With so many different marketing avenues to consider for your small business, it can be overwhelming to say the least. Not only are there offline options, like print ads and television, but there is the Internet to consider too. This means setting up web pages, creating social media accounts, and more.
So, what about a company blog? Should you start one if you don’t have one already? Certainly, there are many benefits of doing so. However, blogging isn’t all sunshine and giggles, so let’s look at some of the potentially negative aspects of running a blog first so that you can understand the realities that having a blog entails.
Potential Blog Negatives
One of the major drawbacks of having a blog is the amount of time it takes to keep it up. Additionally, if you want to post regularly, you have to always come up with new and interesting topics in order to gain your target market’s interest. With everything else you have going on related to small business operations, this can add more to an already full plate.
Secondarily, blogging takes some writing skills, especially if you choose to do it yourself. Of course, you could always hire this out as I’ve had lots of clients contact me for help with their blogs, but this isn’t always an easy process as you need to find a writer who understands your brand and your voice and can portray them both in an engaging and effective manner. Then you need to work together, usually quite a bit at first, to go over the content that you want in the blog, sending it back and forth to refine it until it is exactly as you’d like.
If you’re willing to invest the time, whether writing the blogs yourself or finding someone who can write it for you, it may just be worth it. Now, you may wonder how, after hearing all of the bad parts of running a blog, but the reality is that blogs can help your business grow.
Benefits of a Blog
Creating a company blog has a lot of benefits. For instance, you are better able to connect with your target market by offering them advice about the issues that bother them most. Plus, the fact that it is free establishes you as more than just a business, but more like a close and trusted friend that they can rely on in their time of need.
Another advantage of keeping a company blog is that it establishes you as an expert in your field. When people are able to go to your blog and see the amount of knowledge you have in your area of expertise, they feel better about using your products and services. You gain a sort of credibility that can help bring more customers to your front door.
Plus, if you have any new products or services that you want to share with your readers, you have a ready-made audience. Simply blog about it and you won’t have to worry about making a sales pitch and potentially turning them off.
Tips for a Successful Blog
If, after learning about the realities of setting up and keeping a company blog, you still want to proceed, there are some things that you can do to can help make the process easier and more successful. Here are some tips that you can use as provided by Social Media Examiner (a social media magazine with just under 400,000 subscribers):
- Know why you want your blog. This will help you know which direction to take it in order to get your intended results.
- Set blog-related goals. Just as you need to set other business-related goals in order to grow and prosper, the same reasoning applies to your blog too.
- Become familiar with your audience. In order to better reach your intended audience, you need to know as much about them as you can, such as who they are, what they are interested in, and what concerns they have.
- Create a blog schedule and calendar. Set a plan for how regularly you will post. Also, determine what you are going to write about and when so that you don’t duplicate content.
By doing these few things, you will be on your way to creating a successful blog that provides tremendous customer value.
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