When talking to businesses regarding blogging, the quick answer is to say we just don’t have the time.  The idea of blogging comes with hard work, lots of time, lots of content writing and editing – or in short, stuff a business doesn’t want to have to do.  But there are plenty of reasons why business blogging is something your business should be seriously undertaking:

  • Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors.  (Hubspot, 2010)
  • 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog.  (Hubspot, 2011)
  • Street cred!  A blog is a great way to showcase your company’s experience and insight into the industry.  Notice that this isn’t accomplished by talking about your product or service.

So now that we know why starting a blog is a beneficial activity for business to engage in, lets lay out some ways business can accomplish this.

Internal

If your business has someone or even several people who are eager and capable bloggers you’ve got it made!  Don’t forget to make sure and set the rules.

  • Writing guidelines and rules of engagement (especially when it comes to replying to comments made on or about the blog
  • Editorial calendar – what is due when by whom
  • Editorial process for approvals, etc. – Does anyone need to edit and/or sign-off on the blog before its published?

External

If you absolutely have no one internally or no time to write yourself, the next best thing would be to contract a ghost writer.  Make sure that you lay down the rules for this arrangement also to make sure everyone is on the same page.  The writer will have to do research and spend time learning about your business to write from a knowledgeable viewpoint.  So don’t be cheap here.

A blog is a critical piece to growing your business from an online perspective. The days of static websites that sit up, unchanged for years, online are over.  Content will drive traffic and develop street cred.  Traffic will turn into leads.  And an educated and trusting lead will become a new customer.