Is your business blogaphobic?

Are you blogaphobic?

Are you blogaphobic Solid Sources blogAre you a small business developing a website and have been told you you need a blog? So what do you think about that? [5 minute read].

Do you want one, need one or even see the value of one? Or, maybe you have no time to maintain one, or think it’s not worth it because no one will read it anyway. Well then, perhaps you’re blogaphibic.

On the other hand, maybe you’re the ‘someone’ that the blogs are written for in the first place. Do you want to run for the hills every time some even mentions the word? Well then, perhaps you’re blogaphobic too.

What is a blog anyway?

The purists can Google that, but in my world I think a blog is just an article, or series of articles offering relevant, useful and valuable information or insight to the reader. Blogs [content] can be on a website or a social platform like LinkedIn or YouTube. A ’vlog’ is just a video article.

How you go about blogging (what topic you choose and how you structure your article) is just as important as why you blog. Take a look at my other blog on blogging How to blog for some tips, or read on if you want to hear me attempt to convert blogaphobes to life-long fans of the stuff.

Who should blog (and for who)?

I have a lot of conversations about whether marketing blogs are just a B2B tool, but take a look at brands like Audenza who are a quirky and fabulous home interior and design specialist, and you will see their blog is on fire and helping to build their fan base. So there is definitely something for everyone.

If you fancy penning your own content, rather than outsourcing it, don’t forget it’s a specialist skill and has many benefits from a marketing point of view. So, make sure you’re up to speed with the objectives of blogging, and that you understand where it supports your sales process. If you’re not sure about that, well then you know I’m going to recommend you read Watertight Marketing by Bryony Thomas for some pointers on small business marketing.

Ultimately, you should blog not for you, but for your audience (buyer, influencer or user or your product or service) all with the goal of showing them you care about how your opinion makes their world better, easier or more fruitful. However, you can’t do that without a deep understanding into your audience and their buying behaviour.

So, there’s plenty of articles out there on how to profile your audience(s) and map your marketing to their thinking. Again, Watertight Marketing the book will help you with that, but also take a look at this article on the importance of personas from Econsultancy, one of my favourites authors of modern marketing capabilities content.

Why should (or would) you blog?

Whether you think a blog is just Google juice, or piecemeal ‘content’, here’s a look at why you should blog and how by doing it you can validate any concerns your audience may have (‘validating concerns’ – another way of looking at how you overcome buyer objections – see this other great blog from Watertight Marketing coining that very phrase):

• DON’T NEED A BLOG: Debatable. Blogs can answer commonly asked questions, put across view points, balance arguments, and equip your buyer with that bit more of the intel they need to make the decision to buy, or to continue to buy from you (especially at the interest and evaluation stages of the decision-making process). If the real reason you don’t need a blog is you haven’t got time to blog, or don’t think anyone’s listening anyway, see also below.
• DON’T WANT A BLOG: You have to ask yourself why? Lively content is wanted by humans and search engines to validate your business and assure people of your expertise and quality of service or product. Current content is the sign of a healthy business, so if you do commit to a blog, keep going or Google (and humans) might think you’re out of business.
• DON’T VALUE A BLOG: Is that because it takes you too long to create the content and you can’t justify or demonstrate return on investment? Outsourcing will be faster and cheaper in the long run, so don’t get caught out by the old ‘false economy’ trap.
• NO TIME TO BLOG: If you’ve got time to talk to your customers, then you’ve got time to blog. Think of it as conversation. Why wouldn’t you converse with your customers? And if you haven’t got time to talk to your customers, find someone in your organisation who has and get them to blog.
• NO ONE READS IT ANYWAY: If you think no one wants blogs anymore, just take a look at Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook. There’s plenty of blogging going on over there. Of course lots of people aren’t on social media, or websites, or the Internet even and don’t read blogs. The point is, some are and do, so don’t write for the people that don’t want your content, write for those that do. Find out how your audience consume information and put your material there – something for everyone. And finally, if you’re reading this, you’re reading a blog, so you’re definitely not blogaphobic.

Whatever your thoughts on blogging you always get something from it, or give something away within it. Every day’s a learning day right?

Here’s a link to that blog ‘How to write a blog’ again , or you might like my free tips sheets on why, how and when to blog – just ask and I’ll whiz you one over.