Whilst contemplating what to write a blog about, I thought, “what about the blog itself?”. I have worked with a variety of business owners over the past 12 months, many of whom have turned to social media to promote the business, services, and products (just look at the ‘Free Cuthbert campaign’ this week as an example!).
Prior to this though, in ‘the old days’ (about 10 years ago!!) a question frequently asked of small-business owners was if they had or planned to have a website to promote the business! Today, having a website is one of the first tasks in setting up a new business, and certainly a prerequisite to being successful in business. The question now being asked more often is “Do you have a blog or plan to have one?”
In a period where I believe the focus has shifted from the ‘hard sell’ to empathy and building credibility, having a business blog is an important tool in your marketing plan. It is a great tool that you can use to both motivate prospects and convince customers to take action and buy.
Now, I am no expert, but I do believe that like any social media marketing, blogging requires the regular discipline of creating, writing, and/or contributing information of value and interest regularly to generate interested followers (prospects). If you don’t have that discipline, enlist either someone in your team or external help to continually update and make postings of valuable information that prospects and customers are interested in reading.
The benefits of writing a blog for your business
A blog offers many benefits:
- A blog can position you even more as an expert.
- A blog is low or no-cost.
- A blog can communicate news and make announcements instantly.
- A blog allows you to start building a community of interest.
So writing a blog does add great value. Your prospects and customers are interested in the news you make, the news you share, and the news you announce. Information can be very valuable, but don’t lose sight of your value proposition along your blogging way. Value also prompts your readers to return for more value. Think about how and why your audience may be hungry… what information do you think they want to know, and then feed them, make them happy again, feed them again, continuously, all with your blog.
A great tip I was given some time ago is to search for keywords related to your industry on Google, and it will tell you what else people are searching for… there in one simple step is the food for your audience… the content for your next blog.
Announce your expertise, contribute your knowledge, have conversations and enjoy your relationships with your blog.
Happy blogging!