Why your small business should blog!

Recently we shared what a blog can do for a business in building awareness and generating interest. Here's why your business needs a blog:

1] Thought Leadership

A good blog can position your company - and you - as thought leaders within your industry. Every post on your blog is an example of your personal integrity and professional insight. By blogging about recent trends in your industry, latest developments, and reactions to thoughtful reports, you can project an image of being the knowledgeable expert in your industry, which will - in turn - give your company credibility and authority.

2] Communicate Value

Blogging allows your business to interact with leads and potential customers in a more informal, casual environment. This allows you to communicate your benefits and strengths in ways traditional marketing can’t achieve. If done appropriately, you can effectively communicate your marketing messages to your visitors without being too “selly” or “pushy”.

3] Grow Your Network

After you start blogging, you can link to other blogs in your industry and interact with other bloggers. You can connect and interact with other industry leaders and build a strong network of knowledgeable and authoritative people in your field of work – and potential new customers.

4] SEO Opportunity

Every article you write on your blog offers SEO opportunity. By publishing articles and including relevant keywords in them, you’ll bring in traffic from people searching for different aspects of your business and industry. By finding your blog and gaining solid information from it, they’ll know yours has the relevant information they’re looking for.

5] Provide an End Destination

As a small business, you probably have a presence on various social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Generating content for these channels can be challenging at times! A blog provides fresh content to share through these channels. It also provides your followers with a final destination to know more about your company.

6] PR at NO Cost

If you have a well-executed blog and constantly generate good content, it won’t take long before other blogs and experts in your industry start talking about you - and word spreads fast online! This can boost your reputation and drastically increase visibility in your field.

7] Interact with Prospects

A blog normally provides options to visitors to express themselves through their comments. Visitors who leave a comment generally have an interest in your product or services. Comments on your blog immediately give you a chance to interact with your potential customers and leads, which is much harder to achieve in person. Relationships, dialogue, trust! Interaction has tremendous rewards!

8] Instant Feedback

Obtaining consumer feedback and insight is vital for a business. Having an active blog where you interact with your customers frequently can help you achieve this! Readers may point out new or existing problems with your products and you can tackle them before they spiral into something big. The insights you gain from your readers will help you make effective decisions about your business for the future.

9] Search Engine Love

A blog adds tremendous value as part of your company website. Search engines love new, fresh content. By updating your blog on a regular basis, you provide the search engines with the fuel they need to rank your website high on their results page.

10] Build a Subscriber Base

You can use your small business blog to build a subscriber base of present clients, as well as prospects and leads. If you run a successful blog, you may be surprised by the number of people who will opt in to receive your monthly newsletter. Use the newsletter to keep in touch with them about your latest product launches, company updates, etc., and build a virtual army of loyal followers.

11] Add a Personal Touch

Every blog has a tone or a “voice” of its own. It makes your company more alive and approachable! It will help your company break the image of being just a business or corporation to provide a more human side. The blog provides an informal environment to your customers and prospects so they can learn more about your company’s people, culture and vision.

12] Inspire your Employees

Involving your employees in your company blog can be a great way to boost their morale. Bringing your employees, their achievements, etc., into your blog can go a long way in building participation and engagement from your staff. You may even find some employees who will be willing to contribute to the blog by writing articles or sharing them on social media.

13] Learn More

To generate fresh content for your company blog, you need to stay on top of your industry with the newest trends, latest happenings, etc. This will automatically help you stay on top of major developments in your industry, which will further enhance your knowledge in your field and contribute to your being a “thought leader” in your field.

14] Showcase your Passion

Having a blog is a great way of showcasing your company’s passion in what you do. Regularly updating the blog with interesting content that’s relevant and useful will help spread your company’s reputation as an enthusiastic and passionate group of people! Passion breeds... more passion!

15] Engage Customers in a Dialogue
As you blog, readers will have the option to comment on each article. Those who comment on your blog may be sales leads, or they may just challenge or support your views. Either way, comments beget comments, and you may enjoy finding your blog at the center of an industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.

This was a start. Can you think of other reasons? Please share with us in our "Comments" and become part of OUR blog!!

Though blogging has a lot of advantages and can help boost your small business in many ways, remember - your blog exists to supplement your business.

Running a blog is time consuming, and can sometimes become addictive! You have responsibilities as a business owner or an employee. As long as you stick to the core competencies of your business and utilize the blog to support and promote what you do, you will be reaping the benefits of blogging in no time!

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Article Sources:

12 Mind-Blowing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know

4 Business Blogging Best Practices

6 Reasons Every Small Business Should Be Blogging… Are You Missing the Boat?