In this issue we look at how to juggle more than one job successfully; provide some top tips for business blogging and show you how to hone your negotiating skills so that you always get a win-win situation.

• Editor's Desk
• Bite 1
• Bite 2
• Bite 3
• Working Web
• Last Word

To Blog or Not to Blog

Now that can be a tricky question to answer. Why? I hear you ask. Well, blogs use up your valuable time. So, if all you do is mess about telling people what you had for lunch or what shoes you are going to buy next then it’s probably not worth you spending time writing it.

However, if you use your blog to inform people about what you do and how much you know about your industry to convince them that you are the very person they need to do that vital job – then it is definitely worth spending your time on.

The Ten Golden Rules of Business Blogging

If you do decide to start a blog there are some golden rules you should try to follow:

1. Be Relevant – if you write a blog about your stationery business, readers will come to your page expecting to see articles and information about stationery. So, that’s what you have to give them. If you start to ramble on about umbrellas you will lose the interest of the visitors and they’ll probably not bother to come back.

2. First Impressions Count – there has never been a truer word said when it comes to business. So, make sure you spell words correctly and you use correct grammar and language – unless your blog is about slang of course. And most importantly be professional – it is very unwise to use your blog to criticize or, even worse, slander your competitors! And when people leave unfavourable comments don’t be tempted to retaliate.

3. Keep up With the Industry – make sure you know what is up and coming in your industry and tell your readers about it. This shows you are aware of your market and you know your stuff, which will establish you as an authority. 4. Don’t Sell – a blog is not a selling tool so you should avoid making it into one. The most successful blogs will contain interesting, honest information about the company and the industry.

5. Don’t be a Fake – make sure that what you write is the truth – as far as you can ascertain it – as this gives your readers confidence and can lead to further business. If you think what you are writing may not be true, say so. And, if you leave comments on other people’s blogs, which you should, make sure you state that you work in the industry and use your real name.

6. Use Keywords – these are vital to hook readers and search engines alike. Readers will click on posts that have interesting, relevant titles and search engines will find posts with relevant key words easily when they are searched for.

7. Post Regularly – if you want readers to come back time and again you need to post regularly. There’s nothing worse than taking the time to visit a blog only to find that it has not been updated for the past six weeks – chances are you’ll not go back again. Plus, search engines love content so the more you post the more likely they are to find you.

8. Do Not Copy – it is definitely not a good idea to just copy and paste other people’s work – even if you ensure you’ve credited them. It looks as though you can’t be bothered. Blogging should be about giving your readers your take on things – how you see it, not someone else.

9. Get Someone Else to Read it First – sometimes called a blogging buddy. This can be really useful as you may think what you’ve written is the bee’s knees but someone else might read it and ask why on earth you think it’s relevant.

10. Format properly – there’s no point having great content and lumping it all together in one big, incomprehensible block of text. There’s nothing worse for putting readers off. Use paragraphs and make sure you have lots of headings so that readers can skim through the parts they feel are relevant.

Follow these rules and you won’t go far wrong. In fact, you could just earn yourself a great reputation and huge amounts of business in the process.