Monday, November 26, 2007

Is Blogging Necessary?

Although some people view blogging as a novelty or a “someday I’ll get around to it” most companies will find great benefit by adding blogs and blogging to their overall marketing strategy. When done correctly, blogging can have an incredible impact on your market position.

In essence blogs are no different from other marketing channels. Blogs are designed to deliver results, position you and your company and establish credibility. Some of the primary reasons to have a blog and to blog are to build expert status, reach a global market, increase customer and media relations, keep your market informed on what is happening with your company and industry, establish market perception and rank high on the Search Engines.

Determine the Purpose
Are you blogging because this is the latest and greatest fun idea someone on your team thought of or is this a viable part of your overall branding and marketing strategy? If a blog is simply another whimsical idea, you are likely blogging for the wrong reason. If, on the other hand, this is a part of your overall marketing strategy make sure you are strategic in your process.

Blog Consistently
To be effective you need to blog on a fairly regular basis. Your postings can be short, but need to be relative to your purpose. Many bloggers post information from other sites as a way to keep their readers informed on a particular topic. When you post information from another resource you absolutely must reference where you got the information from.

You can blog about new product releases, plans your company has, articles of interest and even what your competition is up to. The more valuable the information the more you will build a dedicated readership.


Driving Visitors
There are a number of effective ways to get people to view your blog. One is to use key words relative to your market and industry. Whenever you post something you want to include those key words.

Next you can announce your blog in your company newsletter, through media releases, to your current opt-in subscribers and in any advertising you do.

You can add your blog address to your outgoing email messages by way of your sig (signature) file that you use at the end of your email messages.

Another option is to write articles specific to your market and industry. Add a resource box at the end of your article with a link back to your blog. If your article is perceived to have high value there is a very good chance readers will visit your blog.

Most importantly is to make the blog postings valuable to the readers. If the information doesn’t hold their interest they will have no reason to return.

The more valuable your readers find your information the more likely it will be that they turn into loyal readers.

Make It Easy for People to Subscribe

By offering readers the chance to subscribe to your blog the more likely it will be for them to continue to read your information. Make it easy for people to sign up for your blog. You can add what are known as blog buttons also known as chiclets. You can also add a simple sign up form by visiting FeedBlitz.com and FeedBurner.com. This allows people to subscribe to the feed and receive updates as you add new content to your blog.

Keywords
Keywords are a way to improve your search engine ranking. Choosing the right words for your products, services, industry or market is extremely important. Keywords are what lead search engines to your blog. The more targeted your list the more effective your postings.


Analyze your business and your market. Think of any words that your readers might be search on to find you that relate to your company, industry, product or service.

The way to narrow your target words down is to use a keyword selector tool. A reliable selector tool will help you to narrow the search by indicating how often people search on specific word combinations.

In Conclusion
Blogging will create great opportunities when done correctly, consistently and conscientiously.

Kathleen Gage is an Internet Marketing Advisor for Speakers, Trainers, Authors, Consultants and Entrepreneurs. Access her eBook The Truth about Making Money on the Internet at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook.htm

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kathleen,

Thank you for the good tips on blogging.
I have stumbled your post
and reviewed
http://mindthinksuccess.stumbleupon.com/

Blessings :)
Gamy

Kathleen Gage said...

Thanks Gamy. You're the best.

Kathleen

Joe Pulizzi said...

Kathleen...excellent post. Most businesses do not understand the value of a consistent, purposeful blog.

Best
Joe

Kathleen Gage said...

You're so right Joe. The area that most companies let slip is in the consistency. Blogging, as with any aspect of reaching out to one's market, requires a consistent, ongoing approach.

Thanks for your comments.

Kathleen

CG Walters said...

Thank you, Kathleen, for some excellent advice.
Peace and wonder,
CG

Kathleen Gage said...

Hey CG,

You are most welcome. Two women I have learned some great blogging information from are Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman aka The Blog Squad. Actually, we found we had many similar marketing beliefs, we decided to host a free teleseminar on December 17th. If you would like to join us please visit
http://www.blogsquadteleseminars.com/5traps/

Have a great day.

Kathleen Gage

Yvonne said...

Hi Kathleen,
Most folks are afraid of blogging because it harkens back to their high school days of writing term papers.

If business owners can accept that it's a conversation, not a report, they may be able to understand it's potential better.

Thanks for the great post.
Yvonne DiVita

Kathleen Gage said...

Hi Yvonne,

You are so correct. Blogs are a great way to share ideas, have interactive communication and build one's network.

Thanks for your comments.

Kathleen Gage

राकेश वेंदे said...

yup. I really belive in true power of blogging :)