Written by Oluwatobi Soyombo - Intern at www.socialmeep.com

In your effort to boost your brand effectiveness it is important that you have an online platform of yours to communicate with your potential audience. Facebook, twitter and other social networking platforms might not just be sufficient to earn you a great online brand reputation. Unfortunately, many business owners do not know that having a blog earns you trust before your audience.

Interestingly, there has never been a best time for small businesses to have a blog than TODAY. Small businesses have never had an audience as large as this since the time immemorial. Yes, true that! With over 8.2 billion pages of articles, the web is constantly growing and there’s a way business owners and their ventures can benefit from this wave.



Reasons why every small business MUST blog

Cheaper Advertisement:
Now that more people are getting online in recent times, a blog provides a cheap way of advertising your products and services. Compared to traditional marketing means, a blog is far cheaper. While it will take you millions of naira to run a TV advert which might not even captivate viewers; it usually cost less than that to get a professional blog up and running for a year.

24/7/365 Access:
Another great advantage of having your own blog is that your audience have full access to your content any time of the day, month and year. For now, no other advertisement medium boasts of this great advantage other than the World Wide Web.

Get closer to your Customers:
To a business entity, a blog makes you close to your customers and it keeps your customers close to you. You will achieve this as long as you keep it updated constantly.

Earn Reputation:
keeping a blog increases your reputation both online and offline.

Unlimited Worldwide Access:
Unlike a TV or newspaper ad, a blog has the potential of being seen worldwide. No geographical boundaries of any kind except the one you define yourself.

If the reasons above are not motivating enough, consider the statistics below:

57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
-HubSot

92% of companies who blog multiple times per day have acquired a customer from their blog.
-HobSpot

79% of online shoppers spend 50% of their shopping time researching products online.
–HubSpot

69% of businesses attribute their lead generation success to blogging.
–HubSpot

78% of companies that update their blogs daily have acquired a customer from their blog.
–Wordpress

Let’s just stop there. An entire book can be written on blog metrics just to convince you to dive into the blogosphere. Whether you agree with others or not, you’ll agree with the fact that a handful of internet users now make a Google search before they decide on which product to buy. The truth then is you are part of them.

Sometimes ago, I wrote a review of my experience of being on the inaugural flight of First Nation Airways from Abuja to Lagos. Being a new airline, people were curious about the new First Nation Airways. Questions like how many aircrafts they have, how safe are their aircrafts, who owns it and the likes sprang up in the hearts of potential passengers. Understanding this, I decided to write a review on all that. The aftermath effect of that amazed me. It increased my blog traffic almost 100% in few days. It turned out that people landed on my blog while searching for things like “how to book first nation flight”, “first nation airways website” and all sorts of search queries. Fortunately for me, there was no other post that answered all those queries except my blog. First Nation Airways had a dead website back then let alone have a blog. So, I stole all the traffic upfront. What’s the catch? Imagine if First Nation had (has) a blog to address all these issues? Imagine if they had blog posts addressing their launch and the likes? They would have gotten the traffic they deserve and it’ll have been easy for them to convert their blog visitors to paying passengers.



What should your business blog about?

News:
Unknown to you, those little business moves you make means a lot to your customers/potential clients. What’s new in your business? Draft a short but meaningful post on it. It’s a sign of progress to your readers. Got a new office? A new staff joined? Attending a fair? An increase in capital base? Whatever makes business sense blog about it. That is one of the things that differentiate a blog from a static website. This indirectly tells your potential clients that your business still exists and equally progressing.

Help posts:
Web searches have one thing in common – people need help! Truth be told, if customers do not perceive reading your blog worthwhile, they’ll never return and that may affect lead generation. Use Google Analytics keyword tool to check out the subjects people are searching on in your niche and draft cutting-edge articles addressing those issues. Write posts that answer people’s likely questions in your industry.

Pictures:
This is essential if your business is dependent on images – almost all small businesses are. Take for instance, if you run a baking business, you may want to upload your works on your blog frequently. The truth is that people respond more to pictures than mere words. In this example, a real snapshot of one of the cakes you’ve baked may be the only proof that you’re good at it. The point here is that you share pictures related to your business often – especially real pictures (e.g. your portfolio). If you’re into fashion, for instance, you can’t but post pictures of your designs both on your blog and other social platforms.

Promotions/Deals:
Don’t just distribute flyers and deface walls with posters. Draft a compelling post about your promotions and post on your blog. After all it’s free compared to the posters. Err, who reads posters in this complex world? Few! Who keeps handbills? Few! But your posts remains on the web open to millions of potential clients. As a matter of fact, it is cool to have special deals for your blog readers and social fans.

Reviews:
It’s not enough to blow your trumpet yourself. Let others help you. Irrespective of your type of business, it’s reviewable. Ask one of your current customers to write a review of one of your products. Customers trust themselves more than they trust sales men. Therefore, having a customer review your products can be very effective in boosting your reputation. You can as well interview your customer about his/her experience with your product and post on your blog.

Industry Buzz:
At every point, there’ll always be a phenomenon buzzing in your industry. Blog it! In fact, you want to be the first to post such. Don’t just post it as news; share the opinion of your business on these issues. Tell your readers how it affects your brand. This will also help you SEO wise as those searching for these buzz words might just end up on your website.

Others:
Other types of posts may include release, disclaimers, disclosures and the likes



How busy executives can blog in 15 minutes

After all said (and not done), I know there are people who are like “Oh yes, I’ve heard all you’ve been saying, but I don’t have time for this thing you call blogging.” Yeah, I understand that blogging can be a pain in the ass for many people especially busy executives. However, there is always a way to manage every situation.

Of course, I agree that time constitute a crucial factor in all of our activities. We’re usually too quick to say “Hey, I don’t have time for that”; yet we get involved in several avoidable time-wasting activities daily. What gets prioritized gets done faster. You will always have time for the things you rank high on your list. The best way to have time for blogging is to simply make it a priority since you now understand it’s importance to your business. So, let’s see how expert bloggers draft their posts within 15 – 60 minutes. YES, 15 minutes!

Think on the move!
You will need to master the art of thinking over your posts on the move before you get on the keyboard. Here’s the catch, decide on what you want to write on. Think about it while having your bath in the morning (that’s killing two birds with one stone). Think about it as you dress up …and so on. The idea is to keep rehearsing your posts (the introduction, body and end) till you are ready to get your hands on the keyboard. As you keep thinking, you’ll keep forming your opinions and the things you want to make in your post. Try this method and see the magic in it for yourself!

Draft on the move!
Now, your post is well thought on. This is actually supposed to be done as you think through your post. As a blogger (or writer of any kind), you should hardly move about without a writing pad or a note taking app on your gadget of choice. Remember, the faintest pen is sharper than the sharpest memory. Don’t assume you’ll remember when you get on the keyboard. The idea here is to write down those words that drop in your mind, quotes, possible titles and the likes. This helps you save time while drafting your post.

Hit the keyboard!
Now, you’re finally ready to draft your post, all you’ll have to do is put your jottings and previous thoughts together in sentences. Just keep writing everything that comes to your mind. This is how many popular bloggers today draft their posts within 15 – 60 minutes. It works like charm.

I hope to read about your success in the blogosphere soon enough.

- See more at: http://www.yoxstudios.com/wp/cost-effective-marketing-with-blogging/#sthash.mt47tesd.dpuf

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