When business owners look at their internet presence, a higher search engine result is what they’re working towards. Of course, there’s a goal beyond that – what a higher ranking should bring. Increased revenues.
Blogging can help you increase your findability in searches and increase your revenues. Every blog post you publish, adds to your inventory on the web. The more inventory you have published, the more findable you become.
But who has time to blog, right?
Let’s look at the time investment of blogging in terms of calendar of days rather than hours in the day. If you invest 15-30 minutes a day, maybe 3-5 times per week, you’ll create a winning web presence.
In many ways, blogging is like farming:
- You agitate the old earth, getting fresh soil ready for planting
- You plant your seeds
- You check on things frequently, sometimes watering or fertilizing the soil
- Several months later: Harvest
- Rinse and Repeat
And step one above may be the most important. It’s a changing of the soil. It’s not that the old soil is bad, it actually remains. By tilling the ground, we are integrating the old with the new.
As you produce posts, remember the acronym FARM:
Frequency – Develop a frequency that is sustainable and consistent. Ideally, you’ll write a post at least three posts each week. By doing so, you will produce an inventory of pages on the web that will increase your credibility and findability in search rankings.
Audience – Your intended audience is who you write for, who you talk about, who you get your ideas from. Don’t try writing award-winning posts. Don’t talk so much about you. Talk about your intended audience and how their problems and pains can be solved. Listen to your day, to your customers. The question you answer today may be a blog post tomorrow.
Readable – Have plenty of breaks in the text, what I call “eye rests”. These can be images, bold phrases, hyperlinks, and bullets. Today’s web and mobile readers are skimmers. Having ample eye rests will slow them down so they read and remember what you write.
Manageable – Blog posts don’t need to be long (boring?) tedious word counts. The Gettysburg Address was 272 words short. Shorter blog posts are more likely to get read, shared, and remembered. In addition, shorter blog posts don’t take as long to write.
If you FARM your blog with diligence and care, in a few months you will see higher rankings, stronger relationships, and increased revenues.
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Great analogy Mike. As you know I battled justifying the time, effort that went into blogging and the ROI that was realistically available. Like with real farming, you truly get out, what you put in. So YES farming a blog does lead to countless opportunities, much more than farming on Farmville will
Mike Frey recently posted..Developing Transparency in a Digital Age
Thanks Mike (for the comment and opportunity). I think short post are better for both the reader and the business. Everyone is looking to save time. And from a farming perspective, I’ve not seen many things grow if we dump all our seeds into one pile. Here. There. Again There. Short. Manageable.
Mike Sansone recently posted..Giving Yourself Permission to Not Listen
Great post Mike… slow and steady right?
Guess that means I need to get busy writing my next post. It seems I’m delinquent, again.
Tisha Oehmen recently posted..Rogue Outfitters Web Design
Right, Tisha – slow and steady, one seed (post) at a time. Remember to “till the soil” so yesterday’s earth becomes fresh. So while you may have been delinquent yesterday, today’s brand new:-)
Mike Sansone recently posted..Giving Yourself Permission to Not Listen
This one’s for you Mike!
Thanks for the nudge.
Tisha Oehmen recently posted..Your Brand is About Emotion
I totally agree with this, almost everything listed are true, once you have created your own blog there is no turning back, we must create a good and unique content to the readers to be attracted, likewise in farming, before we plant something in the ground we should know how the situation work,if the plant will live or die. planning and motivation is the most important part here.
Kate Brown Wilson recently posted..loans in singapore
Great addition, Kate. Especially the motivation part. Without the motivation, one won’t tend to the plan, right? Thanks!
Mike Sansone recently posted..Giving Yourself Permission to Not Listen
Great job in comparing blogging with farming. Like farming, a real passion towards a blog is important to be a successful blogger. Only time will tell you how much successful you are as a professional blogger. Being consistent is the key here also to get the fruitage.
George recently posted..Shoot And Win With Your Worst Cubicle, Enter The PMC Contest!
What a fantastic point, George! Farmers do love the ground they work and the crops they produce – and more so, what their work produces beyond the farm. Such passion paves the path of perseverance, yes? Thanks:-)
Mike Sansone recently posted..Blogging Like Jerome Bettis Drives
Yes you are right Mike without motivation our work and plan will be useless. so we must instill this anytime. thanks for your reply Mike, I really appreciate it.
Kate Brown Wilson recently posted..loans in singapore
Well, I think every search engine that we have now bring a huge help to make a change.
Hi Mike! I like your idea and the concept comparing blogging with farming is a good example. Thanks for sharing this useful information. I really appreciate it and i learn so much on you. Job well done!
Thank you Ynna for stopping by. They both need the same patience and TLC to survive.
Nice Blog ! Thank you for your very nice articles. I look forward to visiting your site in the future!
Methods of Modern Farming