traffic.
In a nutshell, when people search for a topic on Google, there are a LOT of web sites competing for the same reader’s attention. When you have a blog that’s attached to your web site, the fact that you’re publishing regular content and seeing frequent visits to your blog articles, helps your web site rise in the Google rankings.
The third reason blogs are effective is that they are extremely versatile.
I love this about blogs. It used to be that blogs were all about text and articles. But these days, you can add audio and video, as well as links, gifs, memes and photos along with other attention-grabbing content.
So while blogs are ideally suited for writers, I’ve also seen photographers and videographers and graphic artists take advantage of blogging platforms and use them to solve their audience’s unique challenges.
Pro Tip: Too many widgets and multimedia features can slow the download of your blog on someone else’s device (especially rural users). So my advice is to use visual elements, but keep it simple.
Another thing to remember is that blog readers tend to be a part of an older demographic, most notably aged over the age of 30. In fact most are between the ages of 40 and 60. So if you’re trying to reach a younger demographic, then I’d opt for a different platform like YouTube or even podcasts. But for those who do visit blogs, they tend to visit them often, and many of them become loyal fans for the blogs that speak directly to their unique interests or challenge.
The main advantage of a written document like a blog is that the audience member can read it over and over again until they understand the entire message. You can also include direct links so that enhances your ability to get paid by affiliates or you can lead readers to other resources or paid products you might offer. In turn, readers can share your blog link with others, which helps expand your reach and influence.
The downside of written storytelling platforms like blogs is that the audience has to have the time to focus and read the long-form content. And we all know that time is at a premium for most people these days. They also need to be able to find you, so that’s where the visibility tools come in.