Sometime business owners have hard time understanding why they need a blog.
You may say, “Blogging is not my business”
You are right.
Your blog or blogging is not your business unless it is your business model.
What I mean is if your business model is to get a ton of visitors to your blog and sell advertising, then your blog is your business.
In this post I am talking about businesses selling products and services.
Ok, you may ask “why don’t I just have a website where people can buy the products and services?”
Valid question.
But, how often do you see a first time visitor to your site rushing to buy your products?
Don’t get me wrong, it can happen but often people like to get to know about your business and products before they buy.
Ok, Lets get on to our main question;
“Why your business needs a blog?”
- Blog positions you as a leader in your industry.
- Place for you to show your personality, expertise and your unique selling proposition
- Allow interactions with your prospective clients, answering their questions about your products and industry. It is more like creating a community.
- Leverage your time by addressing a community of people instead of talking one-on-one.
- Great for Search Engine Optimization.
- Excellent marketing tool that help you build a list of targeted prospects.
- Blog is your online home & a place for your prospects to know more about you and your business.
- Need more reasons? – Read this – 21 Reasons you want to start a blog
Now that you are clear on why you need a blog for your business lets get to the next question.
How to Start a Blog?
You can have a blog page attached to your web site or you can have a stand-alone blog site. It is purely what you need for your business.
I am not going to the technical details of how to start your blog because it is the easiest part & our friends “Google and YouTube” can help you here. I can promise you that you will find every detail you need.
Only thing I would say is that Worpress.org is the most recommended blog platform and it is important for you to host your own blog.
If you are time challenged and do not enjoy technical stuff, you can always outsource this part of your blog. You can get good contractors from places like Odesk, Elance, Fiverr for very reasonable prices.
What to Write About?
This is a common question and you are not alone.
I believe the easiest way to explain this is to give you some examples.
Let’s say you are selling a coaching program on diet and weight loss. You can blog about
- Types of food that help lose weight
- Healthy recipes
- Tips on exercise
- Meal plans
Example 2. You sell Rabbit Hutches
Here are some blog topics
- How big should a Rabbit Hutch be?
- Is indoors better than out for your rabbit?
- Is your rabbit’s home big enough?
You get the idea.
The other frequent question that comes up is, well I can blog about my topic till cows come home, but how will it help me sell my products?
Valid question again!
There are few ways you can achieve this.
- To have an opt-in form on your blog where your targeted prospects can enter their contact details. Once you collect this data you can start building a relationship with these prospective clients via email and send them offers and information about your products.
- If you are providing a service like for example window replacement service you can have your phone number listed on top of your blog.
- You can have a page on your blog where people can directly buy your products.
- Have clickable links to your product sales page within your blog posts
Ok, now it’s your turn.
If you have a blog for your business what was the main reason you started it?
If you don’t have a blog yet, are you going to start one? And what are you going to blog about?
If you don’t want to start a blog, what is the reason behind your decision?
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