The latest phenomenon on the web is blogs!  Many people use blogs to write about personal topics, feelings, and opinions on a variety of topics and issues.

Blogs are also an effective business marketing tool.  The interactivity of blogs, along with the ease of creation and maintenance, make them an attractive option for online marketing purposes. Taking the time to develop a regular readership of your blog can help you to achieve several important goals.

You can build solid customer relationships, inform people about your products and services, and generate links for search engine optimization.  Take a look at the many ways that having a blog can benefit your business and you will begin to utilize blogs in your marketing efforts.

Setting Up a Blog

Setting up a blog can be pretty simple if you have the patience and time to learn how to use one.  You can choose to design your own blog format on your existing site or you can use a blog from WordPress or www.blogger.com.  Your marketing goals will help you to decide which type of blog to use.

Blogs from www.blogger.com are free, but since they are not a direct component of your website, you may have to optimize them differently than you would if you had a blog integrated into your site.  If you choose to design your own and have it as a direct component of your site, you have more control over design and function and you may also be able to market your blog more easily.

Profiting from Blogs

Blogs help you increase profits because they allow you to market your products and services without using overt sales messages that may cause prospects to stop visiting your site.  Instead, you use blogs to communicate information and then subtly promote your own products and services.  This creates goodwill for you and your business.  There are many opportunities for using blogs to turn a profit. Learning about each of them can help you decide which ones are right for your business.

Blog Articles

Blog articles are considered a great marketing tool because they allow you to showcase your expertise in your chosen field.  You can publish articles on almost any topic related to your business and continue to provide information to your prospects and customers.  Blog articles can also be optimized for the search engines by using specific keywords that help people find your website.  If you pick the right keywords, you will start seeing improved traffic results in as little as a few months.  You can also integrate your blog with your marketing efforts by encouraging people to share your articles with other people.

Keyword Optimized Blog Postings

One of the great things about blog postings is that they can be as short as 75 – 100 words and still help you accomplish your Internet marketing goals.  When you keyword optimize your blogs, you are using specific keywords to help people find you when they do searches for information.  The more specific your keywords are, the better your chances of being found by your target market.  Another positive aspect of short blog postings is that they make it easier to maintain your blog from day to day.  Instead of having to write 500 – 1000 words every day, you can take as little as a few minutes to dash off a 75 – 100 word paragraph that gives information or lets people know about new products and services.

Linking with Blogs

One-way links are one of the best search engine optimization tools available.  One- way links are links that are placed on other websites that point people to your website.  When you post articles and other items of interest, people may like them enough to post your link on their websites.  The more one-way links you can generate with your blog, the better your chances of improving your search engine rankings and driving more traffic to your website.

Affiliate Marketing with Blogs

You can also participate in affiliate marketing by using your blog.  When you sign up to be a member of an affiliate program, you will want to do as much as you can to promote those products and services and generate commissions.  Having a blog makes it easy for you to promote the products and services of other companies.  You can write a short post about a new service or write reviews of helpful products and services and include your affiliate links.  When people visit your blog and become interested in the products and services discussed in your postings, they may become interested enough to click on your affiliate links and make a purchase.  As long as the products and services are appropriate for your target market, you can use a number of affiliate links so that you can make money in several different ways.

Creating a Buzz with Blogs

Blogs are part of a technique called buzz marketing.  Buzz marketing is when you create a “buzz” about your company and turn prospects into loyal customers. Creating a buzz is simply putting your message in front of your target market and getting them excited about your products and services.  There are several ways to create a positive buzz about your business using your blog.  If you post interesting items, you will generate interest in your blog and encourage people to link to your website and share your blog with friends.  Buzz marketing can also be accomplished by using your blog to promote products and services.  The tone of your blog can make or break your buzz marketing efforts.  Straightforward information and boring posts will probably turn people away from your site.  If you make posts that convey your excitement, enthusiasm, and passion for your products and services, you will start to create the same passion and enthusiasm among your prospects.  Using this technique can help turn your blog from just another web page into a dynamite marketing tool that keeps visitors coming back again and again.

Google AdSense with Blogs

Google AdSense can also be used with blogs to earn extra money.  Google AdSense is a simple and free way to earn income while you are also promoting your products and services with your blog.  You can sign up with Google for free and go through a website review.   No obscenity or adult material is allowed in the AdSense program, but most other websites will qualify.  Once you have been approved, you keep posting to your blog.  The AdSense program will give you advertisements based on the keywords used in your postings.  If you write a post about recipes, you may get ads about cookbooks, restaurants, or food distributors.  You can choose where the ads go on your page so your blog maintains its unique look.  When people click on the links provided with the ads, you will earn a small commission.  You can earn even more extra money by putting a Google search box on your blog.  When people use this search box, targeted ads will appear in their results.  You will get a commission from each ad they click.

Selling Customized Products

To further create a buzz and improve your brand identity, you can sell merchandise from your blog that is customized with your logo or color scheme.  When you have a loyal following of readers, your chances of being able to sell this type of merchandise improves greatly.  You don’t need to go out and have items printed only to sit in your office unused.  You can use one of many companies to print products on demand as your customers order them.  This eliminates the need for inventory and reduces your chances of wasting money on products that don’t sell.  You can find some of these companies by doing a se
arch on your favorite search engine.

Whatever methods you choose, blogs can be a great way for you to develop your brand and create a community of loyal customers.

So how do you get started with your corporate blog?  Your web designer would be happy to start you on your way and get you up and running with a blog in minutes.

If your blog is incorporated directly into your site, the search engines will find your fresh content on a regular basis.  This is a fairly simple process and your webmaster should be able to get it working in short order.

Here are a few tips to follow when starting a corporate blog:

1.  Don’t be afraid to share your client experiences.  Telling interesting and positive stories about various case studies with your clients is the best way to connect with customers.

2.  Try to find some exclusive turf.  Given the large number of blogs on the Internet, this is easier said than done.  Try to write about something unique or take an old topic and give it a unique angle.

3.  Veer away from politics both nationally and within your industry unless your business is politics.  You can never be positive all of your customers are going to lean your way and it is a good idea to avoid these discussions.  Alienating even one of your site visitors is not worth the risk.

4.  Keep it short.  No one wants to read 1,200 word blog entries.  If you have a long article break it up into a series of articles like I’m doing on corporate blogging.

5.  Promote your blog.  Send emails to customers, friends, and family – let them know when you publish a new entry.  This will stimulate referrals and readers.

6.  Use pictures.  Images can make a blog feel more exciting and easier to read.  Depending on the software you use for your blog you could even add video to it.

Next week we will discuss how to use your corporate blog as a traffic powerhouse!

The term “blog” is derived from “web log.”  A corporate blog is a frequent, chronological publication of thoughts, insights, experiences, solutions, recommendations, and troubleshooting.  It is a way to provide more information related to a company’s products, services, and industry to help existing clients and potential prospects make better business decisions.

A corporate blog is a great way to provide fresh content to your site on a regular basis.  As a matter of fact, this is the sort of content the search engines use to help your popularity grow and improve your rankings.  Enlisting your team members to write a corporate blog is a great way for them to contribute to your company’s growth.  It also helps build their credibility as an authority on a particular topic or solution.

An easy way to begin to write a corporate blog is to make a list of blog topics that you could write mini- articles about.  We worked with one real estate company in integrating a blog into their website and gave them a list of 100+ topics they could write about that would get their clients coming back to their website week after week.  A great source of ideas for your blog is to read as many blogs as you can and get involved in a few.  Leave some comments, ask questions and bookmark your favorites.

A real advantage of having a corporate blog is that if you have a detailed product brochure or white paper on a particular product or solution your blog topic is a great way for you to pique your site visitors interest and send them to a link in your site where they can download more information.  The end result is that your blog helps you to build a relationship with your customers and prospects.

Be sure to join us next week when we give you the ins and outs of starting your own corporate blog.