So you want more clients for your business. Don’t we all?

But how do you go about finding those clients? It can sometimes feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to feel like that. You don’t have to go through all of that struggle and pain to find your ideal clients. What if they could just come to you?

Imagine a line of perfectly selected ideal clients just waiting outside your door wanting to work with you. How awesome would that be?! Well, with blogging you can essentially create the same thing (but in a much less creepy-stalker kind of way.)

I’m not saying it’s going to magically happen overnight, you’ve got to put the work in and really focus on growing your blog first. But your blog can essentially do all of the heavy lifting for you.

It can attract your ideal clients to you and show them why you’re the perfect fit for whatever it is that they need. It also helps them build a more personal relationship with you, which makes working with you feel like a no-brainer.

So it’s time to start using your blog strategically to get you more clients, and it doesn’t have to be all that complicated either. I’ll show you how to do it!

Create a Solid Content Strategy

If you’re just trying to wing it and come up with blog content as you go, chances are you aren’t seeing many clients coming to you from your blog. Because your content isn’t targeted and it isn’t intentional.

That’s why you need to have a plan.

Having a clear blog strategy will really help make your blog more cohesive, and it will ensure that you’re creating content that is valuable to your readers, every single time.

It also allows you to create content that will appeal to them on different levels. Instead of just trying to sell them your product every blog posts, or sharing why your business is so great, you’re creating content that is relevant and useful to them on multiple topics. And it’s all about helping them, and not about you at all.

When creating your blog strategy, it’s good to think about creating content that falls under these 3 different types of categories:

• How to/tutorials
• Expertise posts
• Personal posts

How to and tutorial blog posts are great for solving your ideal clients problems. But they also help to establish yourself in your industry. If you can explain to someone how to do something, it shows them that you know what you’re talking about.

Expertise posts are similar to how to posts, but rather than teaching a specific topic, they provide more general and well-rounded information. This could be list posts for example, that break down the top 10 things you need for success in your business.

Or it could be something like a roundup post where you share the 25 best resources for finding helpful information on a certain topic. These posts provide a wealth of information on the most popular topics your readers are looking for. Which makes you seem like the go-to person for helping them with that topic.

You should also include some personal posts into your blog, because you want people to get to know you. But that shouldn’t be the majority of what you write about.

It’s a good idea to remember that although your blog is about you and your business, it’s really not. Actually it’s not about you at all. It’s about your readers and how you can help them.

Solve Your Ideal Client’s Problems

If you’re an entrepreneur or a small business owner, your business was most likely created to solve someone’s problem. Whatever you do or sell is somehow related to making someone’s life better.

And you can use your blog to help you do that even more. I know it sounds a bit counter intuitive to solve people’s problems for free (I see you trying to make a living and support yourself over there) but trust me this is a strategy that pays off in the end. I’m a firm believer that the more you give the more you will get.

So why not give some of your knowledge away for free on your blog? What can you help your audience do that will get them a step closer to where they want to be? Focus on giving them as much as you can to help them with that problem.

Create blog posts that show your audience step-by-step how to do something they want to learn about, or gives them tips on how to create a certain result you’re looking for. Make those blog posts super actionable and help your readers as much as you possibly can.

I’m not saying that you have to give away all the information that you would normally have someone pay for in a blog post. But you should try to share at least a little part of that information for free. Think of it as helping them get just half of a step further in their business.

The more you show that you are committed to helping people through your blog, even for free, the more people will keep coming back for more. And as they keep coming back, some of them are going to want to pay you for even more. And then all of a sudden you have a steady stream of clients flowing in.

Show Your Personality

Like I said, it’s not about you. But you know what?

People want to work with real people.

And blogging is an ideal way to show your audience more of who you are as a person, and not just what your business does.

One of the things that I love most about blogging, is the personal connection it builds between you and each individual reader. Because when someone sits down to read your blog post, it’s like you’re talking directly to them.

So many people mistakenly think that a blog is a conversation between them and multiple readers. But really it’s just a conversation between them and one other person.

Adding in some personality to your blog posts makes you stand out, and also helps strengthen that personal connection. The more your readers can feel a connection to you, the more likely they are to want to work with you.

Use your witty humor, or cutting sarcasm in your writing. Or if you like to tell bad jokes, that’s cool too. Your ideal clients will get a better sense of who you are and it will help them relate to you better. And ultimately want to work with you.

Make it Consistent

Consistency is the backbone of anything you do in life. If you want to get good at anything or see more results, you have to be consistent.

And blogging is no different than anything else. Posting regularly on your blog not only helps you stay accountable, but it also builds trust with your audience. They know that they can count on you every week to publish a new blog post on a certain day. And that is a powerful thing.

Not only that, but Google also loves when you publish consistently.

I’m not going to go into all the SEO stuff here, but it is important to remember that the more content you’re publishing and the more often you add new content to your site, the higher it will start ranking in Google and the more love you’ll get. Which means more new potential clients coming through your door.

So create a plan and stick to it. You may only be able to commit to publishing a blog post every 2 weeks, or maybe even only once a month. That’s ok, just do the best you can and do it consistently. Eventually you’ll be able to increase the frequency of your posts.

Get Intentional and Start Getting More Clients

Remember, your blog can be a huge part of your inbound marketing strategy. Don’t believe the lies that blogging is dead, it’s just not true.

I know for sure that it can help you land a steady flow of clients coming into your business. Just start by putting a few of these practices into place and see what happens.

Start by creating a solid content strategy that addresses topics that your ideal reader wants to learn about. Then focus on solving their problems in your blog posts. Be sure to show your personality through your blog, and then make it consistent.

If you can start doing just those 4 things, you will be on your way to getting more clients from your blog. And having clients come to you is a great feeling. Start getting intentional and make your blog work for you.

Guest Author Bio: Melanie Kernodle is the Chief Content Strategist and Copywriter at CopyRefresh. She is passionate about helping solopreneurs create amazing content that helps attract their ideal clients and grow their business. When she’s not writing, you can find her chowing down on some tacos or reading a personal development book.  Join her free email course to help you write better copy here, or find her on Twitter and Instagram.