Should My Home Business Have a Blog?

It's fair to say that blogging has taken the Internet by storm over recent years. And it's no surprise that today there are hundreds of thousands of new blogs being launched every day.

But as a home-based business owner, should I have a blog?

To put it bluntly, if you conduct any part of your business over the internet, then Yes, you should have a blog.

So what is a blog?

Wikepedia describe a blog as ..... a weblog (usually shortened to blog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging".

You might be thinking that to set up a blog is far too advanced for me, but that is furtherest from the truth. Blogger.com is a Google-owned hosted blogging platform that is 100% free to use and literally takes only minutes to set up and start posting.

Secondly, you might be thinking it's going to cost too much. Wrong! The only cost is your normal web hosting. You don't even have to purchase a new domain for your blog. It can be easily attached as a sub-domain to your current business website eg: http://blog.MyBusiness.com or as a directory: www.MyBusiness.com/blog/.

So why should your home-based business have a blog? Will it benefit me?

The truth is, a blog is just one part of your marketing strategy, although it can quite easily end up being the most valuable and cost-effective way of marketing your business to new and existing clients.

Come to see your blog as a means of getting closer to your intended market.

With a blog, you are giving your home business a personality. You are chatting informally with your market and building that much sought after long-term relationship and trust.

With credibility and trust being what separates successful home business to those that fail, a well-delivered blog can help build a strong rapport with your customers, via you offering insights into your business and your industry. In a low-pressure setting (ie: there should be no hard selling at all), you are networking with your customers in a way that humanizes your business.

So how can a blog work for my home business?

Let's take an example. Your business (which by the way, you run from home) sells PDA add-ons.

By including a blog as an addition to your e-commerce site you could deliver news, facts, figures, views ... in fact, anything to do with your industry.

You can have your rant and raves on topics close to you. You could offer inside tips on using PDA's. You could provide links to other sites of interest that your customers would appreciate.

Your market will love you for your openness and willingness to chat informally, and in time you become perceived as an expert in your field.

But a word of warning. Don't start up a blog just to push sales, offering little but mere "buy from me now" posts. This is a sure-fire way of actually losing credibility.

If you view a blog as a way of communicating better with your customers (ie: talking 'with them' rather than 'to them') then you are well on your way to blogging success and more importantly ... business success.

Martin Neumann is publisher of HomeOfficeVoice.com ... for the internet-savvy home business entrepreneur, HomeOfficeVoice offers news, reviews and commentary in the world of online home business.

---

Top 10 Tips for Bloggers

Tips for creating a blog.There are no hard and fast... Read More

The Hybrid Blog and Ping

For the past two years, one of the best SEO... Read More

What Is The Orange XML or RSS Icon I See More and More On Web Sites?

This question does not have a one sentence answer! If... Read More

Why are you abusing RSS

When you are involved in RSS everyday you get to... Read More

An Example of a Business Blog: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Blog

Think of a product or a service that your business... Read More

6 Reasons Why RSS Beats Email Marketing

A brand new marketing tool predicted to replace email is... Read More

How To Build Traffic To Your Blog

With the growing interest in blogging as... Read More

6 Ways That Blogging Can Save You Money

Even though I've had several personal blogs for years, I've... Read More

Use Blogging to Manage Your Entire Web Sites Content

Blogging is a term that means different things to different... Read More

RSS Feeds and How to Use Them

RSS feeds are the most important technology to arrive on... Read More

Top 10 Ways to Get People Online to Read Your Business Blog

There are many advantages of running a blog, on top... Read More

How To Add Random RSS Content To Your Site

Most savvy internet marketers will know how important it is... Read More

RSS Publishing for Webmasters

Since the recent rise in interest in RSS there has... Read More

Why Blog?

It seems everyone these days is talking about blogging. Everywhere... Read More

Blogging Can Improve Your Search Engine Ranking

Search engines are after one thing ? providing their users... Read More

5 Easy Ways To Use RSS On Your Site

You hear so much talk about RSS these days on... Read More

Will RSS Replace Email?

RSS is a big buzz word right now, and this... Read More

The Language of Blogs

I read over a lot of blogs each week, casually... Read More

Update Your Websites Content Automatically 24/7 Using RSS(Real Simple Syndication) and RSS Feeds

RSS(Real Simple Syndication) is the newest form of content syndication... Read More

How to Use a Blog to Dramatically Improve Your Web Business!

A blog is an online journal in which the author... Read More

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use RSS

In today's online world of high-speed websites and giant portals,... Read More

Blogging Your Way To Success Part 3

(Continued from Blogging Your Way To Success Part 2)You have... Read More

Advertising in RSS Feeds: Are we risking disaster?

Advertising in RSS feeds is something that Google is considering... Read More

Prescription Blogs are Helping to Educate the Consumers on Prescription Consumption

Blogs are being used on a more consistent basis due... Read More

A Blog Isnt Just For Christmas

I was watching the news on TV last night and... Read More

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing You have... Read More

RSS - How to Promote and Profit From Your Feed

Let me ask you three questions to get you thinking.... Read More

Avoid Bad Manners While Blogging

Blogging, the hottest trend in online publishing right now, is... Read More

How to Increase Buyers Traffic Through Writing Articles and RSS Content Syndication

Benefits of Writing Articles:1. Every Webmaster would like to publish... Read More

What is an RSS Aggregator or RSS Reader?

I keep hearing about RSS, XML and RSS feeds. I... Read More

Blogging Policies, Does Your Business Need One?

Weblogs or Blogs as they are more commonly referred to,... Read More

The Full Circle of RSS Marketing Power

RSS is a many-in-one marketing & publishing tool, although unfortunatelly... Read More

RSS Feeds Have Revolutionized the Internet

RSS feeds have revolutionized the Internet for one very good... Read More