With so much content available online these days, readers have a limitless pool of content to read. This should scare you at least a little bit.

After all, what is so special about your content that readers will want to spend time on your blog or website? Well, if you’re consistently churning out interesting content, that’s one big lure. Of course, if you’re putting content on your site on a regular basis, you run the threat of placing some stale posts up from time to time.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent that. Here are two ways that you actually have some control over.

Always Be Looking for a Way to Relate: Writing about topics that your target audience isn’t going to relate to simply makes no sense. You always want to write content that will have your audience engaged and learning something new in regards to a topic they care about. If you ever have problems finding new content to writ to in these regards, you can always fall back on writing posts that raise questions. These posts open the floor for your readers to participate in a discussion—making your blog the center of attention.

It’s Okay to Gossip…Sort Of: If you ever find yourself I a position to share information or news that no one else is privy to, do it! Whether or not they’ll admit it, most internet users love to a good inside scoop. There is no better way to keep your readers interested than to provide them with breaking news and information about an industry that they are interested in.

Note that it doesn’t have to always be breaking news. Sharing little known facts that are relevant to your readers can also hold their interest and keep them coming back.

Of course, if you choose one of these approaches, always make sure your information in accurate and backed up. When you can provide great creative and interesting content that is authoritative of official, you are also working towards establishing your online reputation.

What are some other avenues you have tried when it comes to keeping your content fresh and interesting?

Yesterday we talked about things that can go right for your small business on Vine…so it only makes sense that we also talk about things that don’t work. After all…it’s 6 seconds of video. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can waste a lot of your time and, quite frankly, make your business look foolish.

So, what mistakes are small businesses and individuals making with Vine?

They Don’t Actually Tell Us the Purpose of the Video

This happens a lot. People think that they are being clever (and maybe they are) but they get lost in trying to be creative and forget to actually sell the point of the video. So if you are looking into using Vine and want to be unique, that’s fine; but make sure you have well defined point to make and that you actually make that point. If you want a safety exercise to make sure you are doing this, sum up what you want to convey in the video in one sentence before filming. If you can’t do this, you’re probably not ready to make the video.

They Try to Cram a Longer Message into Six Seconds

If you know there is no way to get a point across in six seconds, don’t even try it. The video will make no sense. What you can do is think of a creative way to split that longer message into several six second vignettes. This gives you plenty of ammo to keep fresh Vine content out there. Again, make sure the message of the video is clear. When you try cramming tons of info itno sic seconds, you’re likely to have a nervous breakdown.

Forget the In-Crowd

This could be a great rule of thumb for any videos—but don’t market the videos to just a small private group. Everyone should “get” the message you’re selling. The only exception to this Vine rule is if you are creating a Vive video for loyal customers as a special thank you.

Seriously, there are tons of horrid uses of Vine out there. Run a simple Google search to see what we mean.

Everyone and their mother has given Vine a try (seriously mom…stay off the computer). It’s been fun to see the way that many people are utilizing it. Some people have managed to find their niche and are using it quite well.

Others, not so much…

So what does it take to make Vine work for you? Well, it’s been out for enough time now that we can take a look at some examples that are out there and give some preliminary suggestions at what you can do to make Vine work for you.

Use it for Sneak Peeks

Sure, six seconds sound like nothing. But if you’re using that time for a teaser for a new product or some new feature about your company, it’s the perfect amount of time. The trick is to make each second count. Some magazines have effectively been doing this to give readers a glimpse of the information that will be in their next issue.

If you out some creative juice to it, there’s a way to give a sneak peak about something no matter what industry you’re in. Tease your audience and leave them wondering just what it is that you have up your sleeve.

Show Off What’s New

This is different than the sneak preview. Imagine a video game company that has been teasing you about a great new game that is right around the corner. Then, once it’s release, imagine not making an announcement that the game is ready, but putting up 6 seconds of game play. This is a great way to get excitement going for your product. The fact of the matter is that marketing is headed to the video realm—it’s been headed in that direction for years. Utilizing video this way, particularly with Vine, can do wonders for getting your brand out there.
There are, of course, many other ways to make Vine work for you. Have you been able to use it to attract new attention to your brand? What methods have worked for you?

You may think that you have your brand right where you want it. But just because you’re pleased with how you’re being presented doesn’t necessarily mean that your public agrees. A big part of building a successful brand comes in the ability to relate to your target audience.

So how can you work towards having a relatable brand? It should be no surprise that it all comes down to pleasing your audience. The majority of such success can be attributed to four basic principles that can make your brand more relatable.

Your Message Should Cater to Your Audience: You need to understand what makes your target audience tick. You need to know them like you know some of your best friends. This means that you won’t have to guess at what they want to see—you’ll deliver what they’re expecting. Staying relatable to your target audience in such a way is invaluable when it comes to building a strong brand.

Hone Your Online Voice: Marketing online is a different beast than traditional marketing. Online, tools like social media have made marketing more like a conversation. (This is why you have to get the above principle nailed down). With a great online voice and a presence that has a strong presence in social media, clients and potential clients will start to see you as an authentic figure within your industry. That trust can lead to longtime customers.

Ask for Feedback and Use It: By requesting feedback from your customers, you are engaging them in a way that they appreciate; they believe that you truly appreciate their opinion. But more than that, you are keeping them involved with your brand. When they leave feedback, even something as simple as a comment on your blog, they become an active participant in your business.

Think Less Like a Salesman: People get tired of a sales pitch very quickly. This is especially true online. Because of this, don’t devote all of your blogging time and content creation to trying to get sales. Share information with your audience and give them something valuable. If you stay stuck in the “sell, sell, sell” mentality, you become predictable and annoying to the audience you are trying to win over.

What are some other ways you have been able to relate to your audience? Is it easier to connect online or in the real world?

If your small business is growing and the workload is starting to stack up, your first impulse might be to place an ad to start looking for a new employee. But you can go another route, particularly during the summer.

Have you considered hiring an intern?

Interns are much more than just a cost-effective way to get some extra help. They can actually be very beneficial to the growth and image of your business.

Working with interns places you into a mentor role.

Teaching an intern the ins and outs of your business is slightly different than working with a new employee. With an intern, you are most likely going to be one of the first—if not the first—person to show them the ropes of your industry. You become a mentor to them as you are essentially teaching them via a hands-on workshop of sorts rather than actual on-the-job training.

You can assign interns very specific tasks that have been taking up a lot of your time.

Find your intern’s strengths and align them with tasks that require their talents. If you have a certain daily task that tends to take up too much of your time, this is the perfect way to provide them with experience while making more room on your schedule.

They can serve as an example of your leadership further down the road.

Any intern that you take on and mentor has a chance to impress other employers in the future. When these other industry-involved leaders discover that their new employee worked an internship with your business, this can bolster your image and reputation within your industry.

You could be grooming your next best employee.

Working with interns can also be a preview of sorts as to what they will be like as an employer. This allows you to use internships as a way to scout out talent for your business when you are in a better position to hire for full time positions.

What is your experience in working with interns? In what ways have they helped your business grow and prosper?

One of the hardest things about remaining relevant in an online atmosphere is the ability to keep readers coming back to your content. For sites that develop content on a daily basis, they really need to make sure they are hammering out creative and engaging content.

By engaging, we literally mean that each article or blog they create needs to connect with the audience to some degree. There are some relatively easy ways to make sure you are doing this and if your company isn’t doing most of these, they are easy changes to make.

Write content based on items that you know your audience will be interested in. Open your content up for debate by asking hypothetical questions and inviting people to leave comments.

• Try to keep up to date on recent trends and new stories. If at all possible, make this one of the duties of one particular person in your company.

• Don’t re-tread worn out past topics. While it is okay to reference older news items, dredging them up and doing simple rewrites to make it appear fresh is not going to fool anyone. Also, it will make your business seem lazy.

• Are you using relevant keywords? If not, your audience will have a hard time finding you; then even if your content is engaging, there will be no readers to engage it.

• It’s a good rule of thumb to incorporate images into each article or blog you write. The image should be relevant and reflect your brand’s personality. If you have a photographer or designer on hand to make new unique images, take full advantage of this.

• If you’re not funny by nature, don’t try to pull it off in your content. Be true to yourself and write your content in a way that you would speak to someone that came into your office.

Your content should be fresh, exciting, and give your audience something to think about. Make sure you engage them with great content on a regular basis and you will have a huge following of devoted readers in no time.

The decision to start a blog for either personal or business use is not one that should be taken lightly. While many can be fun to maintain, you should always approach your blog as a valuable asset. For a small business your blog is important because it is one of your strongest connections to your audience.

If you haven’t yet started a regular and consistent blog but plan to, here are some steps you can take to make the process as smooth as possible.

Create Content Ahead of Time: By having a backlog of content, you will be able to start your blog with one of the biggest tasks already taken care of. It’s a good idea to try to have at least 15-20 blog entries ready to go. Of course, in the time you post these, you should try to create the 2-3 each week as time allows. You always want to have at least a few posts ready to go rather than having to write on the fly on a regular basis.

About that Regular Basis…Try to post on a regular basis. Most people will not post new content every day, as it can be hard for readers to catch every post. I good rate is 2-3 times a week. The trick is to keep at it. If you post 3 times in your first week, try to maintain that schedule. Your readers and potential customers will then come to expect your posts with some regularity. Any lags in your schedule may cause a loss in readers.

Try to Schedule Ahead:  No matter what blogging platform you decide to use, they are likely going to have an option or tool that will allow you to schedule your posts. It is beneficial to go ahead and do this at the beginning of the week. Set your week’s posts up ahead of time so you won’t risk forgetting to do so during the busy work week.

Present Yourself in the Right Light:  As you pre-write your content, make sure your brand is being reflected in the way you want. This will save time later, sparing you from annoying edits. This is a rule you should stick to whenever you write anything for your business. Your content should always be consistent in style, voice, and be a great representation of your brand.

For th of you that are already blog savvy, what are some other ways you have been able to make blogging easier? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.