Business Blog - Do You Really Need One?
Business Web Development July 2nd, 2007
As an entrepreneur, you’re constantly mulling over new business ideas in your mind, making mental checks to see if the idea is marketable or not. There are plenty of ways to market a new business online. What’s your first thought when it comes to marketing a new business online? If you’re like most people your first thoughts are of the different techniques including social marketing, web directories, advertising and so on. These are all very important pieces to the puzzle, however the most vital piece of the puzzle you may be missing is a business blog.
The great thing about having a business blog as a marketing tool is that blogs are seen as news sources and news sources can become authority sites. With a business blog you can leverage your position as a news source by discussing topics that are relative to your brand. Keep in mind that in order to truly leverage your business blog you must create quality content that can attract attention. Quality content will always be the key to success when it comes to putting together a great business blog.
There are plenty of “blog only” resources to help you leverage the power of your business blog including blog communities and blog directories. Blogging has become extremely popular with lots of new blogs sprouting up every day. This has created a need for blogging tools that has been met by the market with a vast array of “blog only” tools. These tools, when leveraged correctly, can help your business and your brand stand out. If your competition fails to leverage the power of a business blog then you and your brand are already ahead of the game.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:13 am
There is a huge opportunity for a blog to add real value for a company as an online marketing tool and to disseminate up-to-date information to customers (and shareholders and employees). The downside is when the champion of the blog leaves, gets fired, or just loses interest and the company ends up with an outdated site component that makes them look like they went out of business 6 months ago. So, I would say the most important component of the decision to add a blog is not whether it will be useful but whether it will continue to be used.
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
[…] first one I saw is from Chris Walker at Business Blogger called “Business Blog - Do You Really Need One?”. The second post is from Mike Sansone at ConverStations called “Self-Awareness Test: […]
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I completely agree with you, Chris. Update consistency is a key aspect of blogging success. If you have a good blogger on board they can provide you with a competitive advantage.
July 7th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I adore business blogs, which is why I hang out here. And agree with updating. If someone doesn’t post at least every 10 days or so, I find something else to bookmark.
What percentage of readers aren’t bloggers? Seems like that would be a useful stat to have.
July 8th, 2007 at 7:33 am
That would be an interesting stat indeed. I think that would vary widely based on the type of blog you were referring to. I did read somewhere that only one to two percent of readers will actually comment on an article. Maybe those are the readers that own blogs.
July 9th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Chris,
I remembered this post today when I was called by a company I met through blogging to work with them on promoting their business blog. They want a bigger footprint in the blog community so we are going to work together to give them a bit of a boost.
Just thought I would add an example here that, yes, business blogs are helpful if you are dedicated to using them. All the best, Chris Denny