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During my initial years of a corporate job, I had issues with one of my bosses. He was not in favor of my blogging activities. Though those days I was blogging as a hobby. And I did use the office resources for my blogging hobby.
Those few minutes per day and the usage of office internet was pinching him. The laptop was mine so no computer from the office resources was a part of my hobby.
As per my then boss, blogging was a useless activity. Instead, he advocated the idea of writing for Industry journals and Newspapers.
With the course of time, my love for blogging deteriorated our relationship. The tyrannies of the HR department further fueled the issue. Though I was in luck that within some time, I got rid of that asshole boss and the toxic organization.
A few years later I got to know that that company did not exist and the boss was jobless for a long time. Also, that con HR person became a man Friday to the company’s CEO.
But by then I had become a Blogging Junkie. Also, the same ill-fate repeated for all my ex-organizations that were not in favor of blogging.
Over the years no matter what profile I worked on. Or whatever organization I worked with. I continued blogging as a hobby. With the time that hobby turned into a full-fledged profession.
Today as a professional blogger I work on various company blogs.
My stints with blogging taught me a thing or two about business which I can share on this post.
Benefits of Blogging for Business
It is fortunate that blogging is no more considered a spoiled brat hobby. But still, it will take a lot more conditioning to consider it as an important business activity.
Though the importance of blog writing for a solopreneur is exemplary. Its benefits for a business are way more noteworthy.
Some of them are as follows:
1. Blogging Builds Credibility
Do you have any favorites among corporate blogs? I have the blog Ruby by the Virgin Atlantic. The blog is a breeze of comfort and fresh air in the online world.
Not only the blog talks about the experiences they provide through their airlines. But the blog also takes care of the activities that their passengers would love to indulge in. So, Ruby blogs lifestyle-oriented articles on the cities where their flights operate. Thus, topics like food, wine, and city attractions are the highlights of this company blog.
Though they also blog on personal experiences of their staff and customers’. It is worth mentioning that they also write about technical topics like “how to change a Boeing Wheel”.
It is obvious that such an involved blog by a business helps develop integrity. Not only customers respect such content offerings. But that content also gains the respect of stakeholders.
2. It Lets You Engage With Your Customers and Prospects
We are living in times of Start-Ups. There are more companies that exist today than the number that was a decade back.
That means there are a lot of products in the market for our disposal. But not all organizations and their products achieve the traction that they wish for.
If you run a business or you have ever sold something. Then, you would know that a product can never succeed if it does not match the customer’s expectations.
If you wish to dig deep into this aspect. Then, you can read a beautiful case study of a leading Help Desk Software company. They rebuilt their product by listening to their customers’ comments on their blog. This turn-around saved them from bankruptcy and within years they earned millions.
This is where the significance of blogging comes into play.
Each blog post works as a recurring point of contact between a business and its customers. Through it, the business gets to know how their product/service offerings perform.
This benefit is huge since it saves a lot of overwhelming in the times of new product launches. Not to mention a lot of resource allocation on Market Research and Surveys also reduces.
The feedback on the blog plays a significant role in the evolution of the company’s offerings.
A business gains trust when it interacts with its visitors. Further, the visitors turn into prospects and then to customers and raving fans.
That brings in the next benefit of blogging –
3. It Gets You More Business
Even if blogging had all attributes in its favor. It would not have made past all these years if it did not bring in money.
In fact, in today’s times, Blogging is the No. 1 marketing and money-earning activity. Whether it is for a small business or a mammoth multinational organization. No business worth its salt can stay away from Blogging. Sooner or later they have to blog. The sooner the better.
I have worked with many organizations that witnessed a turn-around due to blogging. Since the benefits of blogging for marketing are many. It makes an utter sense for a business to make a foray into blogging to reap benefits.
There are many case studies on why blogging is important. But the one by Buffer on this topic is worth a read.
From reach to getting leads to getting paying customers. All business-enhancement aspirations get a lift with Blogging.
Pointers on Starting a Blog for Business
It is easy to start a blog on your business website. But a few basics when adhered to optimize your business blog for the long run. They are as below:
1. Host your blog on a sub-directory instead of a sub-domain. A sub-domain is as good as a new website. So, to pass on the SEO benefits from the blog URL to your company website. It is advisable to blog on yourcompany.com/blog instead of blog.yourcompany.com.
2. You should write content with your customers’ perspective in place. Instead of writing how great your company or your product is. Rather you should stress on how your customers benefit from your offerings.
3. Once you set-up a company blog. Then, stick to a consistent posting schedule to maintain your credibility. Else you will lose out on leads and engagement from your audience. If you lack internal resources to dish out quality content. Then, you might consider outsourcing the job. You can get a plethora of quality writers on certain Content Outsourcing platforms.
Conclusion
It sounds primitive to ask the question – why your business needs a blog?
Even though the merits of blogging are well proven. Still, many businesses take a lot of time to get into this quintessential tool to drive business.
The reasons could be many ranging from lack of resources to technological challenges. But once you outgrow these glitches. You and your business will always be thankful for taking the leap towards blogging.
If it was not for blogging, then some of the Davids of Startup worlds would have never become the Goliaths of today.
As the best day to plant a tree was yesterday; so was yesterday the best day to start a blog.
Header Image Courtesy: Pixabay
Very well written .. and makes a lot of sense. Also a simple road map of how to start blogs will help many amateurs.. great read for me .. thanks for sharing
Thanks so much, Satish. Sure, I will post a “roadmap on how to start blogs for the newbies.” I will ping you on this comment to update you on the same.