When is a blog not a blog?
When it’s a newsletter, an article, an email, a long social media post and sometimes a love letter….
So let’s talk “nurture content,” people — the stuff you send out to your people on a regular basis so you can hover top-of-mind and build your Know, Like, Trust factor.
Yes: sometimes you’re going to post/publish/send out emails to make a specific announcement or offer. Maybe you’re speaking somewhere, hosting a webinar, or launching a service. That message to your people is exciting, new, and contains a direct invitation to work with you.
You will also be, on the regular, popping in and out of social media to stay current and connected.
And then there’s that other opportunity — consistent, regular, on-schedule writing of longer pieces that allow you to show up generously, express a point of view, exercise your creativity, and build your body of work.
Writing regularly to your people doesn’t have to be “a blog.” There are lots of ways to reach out consistently so people get to know your work, and you.
(It doesn’t have to be writing. You can for sure collect & share a series of videos on your YouTube channel, or TikTok (while it lasts?). You can build a collection of visuals on Instagram. Personally, I’m not visual enough to be on Instagram nor visually pleasing enough to be on video, so my chosen medium is writing.)
That simple exercise of writing to your people can take many forms. Just check this out:
There are blogs that live on a thought-leaders website. When you visit the “blog” section, you’ll find a whole history of collected articles. See, for example, Seth Godin, Jenny Lawson, (who have websites dedicated to their blogging), Denise Duffield-Thomas, and moi (right here, now, like, you’re in it). To help get those blogs in front of people’s eyes, we might tease them on social media. Or share the post in its entirety on social media.
You can also collect your POVs on LinkedIn. Write an article, which lives in your Activity section under Articles. Then you can post about it anytime/several times & include a link from the post to your LinkedIn Article. Apparently the LinkedIn algorithm doesn’t favour posts that link away from their platform. Even though my blog posts live on my website, I’ve cut & pasted some into LinkedIn as Articles. Then I can post & link easily. LinkedIn really does prefer when you keep everything all … Linked… In.
Another option is to build a list, to which people subscribe. By giving you their email, they are choosing to hear from you regularly. They know that every day, week, 2 weeks, month, quarter you’ll pop into their inbox.
Your email might be a full newsletter with a curated collection of ideas, like my new favourite, Marketing Snacks.
Or you may just send a friendly, conversational email regularly. I’ve been reading Laura Belgray’s emails for years. And I recently signed up for every-second-Friday emails from Jay Acunzo.
The point of this link-a-palooza post is: Don’t get “blogged down” by over-complicated formats, platform, or advice.
Just write something, write consistently, and get it out there. Start expressing your ideas, sharing your expertise, and connecting with people. Make it easy. (As easy as writing can ever actually be. )
Not every post will be a winner. It takes time to build a following. And you will probably miss a few of your own deadlines. But for entrepreneurs who have ideas to express and people to serve, it seems like it’s only fair to you and those people that you get out there with your writing.
If you like the idea of writing regularly but it never seems to happen, Almost Writers Club is dedicated time, feedback & accountability, made for the writer in you.