This post corresponds to podcast Episode 11: Blogging for Business with Michael Martine (aka: Remarkablogger) which is included in our Core Program, accompanied by workbook and video tutorials that show you how to do this on your own.



In our last section we considered social media by taking a holistic view of online marketing. Now we’re going to get into specifics. By now you’ve probably heard people talking about “Blogs.” In this post we’ll cover the basics of what blogs are, why your company should be blogging, and how you can get started.

What is a blog?

The word “blog” is a shortened version of ‘weblog’ stemming back to the origin of what many people thought of as self-published ‘online diaries.’ But as our friend and contributor Michael Martine explains, “a blog is no more an online diary than an automobile is a horseless carriage.” In order to really understand blogs, we’ll break the concept into two pieces:

Mechanics:

In ‘the old days’ people needed to rely on web programmers who understood computer languages like HTML. This was time consuming and expensive, and prohibited small businesses from updating our websites whenever and however we wanted to. Fortunately, blogs started a trend of self-publishing that has carried over into the business world.

Template-driven platforms like WordPress began to emerge. These offered bloggers the huge benefit of instant updates with very little technical expertise.  Once the blog was set up (which might require some initial assistance) the owner could change text easily.  From there things got even better, and now we’re at the point where you can choose from thousands of WordPress ‘themes’ (designs) and update text, video, audio and picture files with equal ease. What started as a blogging platform has now become the website platform of choice for small businesses everywhere. If you can use Microsoft Word you can use most blog platforms.

Use:

Blogs represent a great opportunity to engage your customers with the real voice of your business – the one you would use if a client were right in front of you. Your blog is NOT an online brochure and shouldn’t be used as a sales platform. Instead, use it as a conversation platform (ironically, if you do that you’ll get more sales). You can enable features that let your readers comment on what you write, and let other people comment on those comments, etc. As Michael says, ‘write on your blog like you talk to your customers.’ It’s a great way to build credibility.

Getting Started:

First things first: you need to define whom you are trying to serve and the problem(s) you’re going to solve for them. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Get niche! For example, the Free Marketing Made Easy blog is intended for small business owners and marketers who need step-by-step instructions around online marketing.  You might think this would be commonplace, but when I researched the market I discovered great need, with few resources that really pulled everything together.

Relevancy matters! As our friend Michael says, “Each post is like a free sample of your company.” Blog about what you know. I’ll almost guarantee that you can find something that you have expertise in, something that would be interesting and important for your prospects to know.

In terms of the actual writing (or recording, if you opt to do audio and/or video blogs) you need to find someone who can represent your business to the public. Maybe it’s you! If not, perhaps you can find an employee who would embrace the opportunity to be the voice of your company. You might also consider hiring a blog consultant like Michael and/or a company that can ‘ghost-write’ your content for you.

Stop waiting!

The biggest obstacle to blogging is uncertainty. So go ahead and check out our section about WordPress, which will teach you how to set up your blog and start producing meaningful content.

If you already have a list of customers you might see an immediate increase in website traffic (and sales!) from your blog. Otherwise it will take more time to develop content, credibility and audience…but it’s worth it.

Next up, we’re going to talk about using Facebook for your Business.