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Why Online Businesses Should be Blogging

Written by: Kalena Jordan

Article Overview: Blogging is a creative and viable marketing activity for online businesses - read on to find out how you or your clients can implement blogging as part of an effective marketing strategy.

Why Online Businesses Should be Blogging

Last weekend my husband and I were having a conversation with some friends over a bottle of wine. The wine was a delectable New Zealand chardonnay and the friends were a husband and wife team who run a small but highly successful web/graphic design firm.

The conversation veered towards blogging and whether or not it was a viable marketing activity for online businesses. My friend Wendy was lamenting that most of her clients couldn’t see the value in blogging. An avid blog reader herself, she could see it had value but she wasn’t sure whether it would work for her clients or how to implement it in a way that would be worthwhile for her own online business.

I suggested that she start a blog about environmentally-sustainable business, as this is her company’s unique selling proposition and something she is particularly passionate about. I think a lot of small businesses would like to take steps to be more environmentally responsible but aren’t sure where to start. A blog about the subject could gain readership quickly and also gain attention for her own company.

This led to a discussion about what types of businesses would benefit from a blog and what THEY could blog about. The potential number of blog niches and opportunities we thought of was incredible. Here are just some of the ideas we came up with:

1) Web Design Firms could blog about:

• Unique business practices
• Customer success stories
• Web site tips
• Staff success stories
• Web site usability issues

2) Travel Related Businesses could blog about:

• Last minute travel deals
• Customer travel stories
• Staff travel stories
• Travel tips
• Flight details
• Breaking news in the travel industry


3) Government agencies could blog about:

• Changes to Government regulations
• Communication between Government agencies and the public
• Government issues and news
• Legislation affecting various industries

4) Marketing agencies could blog about:

• Marketing trends
• Successful client case studies
• How to reach different target audiences
• Tips for marketing offline and online
• How to create effective marketing campaigns

5) Retail businesses could blog about:

• Products and services
• Customer service issues
• Special offers and discounts
• Industry news
• Product recalls

6) Sport-related sites could blog about:

• Latest game results and scores
• Team news and updates
• Individual team member diaries
• Nutrition and weight loss/gain

7) Public relations and advertising firms could blog about:

• Advertising trends
• Successful client case studies
• Press release writing
• Successful advertising campaigns
• How to deal with the media
• How to create effective advertisements

8) Telecommunications firms could blog about:

• Industry trends
• Products and services
• Communication legislation
• Tips for getting the most out of phones and related equipment


9) Law firms could blog about:

• Understanding contracts
• Case histories
• Tips for court appearances
• Understanding legal jargon
• Court and case schedules

10) Insurance firms could blog about:

• Changes/updates to premiums
• News of insurable events (e.g. flood, fire)
• Tips for protecting your house from burglary
• Tips for getting the most from your premiums
• Fire prevention tips

The entire discussion made me realize that blogging is not the answer for every business and in fact, some companies should steer clear of it. But for the majority of online businesses, particularly small businesses, there ARE terrific incentives to blog.

Blogging can provide unprecedented opportunities for new business, media exposure, networking, traffic, customer feedback and interaction. Plus business blogs don’t have to be boring. Just glance at the topic range of some of the most successful business blogs, based on Technorati
(http://technorati.com) rankings:

• Kotaku (http://kotaku.com) – a blog for gamers and persons working in the video gaming industry.
• The Unofficial Apple Weblog (http://www.tuaw.com) – news and views relating to Apple Macintosh business and products.
• The Pharma Marketing Blog (http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com) – a blog for persons in the pharmaceutical marketing industry.
• TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com) – a blog that profiles and reviews new Internet products and companies.
• Advertising for Peanuts (http://advertisingforpeanuts.blogspot.com) – a consumer’s guide to advertising and media.
• The Consumerist (http://consumerist.com) – consumer rights blog where people can lodge complaints about products and businesses.
• TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com) – a blog trying to bring environmental sustainability to mainstream business and media.
• Construction Marketing Ideas (http://www.constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com) – Information and ideas for marketing and promoting construction-related businesses.

Business blogging does take time and commitment, but the rewards are well worth the investment.

Related Articles
  To Blog or Not to Blog
  How to Make Money Blogging!- Untold Secret Revealed
  Beginners Guide to Blogging
  4 Ways You Can Make Money Blogging Online
  Blogging The Easy Way Is More Than A Trend

Article Tags: bottle of wine, client case, customer success stories, flight details, friend wendy, government issues, graphic design firm, last minute travel, last minute travel deals, marketing agencies, minute travel deals, new zealand chardonnay, public government, staff travel, unique selling proposition, usability issues, web design firms, web graphic design, web site usability, wife team



Related Forum Posts
Re: Top Banner Help - The more popular ones that I've seen: Online Marketing and Publicity Search Engine Optimization Web Design and Programming Blogging Re: the poll, I think there was enough response to warrant the new category. These are very popular search terms. I agree that too many niche categories is not a good idea, maybe keep it to a minimum 2-3 internet related topics. Good job on the banners BennyBoy!
Re: New forum - online businesses! - That's great news Evan! Congratulations Jeff on becoming moderator of Online Businesses, I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job! Take care, Carol
Re: Top Banner Help - [quote:35xjo6uq]Good job on the banners BennyBoy![/quote:35xjo6uq] No probs:) I agree Online Marketing and Publicity Search Engine Optimization - Web Design and Programming Blogging also may be... Web Design Tutorials Looking to Hire - jobs section Interesting Articles / websites
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":1yomg44b] 1.) 10 Recent Posts (takes you to the list of the 10 most recent posts) 2.) Forum Contest & Prizes 3.) How to get started in the EvanCarmichael.com Forums 4.) How to promote yourself in the EvanCarmichael.com Forums 5.) How to start a small business (list of threads with related topics) 6.) SEO Tips (list of threads with related topics) 7.) Better Blogging (list of threads with related topics) 8.) Business Book Reviews (list related forum threads, I know Barbara has tons. We also have threads that list our forum members favorite biz books) 9.) Newest Members (takes you to a list of the newest forum members so that you can help them out or connect with them) 10.) Kevin's Case Studies *I'd think this format would make the forums easier to navigate through, especially for a newbie (which are the main people we're trying to attract to the site).[/quote:1yomg44b] If you're accepting any suggestions for topics -- could SEO tips be changed to Online Marketing? SEO is just a small part of Online Marketing and that would give us some sort of place to zero in on Online Promotional posts. Shri
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - [quote="Ringo So":2696kbgu]Trent - It's actually a sub-forum within the "Making Money in 2010" category. Please let me know if there are any troubles finding it.[/quote:2696kbgu] Nope, still don't see it. I see the Online Businesses forum but that has been there for a long time. Is that what you mean? I don't see any Internet Marketing section.


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