Okay, so you’re finally convinced to start that business blog – or maybe the one you’ve got has lapsed into a coma and you want to bring it back to life. It’s never too late. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now (Chinese Proverb).

Yes! Now is a great time to start/re-start that blog! Thanks to advanced web technologies like WordPress and other Content Management Systems (many of which are free or at low cost) its never been easier to create and publish your content. This, coupled with the interactive and social nature of the web your thoughts are now just a quick search or tweet away from being noticed! You don’t need to drum up PR, spam people or buy attention with big print ads. Get engaged in the blogosphere, create, publish and promote remarkable content and before long your blog will flourish.

What determines whether your business blog becomes a success? From what I’ve been able to read, observe and experience so far, the measure of success for many is directly proportional to the level of preparation and planning - before the first post is launched.

Back to the tree analogy. Before planting you’d do some research and preparation to make sure the tree you were planting was right for the environment. You might look at soil conditions, sun/shade and watering requirements, fertilizing, et cetera before you dig that hole. Get it right, nurture it and most likely you’ll benefit from its fruit, shade, beauty (goals for planting a tree) once it becomes established.

Same is true for blogging. Spend some time to study and get familiar with the dynamics of what makes for a successful blog in your industry and you’ll be well on your way towards achieving your blog marketing goals.

Here’s a 3-step process for doing the prep work leading up to starting or revitalizing your business blog: (1) Find relevant industry blogs, (2) Evaluate blogging dynamics and (3) Engage in the conversation:

Find relevant industry blogs

Your first step is to identify a large number of blogs related to your industry or niche that you will then study and learn from in step two. Right now you’re looking for a forest of 20 or so blogs you will later whittle down to a more manageable number to evaluate – say around 5 or so. Bernie Borges in his book, “Marketing 2.0 – Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing” has an excellent chapter (Blogging)  on this technique. I have taken his concepts and expanded upon them with how to facilitate the process via social bookmarking and grabing RSS feeds to Google Reader in this white paper which you may download for free: 3 Steps for Preparing to Blog.

The essential steps to finding relevant blogs to study are:

1. Enter search terms (keywords specific to your industry, business, products, et cetera) into blog search engines such as: http://blogsearch.google.com, http://technorati.com or http://icerocket.com. Alternatively, if you’d like to study top blogs from other industries/bloggers go to http://www.alltop.com.
2. Quickly screen each blog you find to see if it meets minimum criteria. Your criteria may differ based on your objectives, but here’s a suggested criteria to consider: (1) Interesting and relevant blog post titles and themes, (2) Blog is frequently and consistently updated, (3) Readers and bloggers are engaged through commenting, (4) Credibility factor – evidence the blogger is knowledgeable and has industry expertise, experience and has built connections via social networking, and (5) There’s an RSS Feed button or link you can subscribe to.
3. Select and bookmark approximately 20 or so blogs that meet your minimum screening criteria. In the white paper I cover in detail how you can go about bookmarking these blogs to Delicious.com, a social bookmarking site you can access from any computer connected to the Internet.
4. Go back to where you bookmarked the big list of blogs and carefully read and rate each one based on your criteria. Select the top 5 or so blogs and either segment them to your Delicious via re-tagging, or grab their RSS Feed and place them in your RSS Feed Reader (e.g. Google Reader).

Evaluate blogging dynamics

Once you have the short-list of blogs selected you’ll next want to monitor and study these to better understand your opportunity for blogging success. This is gained by examining the dynamics associated with how an effective blog operates. To do this you must dedicate some time daily to observing and reading your selected list of blogs. Here’s a simple plan of action to follow:

1. Dedicate approximately 1 hour per day to read and study your short-list of blogs.
2. Subscribe and monitor any social networks the blog is involved with (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.).
3. Take notes on what you perceive to be best practices, common threads and key differences between them.
4. Do this consistently for a minimum of 2 weeks.

As you actively listen to the conversations and observe the operational dynamics you should gain insights and ideas as to the following:

1. How relevancy, interaction, credibility and consistency is a recipe for blogging success.
2. How bloggers utilize and layout content and blog elements (images, headlines, categories, links, plug-ins).
3. How bloggers (and readers) promote the blog posts via RSS and social networking.
4. How bloggers connect with their market persona and make the blog posts all about their needs and interests.
5. Gaps (niche opportunities) for you to address with your blog writing.
6. Authenticity – the tone/voice and style (personality) of different bloggers.

Engage in the conversations through commenting

Now that you have a pretty good idea of the dynamics associated with effective blogging and have some ideas about the direction and opportunity for your blog, it’s time for one final step before starting or re-vitalizing your blog: start commenting on the blogs you are monitoring.

Developing a practice of commenting on other blogs has many benefits:

• You’ll develop a relationship with other bloggers who compliment your niche.
• You’ll gain exposure with other blog readers.
• Placing interesting comments on other blogs can lead to referral traffic to your blog.
• You’ll get ideas and a better feel for topics and angles you’ll want to develop on your own blog.

By commenting you’ll demonstrate you’re engaged in the conversation and knowledgeable in your industry. Here’s a few tips that will make your commenting practice rewarding and effective:

• Be sure to read the blog post and reflect on its merits.
• Don’t just comment by writing, “Great post, thanks I learned a lot!” But make a substantial comment by adding to the topic. When in doubt, ask yourself the question: “Am I adding value to the post’s topic or theme?”
• Don’t ever sell or promote your products/services.
• Use your full, real name in the “Name” field of the commenter’s box – not your business or company name.
• Leave the Website URL field blank if you’re not ready to have visitors click over to your blog.

Taking the time to study and get engaged with other blogs can pay big dividends in your own blogging success. It will get you firmly planted and in position to grow in a productive and sustainable way. Once you do start/re-start your own blog be sure to give it some time. Be consistent with your strategy and within 4-6 months you should start to see some meaningful results.

For more details on the above process, be sure to download the white paper: 3 Steps for Preparing to Blog.

Your comments…what criteria for a successful business blog do you see as important?