I must admit. I have become a blogging evanglist. I love blogging and i'm making sure my clients love blogging too.
Why this compulsion for my clients to start and maintain their blog? In today's marketing environment all webites are saying pretty much the same, offering similiar services and no matter how well designed reflect the same industry requirements.
But a blog is where each company can stand out!!!
The blog is the place where each business's unique character can be showcased. A company with a good website and a great blog will be miles ahead a company with only a great website.
Blogging has everything to do with substance rather than style or flash. A company can showcase their product rather elegantly on their site but if they cannot follow it up with an intelligent and useful blog then they have some thinking to do. Blogs can help popularize the people behind the company, build reputations and create fan followings (a good and dedicated following rather than those found on common social sites).
Today its more about perception than reality. Even companies not leading in reality can be percieved as leaders through great blogs. When there is a problem, or an issue, your market will turn to your blog. If they find an answer into you get the business. Over simplification? maybe, but perception is not about what you are but what you can project through good information.
No time!!
The commonest complaint I hear when I recommend starting a blog is 'when will I get the time to write it?'. It would be a valid point if I were asking you to do something extra-curricular i.e. not a part of business, but a blog is very much a big part of your business, specifically of your marketing initiatives. You must find time for it.
We are not writers
Another complaint is that they are not writers. You don't need to be a great writer to maintain a blog. All you need to do is write from heart, write from your knowledge and your experience and just mind the grammer a bit. There is a lot of poetic license that you can take with your blog. No one is going to put your feet to the coals just because you wrote something differently.
How long or how short?
Another common question I get is how long or short should a blog post be? I say it does not matter. Use common sense. A blog is a daily activity so obviously you cannot write a novel into a post. It should be as long or as short as it needs to be to get the point across. Again its your blog ? you make the rules. You can also break a blog topic into parts? and post one each day.
I don't know what to put in my blog.
A blog will not follow any template or set pattern. You write whatever catches your fancy. You write about day to day interactions with clients and staff. You write about your intepretations on industry events. You write about an idea you have or an improvement you like to see or an injustice you would like corrected. The only caveat is that you write within the broad boundaries of your industry or profession. That way you can build your reputation within it.
Cheers,
Ron
