Business Blogging – Why and How to do it
Business Blogging Why and How to do it
Business Blogging Why and How to do it
Nearly all business owners have heard of blogging, and many of them read various blogs, but few of them recognize the benefits of starting one themselves. Even when they do, they don't usually know what to write about, and so the blog either never manifests, quickly tapers off, or it ends up a heap of ineffectual posts.
Why have a blog
Blogs are becoming a favorite, and trusted, source of information amongst internet users. Many people have a wealth of very specified information to share that often times cannot be found anywhere else. Blogs are becoming a popular place to publish much of that information. In 2007 Technorati tracked over 70 million blogs. (Take a look at Sifry's blog for the full report.) Blogging has become so common that most of us expect companies to have one. In a study sponsored by Buzzlogic, researchers examined how blogs have a significant impact on the final purchase of a product. A good blog, showcasing an interesting company personality earns you brownie points in the mind of the customer. All those points add up at the time of final sale. "One of the things that's so great about them [blogs] is the personal, specific information," said Valerie Combs, VP of corporate communications at BuzzLogic. "Thorough, useful, honest creation, create a level of trust with the reader."
It is important to note that this trust is established through the inclusion of interesting content on your blog. The company blog is a place to showcase your knowledge so that customers recognize you as an authority in the field. This places you in a class above the companies selling similar products but with either no blog at all or a terribly boring one.
Blogs have uses beyond the establishment of trust and dissemination of useful information. They promote your business, give you an alternative avenue for getting your name out there, and they can help attract a wider subsection of potential customers. Your posts will attract people searching for the topics you discus and then point them in the direction of your product. Blogs also give you a chance to market your product in a personal and unsanitzed manner. People trust this kind of advertising much more than the traditional means.
In order for a business blog to work, it needs to be interesting to a broad audience. Business blogs are not meant to be a diary, as is common with personal blogs, but rather, they should offer information about subjects that relate to the customer's needs and curiosities. A good business blog becomes a tool for communicating with customers and developing relationships with them. This is important when the number of customers and potential customers begins reaching into the hundreds or thousands, when direct communication becomes difficult and limited. The blog is the place where customers can hear your voice and begin to develop trust in you and your company. In most cases a customer has many similar products to choose from. A good blog can act as the tipping point of the sale.
How to manage the blog
Be careful People don't have much patience for bad writing. With so much junk on the internet, readers are quick to sift out the expert information from the amateur. Be extra careful with grammar and accuracy. Mistakes will have the opposite effect than desired. You will come out looking like a novice in your field and your customer will move on to a more professional product.
Contribute regularly Contribute at least one post per week to keep your readers returning and to improve your SEO ranking. If there is a period at which you stop blogging, your readers might think your company is out of business or on some sort of holiday. Once you start a blog, you must maintain it.
Use multiple people within the company to write the blog This isn't crucial but it could make for a more interesting blog, which is our ultimate goal after all. Contributions from a few different people lend the blog a diversity of topics and viewpoints. It also helps ensure that the posts are frequent.
Use compelling headlines This is critical to adding quick appeal to your blog, which will, in effect, hook your reader. The interested reader will pursue more of your posts and, eventually, your product.
Offer solutions to common customer problems Chances are your customers have some kind of problem that they hope your product or company can solve. Write about that. Your customers are searching for answers pertaining to things related to your product or service. If you run a pet store, for example, you might write a post about the best way to get the skunk smell off a dog. If there are people coming to your blog for advice, some of those people are probably also going to buy your product.
Include industry news summaries Staying on top of the news can generate traffic by those searching for breaking headlines.
Document the success stories of your customers It is comforting to hear that your product actually does what it is propounded to do and that other people are benefiting from it.
Announce new features or better yet, upcoming features The announcement of new features is relevant information that your customers want to hear about, but announcing upcoming features adds a little mystery and keeps them coming back for more.
Include links Including links to other popular blogs can generate more traffic to your own. Bloggers often track who's linking to them. If they notice you've linked to them, they might link back to you. This will not only deliver more traffic to your blog, but will also improve your blog's SEO.
What not to add to your blog
The announcement of another lunch meeting at a really cool restaurant in town. That's not what your visitors care to hear from you (unless you are in the food industry)
Tedious product descriptions
That the CEO is going to be out of town or picking up the kids early
Gossip about people or competitors
Vague ideas about uncertain topics. To become an authority, you must talk about real things.
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