Blogging isn't hard.
People see it as a massive investment of time but it's not really. If you're willing to invest time in a networking meeting then you can invest time in a blog because it's essentially the same thing. Presumably you go along to a networking meeting to meet people and let them know what a fab person you are? Because if they like you then they'll trust you and if they trust you then they'll buy from you, right?
Right. So you talk about your business a bit, perhaps take the opportunity to discuss a new product you're working on and share some funny anecdotes about something or other. Then leave the room with everyone thinking that you're a great person and fun to spend some time with. Mission accomplished.
Blogging for your business is pretty much the same except that the other person doesn't interrupt and you have more time to think up clever and witty things to impress people with. With your blog, you get a chance to put a human face to your business. You only have a few paragraphs on your core website to explain your business but with your blog you have months of posts for people to dip into to get a feel for your company.
What a great opportunity to earn the trust of people you've never even met. They come to your website and there's this great person writing really interesting stuff and sharing insights into this subject that he's a real expert on. Perhaps they'll come back each day or subscribe to your feed to see what you have to say. And if at some point they need to buy whatever you're selling then they're definitely going to come to you instead of your competitor - that really cold faceless business run by robots.
Still not convinced?
Don't be mistaken into thinking that it's not worthwhile if you don't have hundred of avid readers of your blog. If you keep all of your posts on your website then random browsers to your website will have a wealth of information to jump into. You're building their trust using stuff that you've written months ago.
And if they like what they see then they'll come back. And visitors that come back turn into customers eventually. And customers generate repeat business. And referrals. Surely it's starting to make sense now?
No? OK, one last shot.
You're generating a new page for your website every single time you post something. Who likes websites with lots of relevant content that gets updated frequently? Go on, take a guess...
Google will love you if you start blogging. If you write interesting stuff then people will link to it and Google will love you even more. Suddenly your website is more popular than ever and more people are visiting and more people are buying and it's just turning into one great big party with you at the centre of it.
OK, perhaps it won't be quite that dramatic but you must take the long term view when it comes to your approach to blogging. Don't write a couple of entries and then give up. Keep at it, keep producing new content and invest time in it as you would any other marketing activity. When it does all kick off then you'll be glad that you have that wealth of information sitting there for your website visitors to delve into.
Good luck - let me know how you get on and I'll add a comment to your blog!
If you want some blogging tips and ideas on what to blog about then feel free to pinch ideas from my blog: http://www.massmediadesign.co.uk/blog
Gregor Spowart is a partner in Mass Media Design, a Website Design and Internet Marketing company based in Reading (Berkshire), Swindon (Wiltshire) and Cardiff. Gregor is an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) specialist.
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