Wondering why blog marketing has become so popular among the companies in order to bring traffic to their web site? Small businesses look forward to low-cost and high-return tool that assures a raise in the company’s profile and also helps them in building their brand. Perhaps blogging seem to be their ideal tool.
According to American Express survey only 5 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have blogs. Other experts put the number slightly higher.
For companies in the technology sector, having a blog is pretty much expected. Still, Tony Stubblebine, the founder and chief executive of CrowdVine, a company that builds social networks for conferences, said that the main reasons for him to blog is to show that his business model is different from the typical technology start-up.
“If you’re a clothing manufacturer or in a restaurant business, blogging is not as high on your list as making good food or good clothes.” Said Guy Kawasaki, managing partner of Garage Technology Ventures.
For many companies it can be challenging to find a legitimate reason for blogging unless the sector served has a steep learning curve, or a social mission. Even in those niches companies need to focus on a strategy for their blogging and also figure out if they have enough to say.
Blogging needs more time commitment and some writing skills, which not every small business is skilled with. Many small business bloggers achieve their goals even if only a handful or a few hundred people read their blogs. But some companies aim higher.
“If you are selling a product, you have to be much more creative because people don’t want to read a commercial.” said Aliza Sherman Risdahl, author of ‘The Everything Blogging’ Book.
“Transparency is a popular reason for blogging, particularly for companies that want to be identified as mission-oriented and socially responsible,” said Sarah E. Endline, chief executive of sweetriot, who started blogging a few months before starting her company to provide people a behind-the-scenes look at the business.
Posted by: Doug Mitchell on January 9, 2008
I have tried to spread the message about blogging into the typically "old school" sector of heavy equipment rental. The exciting thing is that in niches where blogging is way beyond the comfort zone...businesses have a great chance to stand out. If companies take the plunge, the just need to share experiences, solutions, times when things went right (and wrong) and how they fixed them. The blog will probably also help raise their search rankings without understanding "SEO". My blogs have given me multiple first page results on topics that I write about frequently and with passion. At the end of the day, even old school businesses can appreciate that about 95% of people these days will say their first stop for researching something...is "Googling it". If that's true...don't you want to show up in a relevant position?Remember that not too long ago...phones were "that new innovation that will be too bothersome and get in my way of doing business". Next it was email. Then it was that darn "web fad". Blogging isn't going away and should be considered a requisite of any marketing plan.Prosper!