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Issue 2 > Ten business blogging tips.

Ten business blogging tips.

James Archer provides battle-tested tips to get your business blog in gear.

Want to get your business blog in gear? Here are 10 (plus one bonus!) battle-tested tips that you can start implementing today:

1 Host on your own domain. One of the biggest mistakes made by business bloggers is hosting on a third-party domain, such as 'typepad.com' or 'blogspot.com'.

It can be a great way to get up and running with minimal technical fuss, but in the long run it will come back to bite you. Once you've built an audience, search engine value, etcetera, you're tied to that domain. Get off on the right foot, and make sure you're using your own domain name from the beginning.

2 Get a real design. Marketing is ultimately about differentiation, and you'll have a hard time standing out when your business blog looks just like a hundred others.

Skip the free themes, and put some money toward hiring hiring a blog designer to do the job right. Never underestimate the effectiveness of powerful design.

3 Integrate the blog with your business site. The classic business blogger story goes something like this… 'Blogger gets website. Blogger writes and writes and writes. Blogger builds an audience. Blogger wonders why no new business is coming in. Blogger had forgotten to tie the blog back to his business website.'

Don't be that guy. Integrate the blog into your business site. Make sure readers know who's doing the blogging, and what else you can do for them.

4 Keep it simple. It's exciting for your inner geek to play with widgets, plugins, add-ons, modifications, customizations, etcetera, but your readers really don't care about that stuff.

They came to read blog posts. The cleaner and more pure you can make your blog, the better. Cut as much clutter as you can.

5 Define an 'audience of one'. Narrow your audience down to a specific niche (ideally one that meshes with the target market of your business), and then create a persona profile that describes an individual from that niche.

Give him or her a name. Find a headshot you can use. Figure out what he or she wants out of your website, and then write all your blog posts to that one imaginary person. This will keep you focused on your audience at all times, and will give your voice a more personal touch.

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