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A business blog is a great way to expose yourself and your small business. There are a variety of reasons why they’re such a great marketing vehicle. In this article we’ll discuss the top 5 reasons why blogging for business is so valuable and has so much potential.

1. Search Engines Love Blogs!

I’ve spent a lot of time promoting both my business website and my blogs. From experience I can tell you that promoting a blog is 10 times easier than promoting a traditional website, and the results have been 10 times more impressive. Why? Search engines just love blogs. They’re current, their content changes regularly, and they’re relevant. You have an opportunity to use your most important keywords on a regular basis, and the search engines just can’t get enough.

There are literally dozens of blog directories where you can list your blog in very specific categories. This means that those using the directory and looking in your category are very likely to have an interest in your blog. All of these links back to your blog from the directories also boost your search engine rankings.

2. Demonstrate Your Expertise

Posting regularly to your blog with insightful comments, observations and lessons show that you know what you’re talking about. Doing this regularly over time will prove to your readers that you’re an expert. It’s far better to demonstrate your expertise than to try and tell people that you’re an expert. Your blog will give you this opportunity

3. The Only Investment Needed is Your Time

Blogging is probably the lowest cost form of marketing available. All you need to invest is your time. Of course that’s not an investment to be taken lightly. For your blog to be successful you MUST post regularly. You’ll want to post at least once a week. 2-3 times per week is a more reasonable goal. I personally post 2 or 3 times each week, and this only takes about an hour of time out of my week. This will probably pale in comparison to the time and money you spend on most of your other marketing efforts.

4. Connect with People on a Personal Level

Most of what you find on a traditional website, brochure, article or other marketing collateral is very impersonal. People are looking to make a personal connection with those they do business with. A blog gives you an incredible opportunity to be you. It’s important to share some personal stories, history and opinion on your business blog. It will show your reader that you’re a real approachable person. I’ve even had people I’ve never met start talking to me like they’ve known me for years. Later I found out that before we met they’d read my blog.

5. Develop Marketing Materials

One of the most overlooked benefits of blogging is the backlog of quality content you’ll develop. Successful blogging requires that you post regularly. This means that you’ll be writing several times each week. Do that for a few months and you’ll have material for dozens of articles, maybe even a book! Most of the articles I write started as posts on my blog.

Blogging for business provides a great opportunity to expose yourself and your business in a very positive light. Take some time to find a few business blogs in your industry. You’ll quickly see how much value the blogger and their business get from this medium. Then decide if starting a business blog is right for you.

Scott Ingram is the founder of NetworkInAustin.com, a networking resource for networkers in Austin, Texas who use networking as a business development and marketing strategy. They offer free blogs to their members and even help their members promote their business blogs. Scott also posts regularly to his own blogs: Business Networking in Austin and Austin Networking Events.

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After the initial burst of buzz (and balderdash), blogs have become yet another medium businesses now have to consider as part of their marketing mixes. But blogging isn’t for everyone. Following is a short list of thoughts that may help you decide if blogging is right for your business or organization.

You SHOULD seriously consider writing a blog if:

* You’re in an industry, such as hedge funds or healthcare, in which expertise and “thought leadership” plays an important role toward establishing credibility and/or attracting leads.

* Your industry generates an ample flood of news that requires analysis or more widespread distribution.

* You can readily identify an audience (existing or potential) that actually wants more news and insight on the topics you’ll blog about.

* Your organization genuinely has something to say, an angle, point of view or intellectual approach that makes a meaningful contribution to your profession or industry.

* You have someone in your organization who will assume responsibility for the blog, who is both willing and able to sustain the blog with regular posts.

* The rest of the organization will respect the blogger’s efforts by allocating time and money for it.

You SHOULD NOT consider writing a blog if:

* You’re in a relatively static industry, such as floor tiles or custodial services, in which a discussion of strategies, new ideas or “cutting-edge” resources is irrelevant and/or unnecessary.

* You cannot identify (or even imagine) a readership base that would seek or value your written contributions.

* Your organization doesn’t really have anything to say. (If this is the truth, be honest with yourselves. Better to say nothing than to create clutter by blogging for its own sake.)

* No one in your organization is prepared to write regularly (at least once a week}.

* Your organization is opinion-phobic and will not allow a blog to be posted without a time- consuming committee and/or legal review first.

* Your organization is in a sensitive industry, such as securities trading, that makes open discussions dangerous.

In sum:
Good blogs are open, informal and opinionated exchanges of relevant news and ideas an audience is genuinely interested in. If you can meet the key requirements - you have ideas, an audience and the license to speak freely - then give a blog some thought. But if you don’t, don’t force it. Focus your efforts on other communications vehicles.

Jonathan Kranz is the author of Writing Copy for Dummies, http://kranzcom.com/book.html, and the principal of Kranz Communications, http://kranzcom.com, a marketing communications and public relations writing firm specializing in B2B and consumer services marketing. He offers customized in-house and on-site marketing and PR seminars, and is a popular speaker at professional association events, meetings, workshops and conferences, http://kranzcom.com/speaking.html

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Although web-logs (called blogs) started out as personal online diaries, today’s
blogger can be anyone from a stay at-home-mom to a corporate mogul. And
even the stay-at-home mom is likely to be blogging for business, not simply
sharing her personal life with the online world.

If you’re a small business owner, here are five reasons you should be blogging
for business right now:

1. Creating an online presence is easy with a blog. Today, everyone expects
anyone with a serious business to be visible online. But that doesn’t mean a
small business owner has to shell out big bucks on an expensive website right
from the start. Instead, start with a blog. A blog can be set up easily and
quickly at little or no cost - so no matter how small your company might be,
you can be online blogging for business in (literally) a few minutes. You can
also update your blog much easier and quicker than you can a regular website.
You don’t have to wait for a webmaster to make changes for you.

2. A blog lets you develop relationships with your customers or clients. If you
blog regularly, your readers get to know more about you and your services.
They can also leave comments for you on the blog, so you can interact with
them through this site. Research shows that people are more likely to do
business with someone they know. Post to your blog daily (or at least several
times a week) and readers will get to know you, trust you, and feel confident to
buy your products and or services.

3. A blog gives you additional opportunities to network with other small
businesses. You can provide reciprocal links at your blog. That just means you
put a link to another company’s website or blog on your blog and that
company puts a link to your blog on theirs. You benefit from these links
because your blog attracts additional readers from these other sites.

4. You can use your blog to help build your mailing list. A good way to do this
is to offer something free in return for joining your mailing list. Free ebooks
related to the products or services offered by your business are perfect “give
aways” to use for this purpose. Put a sign-up box on your blog where readers
can join your mailing list and automatically receive your free products via
email.

5. By regularly posting to your blog, you become an “expert” in your line of
work. People always turn to experts when they need help. Establish yourself as
an expert in your field and people will turn to you when they need the
particular type of products or services that you have to offer.

These are just five reasons you should be blogging for business right now.
Once you start blogging yourself you’ll notice additional benefits too, so don’t
wait. Start blogging!

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer and the creator of the Lieurance Group,
a co-op for freelance writers and graphics designers. If you just don’t have
time to create a business blog, visit the Lieurance Group’s blog at
http://www.lieurancegroup.blogspot.com or email them at
lieurancegroup@hotmail.com and learn how they can start blogging for
business for you.

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