subject: Is It Worth It to Create a Blog for My Business? [print this page] Is It Worth It to Create a Blog for My Business?
The Perception of a Business Blogs by Business Owners
As a business consultant I've grown accustom to receiving negative feedback from my clients. I know. This statement sounds pretty pathetic and a bit self degrading, but actually it's not. The advice that garners a negative response in most cases is not necessarily poor advice; it's just out of my client's comfort zone. That holds true when I recommend blogging for businesses. The immediate reaction of virtually every business owner is the same. They tell me that it won't work here, or at least not in their industry. They say it won't increase sales, or that they don't have time, or anyone on staff to write it. Yes, these reasons for a select few businesses may be justified; however for the vast majority of businesses it's just not true.
Blogging can help your business in way's you've probably never have imagined. You don't have to hire someone to blog for you business. In fact, it's best that you don't. The best practice for blogging for businesses is to engage your workforce. Utilize your talent and resources by inviting and encouraging the members of your team to share their expertise, insights, and experiences. As an example, a pest control company's blog should include posts not from just one selected employee or manager. It should include posts from various members of the team throughout the organization. Allow individuals to author posts on specific areas of their expertise.
Pest Control Company Example Blog:
Pest control technician - "What it takes to pest proof a home or business"
Pest control inspector - "Best practices for inspecting a house for rodents, or ants, etc.
Safety Director (License Holder) - "The potential hazards of pesticides inside a home or residence"
Termite Inspector - "How to best protect your home against the threat of termites"
Fumigation specialist - "How to check for beetles in furniture", or "How to check for granary weevils in foods"
As you can see, engaging your team will enhance the quality of your blog by having specialists write about their area of expertise, not to mention their real life experiences in the field. It will also reduce the workload of the one person blogger. Utilizing your team's strengths also illustrates to your audience that you have a committed group of experts that are more than capable of handling whatever (pest) problem(s) they may have. In the eyes of your audience your team of authors become famous or at least gains immediate credibility. Your business is also viewed as authentic, which in today's world has far more value than just another typical sterile and scripted marketing message.
Attracting an Audience and Building a Community Posting unique, interesting, and resourceful content on a regular and consistent basis makes it much easier to build an audience and develop a community. Since bloggers represent a significant percentage of blog readers themselves, there is great potential for getting your quality posts re-published elsewhere in the blogosphere. Readers not only want quality content they want to know that you will be there on a regular and ongoing basis. Create a schedule. If you're unable to post daily than set aside at least one day per week and be consistent. Remember, blogs that post frequently generally have higher traffic.
Choosing the right topics is is another important component to attracting an audience and building a community. Take the time to map out your topics with your group of expert authors to ensure that the topics are interesting and of value to your target audience. An author may be passionate about a specific topic, but your audience may not share the same level of enthusiasm. Approach your topic as if it were a fishing net, the broader the topic or net, the larger the audience, or catch. Two excellent ways of choosing the right subject matter is to write about fascinating, yet obscure subject matters, and also write about hot late breaking news within your area of expertise.
Stop Selling. Like other social platforms it's important not to be perceived as selling. Internet users on social networks are generally not looking to purchase something. They are looking for information so instead of listing your website, list your blog since it has more relevant and more appropriate content. This is also a very subtle approach to building your audience and developing your community.
To me the easiest method to build your audience is by advertising and promoting your blog. If you have a website and the blog is not contained within it, at least create a link to your blog from your main navigation. Also, include a link to your blog on all of the online directories you're listed. Your blog should be cross-promoted on all of your social networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, etc.
In closing, the benefits to blogging for most businesses outweigh all of the negatives. Yes, it does take time and it requires a certain level of commitment from select members of your team, however the benefits of engaging with your audience on a regular basis far outweigh the few negatives.
Ron Haggerty
http://www.wsib2b.com
Ron has been a certified internet marketing consultant and a managing partner with WSI Internet Marketing since January 2006. During his tenure with WSI, he has worked as a web developer, designer, team leader, project manager, and as a business consultant. His greatest strength is tha
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