I’m always amazed at people who think that bloggers mostly write about their personal life.
Think about how often you’ve heard someone say, “why would I want to blog? I don’t care about what someone at for breakfast.”
What’s often missed in statements like this is that blogging isn’t just about sharing your personal life. It’s also about sharing your business.
Unlike a traditional, static website however, a blog - or as I like to call it a personal publishing system - gives you the opportunity to connect directly with other people. People who may be in your target audience. Or peers and others who gain something from reading your posts.
But a blog is more than another medium for connecting with people in your target audience and peers. It also provides a platform to engage in conversation. Those conversations can lead to relationships. And those relationships can lead to increased business.
The key is the relationship. And blogging makes the relationship possible with more people, in more places and at more times than any other platform yet created.
Personally and professionally I’ve created dozens of great relationships with readers, bloggers, business owners and peers that have lead to everything from direct business opportunities to referral business to partnerships. Blogging opened for me opportunities that I just didn’t have with my static website.
Now, through the comment box, through email, through linking, and through many of the social services like StumbleUpon or Facebook, I have the chance to meet interesting people from all over the world. People who share my interests. Some become colleagues or friends. Others become clients. But all have come through social media…through blogging.
Blogging (aka social media) is making my business more visible in more ways than I could have imagined. But how is it serving you? How is your blog selling your business? What works, what hasn’t? And what would you recommend as a ‘have to do’ for new business bloggers?
(note: image from Paul Van Metre on Flickr)
My name is Dawud Miracle and I'm a
37 responses so far ↓
My business has gone up significantly since I started blogging on a regular basis. In fact it means so much to me that I have made it a significant aspect of the services I provide for our web design clients. That being said it’s still very difficult to convince others to actually start blogging and I also get those strange looks or misconceptions about about what you have had for breakfast. I’m not sure what it is? Is it how amateur the word “blog” sounds, misconceptions about what blogging or just a fear of writing.
I’ve also meet quite a few people who have web sites but they are managed by a bigger company they work for like like Real Estate agents, sales or food service people. I’m making plans to ask these people who say they can’t have a blog if we can write about them so their parent companies or I.T. people can see the power of it.
Dozens?!?
And here I thought I was special. Boohoohoo.
It’s interesting to see how things are changing as blogging–oops…PERSONAL PUBLISHING becomes more commonplace. The transparency and ease of communicating with a broad(er) audience have been nothing short of life-changing for a group of us talky, write-y types who are hungry for the exchange of information.
I can also see how it’s panic-inducing for people who are not so much with the talky-talk. I no longer suggest blogs for everyone…at least, not right off. Instead, I try to suggest a few blogs and sites and podcasts, etc., to check out, so they can see the possibilities.
People like you and Chris Brogan and Jonathan Fields are great partly b/c you serve as bridges from old ways to new. As things speed up and it gets harder and harder to step into the river, it’s going to be increasingly important to find ways of gently introducing people to a parallel universe.
I’ve thought of this a lot lately b/c a few bloggy acquaintances have become big 2nd Lifers, something I know next to nothing about, other than (sort of) what it is and (sort of) what it’s for. It’s made me realize how much I take for granted everything I’ve learned by living in the blogging (erp…PERSONAL PUBLISHING) world for almost 4 years.
Our blog is our business… The funny thing is that we started our blog to promote and ebook - that’s it. Then, the blog took on a life of it’s own. Ever since, we’ve just been riding the wave!
Blogging is making my business more visible, indirectly. I write around the topics that I’ve talked about with my customers and about the things that I know would benefit their marketing efforts. It’s a service to them that offers strong potential of repeat business and referrals. When meeting by phone or in-person with a new business prospect, I’m able to direct them to my blog for more information. So in that way, my blog is beginning to help sell my business services.
Outside of that, I’m still in the early momentum-building stage. I’m at about the two-month mark of my first serious blogging effort, with a small but steadily growing subscriber count. With a lot more content, many more inbound links and the passage of time, my blog will become more visible online. Until then, thanks for the reminder that there are many ways for a blog to make a business more visible.
Patrick,
It sounds like you’ve got some great ideas on the horizon. Please keep in updated on how it goes.
Blogging really does take the web from a static, cold place to a community, doesn’t it?
communicatrix,
Hey, you’re using my lingo…
I love your approach of easing some folks into it. Yet, it’s hard not to jump right in because social media can have such an impact on business - from more reach, to more clients to more understanding of how to talk about your business to real people rather than through marketing lingo. I guess,
bloggingpersonal publishing is just more.Jennifer,
And you guys ride a pretty big wave. What would you say the biggest surprise social media has brought your business?
Shari,
Sounds like you’re right on it. Do you have any plans for posts that would help more directly sell your services?
My blog was a total sidebar project and ended up being a huge success for parents. I never realized that developing that personal relationship was so important.
My blog is definitely not just about my personal life.
There are some archived posts for sure that discuss my personal life, but I’ve been building a blog (business) that is getting more and more targeted traffic, so the business side of it is definitely working.
I find my blogging - by itself - doesn’t add to my income. But it puts my writing and work in front of a broader audience, and THAT sells my business.
Good post.
Bob Andelman
Dawud!
Great question. I actually posted a similar topic this morning: Does Your Blog Have The Wow factor?
I wish that I’d seen this post first - I could have referenced it.
My business does not really exist right now. At lest not on paper
But blogging has often helped me promote myself as a PR professional. It has also given me the chance to meet amazing people from all fields and from all continents. without blogging and other social media communities I would have never gotten to see so many places, find out so many interesting things and build such wonderful relationships.
Vanessa,
I hear you. Yet isn’t business ultimately about relationships? How do we miss that?
Lin,
And are you a problogger or selling products and services?
Bob,
Exactly! I’m in the same boat as I don’t try to make money directly through my blog. Rather, let my blog increase my reach and display my expertise in business development and rapid growth.
It’s pretty amazing how reaching out to people in a conversational way can increase business, isn’t it?
Laura,
Perhaps we should begin watching each other’s blogs a bit more, huh? I’m going to snag your feed.
Alina,
I know. And just wait until you start your business up…you already have a network of people who are fans of you, as a person. This goes well with your business, don’t you think?
I love blogging. I love to do research for my blog and try to put up posts which would be of some help to my visitors. I think quality is more important. If my blog is nice and has quality stuff then I will get visitors and in turn I will get business. The most important is to have a good blog.
Our blog is an integral part of our business model. It’s one of the traffic drivers to our site, along with our ezine, podcast, video blog and regular article submissions. We do not monetize the blog itself, but rather, the sites the blog ends up on.
I have a link on my sidebar that directs people to my company site. I also run giveaways four times per year and people click over then also. The increased traffic helps my other site.
Also, maintaining the blog gives me a future marketing opportunity when my book is released.
Great post.
Hey i like your definition of a blog there: ‘personal publishing system’.
Hey,
Thanks for becoming a subscriber. I’ll do the same here.
Eva,
What elements do you see as necessary to have a good blog?
Andy,
I think more and more people are using blogs to drive traffic to their business. What’s been more successful - blogging or podcasting?
Pass,
Have you given any thought to merging the two sites into one?
Living Rooms,
Thanks. It’s what I think about blogging. Did you read the post I linked too?
People just don’t blog to share personal occurrences or experiences but also sharing and creating network to introduced some businesses. I have even read before that most from realty business provides blogs of there own to introduced there businesses.
A blog in my opinion can change from post to post. In one instance you can talk just about yourself and the things you encounter on a day to day basis, another time you might want to offer advice on how to do a tax return. I think a blog is the most powerful and honest source of information on the internet. When you find the right one of course!
Im a newbie blogger and I don’t earn much.
You hit the nail on the head. Building a business is about relationships. Jim Cecil in Washington has been promoting this idea for years. He calls it Nurture Marketing. If you want to increase your sales, build relationships! Great article.
J.E. Sullivan
JES@BusinessAnalystsOnline.com
my friend had a blog which increased her flower sales by 20%. Blogs are great =)
Here is an interesting thought. Blogging is good for my business because in the course of writing articles about my business and the subjects we deal with I learn more about my business plus I get feedback from my readers.
It may sound slightly silly but the best reader of a blog is often the writer!
My blog generate good traffic.
I use blog for my small business at http://www.mediasakinah.co.nr (its about girl clothing accessories in Indonesia)and it truly help the sales on the company, and for a finetune, i put the link to my blog in the product package, and it help the visitor count on my blog too, so it is a double deal effect, you should try it too!
Blogging is a great way to get closer to your customers. I personally like reading blogs on companies I’m with, makes me feel that they actually care about customers.
The picture says everything…
here i brought A good blog site to get articles and details for business…promoting business, starting business, home business and many more u have to visit for amazing offers..
job,
I hear you. I have clients all the time who start blogging and end up increasing their business. Business is about relationships - and is blogging.
linkerjpatrick,
I don’t think it’s silly at all. I learn tons by rereading older posts - and by what I read and how I respond in the comment box. That’s one of the reasons I try to reply - so I can learn.
Computer Repair,
Exactly. I’m the same way. Whenever a prospect contacts me for a consult, I try to find out if they have a blog for their business before we speak. That way I can get more understanding of what they’re doing and how they approach their business.
Forumistan,
For you?
Home Business,
Not bad. Thanks for the resource.
My blogs have generated plenty of traffic, unfortunately I’ve had a hard time converting said traffic into profit offline. Maybe I’m just in the wrong area for blogging to be worthwhile.
Discount,
Or maybe you’ve created a community rather than a marketplace. Do your blog readers need what you sell?
I didn’t selling something in my blog. I just selling an ad space and hoping that some of my visitor clicked on it
I have made my blog for user specific and just put some links to my website. Now every day around 100 visitors come to blog.I hope the number of visitors will increase soon.
nice post …
just give you knowladge about internet business & making money
blogging is really good for business since you’re advertising your products for free. just make sure to be really creative and accurate in order to attract readers, after all, blogs rely on its readers, and so are your products in that case =)