A blog is an easy and quick way to share your thoughts, knowledge and expertise. When combined with a strong customer acquisition and retention program a blog is a great tool to raise your visibility and add value to products and services.
Every business person has thoughts and experiences that when shared will be of value to someone else. The idea of your blog should be to stimulate thought and discussion. The benefit is that you become a resource and perhaps even an entertaining read for people interested in you and your business. In best cases, not only do you reach your targeted audience, but they in turn start a dialog with you or share your thoughts with people you never would have reached otherwise!
A great example is blog maverick, the blog written by Dallas Mavericks owner and Broadcast.com co-founder. Cuban's blog covers a broad range of subjects from the experience of winning the NBA championiship, to how to get rich, to patent law and how Netflix is hurting YouTube. The writing is entertaining and controversial. It has a point of view that stimulates thought and discussion. It rarely addresses Cuban's specific business objectives, but it keeps his brand front and center in ways that a static web site never could.
In blogging it is important to focus on what is important to your reader. No one will read your blog to learn about a new pricing program or the special on aisle 6. Readers are looking for ideas that help them achieve their goals not yours. And this is the most important point. Make your blog a tool that helps your readers and your readers will turn into customers. Help your customers and they will bring you more customers. Resist the urge to add a sales pitch - let Alec Baldwin be the one who must Always Be Closing!
A blog is a great opportunity to offer a behind the scenes look at your company, share research and business articles you find interesting, highlight your customers, and advocate a specific point of view. Video and photos are great tools for an advanced blogger who wants to bring a blog to life.
My suggestion for beginning bloggers is to search the web for blogs on subjects of interest to you. Bookmark them and return with some frequency. Make notes of blog and writing styles you prefer and think about how you can use those styles to create your own. Post comments and join discussions to learn how moderators interact with their readers. Track which sites you return to most frequently and determine what it is that they are dong to keep you coming back. Dollars to doughnuts the sites you are drawn to are the ones adding the most value to your life and business!
Don't let a fear of technology prevent you from starting your blog. There are many easy tools available that don't require any time programming what so ever. For most of us, using a hosted blog Web site like Google-owned Blogger.com or Yahoo's360 or MSN Spaces will be the best option because these sites give you everything you need and walk you through the process at no cost. Setting up a blog at one of these sites takes about five minutes. However, if you want to create a more customized feature-rich Weblog with your own domain name and the ability to track and manage user interaction, you will want to subscribe to a Web hosting space (check http://www.webhostingtalk.com for good suggestions) and use non-hosted blog software (this site runs on Word Press).
As your blog gets rolling there are opportunities to take it to the next level by implementing key words (to be covered in a future segment) and connecting your blog to your web site and linking it to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and/or Twitter account you can an important resource for anyone looking to become informed about your business and business category.
Don't let humility prevent you from getting started. Everyone has knowledge, perspective and life experiences that others will find of value. Your blog is the ideal way to share your and your company's expertise and insight to distinguish you from the also-rans!
WARNING! Nothing will send your customers running for cover faster than turning your blog into a sales piece about your company and products - don't do it!
Every business person has thoughts and experiences that when shared will be of value to someone else. The idea of your blog should be to stimulate thought and discussion. The benefit is that you become a resource and perhaps even an entertaining read for people interested in you and your business. In best cases, not only do you reach your targeted audience, but they in turn start a dialog with you or share your thoughts with people you never would have reached otherwise!
A great example is blog maverick, the blog written by Dallas Mavericks owner and Broadcast.com co-founder. Cuban's blog covers a broad range of subjects from the experience of winning the NBA championiship, to how to get rich, to patent law and how Netflix is hurting YouTube. The writing is entertaining and controversial. It has a point of view that stimulates thought and discussion. It rarely addresses Cuban's specific business objectives, but it keeps his brand front and center in ways that a static web site never could.
In blogging it is important to focus on what is important to your reader. No one will read your blog to learn about a new pricing program or the special on aisle 6. Readers are looking for ideas that help them achieve their goals not yours. And this is the most important point. Make your blog a tool that helps your readers and your readers will turn into customers. Help your customers and they will bring you more customers. Resist the urge to add a sales pitch - let Alec Baldwin be the one who must Always Be Closing!
A blog is a great opportunity to offer a behind the scenes look at your company, share research and business articles you find interesting, highlight your customers, and advocate a specific point of view. Video and photos are great tools for an advanced blogger who wants to bring a blog to life.
My suggestion for beginning bloggers is to search the web for blogs on subjects of interest to you. Bookmark them and return with some frequency. Make notes of blog and writing styles you prefer and think about how you can use those styles to create your own. Post comments and join discussions to learn how moderators interact with their readers. Track which sites you return to most frequently and determine what it is that they are dong to keep you coming back. Dollars to doughnuts the sites you are drawn to are the ones adding the most value to your life and business!
Don't let a fear of technology prevent you from starting your blog. There are many easy tools available that don't require any time programming what so ever. For most of us, using a hosted blog Web site like Google-owned Blogger.com or Yahoo's360 or MSN Spaces will be the best option because these sites give you everything you need and walk you through the process at no cost. Setting up a blog at one of these sites takes about five minutes. However, if you want to create a more customized feature-rich Weblog with your own domain name and the ability to track and manage user interaction, you will want to subscribe to a Web hosting space (check http://www.webhostingtalk.com for good suggestions) and use non-hosted blog software (this site runs on Word Press).
As your blog gets rolling there are opportunities to take it to the next level by implementing key words (to be covered in a future segment) and connecting your blog to your web site and linking it to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and/or Twitter account you can an important resource for anyone looking to become informed about your business and business category.
Don't let humility prevent you from getting started. Everyone has knowledge, perspective and life experiences that others will find of value. Your blog is the ideal way to share your and your company's expertise and insight to distinguish you from the also-rans!
WARNING! Nothing will send your customers running for cover faster than turning your blog into a sales piece about your company and products - don't do it!
