Maintaining a regularly updated blog might seem like a daunting task for most business owners, especially during the daily tasks of running a successful business. Many business owners simply feel they don’t have the time to commit to working on a blog, while some may feel they lack the skills of a writer. Others feel blogging is simply not important enough to the business or to their customers. Although having a blog will certainly not determine the ultimate success or failure of a business, it does play a vital and important role. In today’s fast-paced world of technology, blogging has become a fundamental media outlet for most businesses in some form or another. Customers want timely information and they want it fast, which a well-written blog can provide.
Fortunately, there are several options for the busy business owner to make blogging a success, and in the process may even find it to be an enjoyable task. The first step in blogging is having a platform to publish the blog on. If a business already has a website presence, it will be fairly easy to add a blog to their existing site, using an open source software program like WordPress. If the business does not have any existing website, creating a blog is one of the fastest options for getting some sort of presence on the web. Some people think they need a website and/or their own domain in order to have a blog, but that is simply not the case. Anyone can put a blog up by using any one of the free blogging sites without actually having a domain of their own. There is, however, a big disadvantage to using this method, which is it may appear “cheap” and perhaps a bit unprofessional. A blog hosted on someone else’s domain will immediately indicate to the reader the free domain service of the blog site, rather than the actual business website. For example, if a business uses a free blog site such as Tumblr, the URL would appear as mybusiness.tumblr.com vs. if the business had its own domain, the URL would only appear as mybusiness.com/blog even though the creation of the blog could still be using the Tumblr platform. A lot of what you call “mommy blogs” are created using these types of free software sites as there is no expense in using them. But as a business owner, a professional website and having its own domain name is certainly the much better option for maintaining good credentials.
If the reason for not wanting to do a blog is due to lack of confidence in writing skills, this is another obstacle that can easily be overcome. Many business owners use the services of paid online blog writers or they use guest bloggers. Having someone else write your blog is generally not that expensive, and if it means having a well-written blog for the business, it will be worth every penny. The only thing the business owner has to provide is the ideas for their blogs, and what they want to include about the business and/or services. Most professional blog writers can find the information they need and can produce an engaging article to entice your readers. Another great option is having guest bloggers, who are generally not paid. Getting guest bloggers may be as simple as putting out an advertisement for them, either on the business website or on a flyer at the business itself. It is surprising how many people a business might find who would love to write about a product or service the business offers. Plus, it gives new bloggers or writers a great outlet to begin their own blogging or writing career without having to have their own web presence.
If a business owner feels confident to write and edit their own blogs, the only things left is finding the time to actually write and publish the blog. Plus, it is also important to come up with new and fresh ideas on a regular basis, so as to not look outdated. So how does a busy business owner begin? One practicable option is by setting up a regular schedule of writing a series of blogs all at one time, which could be done on a weekly or monthly basis. This gives the business owner the freedom to publish an updated blog, which has already been written, to the website within a matter of minutes. This can be a real time saver to businesses, which are already strained by the day-to-day tasks of running the actual business. Coming up with creative or new ideas for blogs can also be overcome by keeping a small notebook or editing app on-hand when new ideas come to mind. This allows the ideas to be jotted down quickly until time permits when a new blog can be written.
Having a well-informed, and professional blog for a business has become one of the most effective ways for business owners to connect to their customers as well as presenting a sense of the dedication of its owners. Blogs are also used as innovating methods of advertising, plus pointing customers to the businesses other platforms, such as the business website or social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Hartlines can provide business owners with a full-fledged professional website and offers additional services such as web hosting, blog writing, social media setups, and e-commerce options. Feel free to email kat@hartlines.com for more information on getting started today!