What entrepreneur doesn’t scratch their head in bewilderment trying to figure out how to drive more traffic to their website! When properly satisfied, we know the volume of website traffic influences lead generation and, if done right, the number of new clients. And, aren’t new clients what you’re ultimately after? 
 
After 18 years in entrepreneurship, I’ve seen it all – and done it all. Our lead generation tactics have ranged from delivering presentations, participating in networking organizations, and serving on a Board of Directors. You name it; we’ve likely done it. After all, isn’t that what entrepreneurs do to grow their business? Of course!
 
Nothing – and I do mean NOTHING – has been more successful than blogging for our business to achieve our goals.

Blogging Fits Today’s Buyer

Today’s consumer has developed some intriguing buying behaviors.
 
70% of buyers prefer to get to know a business through (blogs) articles rather than ads. (Click to Tweet) and, 57% of a typical purchase decision is made before a client ever speaks to a business. (Corporate Executive Board)
 
With 329 million people reading blogs, it’s a given – blogging rules! (Click to Tweet) 
 
Small businesses with 1-10 employees see the biggest gains in traffic when posting more blogs. (Hip! Hip! Hooray!) In fact, companies that increase blogging from 3-5 times per month to 6-8 times per month double their leads. (Click to Tweet)
 
Looking to double your web traffic? Bump your total number of blog articles from a total of 11 to 50 posts and enjoy the ride!
 
Astounding – and a bit unbelievable – isn’t it.
 
Bringing Blogging Home
 
In January of 2014, Hubspot challenged its clients to blog for 30 consecutive days. I thought they were crazy…until I accepted the task. (You can read about the results in A Funny Thing Happened During the 30-Day Blogging Challenge…and Other Delightful Results.)
 
After netting such great results, we dared ourselves – and our colleagues – for a repeat performance of the 30-day blogging challenge.
 
It wasn’t without its annoyances (i.e. blogging on weekends) however the pay off was worth every irritation. Check out these outcomes:

• Website sessions increased 41%
• Unique users increased 29%
• Page views increase 43%
• Average Session duration increased 42%
• Bounce rate dropped 3%

 And, wait for it… 

• Number of leads increased by 92.5%

2015 will be an influential year for content and blogs are the most valuable content type for marketing. Are you ready? 
 

If you’ve been following along, we kicked off the New Year with a 30-day blogging challenge. Each day, for 30 days, bloggers and entrepreneurs who accepted the challenge, write and post a blog. The purpose? Drive more traffic to the website in order to generate more leads and acquire more clients. (Click to Tweet)

Sounds simple, right? Wrong!

Blogging every day for 30 days is not without its challenges of finding topics, time, and a few brain cells to rub together to make the blog of interest and value to your reader.

We’re more than half of the way into our challenge, and have covered topics such as:

• Buyer Persona: The Ultimate Tool for Small Business Success in a Crowded Market – This is where it all starts. If you don’t know your buyer, it’s a brain-numbing experience to come up with relevant subjects.

• How to Create 50 Blog Topics for Your Small Business Blog in 5 Days – Now that you have a grip on your buyer, use your daily activity to spark creativity for themes, topics, and ideas for blog content. 

• How to Track Your Small Business Blogging Success – We’re big on tracking. Without measuring the outcomes of your efforts – and using the data to improve your results – what’s the point?

• Can a Process Solve Your Small Business’s Biggest Blogging Challenge? – The process of blogging is not without its challenges – especially if you’re re-inventing your process with each post.

• A Small Business Bloggers Loyal Blogging Companions – Don’t blog alone! Tap into tools to make your blogging more productive and fun. (Fun with blogging – what a concept!)

• 10 Fun Ways to Repurpose Blog Content to Grow Your Small Business – Can you get blood out of a turnip?  Hardly, but we do know you can expand your influence and your resources from repurposing your blogs.

Stop Wasting Time

Content creation, along with an inbound marketing strategy, can be challenging for those who routinely do business face-to-face and belly-to-belly. Having launched our business in 1997 using an outbound marketing strategy (i.e. attending networking events, etc.), we understand fully how to get results from offline networking. Over the years, however, we’ve questioned the real ROI on face-to-face networking. It’s the dirty little secret no one wants to admit. (Click to Tweet)

Given the amount of time required to drive to and from an event, plus the cost of the event, parking, and meal and/or refreshments, networking events have to produce a better ROI. This is especially true if you live in LA, like we do, or another large metropolitan area, where a 10-mile jaunt across town can eat three hours out of your day.

I don’t know about you, but I’m just not willing to give up that much of my time sitting in a car.
 
Get On The Blog Train

Can you tell we’re hot for blogging? Blogging, or creating content as the pros call it, is an integral piece of an inbound marketing strategy.

When we first read about content marketing in 2008, it sounded right. Perfect for the way consumers wanted to buy – and ideal for the way we wanted to work. Since that time, inbound marketing has gained in popularity.  (Read Why We Love Small Business Blogging…And You Should, Too!)

Once you look at the numbers, it just makes sense to get on the blog train and ride it all the way into the sunset. With blog 19 out of 30 under our belt, website visits are up 40% and leads have increased 144%. Now that’s what I call a lead-generation website!

It’s never too late to accept the task. Challenge yourself to the 30-day blogging challenge and see for yourself the difference it makes in your enterprise growth.