Blogging and content strategy are becoming more common among small businesses as a way to grow.
Content is the future.
Small businesses are using content to generate leads and start profitable relationships with ideal customers. There is profit to be made for service-type businesses that need to connect and build relationships with a target audience.
Most small business owners realize this change in strategy and want to execute, but there is one hangup. Employees and co-workers are typically averse to change. It’s not easy to accept something that 1) Is new and somewhat of an unknown and 2) Something they don’t know how to do just yet.
People like to feel comfortable. If you go to your team with a content strategy proposal you will get some pushback. People don’t like when they realize they have to learn something completely new and foreign to them. They worry they’ll be replaced. They worry they’ll not be able to keep up with the rest of their co-workers. They are frustrated that their previous efforts have all gone to doing something like paid customer acquisition and now all that time and effort is potentially wasted.
It’s at this point where your leadership needs to shine.
The first step for you is to hone the blogging and business strategy. You want to make sure you’re well prepared and committed yourself before asking your team members to commit. Do your homework. Find relevant examples of other businesses succeeding with content. Talk to other business that are in non-competitive spaces and ask them about the level of effort a content strategy takes. It’s usually surprising to learn just how much research and knowledge it takes to write an effective blog post or similar type of content.
Once you have a full understanding of the content strategy the next step is to create the vision for the blogging and content strategy. Employees and team members need a vision to follow. They need something to believe in and works toward. We’ve discussed blogging vision here before. Your employees need something clear so they can follow and join in line with the tasks they need to accomplish. The business owner or manager needs to provide clear information and a plan for the future. People like plans. They need to know what they’ll be working on so they can start moving toward the ultimate goal. Your job is to provide the vision for the company and the blogging and content strategy. Then layout the plan for how each employee will contribute to the end result.
The final part of the convincing process is early feedback and reporting. It’s real easy for employees to lose interest in the early days of a new project or strategy. If you don’t put in the effort early on to provide feedback and reporting you will lose support from your team. It’s important for people to see that early efforts are making a difference and moving the business in the right direction, which is toward the goal or vision you created in the beginning. Show your team how their blog posts and content are making an early difference. This feedback will get them excited about the change and will give them proof that this is the right move.
The process won’t all be roses. It’s all right to acknowledge missteps along the way. They are learning experiences. Report on both the missteps, but also focus on the positives. It’s a critical moment for the change in strategy of your business.
To recap here are the three steps to take when convincing team members to follow a new blogging and content strategy:
- Create the Strategy
- Create the Vision
- Provide Feedback and Reporting
Use those steps and your transition will be easier and have a better chance to succeed and grow your company.
This article was inspired by How to Rally Your Team Around a New Strategy