Blog Your Way to Credibility & Authority Among Your Audience and Boost Your Bottom Line by Mark Morrison
To blog or not to blog, that is my website?
What is a Blog
Many people may be familiar with a blog but for those who are not, I will explain what it is and why you need one. A mortgage Blog is a platform on the web that allows you to communicate daily to your audience. Blogs are short articles called posts, typically on average of 250 words.
The popularity of blogs has skyrocketed. Over 170,000 blogs are created daily compared to 60,000 in October 2006. That number is only expected to grow. The popularity of blogs has evolved from personal journal entry type entries to business blog marketing. Many companies such as Starbucks and Southwest Airlines have their own blog to connect with their audience.
A blog is a valuable channel to add to your current marketing. It is very easy to add your blog address to your email signature, website, flyers, business cards, brochures, direct mail and other marketing material. You have just created an additional way your prospects can learn about what you do and how much you know by adding it to everything that has your name on it.
The posts you write are typically industry related and are normally educational, informative or entertaining. By blogging, you are representing your knowledge within the industry to your audience.
Blog VS Website
Now, you ask, what is the difference between a blog and a website? A blog is actually a website. However, a website is static, meaning, it rarely if ever changes, where a blog is constantly changing. A blog is updated weekly if not daily. A website is like a brochure; it is a one-way form of communication. Typically, a website tells the reader how great you are whereas a blog is more of a learning community; a dialogue that goes on with the readers.
Think of it like going out on a date. You go out with person “A” and all they talk about is themselves and how great they are. They don’t let you speak a word edge wise. All you hear is “blah blah blah blah.” Then you go out with person “B” and they talk to you like you’re a person, they create an open dialogue and share their knowledge. With whom do you think you’ll have a second date?
A blog is a way to establish authority and credibility among your clients, potential clients and referral partners. I like to compare it to authoring a book. With a book, you are writing the entire book then publishing and displaying it in bookstores. However, with blogging, you are publishing your articles piece by piece over an extended period of time and its being published immediately over the Internet for all to see.
The two accomplish the same end result: credibility and authority. In order to do this, you can not blog about unrelated topics such as the movie you saw this week. The topics need to be somewhat related and represent your industry knowledge.
Use A Blog To Brand Yourself
Developing a blog gives you the ability to market yourself and create a brand name with virtually no costs. You can create a brand the traditional expensive way marketing through newspaper, radio and TV or the new explosive way through blogging. The former will require very deep pockets of money and the latter will require almost none. If you’ve been frustrated by your previous methods of branding yourself, then maybe it’s time to change course.
There are far too many mortgage officers in any given area with whom to compete. Not only that, since mortgage officers can perform business anywhere they are licensed, you are also competing with mortgage officers out of your area or state for that matter. Personal branding helps to distinguish you from all the others. Research shows that when consumers are faced with a large number of people with whom to develop business relationships, they’ll select the person with the strongest personal brand presence.
How do I get started?
There are a number of blog platforms out there such as typepad or blogger. You can set up a blog with their server and pay a small monthly fee. I do not recommend using these platforms only because I do not like storing my posts on their servers because anything can happen. Also, these platforms usually limit you to what you can do as far as design and functionality is concerned.
I prefer wordpress.org as my blogging platform. With wordpress.org, you do need to have some technical skill in setting up your blog. It’s free but you still need to pay a monthly fee for hosting and registering your domain name. Wordpress allows much more flexibility in the design and functionality of your blog than the others.
Once you have your blog platform set up, you can start blogging. When writing posts, it’s important to keep some simple writing tips in mind.
What Makes A Good Blog?
Blog content is the key factor in making a good blog, but the best blog content in the world is useless without good blog layout. Many factors influence whether a blog layout is well received. You should put careful consideration into your blog’s layout to ensure people get the benefit of the content without being put off by the layout.
- Add Photos to Your Layout.
Adding photos to your blog posts is one of the easiest ways to make your blog visually appealing, and simultaneously break up large chunks of text.
- Break Posts up into Small Paragraphs.
The best content in the world won’t get read if it’s in a long block of text that’s impossible to read and digest. Break blog posts up into small, easy-to-read paragraphs for your readers.
- Add Subheads to Make Posts Easier to Read.
Like paragraph breaks, subheadings make your blog posts easier to read.
- Use Header Graphics to Convey Importance.
By using related graphics in the header, you can easily convey to your readers that you have something important to say.
- Use a Clean and Simple Layout for Easy Navigation.
Your layout makes a very big difference in how effective your blog is at reaching your audience. If your layout is overly complicated or difficult to navigate, people are less likely to spend time reading your blog, and less likely to come back again and again to search about topics that are relevant and important.
- Use the Right Font Size and Color Scheme.
Font sizes convey a lot to readers. If your font size is too large, readers may get annoyed at having to scroll down so much to read your blog posts. However, if your font size is too small, readers may find it difficult to read your blog posts, and give up on deciphering your content. Use font sizes effectively to convey meaning and important content while still delivering an easy-to-read style to your readers.
Mark Morrison is founder of http://www.BecomeAMortgageBlogger.com a done-for-you mortgage blog. You can visit his site to learn more about mortgage blogging as well as obtain a complimentary e-book entitled “Mortgage Blogging Blueprint.” You can contact Mark at info@becomeamortgageblogger.com.
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