First embraced by academics, geeks, political commentators and activists at the end of the nineties, blogs have now become a widely used medium. In August 2008, 14.5 million people in the UK visited at least one blog (Source: Econsultancy Internet Compendium). It is easy to imagine that this figure is much higher today than in August 2008.
So why should businesses be blogging, and how to get started? This is what I'll have a look at today.
What are the benefits of blogging?
Profile raising
As a company, a consultant, or an expert in a specific field (it could be anything from sports to personal finance, nutrition or gardening), blogging will help you raise your company / your personal profile and give you visibility. Through blogging you can communicate your expertise to a wider audience.
For a business, a blog is another medium through which valuable information on services or products can be shared in a straightforward way. Because blogs belong to the category of social media, they offer great potential for viral marketing which, if you run a business or are an expert looking to grow your audience, it would be foolish to ignore.
Revenue generation
Successful blogs can even be monetised. This means that if you are successful at attracting a sufficient and regular audience, you can sell advertising, in the form of affiliate links or content ads (such as Google ads), and make a revenue.
If your blog is integrated to your website, it will help with your site optimisation. This is because adding fresh content related to your business activity automatically increases the site visibility to search engines. Ultimately, more visits should result in more conversions, sales, enquiries, sign ups.
Creating relations
As it is a two-way street, a blog is a more informal way to engage with your customers or followers, and create / strengthen the relationship.
How do you start blogging?
If you don’t have a great answer to the question "why anyone should read your blog?" you’re going to be pretty unhappy with your results, as Sonia Simone, senior editor at Copyblogger, puts it.
10 key elements that will help you getting started with your blog
#1 Audience
Think of your audience first: who are they, what are their interests, how can you help them with your knowledge? The old marketing acronym WIIFM applies– what’s in it for me? Or in other words, what’s in it for them?
#2 Avoid the me-too blog
Read other people’s blogs and look for issues and topics which inspire you, but beware of the “me-too” blog trap. People don’t buy the same product twice, and they will always prefer the original! So look for a new angle. Your blog has to become a great promotion tool for your business, and not copy what others do / say. Shift your thinking and find a personal angle on the topics you want to talk about.
#3 Make it personal
A blog is very much about tone of voice and style. Your voice is unique. Blogging will become fun if you let your personality shine through. Blog like you speak, or almost (shouting is not allowed, swearing even less)!
#4 Customise
As much as your tone of voice, the look of your blog needs to convey your identity and what you want to stand for. So, if you're blog is not integrated to your site, try to have some elements of branding that will make your blog specific to you.
#5 Commitment
Once you’ve started, carry on. It is essential you stick to it to get results. Also, don’t disappoint your audience - they will expect your content, perseverance will pay.
#6 Integrate your blog with your website
If you’re a business, try and integrate your blog to your website (Wordpress is the ideal platform for this). This is for the simple reason mentioned previously, i.e. your site will benefit instantly from additional traffic through your blog.
#7 Sociable
Add the “social” icons (facebook, twitter, bebo, ning etc) to encourage your readers to share your content and bookmark it (stumbleupon, digg, delicious).
#8 Easy to read
People haven’t much time, so make it easy for them to read your blog posts. Keep to short sentences, snappy headers and use pictures or videos to illustrate your point.
#9 Build trust
Add a personal touch by telling your audience who you are, what you do and what you would like to achieve with your blog. All this will help create trust, and we know that trust on the internet is an essential asset.
#10 Engage with your readers
Encourage questions and comments by asking for feedback at the end of your post.
Some useful resources about blogging you may also want to look at:
http://econsultancy.com/blog/4942-business-blogging-faqs
http://www.copyblogger.com/harsh-social-media-marketing/
http://mashable.com/2009/01/16/blogger-toolbox/
http://mashable.com/2010/01/28/build-beautiful-blog/
Did you find this post useful? Would you like to share other resources about blogging?
