Blogging for business (3): Content is king

by David Hallam

You are clear that your business would benefit from a blog, you are certain that you have the capacity, you have taken care of the technicalities. You have already drafted 20 possible posts. Now lets look in detail at what you should post.

First impressions

Whatever you write it may be the very first impression that someone has of your company. Search engines can work in very quirky ways and you have little choice as to how and what is featured. Therefore every post is a possible "landing page" and could be a potential customer's first sight.

Informality and pitfalls

Blogs and other forms of social media can create an air of informality. This can be a productive and relatively relaxed way of introducing yourselves. It has advantages. In certain markets the less formality and fun the better.

Blogging for business (2): What are the technicalities?

by David Hallam

Starting a blog is technically very easy and can cost nothing. Both Blogger (now part of the google group) and Wordpress offer simple stand alone  solutions, free of charge. Both boast that you can start blogging within minutes, but  that's not quite how you should approach it.

There are other platforms and most IT service providers now have some form of blogging as part of their portfolio. My strong advice is that if your business runs to having an IT department or has an external provider you should speak with them first. It obviously makes sense to integrate your blog with the business's own web or CRM platform, especially if, for example, the blog is purely for internal audiences, membership or identified customers.

Blogger and Wordpress provide easy to follow installation instructions. A new blogger should sign up to both platforms and work out which one is most comfortable. For this blog I've gone with Blogger mainly because it provides the package with which I am most familiar. It is just a feeling but Wordpress blogs tend to look visually more appealing.

Blogging for business (1): Can we do it?

by David Hallam

Blogging may look simple but it requires resources, material and a market in order to be a sustainable business activity.

A blog is the easiest and most cost effective way of getting a presence on the internet. A well written blog can bring business in. A badly written blog can turn business away. An abandoned blog can be evidence that the business no longer exists. A great blog can improve communications, create new friends and generate leads.

I have been a blogger for over five years. In that time I have found that blogs can create great benefits, but also have a downside. My own blog is personal to me, it is about my hobby and carries many of my eccentricities. Over five years I have developed competitors, made friends and had to stretch myself to find new and interesting material. I enjoy hobby blogging, but I know it isn't for everyone and I know that there can be drawbacks for commercial organisations.