Business Blogging Basics: What is a Blog’s Place in an Internet Sale?
Landbased businesses should blog.
That’s what I always tell people when they ask me if blogging is for them. Whether your business blog is part of your main site or an individual entity (i.e. your business site is a dot com, and your blog is at blogspot), you should still focus your blog to help your business gain more customers. A centered blog must have a specific purpose. You’re blogging because not only because you live an interesting life, but also because you’re representing your business online.
Initially, I thought blogging was for those who had a lot to say about anything.
This was probably because my first experience blogging was in a social network. I think of blogs in relation to poems and snippets of wisdom from my daily life. What I didn’t realize is that most people use blogs to promote their businesses.
Even with my meager experience in selling (attending trade fairs, going door-to-door, direct sales, MLM etc.), I am able to understand how blogging can help with branding and promotion. Here are some of the things I learned about business blogging…
1. “What I say online can affect my business”
You will have to deal with a lot of different personalities online, and putting yourself out there through your blog will expose you to these people. White you cannot please everyone, it’s still advisable to stay within the boundaries of proper decorum so that you and your business will thrive. More often than not, you will be interacting with other bloggers, who can talk about you on their blogs. Bad press is bad press, even if it’s just a scathing comment on your or someone else’s blog.
2. “Some people buy because they like me”
Let’s say your business is not as big as you think, and you have more competition than you care to admit. Your prices might be a little higher than the rest, and you have no budget for advertisement. These don’t matter to some people. They will buy from you because they like you. What you share to the world makes people care. In a sense, every sale becomes personal to a person after they get to know the entity that’s behind the company they’re buying from.
While your business blog should include a lot of things related to your business, you must not disregard the fact that people visit your blog because of YOU. Some business blogs are too focused, like the owner has been avoiding sharing too much personal stuff. Your business blog should be written by a living human who sleeps, eats, rests and travels.
