There are a lot of blogs out there and just as many “whys” for people putting them up. Most brick and mortar business owners here in Santa Clarita think, “why do I need a blog?” “No one wants to know what I am doing everyday” (same oppositions to Twitter when I introduced Twitter in my articles but hey now look at the amount of BIG businesses now on Twitter, not because of me but they see the usefulness!) Blogging for a business owner is not about what you ate for lunch or what you are personally doing (even though this does have a place in your blog). It is about VISIBILITY and we all want and need that! In your company blog you want to begin to create a voice of authority. You have categories in your blog – one should be tips or tools, one should be status or relationship centered, one could be personal, one could be events and so on! Blogs are very helpful to get information out there and gives you another outlet! Some examples – a realtor can create a blog that contains trends in the neighborhood, community events, and pictures and listings (yes those can be blog posts). A dentist can blog about tips to strengthen teeth and better health, about information coming from the “dental professional’s community”, and myths/truth’s to teeth cleaning. A Plumber can blog a weekly tip for fixing “small fixes” around your house, about water saving tips and tools, and about their involvement in the community. A company offering products can blog about the facts of using their products – not based on their self promotion but about facts they find around the world, blog about new techniques used to create what their product is, about their “customer of the month” and do some cross promotions, and of course tips and tools for their industry! Your goal is to start a way for people to look to you and your blog for answers! I hope you are starting to see some important reasons why and how to start a blog.
