Blogging is the perfect small business marketing tool. If you’re selling and gaining leads via the web, then the web is also your main marketing super-channel. How to do people locate what they need online? Two ways:
- Online search
- Word of mouth through online channels like email, blogs, and other social tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
Why Blogs Rule
Above I said there are two ways people reach us online: search and word of mouth. And actually there are two kinds of word of mouth:
- Personal referrals
- Third-party referrals
Personal referrals are when someone you personally know refers you to a business (or refers a business to you). These take place in person, by phone, by email, and through various social media communications like tweets and Facebook updates/messages.
Third party referrals are often reviews or recommendations written by someone a potential customer does not know personally. How are these found? Online search.
The only marketing tool that I know of that gives your business the power to be constantly and consistently found in search is blogging. The social aspects of blogging tie it in with personal referrals. No online tool except blogging can achieve this for you. Why?
- Blogs are chock full o’ content that, if done correctly, will match up with customer searches.
- This content can also be third-party referrals in the form of reviews and recommendations (which often contain affiliate links, and thus become a revenue source as well).
- Blogs are a product of and benefit from how the web inverts traditional methods: the personal and authentic rule online, and theres’ no better vehicle for the personal and authentic than a blog.
- Being personal and authentic on your blog is marketing without seeming like you’re marketing—which in my opinion is the best kind. Think about what you’re reading right now: I’m marketing my blog consulting services to you, but it does it really seem like it? In all likelihood, no, it doesn’t. Helpful information that teaches is often the best kind of marketing you can engage in, and blogs rule for that.
- The way blogs operate makes them social and help with personal word of mouth: comments and integration into other social media tools help people spread the word.
The barriers to succeeding with blogging have lowered while the number of blogs has increased, meaning that your biggest challenge is having the right content and search optimization strategies, as opposed to the technical stuff. The most important aspects about successful blog marketing are not technical. They are not even tactical. They are strategic: this the “done correctly” part I mention above.
Helpful Resources
The way I’m stating everything in such a matter-of-fact manner might make it seem as though blogging were easy—it isn’t. One great new guide which I can recommend to you though is Start Blogging Today, a project I’m involved with along with a several good friends.
Another is a blog design tool called Headway. Headway specifically is used with WordPress blog software on your domain (not at wordpress.com). You can use it to design your blog visually, without knowing any programming code. Headway is also a project I”m involved with to help people get more out of blog marketing for their businesses.
Thirdly, I humbly suggest my own one-on-one blog consulting services. All three of these resources make a great combination to get you on the road to blog marketing success. In fact, if you send me your receipt email for either Start Blogging Today or Headway with a purchase date no earlier than May 1st, I’ll give you a free extra 1-hour consulting session when you buy consulting time from me.
How is it Working for You?
How is blog marketing working for you? Got questions, concerns, or successes you’d like to share? Tell me in the comments!
This post does a great job of getting to the meat of why blogging is so great for small businesses. With mine, Financially Digital, it's not only about lead generation its about building a reputation as a resource. Plus I like to write so it works out
It definitely isn't easy though and can consume a serious amount of time so making sure you are budgeting and blogging efficiently (to get that search traffic) is something I'm coming to terms with now.
Yup, and as with many things, the practice time is front-loaded. Later your
developed skills will enable you to operate with more speed and efficiency.
Aloha …so true blogging has many ways to express a business or ones self. Enjoyed the content and thanks for sharing! Lani
PS..this should be a compliment, I found you google alerts to see what the upcoming news are. Glad I found your blog. Come visit me anytime and leave a sweet note. Mahalo
Glad you stopped by and commented. Welcome aboard!
Makes sense.
I have worked on articles, a website, and a blog for years. I need to spend serious time reviewing your services and get my blog drawing in customers. The tax field is very competitive so I'll have to work harder than most, but I know I can make this work.
I have worked on articles, a website, and a blog for years. I need to spend serious time reviewing your services and get my blog drawing in customers. The tax field is very competitive so I'll have to work harder than most, but I know I can make this work.
I have to agree totally that blogging for businesses is a very important key to success. This line of communication not only shows the business can relate with the consumer, but also shows in most cases that the business is more than just “suits” behind the scenes.also it is free and good tool to market your product to targeted traffic.
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I think if done correctly blogging can be great for medium even large businesses as well. Online connections trough social tools will make big brands feel personalized, answering individual needs.
Trianz
Some good points in there Michael and liked the tips on the rest of the site.
We're looking at adding a blog to our site but wanted to put a strategy together first. The site has been built on a blogging platform (WordPress) and we've noticed Google seems to quite like it.
Would you suggest we build the blog posts around keywords and phrases or what we want to write about? Or both??
Well, both, in a sense. What you want to write about should be the same
things your customers or readers are looking for, otherwise you'll never
hook up with each other!
I like the part about being personal and authentic on your blog without seeming like you’re marketing. That method partnered with a little keyword research is a really smart way to increase profits in a small business. Thanks!
Yeah I think it's pretty much the way to go nowadays. People everywhere are
succeeding with that approach: it's the new reality.
This post does a great job.so true blogging has many ways to express a business or ones self. I have to agree totally
imho
bloging is under estimated as a marketing tool
This post does a great job of getting to the meat of why blogging is so great for small businesses .i am thanking you for the post.
Great site.Thanks.
What is the best blogging software? WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or…….? Please help me I want to set up my own blog but I do not know where to start. I have worked with Joomla but I am not sure this is the best solution for a blog.
Kribbe there is a lot of opinion out there on this subject. My opinion is
that for the best long-term success you want self-hosted WordPress. However,
many successful business blogs use Blogger. Blogger is seen as “less
serious” of a business tool, but it's much easier to set up and use.
WordPress is more complex but more powerful, flexible, and “serious.” That's
your trade-off.
If you’re working with blogs, the fourth bullet point should be the one you’re most invested in. Sometimes potential customers and clients can be turned off because of outright marketing and advertising techniques, which is really not the result you want. It’s important to establish relationships with your clients – you have to treat them as fairly as possible. It’s sort of like wooing, where you have to get the right mix to have a good match.
Exactly, and it’s the content you create and curate, along with engagement,
which does that.