Another great reason to create a high-quality blog is that this will establish you as a leader and an expert in your field. When you write articles that are interesting and useful, this creates a situation where those with needs will come to you for advice. If you consistently give good advice, you can develop trust and cultivate feelings of goodwill. Additionally, if you apply a high standard of excellence to your blog and the business practices described, you can control and benefit from the expectations surrounding your entire field.
Giving good advice is key. If you write poorly researched articles about things beyond your experience, it might initially garner some attention, but over time your readers will discover any gaps in your knowledge. On this note, stay away from topics that you do not have experience with. If you must discuss a subject you do not consider yourself an expert about, be candid about that. It’s like the old adage about every man ridiculing the newspaper when it talks about his specialty, but blindly accepting what it writes about all other areas. If you give information that is unpalatable or incorrect about one thing, you lose your credibility about the other information you supply, even if it is correct.
Therefore, write about topics in areas where you are knowledgeable and have experience. If you have a good voice or a knack for storytelling, even informative pieces can become captivating, or interesting enough to share. This lets you give good advice, and lets you build up the credibility necessary to suggest they spend some of their hard-earned money on your services.
Another way to influence people through your blog is to maintain a high level of craftsmanship and professionalism. Use the blog to highlight your successes, your highs, the times you have delivered truly unparalleled service. If a reader of your blog imagines receiving your services compared to their experience with a competitor, you can make them wish they had called you instead. Make them regret choosing a competitor by showing them the quality of service that you can deliver.
This strategy relies on getting potential customers expect a particular style or level of service that you can provide. If they expect certain things that only you can or do deliver, this automatically makes their experiences with competitors less pleasant. In this way, create an expectation that forces your competitors to try to copy you to survive.
