Chris Sturk is our trusted manager of all things wordy. For several years, Chris was the Managing Editor of Mequoda, where he edited and wrote thousands of articles and white papers about best-practice blogging and search engine optimization. Prior to joining Mequoda, Chris was the marketing manager of a boutique lifestyle marketing firm focused in the music and entertainment industries and based in Rhode Island
When most people hear that we “blog” for a living, they think of homespun bloggers posting recipes and ranting about our kids and yoga sessions. No, really, somebody actually said that once.
Personal blogs are great, but in today’s digital environment, blogs are used differently, particularly when used by small businesses and professional service providers. Blogs are now some of the most reliable audience development tools for people who understand how to maximize this wonderful platform.
Illustrated by Sarah Steenland
Let’s be honest … most approaches to search engine optimization (SEO) and social media, when executed by a business, are a little crappy. Spammy, even.
Me, me, me, buy, buy, buy, sign up, sign up, sign up, beta, beta, beta, crap, crap, crap.
There are a few startup gems out there, and we all know who they are, because people adore them: Wistia. Hubspot. Buffer. 37Signals. Moz.
Most often, these gems also have startup blogs. Non-crappy startup blogs, in fact, which makes SEO easy and social media a breeze.
So, let’s talk about why.