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Small Business Blogging: 10 reasons why its essential to business growth

Posted in: Small Business

So you’re a freelancer, a copywriter or any type of small business owner for that matter, and you’re wondering why your growth isn’t as strong as you expected it to be? You’re stumped as to why your profits are barely reaching half of it’s potential when you know your product or service is top notch. You’ve got a website setup with all of the necessary information that any potential client would need to read in order to understand your product or service but yet you don’t get the flood of cash like you thought. Well, if that is you, you’re not alone.

Small business owners need to understand that blogging is not just for the teenagers or just another fad; it’s a powerful business tool that can help you gain exposure to an entirely new audience that you would have otherwise missed entirely. This holds true for any small business owner that is looking to expand and gain exposure, revenue and branding in their target markets. Below you will find ten reasons why I, and many other marketing authorities believe small business blogging is essential to your business’ growth. (please note they are in no particular order of importance).

Business to Business Networking - If you’re a blog design company, you can network with a website hosting company to get deals for your clients. If you’re a pet supply company, try networking with an animal shelter to showcase your products in their shelter for families who are taking animals home. Blogging is a great way to spark up that conversation and building your businesses network on a daily basis.
Holding Yourself Accountable - When you blog, it’s essentially you keeping track of your thoughts, things you learn and various other bits of information. Keeping a log in a spiral notebook can do the same thing, but at the same time, it’s not on the web Post an article about something you HAVE to do, and watch how knowing that others are reading it forces you to act on it and complete your goals.
Expanding Your Knowledge - Lets face it; writing 1-2 articles per day is hard for most people (unless you’re small business revolves around copywriting). You’ve got to study and learn in order to know what you’re talking about, so by blogging you are expanding your knowledge. I read blogs every day in order to get new ideas for blog posts or just to expand my small business and marketing knowledge.
Added Exposure - You might have a billboard in your city, but do 1,000 people subscribe to your blog and get updates every time you write a new article? Expose yourself to an entirely new world. I was recently talking to Derek from Click Consultants about how “internet life” and “real life” are two different things entirely. Make use of it and expose yourself to the “new world”.
One Step Ahead of Competition - I talked about this before but didn’t touch on small business blogging to stay one step ahead of your competition. How many pet supply companies blog? How many locksmiths blog? If you’re blogging and your competitors are not, you’re one step ahead, because lets be honest; blogging is the future.
Search Engines Love It - Why should a small business owner care about a search engine? Well, if you’re wanting the people who are searching there to find your website, you should care. If someone searches for your company name, or the topic of your company, wouldn’t you say it would be in your best interest to make sure you’re #1 for that search word? Exactly! Plus, if someone searches for “Knoxville Locksmith” you can make sure you’re #1 for that too. Search engines love blogs and will rank blogs higher then most websites. Our website is in the top 5 right now in google for “Bootstrapping” while others below us are full blown websites.
The Power of Social Media - Over at Duck Tape Marketing they have a podcast about a company who sells fishing supplies and uses blogging and social media to reach an entire new client base. With certain articles in Digg getting 10 thousand visitors or stumbleupon getting 2-3 thousand visitors, who wouldn’t want that for their small business right? If you’re looking to brush up on your social media skills, I’d suggest checking out DoshDosh.
Keeping Clients/Customers Informed - Some small businesses have used their blog to keep clients and customers informed about special deals, coupons and discounts they offer. The key here is to let them know that they can ONLY get the discounts by reading your websites blog, so you’ll constantly gain readers and repeat customers.
Becoming an Authority - If you know a lot about the product or service you offer, why not blog about it and let people recognize that you’re rich in knowledge about it? By doing this, the potential clients you’ve got lurking around will start to gain trust and you’ll build up their faith in you because you obviously know a LOT about it. All done with a simple blog
Showcasing Your Best Work - If you’re a small business owner, you can showcase your work like Jen does over at JK Photography on her blog. She is constantly posting pictures she shoots for people which in turns not only showcases her work but shows that she wants to show off her clients, who can in turn link their friends to the site to see their pictures. More visitors, more clients? You can do the same thing with new products you make or your recent blog design. No matter what your small business does, you can use your blog to showcase yourself and your business on a daily basis.

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13 Responses to “Small Business Blogging: 10 reasons why its essential to business growth”

Derek Salyers
May 15th, 2008 at 1:28 am

Hey Mike, exellent article. You’ve been doing a awesome job lately with this blog. I can’t wait to see what else you have ready to post!

Also, thanks for the mention in the article.
Mike Smith
May 15th, 2008 at 1:57 am

Thanks Derek. and you’re welcome for the mention.

I’ve got a few big things in store for this blog in the upcoming month so keep an eye out. And comment more,I like getting comments and interacting with readers
Mike Huang
May 15th, 2008 at 2:12 am

Hey Mike, you have a great blog here with some very great content. Keep up the good work

-Mike
MarketingDeviant
May 15th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

Blogging is very important nowadays. More companies are hiring bloggers to write content for their websites.
Jen
May 15th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

Thanks for the shout out Mike, you did a ROCK STAR job for me and I look forward to working with you in the future
Mike Smith
May 15th, 2008 at 11:01 pm

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate them all.

@Mike, thanks. I am more focused now then ever.

@MarketingDeviant, you’re so right. I know of a couple companies who are doing it right now on a very large scale.

@Jen, thank you Stick around, maybe you’ll pick up some ideas on how to promote your photography business I’ve got an article coming up you’ll enjoy. It’s got a wedding photographer marketing idea in it.
Aditya Gholap
May 18th, 2008 at 4:22 am

couldn’t agree more!! you do an excellent blog. Would love to be in touch. read the article on social media at duct tape marketing. That is quite great as well.

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Small Business Blogging: 10 reasons why its essential to business growth

13 Responses to “Small Business Blogging: 10 reasons why its essential to business growth”

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