About two months ago, a colleague of mine emailed and said he had a friend looking for a blogger. We’ve shared a lot of work over the years so I thought, Great! I just went through a re-brand and a re-location, I need some new clients. So I gave the friend of a friend a call, ready to take on a new blogging assignment.
She didn’t need a blogger, she needed a speaker on the topic, “Blogging for Money.”
I kind of froze for an instant. One, to someone who spends eight hours a day writing, the thought of speaking to a group of live people is daunting. Two, the topic of blogging for money conjured up images of mommy bloggers who sell exposure to their followers. There’s definitely nothing wrong with that, but I am not the Scary Mommy blogger with 3.3 million Facebook fans, a half million Twitter followers and tons of sponsors’ dollars.
I carefully explained that I blog for companies, their products and services. I blog for food…healthcare…blockchain…recycled pallets. I once blogged for diarrhea medicine. (Yes, really. And surprisingly it was not a hot topic.) As a brand consultant, content marketer and freelance writer, I do blog for money, but it doesn’t feel like the driving force.
Writing is a passion, a gift, a challenge. It’s what I do. And who I am.
I love weaving stories. Crafting a scintillating headline. (One of my favorites: “I was planning my mother’s funeral, but now I’m planning her 90th birthday party.” If that doesn’t make you want to read a blog, nothing will!) And getting results in the form of clicks, shares, leads, sales, and loyalty for my clients.
And while speaking to groups is not my passion, I agreed to do it, focusing on the topic of Blogging for Business. There wasn’t any discussion of money, just common sense advice on how to make it work for any business or organization. Using examples like Thrive Ice Cream (a nutritional ice cream product) and PaizaBio (a contract manufacturer changing the rules in China’s pharmaceutical industry) and 48forty (North America’s largest source of recycled pallets), I shared my blogging insight and experiences.
It was all about the clients. Advancing their strategies. Capturing their voice. Reaching their audiences. Gaining leads, sales and loyalty.
That’s what blogging for business is all about. (Although I wouldn’t mind a little mommy blogger bling.)
Have questions about blogging for business. Connect with me at Melanie@lux-writes.com. Happy to listen and chat.