Why You Must Have a Blog No Matter What Type of Business You Have

Contrary to what most people think that only internet marketers or online businesses must have a blog, the fact is that, whatever type of business you're in, you must have a blog. A blog is one of the best and cost-effective marketing tools at our disposal today and here's why you should utilize blog if you haven't yet:

1. A Blog is Search Engine Marketing on Steroids
One of the more obvious factors in getting ranked well in search engine results pages (SERPs) is having a fresh, regularly-updated content, as well as relevant keywords present in your site. Google especially loves WordPress blogs that are up-to-date and keyword-rich.

A simple static or informational website that hardly gets updated will have a hard-time getting ranked well in search engine results compared to a blog. A blog increases one’s visibility on the web organically. Regular, consistent postings to a blog containing the right key words and phrases can make the company’s website extremely easy to find. It’s search engine marketing on steroids if done correctly.

Wordpress blog platform has a built in search engine optimization function and if that is not yet enough, you can install a plugin called All in One SEO Pack to enhance it.

2. A Blog is a Platform for a More Personalized "Pre-Selling"
A blog isn't really a platform to sell your products or service. That's not what a blog is for. However, there are businesses out there that have successfully utilized blog to provide more information about their products or services in a way that they don't sound like they're selling.

Here are a couple of examples:
1. Have a guest post testimonial from someone who used or using your products or services. By having the person write the post himself or herself, this can eliminate any skepticism or doubts about your product or company. If the customer is happy, this should not be a problem. Now you might find that the customer may be writing-challenged. Don't be disappointed. Have a freelance writer work with the person in developing the blog post.

If you're a network marketer, ask your downlines to write a post about their experience and income change when they joined your network. Then each time you're recruiting, have them go to your blog. This will encourage more sign-ups than anything!

If you're a make-up artist, ask your clients to write about their experience with you and use it as a blog post.

Whether you're a cosmetic surgeon, a graphic designer, a photographer whether you're in the house-cleaning business, own a small and pop restaurant…whatever it is…you can utilize blog to "sell" in a more personal and creative way without sounding like you really are desperately selling.

2. Tell a story about your company, product, or service.
In my blog, the page that has the most visits, believe it or not, is the "My Story" page. Why? People loves stories! People love to find out how your life has changed and how the same can happen to them!

By telling a story, you're encouraging your potential customers to "open" up. See, money and emotions are often connected in some ways. They will be more prone to open up their wallets once they see that you are being real and transparent and that you're not just out there to get their money.

3. A Blog Sets You Up as an Expert
By providing valuable information, advice, and tips in your blog that are related to the niche that you are in, you are building yourself up as an "expert" in the industry and you are developing trust between you and your potential customers. When people benefit from your knowledge, they automatically respect you and trust you and it will be easier for you to earn their business that way.

For example: If you're in the health and wellness industry, provide health tips. It doesn't necessarily have to be related to your product or services right away. For example, if you're selling a product that was derived from a fruit or plant, it's good to provide more information about the benefits of the fruit or plant. However, if that's what you're all going to talk about in your blog, it will become obvious that you are providing more information about it because you want to sell your product. Do not be afraid of deviating from the source of your product a little bit, such as providing ways to eat more healthy, tips to lower blood pressure, natural ways to improve skin health, etc. For as long as it's still in the health and wellness industry. Eventually, you will earn your readers and potential customer's trust because they see you as an "expert" in your field and would trust that you know your product and believe that whatever you claim it does will do it for them.

4. A Blog Builds Relationship
Because of the tools that are available in blogging today, it encourages interaction and thus becoming more "relational" and "personal" with your current customers or potential ones. It is a tool to receive feedbacks from your customers, an avenue to resolve issues with them, a marketing application to get more sign-ups and many more!

How much does it cost to get a blog set up?
Unsurprisingly, not much! There are a couple of ways to do it:
1. Get a free blog from WordPress.com or Blogger.com or
2. Get a stand-alone blog and install it on your own hosting server.

For businesses, way #1 is not highly recommended simply because being that the blog is hosted at wordpress.com or blogger.com, you will have a domain with something like yourcompanyname.wordpress.com or yourcompanyname.blogger.com which does not look good from a branding standpoint.

You want to have your own domain name for your blog and your own professional theme to get this done. Do not be intimidated with the cost though! WordPress blogging software is totally free! There are also a ton of free WordPress themes out there to give your blog a good user interface. However, I really do suggest finding a professional theme that you can brand and customize that will match your niche. One company I highly recommend is WooThemes.

In my Blogging for Profit Series, I showed how to set-up your own WordPress Blog. Click here to follow a step by step instruction and you will be well on your way to blogging!

If you're a business and you're utilizing blog successfully for your business, share some tips with our readers by posting comments below!

I hope you learned something today! If you enjoyed this post, show me some love by RTing, "Liking", or Digging! *Smiles*

Until then!…

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Comments (4)

gary whiting says:

June 15, 2010 at 6:03 PM

Nice work I enjoyed it.

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Roshanda Gilmore says:

October 28, 2010 at 8:13 PM

Nice post. I personally have a WordPress.org blog and also use Woo Themes. I have found it to be user friendly. I had no previous experience with anything online before tapping into personal branding and social media. So if I can do it! Anyone can!
Roshanda Gilmore´s last [type] ..Are You Coach-Able Enough To Obtain Financial Success

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Thea Woods says:

January 16, 2011 at 12:52 AM

Great post. Will definitely be sharing this one
Thea Woods´s last [type] ..‘Upgrade My Website’ Graphics Contest!

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Lian Yao says:

June 16, 2011 at 9:09 PM

I love your site. It is very cleanly laid out. When did you start up this blog?
Lian Yao´s last [type] ..Massaging Your Breasts Promotes Growth

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