Blogging For Business

PROFESSIONAL BLOGGING

Many business owners ask: Aren’t my website and newsletter enough? Why should I start a blog?

Let’s find out why a professional blog may be a good idea for your business.

What’s a blog? The term blogderives from weblogs,a term coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. Today Webster’s Dictionary defines a blog as a diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page.More importantly, it says that blogs are typically updated dailyand that blogs often reflect the personality of the author.A blog can be about any topic – politics, family, cooking, even your vacation. A blog can also be a forum for discussion about your product area and your professional expertise. A postis an individual entry that is published, or posted, on your blog.

Since 1999, the number of blogs on the Internet has increased from a few thousand to over 100 million. Blogs can fall into two general categories: personal blogs, which comprise personal diaries, opinion posts, and research links; and business blogs, which are a corporate tool for communicating with customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise.

Why blog for business? From a business perspective there are several good reasons to blog. It depends on what results you want. Blogs are communication channels just like print, video, radio, or television. They all deliver results, but in different ways. Some are used to make sales, some are used to collect market information, and some are used to inform and educate the public.

Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. For many small businesses, blogging is a low-cost addition to a web presence. Updating your blog is a much quicker process than making changes to your website. Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with your readers.

What kind of results can I expect from a blog? Primarily, professional blogs are used to strengthen relations with important target groups. Blogs can also be effective in picking up feedback from your market.

Wouldn’t it be advantageous if the consumers in your market thought of you as the go-to person for their particular need? Say you are a landscape designer. The next time Jill Jones needs landscaping for a new home, wouldn’t it be good if Jill knew you and your work? If Jill felt comfortable contacting you because you were a trusted friend, then she would be less likely to think about contacting a competitor. It’s that simple.

How do I set up a blog? That’s easy! Contact Janet Powers at Expressive Web Solutions. EWS can have you blogging in less time than you think.

What do I write about? Generally, you’ll want to discuss aspects of your business. If you are a landscape designer, then you should chat about landscaping problems that homeowners may face, or new developments in horticulture.

Here are a few tips:

Keep it casual. An effective blog is informal and chatty. Don’t try to sound like a college professor.

Keep it short. Five hundred words (about a page) are more than enough for each post.
Don’t betray client confidences. Discuss specific client issues only if the client is fully anonymous and you have changed key identifying information.

What kind of content can I include in my blog?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from customers
Promotions, contests, and games
What’s Newpages
Create a photo blog – post photos of you, your company, or products
News about employees, products, trends

What are my goals? There are several goals that you can achieve with your blog:

Become the expert in your field. Position yourself and your business as the key player in your industry. Read other blogs and size up the competition.

Strengthen customer relationships. Remember, you are not trying to make sales, so your approach should be to enrich your customers with useful information. Blogs are an effective way to engage your customers in discussions, provide tips and insights, or receive feedback.

Improve media relations. Because of search engine activity, the media may be aware of what you have to say on a regular basis, rather than just being passive recipients of press releases.

Foster internal collaboration. Blogs can be used in the workplace to keep project members updated on company developments.

Manage knowledge. A blog is an easy way for your readers to find information and resources they want or need. Blogs are also a source of feedback for the blogger. Your readers may even give you new ideas for products or services.

Rank higher with search engines. Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites, and that have many inbound links. Start a blog at your regular site and your ranking may improve.

How do I interact with my readers? If you want to engage your readers in a dialogue, you must include a call to action. You must invite them to respond and to contribute. Here are a few tips on effectively using a call to action.

Know what action you want readers to take. What’s the purpose of your post? Do you want your readers to post comments or add additional information? Link to your e-newsletter? Answer these questions before writing your call to action.

Don’t ask for more than one call to action per post. Your readers may become confused and not respond to anything.

Your reader will ask, what’s in it for me?Make sure you have an implicit answer. Don’t be afraid to ask things of your readers, but make sure that what you ask of them will have a benefit.

Make the action achievable. A simple response or comment is what you can ask for. Think about the response time – if it takes your reader more than two minutes to respond, you may want to think of something else.

Mention your call to action more than once. If you are soliciting reader comments, mention this in the beginning, middle, and end of your post.

Draw the eye to your call to action. As with any other important section of a post, it is important that your readers see your call to action. Try putting a heading above it, making the call to action a striking image or using an image near it, using text formatting such as bold, italics, or capitals, or using eye-catching backgrounds and borders around the calls to action.

Mix up calls to action over time. Readers can become tired of repeated calls to action over time. Vary your calls from post to post. You can even skip a call to action now and then, because you must always keep at the forefront the public service aspect of your blog.

Avoid a hard sell. Don’t imply that if your reader does not respond there will be a loss of benefit.

Can my blog make money? What’s Google AdSense?

Google AdSense is a program that can give you advertising revenue from each page on your website. There is a minimal investment in time and no additional resources are necessary. Basically, you agree to let Google place an advertising link on your website. Your readers will have the choice of clicking on the link and going the website of the advertiser. It’s easy because you don’t select keywords or categories for the ads. Instead, Google’s servers determine what your posts are about and display the most relevant ads to your readers. So, if you blog about landscape design, a link to a local supplier of topsoil or mulch may appear in the AdWords link on your site. You get paid every time a reader clicks through the AdWords link from your blog to the advertiser’s website.

Your audience is waiting ?