If you're into direct sales, Multilevel Marketing (MLM), freelance services, virtual services, tutorial, coaching and other online businesses, you NEED blogs! Facebook and twitter aren't enough. Business website is not enough. Though the aforementioned social networks could help, you still need blogs for the following reasons:
1. Connecting with Your Customers. I knew handful of magazine editors and businesswomen who maintained blogs. In their blogs you can read about their design philosophy or motivation in life and other things that would look out of place on a business website. They simply give us customers a peek into their private lives and put a human face behind their business. In this way, they're able to connect with their customers.
I will soon launch my own mini-fashion shop online and I already prepare a blog for this. This blog will allow me to be more relaxed, sort of let down my hair a little bit.
2. Giving Useful Information. This is going the extra mile for your customers. It is not enough to just sell them a product or service; they also get useful information from you regularly. Giving away this information for free on your blog boosts your credibility and makes a customer become a repeat user.
Example, I will be selling handmade jewelry proudly from Thailand. It's not enough to just show my customers beautiful photos of the products to enticed them to buy. I need to inform them what these handmade jewelry are made of:
They're made of stones (i.e. turquoise, howlite, jasper, jade, amethyst), fresh water pearls, brass, wax cord, glass beads and other embellishments. Having a blog will allow me to give my customers a closer look of what the products are made and that the price I set is reasonable. If they can't decide which product to purchase (I could understand with that because they're all fashionable, gorgeous and highly recommendable!) I could help them decide by producing
product comparison chart, if that would be necessary.
3. Forming Community. Social networking sites are great for creating community but there are several other communities there to distract. Having a blog where people can read and leave comments is a way to create a community that engages. These are the people who eventually might turn out to be your most loyal customers.
4. Your Portfolio. Maybe you are a freelancer and are wondering how a blog could possibly benefit you? There is no better place to have a portfolio. If you are a freelance writer for instance, you are going to get asked for your writing samples a lot and not everyone who asks has scruples about using your work without paying for it. But if you had a blog with your writing on it, already published, you could just direct them there. Same with other freelance services offered like photography. A blog can serve as your ready portfolio.
5. Search Engine Optimization. For some reason, search engines love blogs and they get picked up regularly when searches are made within your relevant keyword, probably because of all the comments and links that go within a blog. So while it might take your website several months to show up within the first few pages of a Google search when your keyword is mentioned, with a blog it happens that much faster.
6. Giving Back. Yes, you can use a blog to give back to your business community. You can give up space on your blog for a guest post which links back to another’s business. This way, you are helping that business spread the word and the guest blogger will most likely share the post with their network. It is a win-win situation.
A blog is a useful marketing tool to have and even big brands are beginning to recognize and harness the potential of a blog. The great news is you do not have to be a long established business or a huge brand to get a regular following of loyal readers on your blog; you just need to focus on delivering quality content on a regular basis.
