I Thought Blogging Was A Silly Waste Of Time.
The word “blog” is short for “weblog”, which literally means a web log. Simply put, a blog is nothing more than a written log published to the World Wide Web. A blog can literally be about anything – it could be a series of short updates describing the trials and tribulations of a baseball season, or short essays about bird migrations. Many blogs impart instructions and advice on a myriad of projects and endeavors.
Yet despite this vast ubiquity of blog types, many people associate blogging as a whole with one maligned subset: personal journals. Since it is both inexpensive and relatively easy to create a blog, many people create blogs that are strictly personal in nature, often with little redeeming value to a wider audience beyond family and friends and sometimes with a fair amount of self-aggrandizement.
A business blog is not a forum for personal posts or self-discovery. You have experience, knowledge and expertise; your customers look to you as a trusted authority in your field of business. Therefore, your business blog can quickly become a powerful platform to attract new customers and leads while at the same time reassuring existing customers that your product or service is superior to your competition.
Why Should I Share My Expertise With Others Online For Free?
The Internet was founded specifically for the purpose of sharing information. Your business website exists to share information like your company name, descriptions of your products and/or services, contact information, etc. Your blog should also exist to share valuable information to new and existing customers.
Does this mean that you should give away everything intellectual and creative owned by you and your business, or accumulated over the course of your career, for free on your blog? Of course not! Your blog should be a springboard for turning readers into customers or retaining existing customers, not an endpoint for your engagement with them.
Do I Need To Write My Own Blog Posts?
Not necessarily. Some people enjoy writing while others find it to be a chore or a hassle. Some professionals and business owners may excel at what they do every day at work but find it difficult or impossible to write about what they do. It is common for many professionals and companies to contract an outside writer to compose and publish blog posts. “Ghostwriting”, or having someone else write under your name, is also a common and accepted practice.
Should I Advertise My Business On My Blog?
Your blog exists to promote your business, but if you simply turn your blog posts into a series of advertisements you remove any reason for readers seeking information to revisit your blog in the future. Also, many readers who seek out blogs for guidance and information react negatively to blatant self-promotion. Your blog should encourage readers to purchase your product or service because you have proven yourself a trusted authority, not because you have effectively “won them over” through a persuasive sales pitch.