If you own and run your own
business, you are already working extremely hard – not only to make sure your
goods and services are the best and the most competitively priced, but also to
find clients. But in a world when everything is just a short Google away, how
can you attract people's attention, and keep it long enough to gain a sale?
One of the most cost effective
and useful ways in which to catch a potential customer's eye is to have a blog.
Once only used by teenagers to complain or musicians to get down some of their
angst, blogs are fast becoming the medium of choice for companies to reach out
to new readers. So why should you start a blog for your company?
Very rarely nowadays do people
personally recommend a business to their friends – it is all about who you can
find online. With a blog, your company website will start appearing higher up
in Google searches, receiving more hits and therefore more potential clients.
Without a blog, you have a very limited chance of directing people to your
website unless they directly look for the name of your company.
Even if you already have a
website, there's only so much information that a visitor can take in when
reading your 'About us' page. With a blog, you will be able to give much more
information over a long period of time, and it will also be searchable,
allowing a potential customer to find out if you are an expert in exactly what
they are looking for.
It is often so difficult for a
customer to see behind the name and the branding of a company. By writing
regularly in a blog, you will become more accessible to the people that are
looking to trust a person rather than a corporation.
People love talking! By allowing
comments on your blog, you will be able to start a dialogue with people that
have an interest in what goods or services you are offering. It will allow them
to put away any fears of you being unhelpful, and convince them that you are
someone that they can work with.
By writing about what you do, and
why you love to do it, your blog will remind you just why you are in business –
and perhaps even give you new ideas. Thinking about what to write for each blog
post may challenge you to spread your business a little further, or do
something a little different, reducing the need for your customer to go
elsewhere. You will also be able to see where people that view your blog come
from, so you can further tailor your company.
And there is nothing like free
advertising! Some of the best blog websites in the world, such as Blogger or
Wordpress, are absolutely free to use, and incredibly easy to work with. Don't
miss out on the opportunity: start a blog, and start to see the rewards.