I woke up one morning and realized things weren’t right with my blog. A blog is like a living organism that evolves and grows if fed, or withers and dies if starved. Furthermore, if no one is providing guidance, a blog can lose focus and spin out of control quickly.

This is precisely what happened here. I needed to find my focus and my purpose for this blog. Learn from my mistakes so you can avoid this problem in your own business or personal blog.

Here are some simple steps to help you find the purpose for your blog:

What’s the point?

1. Do you have a focus or is your blog simply about things you find interesting. There is no right or wrong answer here, but decide what it is and make it clear to your readers.

2. If you are trying to communicate with customers, students, fans, volunteers or any focused group, then you need to ask yourself whether your content is good enough. Does it teach or help your readers? The better question is whether your blog is about THEM or about YOU?

3. Step back, decide what you want and create a plan. After lots of advice from people I trust, I finally looked hard enough in the mirror to realize that this blog lacked focus. So after speaking with my team, we decided our blog has two primary objectives:

a.  To discuss a wide array of topics around management systems used in the marine and RV industries. These can include CRM, inventory management, F&I, lead management, time and materials tracking, parts and service, and financial management. Furthermore we include discussions about desktop, web and mobile applications for use in a dealership, service center, boatyard or marina.

b.  A more general focus on business philosophy, leadership, time management and both business and personal efficiency.

4. Commit to an editorial calendar and stick to your plan. Decide how many times you are going to post and be consistent. Will this include an email to your list as well? More frequent blog posts bring greater traffic and leads.

This blog is about YOU. It’s not about ME.

Let’s talk about your blog. Leave a comment below and include a link to your blog or website.