Have you been told you should blog? Maybe you have a website with a link to a blog that sits empty. I hear many reasons not to blog; time, dislike of writing, lack of topics and ideas, or lack of knowledge about what a blog can do for your small business. However, there are many reasons to blog and the biggest reason of all maybe linked to your bank account.
You have opened this blog, so you obviously read blogs and have some curiosity about using them for your business. Did you know there are more than just travel and fashion bloggers. Recently, in an article LinkedIn did on reaching its one millionth post, they featured a plumber from Kansas City who is gaining one new lead a week from his posts and networking. So if you still aren't convinced, let me share a few more ideas about why you need a blog for your business.
Through your blog you can:
1. Connect with Your Customer Base
Blogs are a nice way to provide your customer base with information in a way that does not seem intrusive. It is getting more difficult all the time to make cold calls through email, phone, or the old fashion snail mail. Blogs allow you to share your thoughts and business story without being instructive.
Blogs are one part of inbound marketing, that is where customer find you. If they see your headline and are interested in your topic, they may move past just reading your blog, to also visiting your web site and connecting with you.
2. Be Seen as a Thought Leader
As you share your expertise, customers will see you as a thought leader. Determine your audience and write blogs that will help them be more successful. For example the Kansas City plumber wrote a blog on 5 Fall Tips For Plumbing. It wasn't a highly technical piece. It was just one more touch point that allowed potential customers to see that the plumber has good ideas and isn't shy about sharing them. This is not a white paper. Stay light, but also share something with your customer that they may have not know before.
3. Develop Relationships
By adding personality into your blogs customers will get to know you. People want to buy from people they like and know. Adding a little personality and a story or two will not only make your blogs more interesting, it will help others get to know and trust you.
4. Stay Top of Mind
Consistent blogging will help you remain top of mind, so when the need arises your customers will think to reach out to you. One blog will (most likely) not make an impact. Share your thoughts and insights on a consistent basis.
Blogging is like networking, it often takes numerous exchanges and getting to know someone. You must be present when the opportunity presents itself. 80% of life is just showing up.
5. Improve SEO
If you write your blog in a way that makes it more likely to show up in search results you can become more visible to a wider audience. Tying blogs to websites and social media can also help improve SEO for organic searches.
Remember this is not a Master's Thesis, it is simply a good way to share ideas with your target audience. Spelling and grammar count, but you do not need to be the best writer in order to have a successful blog.
If wiring makes you uncomfortable, look within your staff to see if someone can write the blogs for you. Outsourcing blog writing for businesses is also common, but understand that you will need to provide topics and insights. If articles are too fluffy and void of interesting information, they will not be read.
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