One of the questions Melissa asks when she’s creating a website for a client is “do you want to incorporate a blog?” And often the answer is “I have no idea! I have so many questions about it.”

So today we’re going to look at why blogging is great for your business and the things you might want to consider before committing to starting one.

Firstly, let’s look at the ways blogging is great for dog trainers.

It generates content

When you create a blog post, you invest a fair amount of time and effort into the research and writing of that material. Maybe you even go out and take specific pictures or video for it. 

For example, let’s say you want to do a blog post about seven dog events within an hour’s drive of your community that are not to be missed this summer.  You do some research; you find seven dog events, including links to more information such as the dates and the times. You then write your blog post. 

Seems like a lot of effort, right? But now you can split that post into separate events and use it as seven social posts promoting the events over several weeks.

Perhaps you go to those events and capture some photos. Now you have images – maybe even video – that you can use in more social posts with a link back to the original blog post about the events.

So creating blogs that you can reshare on social media in bite sized pieces – repeatedly, if your post is about an evergreen topic – can be a really useful way of giving yourself content for those platforms too. 

Email newsletter material

Blogging regularly also gives you material you can share in your email newsletter. It’s much easier to reach out to your list if you have something to say! You can also use your posts to promote classes as they roll around. 

Let’s say you have a recall class opening for enrollment. Why not send out an early  ‘warm up’ email about the class with a link to a previous blog you wrote about teaching recalls? Sure, some of your list may have read it before but your newer subscribers may not have seen it.

You can also use that same recall blog post in your social media to promote your upcoming class. If you included a video snippet with your post, that’s yet another piece of content you already have and can reuse.

SEO power up

Blogging effectively can also increase the likelihood you’ll appear in search results. Which means more eyes on your website. Which also means more clients. And that’s probably the number one reason businesses do it. 

There are some specific do’s and don’ts for blogging for SEO but they boil down to:

• Write for humans and machines by including keywords and phrases
• Use the correct formatting so Google (and people) can understand the most important bits of your post
• Include local information so Google knows where you’re located

Want the nitty gritty? Read more about blogging for SEO benefits here.

Look before you leap

Starting a blog is a bit like getting your first puppy. It pays to go in with your eyes open and a clear idea of what to expect!

The four biggest concerns people usually have before starting a blog are:

• How much time is this going to take?
• Do I need to be a wordsmith to write blogs people will read?
• What on earth do I write about?
• But what if people hate on me?

So, let’s take each of these concerns and examine them. Then you can make an informed decision about whether blogging is for you. Ready? Let’s go!

What am I committing to?

You may already know that blogging is a game of consistency. It works best if you set a goal to post regularly: some experts say that should be at least once a week. But, although blogging weekly is a worthy goal, it may not be do-able for everyone. 

And that’s fine. 

Blogging can still be a successful strategy if you post bi-weekly or even monthly. The trick is to decide what’s achievable for you and then stick to it. Far better to release a post on the first day of every month than post six times in January and then nothing again until December. 

Or even worse, six times in January and then never again! People will think you’ve gone out of business – not the message you want to be sending.

The caveat to less frequent posting is the quality of your posts needs to be good. You need to be on your game as far as best practices for SEO and your posts need to be relevant and engaging.

But I’m not a great writer!

Surprisingly enough, you don’t need to be an A+ student of literature and language. In fact, some of the best blog writers aren’t ‘technically’ good writers at all. Sure, it helps if you know what a sentence is… but if you’re reading this you have all the literacy skills you need already.

Here are some writing Do’s and Don’ts to help get you started…

DO: 

• Start by writing a quick outline so you can organize your thoughts and the progression of ideas. Brain dump first, then work out the logical structure. 
• Write freely – just get the ideas down on the page, using your outline to guide your ‘story’. Don’t try to edit as you go, you’ll lose your train of thought and end up getting lost.
• Use a conversational tone – be relaxed and chatty, while speaking your clients’ language by using the terms and phrases they use.
• Provide value for your reader: educational, entertaining or inspirational

DON’T:

• Ramble endlessly with no punctuation
• Repeat the same point multiple times
• Show off your advanced vocabulary just to look smart
• Use scientific and industry jargon unless necessary – and always provide an explanation of any technical terms you do use.

‘Kill your darlings’

Once you’ve written your post, go through it and edit ruthlessly. Writers call this ‘killing your darlings’ – and it can be painful to do! But now is the time to cut the waffle, filler fluff, and repetition, that might have crept in while your muse ran free. Believe me, your reader will thank you for it. Edit to:

• Keep your sentences short
• Keep paragraphs to four sentences or less
• Use headings and subheads to ‘signpost’ your reader through the article
• Provide links so readers can learn more
• Include a call to action so the reader has something to do next. 

If you’re worried about spelling and grammar, use a software program such as Grammarly or ProWritingAid to check your work. And finally, if possible, have a friend (ideally someone who knows what you do) read it through for you to pick up any problems with logic, flow or ideas. 

What do I write about? 

If you are stuck for ideas, here are some ‘topic buckets’ to give you some inspiration.

Firstly, what’s the information you wish your ideal clients knew before working with you. Are there: 

• Foundation skills? 
• Methodology discussions? 
• Common questions you frequently get asked in the first training class or session? 

To attract your ideal clients, you can tailor your topics towards their interests and needs. For example, if you love working with puppies, have posts about puppy rearing and where to get a well-raised puppy. If you prefer family dogs, focus on giving information that’s useful to them. Things like ‘How to teach your dog a bombproof settle’ are always popular.

Alternatively, to boost your local SEO, think about:

• Are there places locally that you’d love clients to know about? 
• Where should clients be taking their dogs? 
• Where could they go to practice the things that they’re learning? 
• Are there any pet related businesses you recommend?

For posts to showcase your expertise and experience, think about times where you’ve worked through a common problem. Do you have examples of:

• Problem behaviors you’ve resolved with your own dogs? (I wrote a post about how I inadvertently taught my first dog to chase pushbikes – and then had to teach her not to! It was a VERY popular post.)
• Working through common training issues with a client’s dog? Write it up as a before/after story and even include a short video to use in social posts.

You can find even more ideas for topics here and here.

What if people hate me?

If you’re anything like most people, the thought of putting your writing out there for ‘critique’ is scary. I hear you! And in today’s online world, the feedback you get can be both nasty and personal. Thankfully the hateful stuff is rare. But I can’t, in all honesty, say it doesn’t happen. 

But there are ways to deal with negative criticism and keep your self-esteem intact. Firstly, if you’re posting to your own website, it’s simple to set it so all comments need to be approved before they’re published. At least that way you can control what your regular readers are exposed to.

Next, if feedback is truly vicious and personal, simply delete the comment and block the person. This is especially effective if the comment is made on social media. No-one needs to see nasty comments on your posts.

Most of your feedback will fall into two camps: people loving your material and people who disagree with you. Both types are welcome and worth responding to. Why? Because getting any type of feedback is great – and it shows your posts are reaching a wide audience and you’re gaining traction. 

If someone disagrees with what you’ve put in a post, take the time to (politely) explain why you said what you did. Look at it as an opportunity to educate the other people reading the comments. You don’t have to get into a long argument but if one person has expressed disagreement, they’re probably not alone.

Blogging alternatives

But what if you feel like you have something to say, but you can’t commit to at least 12 posts a year? 

There are alternatives! Why not see if you’ve got a local paper, club newsletter or a local magazine, that takes contributions? Animal related businesses often have an email newsletter and would possibly welcome a contribution from a local trainer. Vets, pet stores and grooming parlors all appreciate well behaved dogs so writing a relevant article for them could be a win-win for both of you.

Blogging is a great marketing tool, but it does take a certain amount of commitment and effort. If it’s for you, great! If it’s not, don’t be too hard on yourself, there are plenty of other ways to get your message out and your name known. 

I hope this has helped you decide whether you want to take the blogging leap. If you do, we’d love to hear how blogging helps your business, just leave us a comment below.