Many businesses treat blogging as a side task, but building an authority blog can eventually become the centre point of a highly converting, profitable business. Content marketing has seen a shift in recent years with more and more businesses recognizing the importance of building a good relationship with it’s readers through quality content.

We produce more content than ever before, take a look at DOMO’s infographic on how much data is generated every minute. It can seem overwhelming and a crowded place, but within every industry and niche there is enough room for you to carve your own little hole and start to grow. Building an authority blog takes hard work and perseverance, but here are 3 steps you can make today to help you reach that goal.

If You Don’t Know The Niche, Don’t Blog About It

You should only blog about a subject if you come under the following 2 criteria.

1. You have knowledge and experience on the subject and can offer the community useful insights (ie quality content).
2. You have a passion for the subject and it consumes most of your life.

Now preferably you’d have both. Some of us find we have a wealth of knowledge on a subject without realising it. Don’t be put off because you don’t know everything. Everyone has varying levels of knowledge in a subject. There is always someone wanting to learn what you know.

Take me for example; creating this blog I knew I had good knowledge on the subject and experience, I am also very much interested in the subject of online and offline marketing. While I don’t claim to know everything and are probably wrong on a number of things I didn’t let it put me off from blogging about the topic.

If you have the resource and budget there is nothing stopping you from having a go in any niche. Just outsource content creation, design and marketing and reap the rewards. Many of us are not in that position and this is why choosing your niche is so important. You need that passion and knowledge to get you through the tough times, when you don’t have capital to outsource tasks and handle everyday life.

The Almighty Email List

You have probably already read about the almighty power of an email list. You might have read it so much that you may even start to think it’s being over hyped. The only way you can understand the power of an email list is to have one yourself. You will soon realise that it’s like having your very own Google and you can direct targeted readers wherever you want at anytime you want. It’s an incredibly powerful asset for any business.

In most cases it’s best to offer some sort of incentive for a visitor to sign up to your newsletter. There are a few ways to go about getting more subscribers.

1. Free guide or tool.
2. Host a webinar.
3. Giveaway.

Networking

Like in the offline world if you want to be successful you need to network. In the online world, blogger outreach is your equivalent. If you want to be rubbing shoulders with the authority figures of your industry you are first going to need to contact them. Be assured they won’t come to you. There are various ways to reach out to other bloggers and leaders in your industry.

1. Invite them to participate in an interview.
2. Review their product (preferably it will be positive).
3. Pitch an idea for guest post.

There you have it, 3 essential steps to building an authority blog. There is much more to it but for now these 3 things should be enough to keep you going. Have you found a particular step more beneficial than the others in this list? Let me know in the comments below.