Business blogs can be a pain. They take time and money to set up, not to mention the resources required to maintain and promote them. In essence, they add another thing to your already long to-do list.
With all this in mind, sometimes business owners and CEOs have a hard time seeing the upside of creating a business blog.
But I’ve got news for you: Business blogs are special. And the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives.
What Is A Business Blog? How Can It Help?
Before I launch into why your company needs a blog, let’s first clarify what a blog is and how it fits into your marketing strategy.
While the term “blog” has a variety of definitions, in its most basic form, a blog is a webpage that is frequently updated, often with the most recent posts or articles appearing at the top.
Companies are using blogs in such a way now that the term “content marketing” has taken hold in business vernacular to describe a blog’s purpose.
So what is content marketing? Copyblogger, the ultimate authority on the topic, has a superb definition that I’ll reference:
“Content Marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers. The type of content you share is closely related to what you sell; in other words, you’re educating people so that they know, like, and trust you enough to do business with you.”
That last part is very important. When’s the last time you did business with someone you didn’t trust? If you can remember, my guess is that the experience did not go well or that you are unlikely to be a repeat customer.
Gaining trust and confidence is key to gaining business, which is where building a blog can immensely help your company.
Other Benefits From Creating A Business Blog
Besides building trust with customers and prospects, there are several other ways your company will benefit from a blog.
With a blog, you’ll be:
- Proactively managing your brand
- Proving with every post that you’re an industry expert
- Exposing new people to your company
- Connecting with customers
- Giving your website traffic a boost
Why Other Social Media Platforms Won’t Do
You might be thinking, “I already use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to share valuable content. Why is having a blog so important?”
You own your blog’s content. You pay the bills to the domain host and the website host. The only way the content goes away is if you decide it’s time. You’re in control.
What happens to your content on Facebook or Twitter if they go out of business? Your hard work building an audience on those sites is erased.
Contrast that with your business blog – an article you write today could continue to bring you traffic for years to come.
While Facebook, Twitter and Google will hopefully be around for years to come, you can’t bet on it. Just ask MySpace and Digg, two companies that are still around but aren’t nearly as prominent and valuable to online marketers today.
Does that mean that you ignore those platforms? No. If they drive traffic to your site and allow you to engage customers, building a presence on these networks is worthwhile. But I caution you against focusing all your efforts on platforms you can’t control.
What’s Next
In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss how to set up a company blog and get it going.
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What can you do today so that your business will be appealing to buyers when you want to sell it? Learn when you download a free copy of Building and Exiting a Desirable Business today.
