Blogging about news in your industry is smart. It provides ready-made content, plenty of discussion, consistent traffic AND helps to establish you as a thought leader. But, roaming the internet for every tidbit of industry news can be frustrating, time-cosuming and unproductive. Here's how to do it right.
You're probably already following news in your industry to some degree. Take that investment of time and energy and increase its ROI by blogging about that news. Industry-specific sites and Google News are more than enough to get you started.
For this post I will use the example of news about the wastewater treatment industry - you know, the folks who take over after you flush the toilet. This business niche has plenty industry-specific sites and an constantly replenished supply of stories on Google News. You should be actively following these type of industry-specific sites and news stories via RSS feeds. Using these sources and accessing them via their RSS feeds is the crucial step to productive industry news blogging. To make it easy, you can grab an RSS feed for any search terms you choose on Google News. That is huge and it bears repeating and explanation.
You can grab an RSS feed for any search terms you choose on Google News. Just go to Google News, enter your specific industry and click "Search News." The results page will have choices for RSS or Atom feeds on the left-hand side (see images below). Save this link to your newsreader and voila, a never-ending stream of industry news perfectly tailored to your niche.
When news breaks, offer commentary and links right away. Comment on other blogs and provide trackbacks. Use your blog to demonstrate to the world (or more importantly, your costumers and prospects) that you are an expert in your field, on top of relevant news in the industry and plugged into the discussion. Your profile and credibility are instantly raised, along with your site's qualified traffic and pageviews.
Blogging about industry news and events can be relatively easy when set up properly and executed consistently. The here today/gone tomorrow nature of news is well-suited to a blog. Plus, when news breaks, industry insiders and observers rush in to analyze reaction and gauge the discussion. As someone in the same industry, you need to be engaged in that discussion, offering insightful analysis, quality links and interesting perspectives. Staying up-to-date by using the tools discussed here is the perfect way to engage people, offer commentary and analysis and continually attract more visitors interested in your industry.
Comments