Top Business Leaders’ Excuses for Not Blogging

More often than not, the business leaders I work with give me all kinds of reasons why a blog can’t work for them.

Which of the six do you resonate with most?

1. Do I Really Need to Blog?

Yes. Please refer to this article.

2. I Don’t Know What to Say

This is where the content calendar (#6 on that list) comes in. The content calendar, quite seriously, prevents you from ever wondering ‘what should I blog about?’

If you are working with an outsourced marketing team who is strategic, they will have created a content calendar for your company.

This way you’d have a clear schedule for the month, quarter or year of the topics that are most appropriate for your company to create content about.

When working with us, we have a “blog/writer” call. We schedule 30-60 mins and have you, one of our professional writers and I get on a call. You would have been sent 2-3 questions 2-3 days in advance about each topic we’ll cover on the call so you are prepared.

We then start talking about the topics. The writer has a chance to dive into the topics, interview you, and you have the chance to explain your company’s point of view on the matter and the writer gets to learn your ‘voice’ and hear it from ‘the horse’s mouth’.

This conversation is very helpful for the writer to be sure that they understand your company’s unique point of view and can get started writing the blog now understanding “your voice”.

Here are 22 topic ideas to get started with your blog.

3. Our Work is Complex

You would be surprised, we think your work is complex too. In fact, sometimes we’re a little baffled at what it is your company does.

And if we’re new to working with your company as their marketing team, we’re going to check our ego at the door and ask the “dumb questions”. But, if we are confused or baffled, your potential customers might be too.

Our writers are skilled at getting to the point, clarifying and working to explain your difference in a simple and respectable way.

We don’t pretend to be experts in your field, but we sure want to help you spread the word about how and what it is you do.

Here is an excellent article on explaining complex things.

4. We Won’t Share Our Trade Secrets

I understand.  Just because your company produces information, content, whitepapers or blogs does not mean you have to share any of your trade secrets.

There are many ways we can help you to share industry knowledge, advice and best practices without giving away any of your trade secrets. Be sure to let your marketing team know this concern, the savvy ones will be able to accommodate your concerns and still produce valuable blogs

5. CEOs Don’t Blog

Yes, they do. On this list, you’ll find the CEO of the Mariott, Richard Branson and George Colony of Forrester Research to name a few.

Some may write the blogs themselves, others may have ghostwriters, but to avoid getting your point of view out into the marketplace is a missed opportunity for company marketing and developing your own thought leadership body of work.

When thinking about blogging as your company CEO check out these CEO blogging strategies

6. I Don’t Have Time

Leading and running a business can be all-consuming. Do you know what CEOs tell me they need more of? Time. You and I both know your day is full of meetings, tasks, decisions, and taking care of clients. Everything else gets shoved aside.

You may not realize it, but you’re missing out on great business-building benefits. Content creation (aka, specifically blogging), can significantly improve your business’s visibility and sales by increasing website traffic.

You will see improved SEO rankings when providing helpful and informative information content and continue to establish credibility and leadership in your industry.

Why make the time? With proper planning, in one hour, my professional writers can capture enough information for four high-quality blogs. This is an excellent use of your time to get your company’s point of view out into the world and to raise your own professional profile.

How Would an Outsourced Marketing Company Help a CEO Blog?

Forbes recommends outsourcing blog management (number 9 on the list) as one of their top 15 marketing tasks to outsource immediately. Outsourcing your design, posting, and management not only saves you time, but also it will also save money. Batch posting is very popular and allows you to benefit with a library of valued content.

For example, when we work with clients, we’ll create a content calendar for a month or more at one time. That way, we can ensure that content is prepared, scheduled and posted at the appropriate time.

A good content writer can write multiple posts at a faster rate than your in-house marketing team and ensures you have multiple articles ready to go when you need them. It also allows for collaboration with marketing campaigns, seasonal promotions and business events that are already in the works.

Your blog is an extension of your brand. Quality content will help successfully communicate with clients. It will also humanize your brand, providing more leads and better conversion rates.

It’s a great way to make sure your ideas are published on a platform where it’s easy to be seen, and shared.

You can also opt for the hands-off approach. The creative content can come from the outsourced company with less input from you. We use a brief to research your market, develop topics and then write appropriate posts for your site. With that process, you’re just reviewing a draft before it goes live. There is no interview. This process is quicker and more hands off for you. We have clients that prefer both processes and both produce great work. It just depends what your goals are for your company blog.

Regardless which style you prefer, outsourcing your blogging will free up time for you to work on other aspects of your business and ensure it gets done on a consistent basis allowing you to reap the SEO increased traffic benefits.

Jen Kelly is a marketing consultant in Toronto and CEO of New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) serving growing businesses in Canada and the USA. NIM is the team to call for marketing execution excellence. Contact us today for a no-obligation conversation about your company blog.