Why you should blog about your business

(1/1/2013 Update) The yearly figures below all of 2012. As you can see the numbers have more than doubled since 2011. Blogging and linkedin has definitely had a positive impact on our business. quantity, quality, and customer retention.

(2/29/2012 Update) The yearly figures below now includes February of this year. As you can see the numbers are still growing at a healthy rate, and the business phone rings are increasing too. Please read the rest of the article and consider adding a blog to your webpage. Blogging has definitely had a positive impact on our business. quantity, quality, and customer retention.

(1/31/2012 Update) The yearly figures below now includes January of this year. As you can see the numbers are still growing at a healthy rate, and the business phone rings are increasing too. Please read the rest of the article and consider adding a blog to your webpage. The results speaks for itself.

New Customers – Credibility - Customer Retention – Generate Web Traffic Quickly

I've been blogging since 1992. I blog, first and foremost, because I love writing. I don't  write for a living because I never thought I was good enough to make a living from it. But I really enjoy writing, and blogging is the perfect vehicle for expressing myself.

My customers love it because of the value they receive from it, I.E. "free information on better utilizing the computer & network technology that they already own”. I know this because I receive emails telling me so.

However, the biggest benefit is that the business blog allows me to be in front of my customers when I can't physically be there. Blogging allow me to add value to my customers 24/7 and keeps my name fresh in their minds  as a valuable asset to their business. When wooing new business, sometimes the technology blog is just the thing that adds credibility beyond what my competitors offer, and it also is a major factor with customer retention:

The cost for blogging? $155.40 per year ($12.95 per month) for web hosting and $19.95 per year for the domain name, and the time I spend researching and writing articles.

Return on investment? Enormous! Blogging is my #1 marketing and customer retention machine.

Generate Lots of Web Traffic  

On 9/1/2011 we decided to move our blog from a dedicated blog site to our main homepage, active-technologies.com, and you wouldn’t believe the difference. On August 31, we averaged 48 visitors to our website per day and a total of 1510 per month. In September we averaged 161 visitors per day and 4853 for the month. And that is just the first month. Along with the 4 fold increase in daily web traffic, we received 4 times the inquiries, many of which resulted in sales. But the best part is that our search engine rank (google – yahoo – bing – ask) pushed us higher than our competition in our market for every keyword.  It’s like our business has taken on another life, blasting through space rather than clawing it’s way on the ground. You should try it!

It's one thing to create a blog; it's another to create a blog that readers want to visit again and again. If you're serious about using blog hosting to meet your business goals, there are nine tips to follow when developing a business blogging strategy:

#1: Find a valuable niche
The ideal blog dares to be different. Find a neglected (or new) area of your industry that will appeal to your target audience. Your goal should be to write your blog so that the time your customer spends, at that moment, reading your blog, is more valuable to them than time spent doing anything else. If you can accomplish this one thing, your blog and business will be a huge success.

#2: Enjoy yourself
Business blogging should never feel like a chore. When you create a blog because you're interested in its topic, your readers will appreciate,  and even reciprocate, your enthusiasm.

#3: Look at the big picture
While it's only natural to focus on the products and services you offer, you can also benefit from broadening your scope. For example, if you create a blog for your pet toy store, your target audience may be interested in posts about pet health and nutrition, or even pet rescue programs. Stick with your overall business blogging theme, but explore diverse (yet related) topics. In this way your blog will truly ad value in the minds of your customer rather than coming off like an infomercial.

#4: Know your competition - See what's out there
Online sources like Technorati ® and Google ® Blog Search can help you determine how many blogs are currently covering the topics you are considering. You might also want to look at the additional topics these blogs are discussing, which can inspire new ideas of your own.

#5: Network with other bloggers
Connect with other bloggers in your industry by using Technorati ®, Google ® Blogs, and other social sites to find like-minded bloggers. Once you find relevant blogs, you should bookmark them, comment often, talk with the author, and social tag their blog entries. By building these relationships, you can gain new links to your blog and – ultimately - new readers.

#6: Add media
Blogs don't have to consist of text alone. Video, images and surveys can all add interest to your blog. Mix the creative media into the text instead of placing it at the top or the bottom.

#7: Encourage interaction
Blogs have a unique ability to encourage conversations and create interaction. A blog with no comments isn't really a blog it's an editorial column or a standard website. Be sure to invite readers to leave comments each time you post.

#8: Keep up the good work
Develop  and stick to  a schedule when you create a blog. Your readers should know when to expect a new post, whether you're posting daily, weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. Make certain your new blog material is regular and ON-TIME.

#9: Don't give up
It can take months to build a loyal base of readers when you create a blog. Plan to make business blogging a regular part of your communication strategy for at least a year.

When you create a blog for your business, your overall goal should be to attract repeat visitors. By following the nine tips for business blogging, you can keep readers coming back for more.