Here’s how it usually happens.

Business owner X finally decides that he or she needs to dip a toe into the social media waters beyond a personal Facebook account. Somewhere along the way, X read that a blog can be a powerful business tool and have great influence on search engine optimization. (Which is true.)

So, because X thinks he or she should be out there, X opens a free blogging account somewhere and begins to share the wisdom earned through years of hard work. Unfortunately, X invested no time to create a strategy or goals for being there.

Which, of course, is a recipe for disaster.

As I was revising a document for our clients on business blogging guidelines, it occurred to me I should share it here, too.

These points are by no means all-inclusive, but they are the cornerstones that we preach at McLellan Marketing Group.

Have a narrow niche: If you’re blogging for business, you’re most likely doing it to demonstrate your expertise, generously share what you’ve learned (best practices and mistakes made) and to influence the search engines with your keyword-rich content. Your content should stay very focused and intentional. Give your audience a little taste of your expertise with each one. Which leads to blog posts that are …

Short and sweet: A blog post should hover around the 300-word mark. Sure, you can occasionally go much longer or shorter, but in general, people have the tolerance for a good three-minute read. Which means you must stick to …

One and only one message: Lots of reasons for this, but if you’re going to stick to the word count and put some meat on the bone, you can only dig into one topic. So stay focused. It makes the post easier to read and remember. It also helps you to …

Write often: One of our clients was posting about once a month. At that rate, you might as well not bother. Business blogs are chock-full of perks (search engine optimization, define your expertise, attract new customers, etc.) but only if you write on a regular basis. Three or four posts per week is what you should shoot for, if you want to build a blog that accomplishes all that. Now if you want to have actual readers …

Go out and find your readers: This is not a “build it and they will come” sort of deal. You have to be willing to step away from your own blog and go talk to the readers you want. Where are they? Odds are, they’re at other people’s blogs. Go comment, share and get elbow-deep into conversations on blogs that parallel yours in terms of topic. If you’re smart or interesting there, the readers there will come visit your blog as well. Another way to draw attention is to …

Link out: When you’re writing about specific topics or people, link out to them. Especially to bloggers who track their links like bloodhounds.

You should try to include at least one link out in every post. Not sure where to find relevant writing? Use a free tool like Zemanta.com to help.

Of course, there’s much more, but these are the essentials of business blogging. Build these into your strategy and you’re well on your way to reaping the rewards of your efforts.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached by email at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2011 Drew McLellan