I recently read an article titled "Smaller firms afraid to take plunge with blogs". Given my experiences with blogging, this got me thinking about the effects of blogging and how I’ve seen small businesses benefit from it.
According to research of 2000 UK SME's by Fasthosts, nearly half of SME firms understand the business benefits of corporate blogs but only 3% have plans to start one. Madness.
It almost made me want to start some 30 minute consultancy workshops on why SME's should blog but there is plenty of useful information out there (see links at the end of this piece) that explain exactly why small businesses should seriously consider blogging.
I’ve pulled together some thoughts below on why I think all small businesses should blog:
1. It's a differentiator: clearly this research shows your competitors are not blogging so maybe you should? Get in there early, lead the way and grab your audience. That's what English Cut did with significant commercial success.
2. Your customers will soon expect it: Remember when some businesses didn’t have a website? Being without a blog will be the next sign of being in the digital dark ages.
3. It's not as hard as you think: creating a good blog is time consuming but it's getting easier and easier with tools like Technorati helping you raise your profile, and Windows Live Writer making it as easy to blog as to write a Word document.
4. You control the message: Forget expensive advertising and PR. When you the individual control the message it's likely to be more respected, authentic and honest. Which means people are more likely to listen.
5. People will find you: Trust me, no matter how niche your niche is, someone in China, Australia or even England wants what you have. The internet flattened the earth and search engines made every nook and cranny of the internet accessible. Write your blog, do it frequently and be honest and people will find you.
6. The Google effect: I know several small businesses who pay money to appear on Google (and MSN) sponsored ad links. For sure, they get some business from it and it clearly works for Google. Here is my secret though - I have never clicked on a sponsored link on Google for the simple reason that it is sponsored. To me it's artificial and I bet I'm not the only one.
What does this mean though? Well if you blog often enough and with intelligent use of titles and keywords you will organically rise up the Google rankings. Search for Steve Clayton and see where I am on the list. Eight months ago you’d have had to look on about page 8 of the search results to find me.
7. You will find your voice: Research has shown people were put off blogging by what to say and how to say it. I was when I started blogging but your friends and customers will soon help you shape that as they did for me.
There is more I could add here but that's my list of seven for now. The links below are far better informed than I am so give them a try. Good luck with it!
Handy resources:
· Steve Clayton’s blog
· Suw Charman/MSN's How to Blog for Business - A Guide to Corporate Blogging
· ProBlogger's 31 Days to Building a Better Blog
· Beginner's Guide to Business Blogging - Originally a limited release, now available for free
· The Rise and Fall Of The Hit by Chris Anderson
· The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble
· Naked Conversations - my bible
· The HughTrain
· The Stormhoek Guide To Wine Blogging
