Sep 20, 20213 min read

Blogging: Top tips from the CIEP conference

Blogging: Top tips from the CIEP conference

As part of my continuing professional development, I attended the fantastic Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading conference. This blog shares my top tips from the webinar 'Blogging: Making it work for you and your business' by Kia Thomas, Liz Jones and Claire Bacon. It was an excellent webinar. Each editor giving the webinar had a blog and each blog was different. Blogging is as individual as each person. Here are the top tips on how to make it work for you.

1. Show what you know, don't tell what you know

Your blog is a chance to show your skills rather than trying to do the hard sell. Think of it as showcasing all of the flavours of ice cream in your shop rather than writing about how your ice cream is the best in the world. So share your knowledge and show your skills.

2. Show who you are as a person

Your blog is a chance to let people get to know you. Share your individual characteristics. Behave how you would in a conversation with real people. If you like to make jokes include these in your blog. If you love Strictly Come Dancing include this in your blog. Clients will feel like they know you. Therefore they will trust you and want to work with you.

“Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field.” – Penelope Trunk

3. Answer client's questions

You can use your blog to aid you in your work. If clients are regularly asking the same question or struggling with the same concept, write a blog about it. Then you can refer all your future clients to your blog and answer their questions.

4. Keep your target audience in mind

Plan your content with your target audience in mind. Therefore, there is a purpose to your blog and will hopefully engage with future clients.

“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” – Brian Clark

5. Blog to build a community

To engage with more clients, it is best to build a community of your ideal target audience. Connect with them through conversations and interesting content on your blog.

6. Keep it informal

Blogging should be fun. More people will want to read your blog if it is entertaining, informative and interesting. Keep it light and informal.

7. Ideas for content

You could blog about your professional development, issues as a freelancer, issues in language or an area specific to your role, funny moments in your role, do a guest blog, share some of your past life and how it has affected your role or share your journey. The list is endless.

8. Show who you are as an editor

Showcase to clients how you like to work or how you use your skills to complete a project. Share your professional experiences.

9. Find what works for you

You have to write the blog each month so trial and error what works best. Make it manageable, just because others are blogging every week doesn't mean you have to.

10. Blog about what interests you

Try to make creating a blog fun and create content that interests you. You are then more likely to continue the blog and not let it fizzle out. Also, it's fine to blog about something someone else has blogged about as you are putting your take on it.

I hope you have found the top tips from the conference useful.

I created my first blog back in 2019 and have used my background to influence my style and approach. I have a maths degree and love lists. So most of my blogs have a numbered list. I also find this helps for readability and a quick read with bold points, white space and not too much text. I like to use quotes and images to break up the text and draw the reader's eye to interesting facts.

So I hope this information has been useful to get ideas for your blog or for starting a blog. I would like to thank Kia Thomas, Liz Jones and Claire Bacon for sharing their knowledge at the conference.

“Show what you know. Don't tell what you know.” – Claire Bacon

To find out more information, visit my website and see samples of my proofreading.

I am a freelance proofreader and a qualified teacher with a maths degree and a love of learning. Thank you for reading 'Blogging: Top tips from the CIEP conference'. Want to find more out about marketing and the importance of personal branding?