Dan Lyons‘ latest article over at Hubspot features tips for ‘native advertising’ – the polite new term for advertorial – is actually a great list of tips for business blogging in general.
You need to have faith. You need to tell yourself that if you create something great, the post will spread and your brand will go along for the ride. But if you put in even the tiniest hint of self-serving puffery, you’ll blow the whole thing; readers can see right through it.
I’m not sure why we need the term ‘native advertising’, but the tips are great whether you’re new to blogging, or just need the occasional refresher. The one thing we struggle with in our own blogging is how to talk about the lessons we’ve learned without tipping over into too much of a ‘sales-y’ mode. That’s a hard line to manage, but it’s definitely easier if you’re aware of and thinking about it while you write.