Blogging for your small business is a great way to build your brand online and get some great exposure for your small business when done right. Creating a business blog is much like creating other business content although the purpose for blogging has a larger scope. Business blogging is excellent for creating a brand personality and can help in supporting your business. A blog post, whether it’s print, audio or video, has the unique benefit of being able to be more engaging, especially when it comes to promoting your products and integrating it into your social media efforts is a great way to get maximum exposure for your business.
Creating content as well as trying to promote your blog can be very time consuming. It is a fairly inexpensive way to connect with your market, particularly if you create your own content but it can sometimes be a big job to handle for one person. One great way to have new content easily is to ask other’s to do guest blog posts. This will make it easier to produce regular content that is related to your niche and also will bring added traffic if the guest blogger promotes their post to their followers. Click here for some great info about Guest Blogging to build traffic to your blog.
How to Write a Blog and Integrate it into your Social Networking Marketing Strategy:
- On your social networking profiles make sure to post links to your business blog(you can even automate this process by using Networked Blogs or Twitterfeed so your posts will automatically feed right into your newfeed on Twitter and Facebook).
- A great way to get ideas for new blog content is to ask questions while social networking that apply to your niche and in turn you can generate new content from those questions and answers.
- When new posts are published link them to your social networking sites.
- You can add badges such as “follow me on facebook” when creating your blog.
- The “tweets this” badge can also be added to your blog so others can tweet and promote your blog.
- Also adding free reports, eBooks, webinars, or videos when blogging is a great way to add a little spice to your posts and remember to add those links to your social networking pages and streams.
- You can use social networking to advertise or promote new products on your blog too.
Here are a Few Do’s and Don’ts When Writing a Blog and Promoting it through Social Networking:
- Do be sure to blog regularly and add those links to your social networks.
- Do write attention grabbing headlines. They create interest in a blog when you use them to promote your blog on social networking sites.
- Do be comfortable when creating a blog. Use what works best for you and your style. This can help create a bond with your followers and your business blog.
- Do be personal both in how you write your blog and how you promote it with your social network. Even in blogging for a small business owner you need to add your own personality to gain trust with your followers.
- Do integrate social networking into your blog.
- Do post comments and answer others comments on your social network threads.
- Don’t over advertise your business blog on your social networking pages. This can chase off even the most dedicated follower.
- Don’t create a blog and then leave it to grow on its own. A small business blog needs to be promoted on a regular basis through social networking outlets.
- Don’t be overbearing when blogging for business. Use links and promote your blogs for small business owners but do it with respect for your followers.
It’s not difficult to create, write, or promote your blog and adapt it to your social networking if you take the time to learn some key strategies for blogging. It takes some time, a little integration, and a lot of yourself but in the end it’s a sure fire way to build a following, create trust, and grow your business. It’s a guaranteed way to reach out to those in need of your services and to create a base that will help your business grow.
If you don’t have a blog set up yet for your business here are a few resources to get you started.
- Do it yourself Blog set-up (This great resource walks you through the steps of setting up your first blog)
- We do it for you Blog set up
Here are some other great resources for learning more about Blogging
- Denise Wakeman’s “How to build a better Blog“
- 31 Day Blogging Challenge
- The Ultimate Blog Challenge
To Your Success!
Kate Wilber
The Marketing Momma