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Blogging for Business - Should You?
Copyright 2006 Peter Tarrida del Marmol
So you've heard that having a blog is a good idea for your
business, but are you sure WHY it's important? Understanding how
blogs operate and how to use them for your business will give
you great payoffs for your investment of time and energy. Not
using your blog effectively will simply waste this fantastic
resource.
WHY SHOULD I 'BLOG FOR BUSINESS'?
Blogs are a great method for giving your business credibility.
Whether you post about industry news, recommend links to related
topics or post valuable inside information or experiences, your
audience will view you not only as a commercial venue but as a
business interested in its community.
You can also use your blog to build traffic to your commercial
site and to build a list of interested prospects. All of these
issues are solid tools for marketing your product or service
online.
WHY BLOGGING IS GREAT FOR CUSTOMERS
Blogs are not viewed the same as a typical website or sales
page. The postings are often less formal or are presenting
readers with interesting tidbits that entertain or inform about
your topic or industry. Regular postings that draw the attention
of your target market will build interest in your product and
establish you as an 'expert' as well as create a good
relationship with your prospects.
Since you can offer subscriptions to your blog through services
like Bloglet.com, your prospects can easily receive notice of
your recent postings right in their email inbox. By regularly
posting relevant information your prospects will look to you
first when needing the service or product you provide.
Since many blogs offer readers the ability to post
comments you
immediately provide an opportunity for feedback or questions.
This can clue you in to what your market needs or thinks, which
can quickly be responded to in your next post.
BLOGGING FOR TRAFFIC
There are several methods of traffic buildings with blogs. One
method is through the blog provider. Often the provider offers
readers the option of searching for blogs with a word or phrase.
Using that phrase in your blog or title will bring interested
visitors.
The other method is through search engines. Search engines love
fresh content and blogs make this easy. Simply 'ping' your blog
to other media (this announces your update) and the search
engines will pick it up. Using commonly searched words and
phrases may give you the top ranking you were looking for. You
can also link to your business website with the phrase and
increase traffic directly to your sales page.
Finally, you can add an RSS feature to your blog. RSS (Really
Simple Syndication) allows other websites to run the content
from your blog. Every time you make a post the information will
be automatically updated on sites featuring your RSS. This is
attractive to sites with topics related to yours since they will
benefit from the fresh content and you will benefit from the
exposure.
If you haven't jumped on the blogging bandwagon yet you've been
missing out on one of the cheapest and smartest marketing tools
available. Creating a blog is easy and profitable - so make
yours today!
About the author:
Peter Tarrida del Mármol is a Spanish online and offline
marketer. Get a FREE e-book about making business online EVERY
WEEK by subscribing to his newsletter:
http://www.auctionearnings.com
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