Top Ten Reasons You Should Blog For Business

Have you launched your blog yet?

Blogging has so many important benefits and it’s no wonder that huge corporations and megastores are getting into blogging. Even WalMart has a blog! Especially for the micropreneur, blogs have several distinct advantages. Here are a few of them.

1. Blogs provide search engine food. Google loves fresh, relevant, and frequently updated content. A blog can help you get free search engine traffic.I experienced a powerful example of this recently. One week ago, a reporter from NBC news called me. He found my blog doing a Google search on a topic he was doing a story on. That evening, I found myself on national television. You can see a portion of the MSNBC news cast here.
   
   
2. Blogs create community. Because they are interactive, a blog draws people back to your site again and again. Your visitors will read your post then leave their comments, read comments left by others, and come back to see how the conversation is flowing. Message forums can also accomplish this, but blogs are much easier to manage than message forums, which attract a lot of spam. With RSS (Real Simple Syndication), people can subscribe to your blog feed and be notified automatically when you update your blog.
3. Blogging puts you in control. Posting to your blog is as easy as typing an email or a word document. Why pay a designer to add a page to your website when you can update your site whenever you like, easy as pie? You can blog as often or as rarely as you like to serve your particular needs.
4. Blogging grows your profits. There are many ways you can add additional monetization streams to your blog so you can make more money in your business without working harder.
5. Your customers love blogs. On your blog, customers can ask you questions, read info about your products and services, and share their opinions. A blog has a more friendly feel than a website.
6. Blogs help you know your target market. As you observe who is leaving comments and linking to your your blog, you get to know your target market better. This information helps you be a smarter, more effective marketer.
7. Blogs = easy market research. A blog is an easy way to conduct surveys and polls to help you get inside the mind of your customers. This information is invaluable to you.
8. Blogs help your customers get to know you. A blog gives your customers a chance to see your personality shine through. They’re able to get a glimpse of who you are as a person, not just a business. People buy from people they like!
9. Blogging is free. As a small business owner, you have a limited marketing budget and have to make your advertising dollars stretch. Blogging is a free marketing tactic – it only costs you a little of your time.
10. Blogging is fun. I’ll admit it, blogging is addicting once you get going! It’s rewarding and fun to express yourself and be part of the new media. With so many benefits to your business, what’s not to love?

So, have you launched your blog yet?

Please leave a comment and let us know what your challenges, concerns and experiences are.