Using a blog to market your business

One of the newest and most effective marketing tools that businesses are finding to be highly effective is the business blog. Having a business blog can be a great way to build a stronger base, with your existing customers, and an innovative way to attract new customers, to what you business can offer them. You set up a blog separately, from your website (though you should be sure to link them), or you can write a blog, right on your existing website. If you want to set yourself apart, from your competition and position yourself as an expert, in your field, then having a business blog, can do that. A well written business blog can provide an easy way, for your customers to learn more about your business, and the type of value that you can offer them. Best of all most blogs are free. You can also use your blog as a forum to interact and communicate with your customers. Here is what you need to know about using a blog to market your business-

- Have a plan-Many people make the mistake of thinking that all you need to do is open a site and start writing. The most successful blogs are built out of having a plan. You need to consider several different factors, before you post anything to your blog. These factors include-
1. Have an idea in mind-What is going to be the focus of your blog? Are you going to use it as a teaching tool, forum for discussion, an outlet for posting articles, or a combination of all of these?
2. Do some research-It can be helpful to take the time to do some research and see what other business blogs are doing. You especially want to know what your competitors are doing on their blogs, so that you can make your blog, stand out from the rest.
3. Determine where your blog with be hosted-You will need to determine if you will be providing the environment, for your blog, or if you will be using another platform to host it. Keep in mind that there are benefits and pitfalls of each approach, so you should research each option.
- Choose the name of your blog-You will need to choose a name, for your blog. If you already have a website, you may simply want to just add /blog, at the end of your URL. However, you should give this some thought, since the name of your blog will be an important component, as to whether people seek it out.
- Add some personality-This is often the step that most people find to be difficult. You want to make sure that you are presenting your blog, to your customers, in a way that will appeal to them. You will need to have a definite focus on what the personality of your blog will be. Are looking to build a blog that is funny, informative, factual, or a combination of all of the above?Will there be more then one author that writes on the blog? You should keep in mind that the more authors there are; the harder it will be to establish one personality, for your blog, since everyone has a different writing style. If you decide to have more then one author, you may want to consider having each writer concentrate on only one part of the blog. This way you can convey a unified message that will transmit the personality of the blog. Finally, remember that ultimately it is all about the message. You need to make sure that you are providing your readers with some information of value. If you fail to do this, you will soon find that your readers will move onto another blog that they feel is more deserving of their time.