So let’s say I’m in the market for a life coach or GRE tutor or web designer.
I go a’googling and happen up the website of someone who looks like a perfect fit. Her portfolio is great! Her references look good! And she looks super friendly and sweet in her headshots. I click the blog tab in her menu bar and this is what I see:
Three blog posts. One from 2009. One from 2011. And one from two months ago.
Now, I might be a hard ass (spoiler alert: I totally am) but this Does Not Impress Me. Why, fortheloveofpete, am I going to give my hard earned money to someone who doesn’t have their act together enough to update their blog regularly? Or doesn’t take enough pride in their online space to delete an outdated blog? Why would I trust someone with my mind/GRE score/website when they can’t even be trusted to handle a blog?
I wouldn’t. So I move on to someone else.
Of course, one could argue that a super successful, super busy life coach/ GRE tutor/ web designer might be too busy to update their blog. But have you met Nubby Twiglet? Or Marie Forleo? Or Danielle LaPorte? Girlfriends are buuuuuusy with client work and consulting but they manage to keep their blogs updated on the regular.
And if you really, actually don’t have time to update your blog? Or you find it to be an unpleasant chore? Delegate it to an intern/VA/consultant (*cough*me*cough*). Or delete it! There are plenty of other ways to connect with clients and customers and peers.
How often do you update your business’s blog? And if you don’t, what’s your excuse? 😉
I definitely agree with you that an old blog isn’t good for business. Do you have a suggestion on how regularly you should post to a business blog?
I run a similar small business on SEO/online marketing consulting but just can’t find the time to write a blog based around it, even if I know it would be good for new business. Could I get away with writing a single post a month?
I really think that once a week is the very least you can get away with. To me, any less than that and you look like you’re not taking your work seriously and you don’t manage your time wisely. But again, I’m a totally judgmental hard ass 😉
I update roughly once a week. My excuse for not doing it more is that I am so inconsistent with my non-online life that it would stress me out further to add my online life to it. Once a week is really manageable for me
If only I had money for a VA right now. I’m going to make a list of all the things my VA would do for me so I can be ready.
hit the nail right in the head!
Ooh. For a while there I was trying to post every weekday (worked full days on weekends so couldn’t post then) but then my schedule got flipped around. I have no excuse not to post every single day (except maybe wednesdays…) but I just can’t seem to do it.
A few times a week at least.
It’s true, if a blog is updated way too sporadically (like, once a month) I’m just going to end up forgetting it exists!
I have to say, while looking through hundreds of blogs daily, the theme of this blog is different (for all the proper reasons). If you do not mind me asking, what’s the name of this theme or would it be a especially designed affair? It’s significantly better compared to the themes I use for some of my blogs.
Andrea,
It was custom designed by Kim Lawler
http://www.kimlawlercreative.com/
It is seriously one of the biggest things for me NOT using a business. Even worse, having event info that is either really old or doesn’t have a complete date with the year. If your event is in Feb, how do I know that is in Feb 2013 or Feb 2012 and you’ve been too lazy to update? I don’t so I move on.