5 Reasons to Start a Blog

Okay, so you think you might need to take a closer look at this blogging thing, but really aren’t sure where the payoff is. Here are a few good reasons to start blogging:

1. Let customers know what’s going on with your products
If you have a group of consumers who really depend on your products, then you have an audience who is practically screaming for a blog. Google excels at this. Every major product has its own blog, and each is updated almost daily with new developments, features, ideas and uses of that product. And users leave comments by the dozens or hundreds.

The payoff here is twofold: one, they are constantly receiving feedback from their most hardcore users and so they have a laundry list of the most wanted updates to their products. You can’t buy market research like that.

Two, they have an immediate base of people waiting for the next update or upgrade, without having to spend a dime on advertising.

2. Lead Generation
If you know what your market is looking for several steps out from the purchase decision, then you can use your blog to provide pertinent, helpful information they can use to make their decision. You become a trusted expert. Which means when they get ready to make their decision, you’re going to be one of the top choices. Use this information as a springboard to an e-mail newsletter with material pertinent to those ready to take the next step in the purchasing process. Once they sign up, use that permission (wisely) to qualify prospects and generate a continuous list of strong leads.

3. Internal Communication
If you’re team is large, or spread out geographically, or divided among multiple shifts, a blog is a simple way to communicate and keep everyone on the same page. Whether they’re making notes about progress on a project, or throwing around ideas for new products or processes, empowering them with the ability to communicate amongst themselves even when they can’t meet face-to-face can be a boon to productivity and morale.

4. Added Value
If you sell high-end cameras, you might have a blog covering tips and techniques for advanced photography techniques. Your pet grooming business might have a blog about pet behavior and training or seasonal tips for parasites, pests and other problems to be on the lookout for. The Added Value blog gives you an opportunity to turn a one-time buyer into a long-term serial customer, without resorting to hard-sell sales language.

5. Community Blogs.
This one is a little different (and a lot easier on you). If there is a topic that is tangential to your business, but your market segment tends to overlap considerably, commission a blog about the topic—or find an existing one headed up by someone passionate about the subject and offer to sponsor his or her blog. For a small monthly investment, you can become the benefactor of an entire community and suddenly their entire conversation takes place with you as a backdrop.

Well, there you have just a few ideas for blogs you can start to help your business, beyond the typical “SEO booster” blogs out there. Best of all…the investment is nominal, if anything at all.

We’ll dive a little more into each of these and what it takes to put one together successfully in the near future.