Laryssa Wirstiuk 0:00
Ready to break free from algorithms, vanity PR, and money-sucking ads? My name’s Laryssa Wirstiuk, and I’ve learned in 7 years of jewelry marketing that content is the crown jewel. My agency Joy Joya takes a holistic approach, leading with laser-focused storytelling, impactful content creation, and strategic content distribution. This method has worked for the solopreneur as well as the multi-million-dollar company, and now I’m sharing these systems and tactics with you. Here’s to standing out in the Sea of Sparkle.

Welcome to Episode #275. In this episode, I want to talk about why blog posts could still be relevant for your jewelry business in 2024 (notice I said “could be” and not “are relevant”) and how to actually write a great blog post for your ecommerce site. While the term “blogging” may seem a bit old-fashioned, like we just stepped back to the year 2000, it’s essential to recognize that well-crafted written content remains a cornerstone for your business in 2024. In an era where artificial intelligence can generate articles at lightning speed, the challenge lies in sustaining the trust of your audience. Genuine and reliable written content can distinguish your business, leading to a direct influence on your brand storytelling, customer relationships, discoverability, sales, and overall growth. Keep listening or watching to find out whether or not your jewelry business is a good candidate for having a blog, what it takes to write an amazing blog post, and what you can expect from your efforts over time.

But before we get to the solid gold, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that this podcast has both audio and video – so you can either listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on YouTube by searching “Joy Joya”. You can support the podcast for free by taking the time not only to subscribe but also to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Alright, let’s get into today’s episode, my Sparklers. So let’s talk about the term blogging for a second, I really wish there was a better word for it that could be updated for 2024. Because unfortunately, most people associate blogging with platforms from the early 2000s like Tumblr, or Blogspot. At that time, people just wrote about their lives or shared photos of their outfits or their meals, kinda like this early form of Instagram or other social media platforms. But instead, there was more text commentary. And if you liked someone’s content, you could subscribe to it and follow it. The blogs of today that would be appropriate for your jewelry business, though are not like the blogs of your they do have one similarity there, text driven, they’re updated regularly and displayed in a chronological format. But I want you to think more of your blog for your business in 2024. As kind of this bonus area to tell your brand story to elaborate on your story, to educate and inspire your customers. And just give you more things to say that can be distributed through your email through your social through your customer interactions, it just adds so much richness to your brand.

So let’s discuss whether or not your jewelry business is a good candidate for a blog. There are two potential benefits to having a blog. The first one is the potential SEO benefits. So driving organic search traffic to the website. And the second is just having more story driven content to build relationships with your customers. And that can be repurposed in other ways like on email and social media as a caveat here. I think these days, I would not recommend pursuing blogging if you’re just only hoping to get the SEO benefits out of it. Because a lot of times when a business is just hyper focused on getting those search rankings they only care about the SEO. The content then just tends to be boring and generic, falling flat because it’s not conceived with the purpose of being reused elsewhere for other assets. So it might get people to yours. sight through the organic search traffic. But typically, they’re not going to stick around for long or end up becoming loyal customers. So I really want you to think about both benefits, the potential SEO benefits and the potential story and content repurposing, and focus on those together. So to know whether you would gain either of these benefits, you kind of have to do a little bit of soul searching here. So one way to know whether or not blog is right for your jewelry business is to kind of ask yourself some questions about whether or not there’s potential to gain these two benefits, the potential SEO benefits, and the potential content storytelling repurposing benefits.

So let’s start with SEO. First, I don’t want this to become a whole episode about SEO, because that’s just opening a whole can of worms. But if you are a beginner to SEO, and you want to know more about it, and you want to have more information about what I’m talking about here, I have so much content on this. So go to episodes to 38 to 39, and 240. And brush up on that, to also kind of understand whether or not you could potentially reap SEO benefits. But basically, just to give you a quick summary, the pre thinking about this would require keyword keyword research. So you would conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high traffic keywords related to your specific niche. You want to also evaluate the competitiveness of those keywords. So are there other big brands that are already ranking for those keywords? And would it be hard to kind of like throw them out of their search positions? Are there content gaps out there on the internet within the jewelry industry, things that people aren’t really talking about stories that haven’t been told information that hasn’t been shared, or that’s underrepresented, and that you could do better at or could even offer something that doesn’t even exist? And the other thing you want to think about? If you’re a local business, and you cater to like your local town, or your local region, then I definitely think there’s opportunity, then for local SEO in your content.

And then to assess whether you can potentially gain the other benefit of blogging, which is the storytelling and content repurposing benefit, you want to think about these following things? So brand narrative, does your jewelry business have a unique story or brand narrative that can effectively be communicated through blog content? Do you have stories about your products, materials, craftsmanship that can be elaborated upon that are interesting that you can share to engage your customers? Is there potentially educational content related to jewelry care styling tips, industry trends, that you can put a unique spin on? And even if you have a lot of customer stories, testimonials, like custom jewelry stories, like why your customers came to you, those can be really amazing to share through blog content as well.

And then some general considerations to make to see whether or not a blog is right for you. Who’s your target audience? What are their interests? And how can you align your blog topics with their needs and preferences? Also, what resources including time budget, writing talent do you have available to actually sustain and effective blog? Have you planned a content calendar to ensure the regular publication of consistent and relevant blog posts? How will you establish methods to track the impact of your blog on things like website traffic or engagement or even conversion rate? And are you prepared for the long term commitment required for blog success? Considering that the results may take time? And finally, how do you intend to integrate your blog content with your overall marketing strategy encompassing social media, email marketing and product promotions? So again, those are all things you’ll need to think about to decide whether blogging is right for your jewelry business. If you do decide you want to dabble in blogging, well, I shouldn’t say dabble because it really is a commitment and I don’t want you dabbling in it.

You’ll want to know what it takes to write an amazing blog post. So I think it’s important to write the blog was thinking about your audience first. So how can this content be interesting, captivating, easy to digest. And then of course, there are SEO considerations to make. But in my mind, those should be a backseat to making your blog actually, like interesting to read, and get people to want to look at it. So brainstorm a list of captivating focal topics that you think would resonate with your target audience. And then strive to infuse those topics with unique perspective that authentically reflects your brand voice and viewpoint. So let’s pretend Moonstone jewelry is your niche. Instead of opting for like a generic topic or title like all about Moonstone, which I imagine is a topic that’s likely been extensively covered, I would want you to choose to enlighten your customers about something regarding Moonstone that’s really important or personal to you, or that you have like a unique take or perspective on. So maybe that means the surprising qualities of Moonstone because you happen to know the things that customers are most often surprised about when it comes to looking at the gym receiving it, wearing it in jewelry. Or if your brand has like a spiritual element to it, maybe this spiritual significance of Moonstone to offer a fresh angle. Or you can engage your readers with a piece like our enchant with our enchantment with Moonstone. And then you from a first person perspective can express your genuine admiration for Moonstone and say that in your own words. But regardless, I want you to try to approach whatever topics you choose, with a fresh perspective with your own brand spin on it. every blog post needs a compelling introduction. It’s so easy to just be like, Hey, this is a blog post about Moonstone or like Moonstone has been around for centuries. Let me tell you a little bit about it. Try to be a little bit more interesting than that. So hook your readers right away. Maybe you throw out an interesting fact. Maybe you ask them a question, maybe you find a way to put like an emotional spin on it or tell like something shocking in the beginning. Anything that will really get someone to stop and be interested and at least want to skim through to like get the rest of the story. Definitely incorporate high quality images of your jewelry products, showcasing them in a visually appealing way. If applicable, I want you to include customer stories if they add like authenticity or emotional engagement. Ultimately, you want to think about value. You want these blog posts to provide value. So what is the reader going to take away from this when they finished looking at it, if they leave with literally nothing or they feel like it was a waste of their time, then you have not provided value.

And just a side note, because I know people are going to ask about chat GPT don’t use chat GPT to write your whole blog post because it’s not going to be as interesting as it could be. And it’s not going to fully be in your voice with your unique expertise and perspective. I’m not saying chat GPT is bad, or that it can’t help. It’s actually great for giving an outline or helping you like if you have writer’s block or you struggle with a blank page. Or if you wrote something and you just need help with like a new way to say it. Or even to give you options for attention grabbing introductions, if you’re stumped, but it’s not going to spit out the perfect blog post. So you need to think about using it as a tool or a means to an end but not the end finished product. And of course make sure you’re carefully editing and proofreading your blog posts to leave errors out of it so people aren’t frustrated with the with the difficulty of reading it. Optimize your images for web use is so ensure that they load quickly and have descriptive alt text and then publish your blog on your website. But don’t forget to promote it through your emails through your social media posts through other marketing channels. And all those things should really be figured out in your content calendar so you know how to distribute your blog post. And the best thing is if it’s more of an evergreen topic and it will always be relevant, you can recycle it and bring it back back like every few months, because it’s never gonna go out of style or kind of lose its relevance. And if you want to make your life easier, so that when it is time to share that blog post on social media or in an email campaign while you’re writing it, or while you’re creating the images for the post, or while you’re uploading it, maybe identify like key quotes or interesting parts of the blog post that you can extract and then use for captions, or email marketing copy, do that at the blog post writing stage, save yourself the step later. And then also, if you’re already making photos and graphics for the blog post, you can reformat them, crop them, edit them so that they can be repurposed for social media sharing, and then just put them in a folder for when you’re ready to share them. So let’s talk about the SEO part of making a good blog post that will has a better chance of ranking on Google. So when you come up with that initial list of content topics that you want to cover, you do want to also conduct some SEO research to see which keywords might make sense for you to tackle in that upcoming blog post, or in future blog posts. If you want to create a blog post that you think will be impactful just for sharing in emails and on social media, and you don’t really think there are any relevant keywords that go along with it.

That’s okay to not every blog post you put out, there has to be perfectly SEO optimized. Since as we learned earlier in the episode, there are other benefits to blog posting, too. So don’t worry if you can’t find relevant, quote unquote, good keywords to put in every blog post. But if you are optimizing a blog post for SEO, then you’ll really want to make sure that your target keyword or key keywords are sprinkled throughout the blog post about four to five times a good rule of thumb to aim for if you can put it once in the title. Once in the introduction, once in the conclusion, and then one to two times throughout the body of the post, you really need to be prepared of the fact that longer blog posts tend to perform better, I would say at the very minimum 750 ish words, but really 1500 to 2000 words is a sweet spot. You can even experiment with some shorter ones, some longer ones and see if those do better at attracting traffic. But link does not automatically equal quality. So keep that in mind to like 750 words of a really quality blog post is going to be better than 2000 words worth of word salad that don’t offer value. You also want to make sure your blog post is organized into a clear structure with an introduction, headings, subheadings and a conclusion. And then if you do have links to other relevant pages on your site, or other blog posts, it’s great to add those links in the current blog post that you’re working on. So it encourages readers to explore other parts of your website to shop your products to enhance navigation. And Google really likes that too.

So what can you realistically expect from your blogging efforts over time, increased website traffic one. So as your blog builds a repository of valuable and SEO optimized content, you can expect a gradual increase in organic traffic to your website. This can come from search engines, and even from sharing it in places like social media and in your email marketing campaigns, you’ll likely see improved SEO rankings. So when you’re blogging consistently, if you’re focusing on relevant keywords, then you will also see that your site comes up higher in Google for your targeted keywords that ultimately makes your jewelry brand more discoverable brand authority also so with regular informative blog posts that can position your jewelry business as an authority in the industry, building trust and credibility with your audience. There’s also the engagement and community building aspect. So engaging and storytelling focused content can foster a sense of community among readers and customers, and it really encourages them to become loyal followers and advocates. If you tend to find that your customers often have the same questions or need the same types of support, that blog can almost become like a living breathing FAQ and You can use those links to educate customers, give them more information, and help build trust between you and the customer. Again, as I mentioned a few times in this episode, blog posts can be repurposed as content for your social media channels and email newsletters. And that can ultimately help save time and effort on content creation. And finally, long term value. So what’s so awesome about blog content is that it has long term value, which means it like lives on your site for a long period of time. And even years after you publish it, it can continue to drive traffic and engagement for that period of time as long as you want it to do so. So what do you think? Do you feel that your jewelry business could benefit from a blog? If so, what’s holding you back?

Alright, let’s get into The Gold Mine. This is a segment of the podcast where I get personal and share insights on entrepreneurship, mindset, success, growth, and all things business. On this week’s GOLD MINE, I’d like to offer some advice on how to deal with your weaknesses or blind spots to ensure they don’t hinder your success. Recently, I shared an experience on a podcast where I resumed playing tennis after a break. I’m now attending a weekly clinic, and during a conversation with my coach, I expressed my frustration with my backhand, which has always been my weakest stroke. I already felt quite confident about my forehand and serve, and any mistakes I made with those two strokes didn’t bother me as much because I understood that perfection is unattainable. Somehow, I had convinced myself that I’m just… really bad at backhand, and I expressed that to my coach. What did my coach tell me? He said, “Laryssa, you know the technical aspects of the backhand since you used to play for years. It’s not so much about technique as it is a mindset issue. Once you start dwelling on the possibility of doing something wrong or having a weakness, you begin to overthink it and create self-doubt.” It’s true. I found myself avoiding my backhand when possible and becoming anxious when someone targeted it. I could tell the people who were playing with me were always trying to hit it to my backhand because, well, they must know also. And that got into my head even more. During that clinic session, I agreed with the coach and decided to stop worrying and execute the stroke the way I knew how. While I still made some errors, there was an immediate improvement once I let go of my self-criticism. He wisely pointed out, “Mistakes are inevitable, so it’s better to approach each effort with confidence.” This principle struck a chord with me, and I left the tennis clinic thinking about its relevance to business. We often tell ourselves stories about our weaknesses, which can become self-fulfilling prophecies that hold us back and hinder our performance. However, if we boldly embrace areas where we lack confidence and withhold judgment, we can quickly enhance ourselves as leaders and entrepreneurs. I’m actively applying this approach in my business endeavors, and I encourage you to do the same. While we can’t excel in everything, taking bold steps forward, seeking external feedback and perspectives, and striving to do our best can yield remarkable results. Instead of convincing ourselves that mediocrity is our limit, we should focus on learning the basics, practicing diligently, and giving our all to each endeavor, even if the results don’t align with our idea of perfection. You will likely see an immediate improvement once you start to try to quiet the stories you tell yourself about your weaknesses and/or inadequacies. What are your thoughts? Have you convinced yourself that you’re just “bad” at something in your business, and that in turn is holding you back? Drop me a message via Instagram DM, leave a review on the podcast, or comment on our YouTube channel. Let’s engage in a discussion about it!

Did you have any questions about today’s episode? You can always email me Laryssa. That’s laryssa@joyjoya.com. If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend who’d appreciate it. And don’t forget to subscribe as well as leave a review on Apple podcasts. If you’re completely new to digital marketing, then you’ll want to purchase and read a copy of my book, jewelry marketing joy, visit Joy joy.com/book for more information.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai