Business 101: Should I blog as a business owner?

The word blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log. It contains in its four letters a concise and accurate self-description: it is a log of thoughts and writing posted publicly on the World Wide Web. Often times we are hearing the question of, Should I be blogging as a business owner? Why do I need to blog?

Yes, as a business owner you need to be blogging on a regular basis. The blogs do not have to be long; they may only be a couple of paragraphs long but loaded with great content. Then we hear how often do I have to blog? My suggestion to you is at least once a week and I will explain why in a minute. If you can set aside 15-20 minutes a day I would write something once a day, put the time allotment on your calendar as an appointment.

Now on to the why should I blog? Here are several reasons to blog:
*Sharing news and information
*Expressing yourself
*Being found on search engines
*Open dialogue with potential clients
*Become the expert in your niche
*Move your business forward
*Develop a following
*Get published
*Market
*Public Relations (free PR)
*Blogs are interactive
*Branding
*Customer Evangelists (clients that proclaim you as the expert)

We are always searching for new ways to get our name out there to the world and in the case of a start-up business you are looking for cost effective ways to get it done. Blogging is a free resource (in general, there are some paid sites if you must) and it takes a small portion of time to write something that would educate your potential client. The key to a successful blog that requests interaction is to end your blog with a question, challenge or call to action. This will prompt potential and loyal clients to respond and engage with you.

To start your blog go to a recognized site by Google or Yahoo such as http://blogger.com/ this way it is free, easy and recognized in major search engines. There are several themed or specialty sites you can go register on that will direct you to a specific target market. Mashable has a great article listing over 40 free blog host sites http://mashable.com/2007/08/06/free-blog-hosts/.

The challenge today is go register yourself a blog site, and write a paragraph a day. You will find it gets easier and it is a lot of fun to share your knowledge. Are you ready to launch this marketing tool into your business plan today?