Blogs - Should You Have One?

In the quest to uncover the secrets of the latest, greatest technological tools for growing your business, the first step is always the same - research. I like to start with Wikipedia. It's a good source for broad stroke overviews in layman's language. I usually follow that up with a trip to Google so I can add some meat to the bones I've just unearthed.

Once you've de-coded the lingo surrounding a tool and how it works, then what? Next comes the really tricky part - figuring out how to, or whether to apply it to your business.

To accomplish this you need to ask yourself a very important question - what are you trying to accomplish and will this tool help you do it?

Along those lines, let's look at blogs: seems like everyone has one these days. Here are a just a few tips that might help you decide when and if adding one to your marketing mix would be useful.

What can you do with a blog?

Build relationships - it can take time to get people to start commenting but when they do, you'll want to take the time to reply - at least occasionally. No one likes to feel like they are talking to themselves.
Foster community - no need to try and be the answer woman (or man). Ask others for their input by posting a question about something you're looking for help with or solicit the opinions of others on a topic. This can be a great way to get a "conversation" going (just be careful to avoid topics that can get hot fast - unless controversy is your goal)
Communicate timely information - If there is hot news about your industry that your audience would appreciate knowing, share freely but be careful not to make it all about you and your business. Few things will cause people do disengage faster than thinly veiled self-promotion.
Drive traffic to your website - you can add links that direct readers to your website to read a full article about the topic at hand, for example. Plus, if you're really good at providing useful info, readers may link their sites to your blog. Whaa Hoo!
Increase search engine results - This is one of the most useful reasons to have a blog. Search engines love fresh content so if you add to your blog regularly you increase the chances that you'll be found when someone Googles stuff related to your niche.
Promote products and services - Again, be careful here. A winning formula for this is 5 parts useful information, one part promotion.
Grow your mailing list - you can add a mailing list sign up on your blog page as well as an RSS feed (don't have a lingo panic attack! That's just shorthand for a way readers can subscribe to a blog. That way they can get a notice every time you post something new.)
Build your brand - The more places you're visible the better. How far can you drive or walk without seeing a Coca Cola logo of some sort. They've done such a great job of branding, probably 90% of the time you see their logo you don't even notice it - you don't think "hey, there's another Coca Cola sign." That's because the recognition has become subconscious rather than conscious - the Holy Grail of branding!

There are other things a blog can do for your business as well. But before you jump on the blog-wagon, (or any other techno-tool wagon) make sure you are clear about why you're getting on board. Ultimately a blog is just one more marketing tool and if you've ever tried to drive a nail with the handle of a screwdriver, you know how important using the right tool for the job is.