Business blogging 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, READ them! Include in your reading materials
blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea.
- 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.
- Regularly monitor the coming ins and outs of readers and get
updates. Then, measure your results.
- 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
Debra Simpson, Magic In Words,
has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years. She works
with small business owners to add "stickiness" to their
website, and create passive income by creating digital, downloadable
products. Visit Magic In Words
and see how you can make your site more "sticky." |
