Does your small business need a blog? Perhaps you heard the hype around blogging, and you thought it was just that, hype.
Then your competitors created blogs, and you realized that they're attracting new customers and cementing relationships with current customers, and you're not.
Relax: you haven't been left behind, not yet.
You can start a blog and can get all the benefits, but the time to do it is now.
Here are three simple tips to you help you success.
1.
Why Blog? Set Goals and Create a Plan Start by setting some goals.
You should be reading your competitors' blogs, as well as small business blogs, so you can see how others do it.
(But don't feel you need to copy them: get creative.
) Now decide what goals you want to achieve.
Perhaps you want to alert customers to savings by giving RSS subscribers daily deals, or you're launching a new product soon and want to get free publicity, or perhaps you just want to answer customer questions.
Write down your goals, and create a plan for creating content for your blog.
Who will write it? Discuss your plan with employees -- you may find a keen blogger among them.
2.
Keep It Simple: Create a List of Keywords Next, create a list of target keywords you'll use in your postings, as well as in your new blog's title and description.
The Web works on links, and links work on keywords.
If you've never researched keywords before, ask your customers which words they would use to find you on the Web.
3.
Be Friendly: You're Talking to Your Customers Here's all you need to know about blog content: be friendly, informal and chatty.
Imagine you're talking directly to one special customer, because you are.
The Web is made up of individuals, so chat just as you would when speaking with someone face to face.
One final tip: remember you can use video on your blog, and the more "home made" your videos look, the better.
Your customers don't want to be sold to, they want you to talk to them: blogging is all about conversations.