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6 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Blog

Posted By Darren Rowse 31st of October 2012 Business Blogging, Featured Posts 0 Comments

Last week’s Blogging in Brief post looked at a really surprising business blog post. In fact, this was a post from a government body, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention—not the kind of place you might expect to have a raging sense of humor.

At work

Image courtesy stock.xchng user wagg66

Business blogging doesn’t have to be dull

Many business owners I speak to who aren’t bloggers scoff at the idea of having a blog. They look at their business and wonder who on earth would want to read about it.

But whether you’re a mechanic, baker, home cleaner, or a landscape designer, you can be sure that a blog could benefit your customers if you do it right.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at Dominick Del Santo’s story from earlier this year. His business—industrial dust collection solutions—isn’t what you’d call glamorous. Yet he tackled the job and owned his niche. Ryan Chritchett’s doing the same with his tech repair company blog.

You could do the same with a business blog in your industry.

Six reasons to start a business blog

Despite the possibilities, I know that business owners can have plenty of good reasons not to blog. They don’t have time, they don’t have experience, they don’t think it’s worthwhile—and these all seem like valid points. So I’d like to suggest some reasons why businesses should blog.

1. Most businesses think it’s too hard, too scary, or too much work

Your competitors are probably saying much the same thing you are about blogging. “It’s too hard. I don’t have time. I don’t even know where to begin!”

That means you have a great opportunity to jump in, get started, and engage with your target clients while other businesses in your niche are procrastinating. So do it, and build your competitive advantage before they have time to step in and take up the slack.

2. Audiences are more open to blogs than ever

Blogs are everywhere. The web is so chock-a-block with great content now that many readers no longer differentiate between what they call “blogs,” “news sites,” “websites,” and other content forms. What they want is to be informed and entertained.

If you can manage either of those goals through your business’s blog, you’ll be able to build a readership.

3. We’re more connected, which means more time to consume your content

Five years ago, at least here in Melbourne, Australia, smartphones were pretty rare. We might text or make a call while we were on the train, or waiting for a friend. We weren’t flicking from our email to Facebook to the news, following a link from Twitter, or clicking on an email newsletter to “Read more…” And no one, no one was reading an ebook on a tablet.

Things have changed now—and for the better. The web is constantly maturing, and so are its users. If you think your business’s clients aren’t too web savvy, think again. I’ll bet they use Facebook, download music, and read the news online just like most others. So this is a great way to get your brand and message in front of them.

4. It’s a great way to build deeper customer relationships

A blog is a place where your business’s individual style can really show through. Okay, you have a business card and some letter head, designed by a designer to reflect you as a person, and the professionalism of your business. That’s great, but it doesn’t establish a personal connection on its own, day or night, all week long.

Your business blog can do that. It lets you express yourself and your brand, and focus on the things that unite you and your clients. But it also lets them connect with you—through comments, feedback, and social sharing. The benefit is that you don’t need to staff a call centre to support this new method of communication.

With a blog, you can get closer to your clients than ever before—getting ideas for product or service developments, finding out what bugs them and what makes them smile, and unearthing new ways to make your business indispensable to them.

5. It’s an excellent way to stand out from the crowd

Put the points we’ve already discussed together, and you get a great opportunity to stand out from your competitors. The more you can differentiate yourself from the other suppliers in your market, the more reasons you’ll give customers and prospects to engage with your brand.

Blogs provide a great opportunity to support and build your brand, and explain and show what you’re all about. They also give you the chance to connect deeply with readers. The more you connect readers with your brand, the more you can develop your brand to meet their needs, and help them connect more deeply with it.

What that means is lasting loyalty, more repeat custom, and stronger word of mouth for you and your business.

6. Technology lets you do it your way

It’s not just consumer technology that’s evolved in the last five years. Producer technology has too.

You can create a blog in minutes, on a free platform if you want to. Or you can integrate your blog completely with your business website—again, using any of a range of platforms. And you can create and share content in a wide variety of formats—video, audio, text, imagery, you name it.

There are also plenty of blogging apps—apps that let you plan content on the go, access your blog remotely, and even publish posts from your phone.

The mechanics of creating great content have never been easier to manipulate. Blogging has never been easier. If you ever thought of starting a business blog, now’s definitely the time.

How will you do it? And what will you blog about?

Okay, so blogging takes time and energy. I don’t have the space here to get into the details of starting and running a business blog, through there’s plenty of information on the topic here, and in our ebook on the subject.

As to the question of what you could blog about, well, the sky’s the limit. Later this week, I’ll show you around a few great business blogs. Each of them is unique, presents information differently, and connects strongly with customers and prospects. Don’t miss it.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. In my experience, the biggest barrier to businesses having a blog is that they don’t know WHO will write it. The CEO doesn’t have the time (nor should he or she). But no one is sure they can trust corporate communications to do it.

    Here’s the biggest barrier I see: Successful blogs need a VOICE. But companies are scared to give that voice to one individual.

    I don’t see a solution to this problem. Darren, do you?

    • In a world of short soundbites and status updates, here a solution to this problem.

    • Daphne…we saw that exact problem and solved it for the time-starved CEO. We use professional interviewers to record the blog posts podcast-style. We then transcribe the interviews and rewrite them in the “voice” of the CEO. Some clients use both the podcast and “written” versions, while some actually have a couple of members of the C-team in on the interview, which is re-written just as the work of the CEO. They don’t use the podcast audio as anything more than source material for our editorial team.
      Total time commitment from the CEO: 1 Hour per month. Easy.

  2. I guess this is web 3.0 around the corner. I mean, everything is getting a social aspect. Business cannot sit back and wait. Everyone needs to communicate with suppliers, clients, fans, and others on a personal level. Blogs help.

    • yes,Blogs are great promotional tools for businesses. Businesses that blog understand how important it is to their overall marketing efforts.

  3. This is such an excellent post and so very true. I’ve been singing the praises of blogging to businesses locally and on LinkedIn and the push back I always get is that they’re too busy. I think they believe that they have to write these long, in depth articles on a daily basis.

    When I suggested they start with a “what’s happening” style post once a week, all of a sudden a light bulb goes off!

    I hope more businesses take advantage of blogging.

    Kimberly

  4. Hi,

    You have explained a great post here that every business should blog. Blog can get a lot of traffic to you and in fact you can increase your traffic of your website by having a good blog.
    It is difficult to blog but once you start it, you will enjoy the importance of blog !
    Extremely awesome post.

    Thank you

    Saif

  5. Hi,

    Totally agree with this idea: Today, everyone needs blog, especially business. It is the same as everyone needs a living space in real world. With blog, a business can show its image more popular and friendly online.

    Great post, thanks Darren.

  6. I think blogs are great for businesses because it helps them to be more ‘human’ which is something people seem to be appreciating more and more these days.

    I always encourage my clients to have a news/blog section!

  7. I cannot image creating a website and then that is all that you want to communicate to your customers. Having a blog tell your following that you are still engaged with them and still current in your business!.

    • You can promote your blog on social media, which can get it shared and generate interest. Include social media buttons on the blog to make it more shareable. If it is insightful enough, people will bookmark your blog and revisit it just to see what you have to say.

  8. Good reasons, especially number 2! always a good read here, thanks.

  9. The simple reason that i need a blog for promote my products. It help me to make more money.

  10. One business blog that I think gets it right is AWeber. They write mostly about their industry and not necessarily about themselves. You get the feeling that you will learn something and not going to be sold to.

    Also for business owners that think you don’t have the time to blog, do what AWeber does: accept guest posts.

  11. All of your Posts are fine and I am really a daily visitor of your blog. Can you tell me something about Niche Sites. I also have another question. How much time does it take to a blog to gain the popularity? Please reply

  12. These are indeed great reasons to start a business. I’m actually impressed by the idea that most businesses thought it is a scary or hard or too much work. Very encouraging. Nothing is easy or hard; it’s our positivity that will eases things and to do that, we must be focused. Thanks a lot for sharing. It is very helpful!

  13. Fantastic and helpful reasons! I likely support the last reason. It is so true that you can use any of the range of platforms to integrate your blog completely with your business website. We need technology at least in every bit of idea we come across. I love your points very encouraging, thanks Darren!

  14. Hi Darren!

    This is actually inspiring and I completely agree with you on #2. People are more open to blogs than the individual business owners. Reason being, they can easily give you positive criticisms, and this can enable you improve your blog and your business as a whole. On the other hand you can easily get to know the amount of goodwill you have out there; how people view you, is essential for a business and getting a feedback on the same is quite motivating. I will stick around so I can have access to your next post and links to great business blogs.

    Thanks!

  15. Coming up with a business blog is actually a nice way to stand out of the crowd. It not only makes recognized, it also provides a basis for you to improve your business from customers’ reactions. I am actually glad you brought this up Darren! Thanks!

  16. The many reasons why are so powerful, it’s hard to believe that every business doesn’t at least spend some time doing it. But small businesses are usually really focused on what they do, and have to hire someone to do this for them.

  17. Hi, great article, and I completly agree with you.

    I recently started at my company, and we didn’t have a blog. Now we use it as a major source of traffic. It is an incredible way of bringing people within your field onto your site. It gives real professionals a chance to see what you know. The good thing with a business blog is that you can sell your own product, and there is nothing anyone can do about it! Its your blog! Plug here, a plug there. Why not.

    Take a look at our blog to see an example –

    http://blog.yieldkit.com/en

  18. Excellent blog post! Blogging should be a core component of every businesses’ marketing strategy! The difficult part for most small businesses is developing content on a consistent basis. In order for a blog to be successful, content must be relevant to the target market and published consistently.

  19. I have to admit, a blog is something that I have thought about more times than I can count. I have even started getting blogs together on multiple topic points. I never seem to get one going though.

    The main reason is not lack of knowledge or know how but scheduling and time for the most part. As I begin writing an article for this or that I have countless things going on in the back of my mind that are screaming “You should be working on me instead!” I am starting a blog now however and the key is to write your articles either offline or in a blog environment that allows scheduling, with the scheduling of article releases it becomes a lot easier to justify writing two or three quality articles in a couple hours or so and then schedule when they will become public. WordPress is good for this and the other blog platforms at least have a module or plugin to help with this.

    If you are sitting watching television on Sunday morning, watching the news during your morning coffee time, the scheduled release process lets you take that even though needed relaxation time and turn it into a stress free productive time…..Great Article! everyone should have a blog for their business, they help so much with a business.

  20. Tom Southern says: 11/01/2012 at 5:47 am

    Communication in general is still a curious thing for many businesses. Blogging is about letting people have their own say about things, and that scares the beejesus out of business. Lordy, imagine! Customers being allowed to have their own say about what you sell them.

    As for the “no time” excuse. It’s just another way of saying they’ve no time for customers.

    It’s hard to see why those businesses that do blog are usually businesses that still have customers, even in these money-tight days.

    Business today is all about joining in with your customers, and becoming part of their scene.

    The best way to succeed in business today is by establishing what you have in common with people you want to become customers: “common bond” marketing. Of sharing a problem together that you then offer a solution too.

    Most business doesn’t understand this concept of sharing common bonds. Those who do sail through rough times, and enjoy good times. Sharing both with their customers, so tightening the bond together.

    Every business needs to blog. But only once tyey understand how doing business has changed. It’s become democratic: Customers can vote now – with their feet, and their money.

    Tom

  21. Absolutely. It’s crucial for businesses to be producing quality content for their customers. You want to earn your customer’s trust? Be a thought leader.

  22. While I cannot agree more with businesses needing blogs, I have to say that often times posts such as these make businesses think that they can just throw up a WordPress blog, add some content and get results.

    As online content writers, we have logged into many WordPress blogs that have not been set up correctly. In other words, I think it’s important to have a plan and not think that a Freeware will perform. Blogs also should makek proper use of keywords and relevant categories.

    In other words, it’s not just about the content, but the bones and structure of that content! That’s why I am STILL and will always be such a fan of Compendium – https://problogger.com/inside-the-compendium-blogging-platform/

    With that said, manufacturers can really gain from blogging by sharing the manufacturing process and more – in fact, I think it’s a good idea to have a dedicated person for the blog. Almost like the PR person inside the company.

  23. the best way for a business blog to go is 100% outsourcing,this way they can concentrates on their primary daily activities and worry less on their blog.it’s not easy blogging,a busy CEO would for sure not having time to do all necessary blogging requirement,so in my opinion it would be best to delegate it to professionals who are full time bloggers.

  24. Businesses should really have a blog following the above reasons. It’s great; easy to stand out from the crowd; build a stronger relationship;… As a customer, they can keep businesses brands up-to-date .

  25. I see Open Orders on Textbroker all the time where small businesses are outsourcing blog posts to freelance writers. It’s understandable that small biz owners don’t have time to add regularly writing blog posts for their company website, but it’s essential these days for even the teeny-tiniest company to have a website and a blog, whether they write the posts themselves or not.

    It kills me when I see company websites where all they have is a brief About page, a Contact page, and a map and think that’s all there is to it. No matter what business you’re in, there are people searching for you on Google, and if they can’t find your company blog (especially if it doesn’t exist) then they’ll find your competitor’s one.

    Lose money right there…

  26. You should go online(with a blog) to reach more customers and sometimes for online support.

  27. Hello Darren
    I appreciate this article for Why a Business Needs a Blog & I’m completely agree with all these point of article. Its 100% true that Business owners think it’s too hard, but exactly. They aren’t aware with value of blog for a Business. Awareness is must about a Blog. Audiences always like to connect with latest news & discussion & that can be include in Blog. I’m agree to valuable Blog always attract Audiences.

  28. As if the 6 reasons Darren gives aren’t already compelling enough, I’d like to add another.

    This is that a blog provides many more additional entry points into your site over and above your set of static web pages.

    And the more entry points you have, the more likely people are going to find you.

  29. If done correctly, blogging can be a excellent way to help build up your brand, earn recognition in the community, and even get some authority links back to your blog or site as valuable content is often shared heavily by others bloggers. Writing a great blog post takes a lot of time and efforts, you have to be an expert about what you are writing and it should be interesting as well.

  30. This is true that every business needs a blog. Blog can increase a lot of traffic on your website and you can increase your exposure on every topic. You can cover all the topics on your blog. Blog can help you a lot to get a lot of exposure.

    Thank you

  31. It’s great in theory, but unfortunately most companies suck at blogging. THey either don’t know who is going to blog, they assign it to an intern, they don’t know how to blog, they have so many hoops to jump through that by the time the blog hits the world it’s become so sanitized that it’s unreadable, etc.

  32. Hi Darren
    Excellent post. I personally think that collaborating a business webpage with a blog is such an effective method of providing your “personal touch.” Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas! All the best! Thanks for share it.

  33. Hello Darren
    Excellent post. Blogs are great promotional tools for businesses. Businesses that blog understand how important it is to their overall marketing efforts. However, using a blog for direct advertising isn’t how you get the best results.

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