Business blog is an incredible online marketing tool that saves you thousands of dollars but provides great business opportunities in just one click. Blogs are user-friendly, customized and flexible medium for disseminating useful information for effective positioning of your products in the market.
Companies engaging in business blogging have a definite edge over its competitors. Here are some advantages:
- Word-of-Mouth.
In a survey, there are currently 14 million blogs with 80,000 more being added each day and about 30 percent of the 50 million users are blog readers. Imagine how much gain your company will have, if your products are advertised through blogs. With Internet, information spreads so quickly especially if an impressive write-up goes with your product. Soon your blogs will be passed on to hundreds of possible customers. - Awareness and loyalty.
Open communication with your customers creates trust and loyalty among them. Being there to respond to their questions and comments make them all the more willing to try your products and services. - Feedback.
Blogs is good for product research and reviews. It would be easier to improve on your products if you observe your customers’ thinking and behavioral patterns. You can also take immediate action to your customers’ concerns. - Community halo-effect.
Bloggers are reasonable, friendly and helpful. They are more than willing to create blogosphere of comments regarding your product. The only thing you have to do is embrace and take active part in the culture and your product will surely be considered in their next stop to the supermarket.
For better marketing results, actively promote your business blogs by submitting your blogs to blog search sites and directories. Do not forget to paste in with your blogs, your URL. Be sure that your blogs contain exclusive information with value and are always updated to keep readers popping in, read up your blog, move on to the next and click on again for updates.
Blog is like a setup booth in the biggest trade show on earth everyday. Marketing possibilities are just around the corner waiting to strike your sale scales up.
The Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds are important too in conjunction with your blogs to get the best benefits. Use effective keyword phrases to generate high ranking status in the search engine traffic. In this way you have better chances of people finding your website leading to your blogs. More traffic means more potential sales.
For this to be successful, you can use RSS for news update feeds which can be read through RSS reader application. This is a very useful tool for business and internet marketers as well.
If you are already convinced with the potentials of business blogs for marketing and targeting sales increase, your company is now ready to start blogging. But first, you have to be in tune with your company’s business objectives and determine if blogging will really help you achieve your goal.
- Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do’s and don’ts of blogging (like this one), READ them!
- Setup several test blogs right away.
If your initial try out with blogs worked well, you can now start setting up your blogs.
- Study blog design. Blog hosting services provide pre-designed templates. But if you opt for paid blog service, you can ask your artist to design and layout your blog site to match the company’s identity and needs.
- Choose a topic. Its good to have a line-up of topics you want for your blogs but be sure they are in consonance with your business objectives. This would be a test of your flexibility and open-mindedness since results may be going against the set objectives.
- Remember the following safety measures in blogging:
- legal issues are sometimes involved in blogging; it is safer to include disclaimers and limitations of liabilities;
- corporate communication and legal department are responsible in educating the senior management on how blogs might affect business;
- create blogging policies; set limits on who gets to blog and what information are allowed to be made public;
- avoid outright marketing blog or you will shy away your readers;
- make content updated, relevant and fresh;
- reinforce the company’s core values; and,
- encourage employees to use it.
- Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.
- Begin marketing.
- Adjust if needed. You can always play with your designs in the blog site as long as it remains to match the company’s identity.
- Strive to be consistent with your topic all the time.
- Try to have unrelated topics with general and broad appeal.
- Schedule updates regularly. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday would be best to update blogs.
Once you have done all these things, you can now ultimately enjoy the benefits of business blogging.
Thanks for this post, I’ll hopefully be referencing some of the things you mentioned here in a meeting I am thinking about setting up with my employer in a couple of months.
These are some great ideas to help your site get off the ground and running, consistency and honesty and quality of content are paramount.
Keep up the good work.
I dont think only blog can alone help for our company or a business.Should have a static website about the company and can blog about it in subdomain.
Excellent research and useful post!!!
Awesome post. The most important thing I love about blogging online is making business online.
It’s great to have a blog around your business and I’m really considering moving in that direction myself. The importance of establishing a front with which your customers can interact with you and follow your products is immeasurable. This is how you build loyalty!
Great post!
Blogging can definitely help you build your companies brand and awareness. It is becoming one of the best forms of marketing because you can reach such a large and diverse audience by simply providing great content.
This is actually the sole reason that I even started my blog, so I totally know what you mean!!
Since then, it has become so much more, and has turned into a promotional tool for my various other ventures, and even more so now just a personal blog of sorts!!
I can definitely vouch that it is a great business booster either way
These are all great valid points. I think for me networking and brand building are the biggest benefits to blogging but there are simply too many benefits for any business to not have a company blog.
@Taris That’s what is so cool about building a successful site that you enjoy. Not only do you get the benefits of it, but you can use it to direct traffic to other ventures you make. Success begets success if you will.
These are really important steps to improve your company. Many companies are surviving solely off of internet leads now, because it can be so successful. You’re right the blogosphere is growing so much every day, getting a foot in now with your company can have a huge impact on it’s future. These are some great tips, I’ll keep them in mind for my company when I start it.
Now people are already convinced with the potential of business blogs for marketing and targeting sales increase.I think that this sector of the market hasn’t achieved its apex and still develops itself.It is just the time now to start and run a blog.
This is a great post, I agree blogging is a great way to advertise a business. It allows your costumers to have a personal connection with your business and it also brings a lot of attention, if it gets popular
Blogging is a great way to build a brand. If you provide useful info than people love you and love your brand =)
Having a blog definitely promotes better interaction and potential buyers are more likely to open up their wallets since the credibility is there.
I think that blogging for business has its place. However, one of the biggest pros, if done correctly, is that “community halo” effect as noted above.
The main thing about blogging and webertizing is that you must be effecient about it. Building a blog and talking to other bloggers is good, but you need to get into the BIG communities and make a BIG impact to get paid for your efforts. (IMO)
[...] old but not forgotten favorite blog of mine called StandOutBlogger.com wrote something this week that any person teetering on the edge of writing their first blog ought [...]
One thing that also makes a business blog different from blogs like us is the professionalism that they embody. You’re right, I mean in a business blog, the companies core values have to be always there and the blog would serve as the place to brand your own business/company
“Study blog design”
This is crucial.
People form impressions within seconds of visiting a blog. You don’t want them to think that your blog is just another WordPress blog. A custom design is absolutely necessary.
Awesome post. These are all great valid points.
It’s funny because no matter how many blogs are out there, there are still tons of people that tend to overlook how much this can actually boost your business.
Though, I don’t agree with some of your points like the blog design part. It all depends on what niche you’re in but I guess in your case with the blogging/making money online niche, I guess it works out fine.
Jay
Blogging has slowly been recognised as a great online promotional tools for business to adopt. It could also be a form of viral marketing if quality content is produced frequently.
Wei Liang
Nice Post :)Bt want 2 say,Measuring ur traffic conversion is very important. Google Analytics really do a great job and most importantly, it’s FREE!
Anyway Tom, you may wish to write about anything of your interest…If you want to be able to monetize your blogs at the same time of your interest… Do some survey on the niche..
Every business should have a blog presence. It’s very useful to communicate to your customers.
Your blog should not be just about your products. IF you have a health store discuss healthy restaurants, and healthy recipes. You want to create media that will make you stand out in the crowd. Ask your clients if they would like to join a news letter. Your existing clients will need a reason to go to your blog.
After reading this article, I’m surprised that there are a lot of big companies that aren’t taking advantage of the Internet. (Well, blogs in particular)
Oh, by the way, you might wanna know that your blog’s footer looks messed up with Firefox 3
Your point on regular updates is crucial (*hint hint* haha). I found that a great strategy is to build a blogging reserve of posts, so that way, if you ever can’t think of anything to post or find yourself busy, you can pull from your reserve. Otherwise, you can write a regular post about anything in particular that you find yourself inspired about at that moment.
No doubt,blogging has become a part of any business and gives tons of opportunities in realization of one’s business plans.We can see that most all use blogging as a great promotional tool,its other merits already revealed or not yet revealed will be widely used in the course of time.
Building a million dollar downline is the ultimate goal of all network marketers. One of the first things you can do to build your downline fast and for free online is by blogging. Besides, you can even earn additional money through affiliate marketing and paid ads if your blog has a tremendous amount of traffic. Blogging can be an automatic downline builder for your network marketing online business by bringing in free, fresh MLM leads and guaranteed mlm signups of really interested buyers who would kill to join your program.