Blogging is a fantastic way to connect with prospective franchisees.
You can provide useful franchise information for them while improving your reputation and displaying knowledge of the franchise industry. Blogs also help your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by providing more pages for search engines to crawl over, a higher likelihood of registering keywords, and the opportunity for backlinking. Also, blogs can attract franchise leads by providing a gateway to your franchise services through diverse areas of content. For example, a blog post on funding options for franchises could draw potential leads who are interested in purchasing a franchise but are unsure what options they have to fund it.
Running a blog is more complicated than it may seem, however. If you simply start churning out useless content, you might actually harm your business more than help it. Here are some big mistakes new franchise bloggers make and ways you can avoid them.
1. Setting an Unrealistic Schedule
This is the first mistake most bloggers make, and it can have lasting effects. When you first begin your franchise blog, you’re going to have an overflow of ideas and topics. Everything is fresh and exciting, so churning out fresh posts is nothing. It seems like you just can’t blog often enough to cover everything you want to discuss.
But this won’t last. No matter how creative you are, you will begin to run out of ideas. The solution is to collect all your new ideas, but don’t publish them right away. Set a goal you can achieve even further down the road, like one blog per week. Even though you want to publish as much content as possible at first, you’ll be better off if you take your time.
2. Typing in the Wrong Format
It’s 2017. People’s minds process information differently than before. Now, potential franchisees are looking for fast facts and easily digestible content. Big walls of text don’t fit those requirements. If your blogs come out looking like miniature novels, you’re doing something wrong.
Instead of placing huge chunks of text, break up your blog posts. Shorten paragraphs. Write with bold statement paragraphs of just a couple words. Take advantage of headings, bullet points, and lists. The more white space you can weave into your post, the more positive a response you’ll receive.
3. Not Answering Comments
The purpose of your blog is to cultivate a relationship and start dialogues with your readers and represent yourself as an authority in the franchise industry. If you’re ignoring their suggestions or questions, you’re not proving your worth very well. Take the time to answer every comment or suggestion, even if there isn’t much to say. The poster will appreciate it and all future visitors will see that you really care about the people who follow you.
Additional Resources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beginner-blogger-mistakes#sm.0014rafgp17tfdhj11rmdterd6sav
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285548
http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2016/29796/seven-common-blogging-mistakes-to-avoid-infographic
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