3 Key Blogging Tips Learned from 1,400 Blog Posts

Today’s a milestone of a sort here on Tim Peter Thinks. This marks the 1,400th post ever published on the blog. Now, 1,400 isn’t a magical number like 1,000 or 500 or even 100. But it’s a pretty cool number in its own right, representing well over 7 years of posting.

So, in honor of the 1,400 posts on Tim Peter Thinks, I figured I’d share a few lessons I’ve learned about blogging for a small business:

1. Ask customers to do something. As I mentioned yesterday, asking visitors to subscribe to your email list is a terrific idea. So is getting them to read another post. Or visit your products/services. But ask your readers to do something—anything—that contributes value to your business. Oh, and while you’re at it, you should subscribe to our free newsletter to get even more tips like these from the blog.
2. Guest posts are great. Except when they’re not. I love my guest bloggers. And I’m thrilled to get amazing content from such great writers as Nii Ahene, Jackie Codair, Jessica Sanders, and Megan Totka. At the same time, it’s amazing how many guest blogger requests I get from people who clearly have never read my blog. Nor my tips on how to be a great guest blogger (which, you’d think was a direct giveaway). Whether you’re looking to be a guest blogger or looking to get people to blog for you, make sure the readers benefit first. Otherwise, the relationship is doomed from the start.
3. The secret to a successful blog? There is no secret. Blogs are incredibly valuable for small businesses. But they’re a decent amount of work, too, if you want to do it right. Anyone who tells you there’s a secret to it probably isn’t being entirely honest. Now, there are ways to improve (and many of them aren’t terribly difficult). And you can (and should) always look for ways to blog faster, cheaper, better. But, few things will improve your blog more than doing the work, banging out posts, day after day, week after week. It’s hard not to get good at something if you put in a little time and effort. I don’t think I’m a great blogger. But after 1,400 posts, I’m beginning to think I’m better than I was.

Small business blogging isn’t always a walk in the park. In fact, it can be a fair bit of work. But if you keep at it, learn from your mistakes—or, even better, learn from others—blogging can benefit your small business greatly. I hope you’ve got 1,400 posts (or more) in you. And I hope to see you here for our next 1,400.

Interested in more? Sign up for our free newsletter and get more information on how to build your social, local, mobile marketing strategy. And, if you’ve got a minute, you might enjoy some past coverage on small business blogging:

• How to Build Your Small Business Blog
• Is Small Business Blogging Still Relevant?
• 10 Tools to Simplify Your Small Business Blogging