Turn your blog into a business generator
Many small business owners have yet to realize the true advantage of blogging because they perceive bloggers as selfish. In a recent US News and World Report article, a survey by Warillow & Co. showed that only about 41 percent of small business owners have an interactive website, and if they do have a website, a blog doesn’t take up much of it. high on the priority list for inclusion.
These statistics show that the small business community is not only small in size but also in vision. This Web myopia is limiting its reach. And that’s a shame, because blogging can be a powerful tool for building your business.
Another study showed that half of the companies surveyed closed sales as a direct result of their blogs. The blogs regularly delivered qualified leads to 70 percent of those business owners.
Ideas and nuggets posted on a blog by a good (or great) thought leader go viral. A reader subscribes and then passes on the valuable information on this blog, and word spreads. That’s when you turn your blog into a driving force for your business. This is a great opportunity for you to become the thought leader everyone wants to turn to for creative and thought-provoking ideas to improve their own business. Using a blog host like Typepad, Blogger, or WordPress also increases your search engine optimization, because these sites automatically format their blogs for search engines to pick up keywords and phrases. And of course, the more you update your blog with rich and insightful information, the more followers you’ll gain with more frequently returning customers and prospects. Ultimately, your blog will drive more traffic to your website and build brand recognition in the process. The result? More leads, referrals and sales!
The next question is, “Where do I start?” The best way to start is to read blogs that are relevant to your business like VAR. You’ll quickly see that the blogs are written in a conversational tone that provides insightful and practical information in an easy-to-read manner. Here are some ideas on how to drive business through your blog:
– Discuss a practical situation without using advertising language. Using a promotional voice on a blog is a huge turn off for most readers. Customers want to find relevant and useful information with their own unique experience mixed in. Define a particular problem you experienced and then explain how you solved it. Better yet, consider what some of your customers’ problems might be and come up with the challenge and a solution based on your own experience. This will encourage your customers to keep coming back for more. If you only talk about yourself and your services, it “sounds” like marketing, which should be used in your advertising, not your blogs.
– Promote your blog. Okay, this kind of goes against what I just said about avoiding marketing language, but if you want people to read your blog, they have to find you first. Add your blog URL to your signature on all emails. Link your blog to your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Let readers subscribe to your blog via email (with a subscription option on your website) so they get your blog delivered to their inbox every day. Write about other opinion leaders as they relate to your topic to create an association with that leader (but do so thoughtfully so you don’t “use” them). At any opportunity, post a comment on other blogs where potential customers may be looking for similar information. This will send them looking for more.
– Create value. Stretch your potential. Combine value with real business opportunities. What products do you have that you want to promote this month? Offer some insights on upcoming industry trends; then gently sell the value of a particular product for the solutions it offers. Encourage others to get involved in your blog, to ask questions and even answer them. If customers feel like they’re getting something of value for free, they’ll come back for more.
– Offer something for free. Blogs are a great way to post ideas to entice your readers to provide their email address (ie opt-in). Create links on your blog to free reports, articles, or product samples that you’re willing to give away for a trial, in exchange for their email addresses. Give suggestions on how this free tool is just a glimpse of the big picture. This helps create ways to encourage your customer to buy more.
– Become a news source. Read read read. What are the latest trends? Who is going to present the next version of the solution provider’s software? What is the bigger economic picture and how do your customers fit into it within your world? By taking facts and news snippets that are current and relative to today’s business world, and then offering a localized perspective for your client, you reposition yourself as a thought leader. Customers will come back to your blog again and again because they know you know what’s going on. You will become a trusted business advisor and ultimately get more business as a result.
There is no doubt that blogs can be very time consuming, almost to the point where they dominate the time spent on your marketing mix. But you don’t have to. Trying too hard to blog can be just as bad as not blogging at all. If you have something important to say, by all means, say it. But if you find yourself forcing a problem or trying to come up with a creative idea that just doesn’t exist, step away from the keyboard and try again tomorrow. Remember to use your blog as a business tool, not just a place for white noise.
