In staying true to our purpose to be the voice of entrepreneurs we introduced a specific type of post called a roundup. It's where we ask as specific question to entrepreneurs and business owners about a specific topic and roundup or compile the responses. These could be questions around why they started their business, how they came up with their business name, their best business advice, best blog tips or even more timely topics like whether Twitter is dying. It's always difficult to choose selections from these roundups but we try our best to figure out what are the best responses for our audience.
A photo posted by CEO Blog Nation – ceoblognation.com (@ceoblognation) on May 15, 2016 at 3:01pm PDT
One of the questions that has come up is–how do you choose those responses. So rather than respond to everyone individually, I decided to create a blog post to explain how we determine which posts.
While it's more an art than a science we look at the following factors to determine which posts are best additions. Unfortunately, just like the first page of Google, we do have a limit to how many submissions we post.
Here's some of the things you should keep in mind to help you get selected:
- We look at the response and the value that it adds. This is the biggest factor. This could be anything from being a response that speaks to our emotions or we believe might resonate with our readers–maybe someone started their business for medical reasons or because they couldn't find their job. These are all the types of responses we look for. It's possible that someone might provide a really insightful perspective as to the recent Instagram changes or something that again provides value.
- We look for first person accounts. Often, we get PR agencies that respond on behalf of clients. Responses that say “He is a rockstar entrepreneur or He's the CEO and he said…” are great but we really look to get as much of first hand account of what is being said from the entrepreneur or business owner. It's more genuine and authentic to us and our audience.
- Variety. We don't want one type of business or one type of entrepreneur so you will often see a mix of different entrepreneurs and different types of businesses because that's providing different perspectives. Social media might affect restaurants in a different way than a real estate agent or a construction company. Also, it means that we try to mix different entrepreneurs in our roundups.
- Answering through our “system.” We use HARO and Source Bottle and other PR tools so that we are able to easily read through the responses. We are testing out a Q and A site that we might also use to get responses in the future. So when we get a response on Twitter or through our e-mails that answer a questions, we try to take a look at them but sometimes they fall through the cracks. It's always best to use HARO or Source Bottle.
- We check out your website. If your website is down or it's been hacked or just doesn't look professional, we factor that in. PS–I know someone if you need help with any of that (cc: Blue 16 Media 🙂 )
- We do look at the social reach. Someone that has engagement across their different platforms are probably more likely to share posts. While that's not a substitute to a really great and valuable response, it is something we look at and factor in.
One thing to keep in mind is that sometimes we use these roundups for other posts like spotlight articles or guest posts so it might seem like a small feature but often it turns into more.
Hope that helps! This is a peek in to how we create these posts and why they're important. If you have any questions feel free to tweet me (@progreshion), e-mail sometimes falls through the cracks gwh@ceoblognation.com.