First of all, what do I mean by “blog?” Simply put, a blog is a short-form piece of written information filled with thoughts, facts, and ideas relating to your industry. The magic behind this piece of information is that it lives online indefinitely and can be accessed by anyone who visits your website. This means that anyone who happens to search for information pertaining to the subject matter of your blog post could potentially become your next business contact, client, or customer, all because your content was in the right place at the right time. This can’t happen if you aren’t producing any content.

• Blogging creates a unique situation where potential customers come to you, instead of the other way around.
• Blogging provides you opportunities to create fresh content that meets the needs of online searchers. Google LOVES that!
• Blogging allows you to promote and sell your products in a more subtle, non-salesy way, which is much more appealing to customers.
• Blogging does take a commitment of time and energy, and that can be overwhelming, but it’s not as intimidating as you might think.

The following are a few reasons that I think blogging is well worth the effort.

Reasons to Start a Business Blog in 2020

• Provide value to your customers while still promoting your products and services. Avoid blog posts that are overly salsey. Overt sales pitches and promotional advertisements are not the type of content that attracts readers and keeps them coming back for more. You need to be providing them with solutions to their problems, checklists to help them become more efficient, or show them new ways to do things better and make their lives easier. For example, if you own a professional organizing company, blogging about your packing tips and tricks will be especially helpful during the holidays when so many people are traveling.Of course, while providing solutions to people’s problems, you can subtly incorporate how your products and services can be the solution to their problems and make their lives easier. BONUS TIP: If your blog is consistently providing value to your customers, search engines will eventually pick it up. This can potentially drive traffic to your website and increase your business’s exposure.
• Set your business apart from the competition. A lot of businesses offer similar products and services. So when it comes down to choosing between your business and a competitor’s business, your blog posts may be the determining factor in persuading someone to choose you. It really resonates with people when businesses make an effort to connect with and provide value to their customers. Blogging enables you to position yourself as a leader in your industry. I, personally, would rather buy an appliance from someone who takes the time to explain how to care for it so that it lasts a long time than from someone who simply lists the item for sale on their website.
• Open communication between you and your current and potential customers. Comments left on blog posts are a great way for people to engage with you about your content. They can ask questions, share their experiences with your products, and give you ideas on how you can serve them better and provide them with even more value. They can also communicate with each other through the comments section of your blog. Many people really do read blog comments! Take recipe blogs, for example. When reading a recipe blog post, I’m guilty of skipping over all the fluffy content the author includes before they even get to the recipe and going straight to the comments section because I want to know what other people have experienced while either making, consuming, or tweaking the recipe. People value that interaction and often allow it to influence their decision making. BONUS TIP: Don’t forget to respond to each and every comment in a thoughtful and personal way.
• Strengthen your own expertise in your field. Blogging will sharpen the knowledge you already have and help you to become more articulate in your subject area. This translates well from the written word to the spoken word. Explaining the benefits of your products and services to potential customers in your blog will help you to communicate those benefits to potential customers in person. Blogging is also a great way to keep up on the latest trends in your industry. You’ll often need to do some research to come up with new and exciting content ideas for blog posts.
• Generate social media/website content. Blog posts can be re-purposed and used across many different social media channels in lots of different ways.
  • Share the post in its entirety on Pinterest.
  • Pull out interesting facts or helpful tips, pair them with an image, and share them on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Tweet about fascinating statistics that you’ve discovered in your research.
  • Use your blog post content to create lead-generating checklists or helpful guides.
  • Refresh the content from old blog posts by presenting it in the form of an infographic.
  • Turn your blog content into podcasts.
  • Create videos based on your blog content.
  • Grab quotes from your readers in the comments section to post on social media or to use as testimonials on your website.
  • Compile questions from the comments section of your blog posts into an FAQ section for your website.

Let’s start at the very beginning...

You may be wondering when you’ll ever find the time to blog amidst all of your other business-related responsibilities. The answer is that you probably will never “find” the time, you will have to make the time. Pick a day/time that works best for you. Then set your timer, and just do it. It’s a little like physical exercise in that the best time to do it is when you’re most likely to actually do it. There are alternatives to blogging yourself. You could have your employees or an intern contribute blog posts either once a week, once a month, or even once a quarter. You could ask colleagues in your industry to contribute guest blog posts. Or you could hire a freelancer through platforms like Fiverr or Upwork. Start small. Once a quarter is a great goal to begin with. And, who knows? You may find that you enjoy blogging so much that you’ll actually want to write more!

You can...do it!
Elizabeth Collins

You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!

Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!