Top 8 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need to Blog

By Robin Suomi, MBA, Principal of Startup to Growth, LLC

Originally posted:  March 29, 2016

Our small business clients still ask, “Do I really need to blog?”  The short answer is, “If you are serious about growing your business, HECK YES!!!”

The real question I ask small business owners to pose to themselves if this:  Given all the positive results my blog can give me, why in the world am I not making it a manageable priority?!!

In this blog we will cover the Top 8 reasons small businesses should blog.  The next blog will be about generating ideas and finding the time to fit it all in.

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) – getting found online in organic searches
   • According to great SEO companies like the rank way, SEO, or search engine optimization, is all about driving people to your website about which you can find the best stratagies on this page. In other words, you want to make sure you show up as close to the top as possible on the first results page when potential clients search on specific words or phrases that relate to you and your business.  Every article you read talks about how fresh content and constantly updating your website are key factors in successful SEO.  Blogs are the answer to both.  Each blog post provides fresh content ( Hint:  Google really likes fresh content!!) on a newly indexed page (Hint: Google likes your pages to be updated). By working with an SEO agency, you can get your website to rank for certain keywords much faster. And if you have an older website, and you’re continuously struggling to get the results you’re looking for, then Indexsy agency can help you get over that wall.
     • Categories and tags. Be specific and bring it home.  Each blog post can be put into a category, with tags or key words added that you know people use to search for you or your competitors.  Again, this helps potential customers find you on the web. An seo company toronto can also help you manage your SEO strategy.
2. Establish yourself as an online influencer, leveraged throughout your social media
   • You have practiced your profession for a number of years and are really good at what you do. Now it is time to let the world know about it and help drive sales to your website.  People love the Top 10 Tips for Whatever, or the Best (Fill in the Blank) Ways to do XYZ.  People search for answers to common questions in your industry. You know this stuff backwards and forwards – create blogs to answer those questions!  Then leverage your blogs by repurposing them across your other social media platforms.
3. Sales growth – convert readers into leads using calls to action, landing pages
   • Every time you post an article, you should also include a call to action. Are you offering a white paper? Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter? Do you want them to visit a specific landing page? Should they contact you?  This is your chance to make it easy for your potential customers to do so.  Bottom line – maximize your effort!  Don’t waste a minute of your time investment in blogging.
4. Your effort pays off for years down the road
   • After you post your blog, the real magic begins. It lives on forever.  You will get some results in the short-term, having people contact you and adding followers to your RSS feed.  (Note:  Don’t give up.  With persistence, this increases over time.).   Then things quiet down for a bit, but you are not done.  That post is now ranking in the search engines, and will live there for people to search on for years!  Corey Wainwright, in his article The Benefits of Business Blogs for Marketing, calls these types of posts “compounding” posts – sort of like compounding interest!
5. Blogging humanizes you without the reality show drama
   • We do business with those people we know, like and trust. If you are meeting people for the first time online, or you are referred by a colleague and the potential client checks you out first online, you don’t know each other yet!  Make it easy for them to get an idea of who you really are through your blogs.
   • Do you love horses? Hiking? Dancing? Cooking? Crafting? Community involvement? What makes YOU different is often a result of your interests and passions outside of work. People relate to that, and that can convert to sales.  Help your potential clients know more about you, help them relate to you and begin to trust you.
   • At Startup to Growth, LLC, we have many clients who are in regulated industries and feel they cannot blog due to compliance issues. First, check out possible compliance issues,  make sure, and then run your posts through your compliance departments if you need to.  Just do it!  Second, though, post on things that are not regulated.  See the bullet point above!
6. Photographers, artists, jewelry artisans, graphic design, crafters, bakers, retailers and others have tons of natural material
   • You are so lucky!! Your work products, whether they are photographs, paintings, jewelry, crafts, baked goods, or whatever your company product is, can be the main focus of your blog!  We are all increasingly visual, and you have perfect picture subjects! Yes, your cell phone is good enough.  Upload.  Done.  Note: Check out any intellectual property protection issues before posting your original works of art.
7. Promote your business, your events, and test out your ideas
   • Your blog can also be used to promote your own events, ask questions of your audience, take polls, test new product ideas, etc. It’s your playground.  You own it.  Use it.  If a specific post gets a lot of buzz or interaction, you’ve got something.  Leverage it. Have you tried giving swag bags? Go to https://blog.goodpromotionalproducts.com/what-is-a-swag-bag-how-do-you-put-one-together/ for a step by step on how to put one together.
8. It’s free and actually pretty easy to do
   • Clients get all caught up in believing it is hard to blog and wondering what it costs. They feel they don’t have enough time and can’t figure out what to write about.
   • Blogging is an excellent way to grow your business.  If you are serious about your business growth, it is time to “man up” on this one.  Today blogs are pretty easy to add to most websites and there are even free blogging platforms if you don’t have your own website.

Bottom line – the best way to reap the benefits of blogging is…wait for it…to just start blogging!  Our next blog is about finding time and brainstorming ideas.

Contact me with any questions about this blog or the small business services of Startup to Growth, LLC.  I’d love to hear from you.  Email me at [email protected].

Source articles for this blog, check them out:

Why Blog? The Benefits of Blogging for Business and  Marketing, by Corey Wainwright

9 Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Have a Blog, by Recruiterbox

ABOUT STARTUP TO GROWTH, LLC

Robin Suomi, Principal, Startup to Growth, LLC, has assisted literally thousands of small business owners for over 9 years start and/or grow their companies.

Startup to Growth, LLC, helps unleash the vitality, innovation and creativity of entrepreneurs as they start and grow successful and sustainable businesses. As a champion for small businesses, they help maximize the small business owner’s potential for success through support, training, counseling/coaching/ mentoring and making strategic connections within their extensive local, regional and nationwide network of professionals. As a team, they work together with the entrepreneur to identify the most important strategic issues they are facing and finding solutions the entrepreneur can execute.

Programs consist of seminars, workshops, Premier Growth Mastermind Teams,   Startup ASAP Mastermind Groups  and 1-1 business counseling/coaching.

Make choices, not excuses. Together, we’ve got this! 

Do you have questions or comments about this blog or our small business programs? We’d love to hear from you!  Contact us today.  You may also sign up for our newsletter at our website.

Robin Suomi, MBA
startuptogrowth.com
[email protected]
703-850-7475