Need funding? Blog strategically!
Jinfo Blog

By Jan Knight

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Blogging can be thought of as either passé or innovative depending on why you’re doing it, and how well you’re doing it.  An Inc. Magazine’s article this month, How to Blog to Attract Investors, provides some hints on how the way you blog can make a difference to your success.  Later in this article I provide some of those ideas and opinions from investors.

However, firstly think about this. All companies seem to be looking for money in some manner, whether it’s funding for a start-up or a successful company wanting to expand, or a failing company just trying to stay viable in lean times.

Something occurred to me today while coming across two different articles.  "Funders” whether they be bankers, venture capitalists or “Angel” funders, are people too. It might sound trite, but they all have opinions and views and when people mirror those opinions and views, it can be the first step to success.

Think of it as you would a job application where you mirror the description and customise your responses to focus on what people are looking for.

1. Be transparent – be open about what you’re looking for, talk about what interest there is in your company already, discuss your goals.
2. Let investors get to know you and your company. Post third party content that can help investors see how others see you.
3. Use press to get press – make sure that you have reputable publications or people writing about you.
4. Read what investors write – know what’s important to them and be succinct and clear in your posts to let it be known that you’ve done your homework.

So, how do you know what VCs are looking for? What's on their mind and what's important?  The Venture Capital (VC) Blog Directory – 2011 Edition includes a list of 149 VC bloggers.

Some are listed as more influential than others based on recency of content and/or traffic.  Spending some time now and then reviewing almost any of these at random provides a wealth of information on what VCs are looking for and how they think.

Blog away, but be strategic about it and do your research. Oh, and good luck.

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