This post is mainly aimed at small business owners.
Is that you?
Do your customers enjoy dealing with your company because of the personal service they receive?
Do most of them know you by name?
Can they pick up the phone and talk to you?
If you answered ‘yes’ to one of more of the above you should be writing your own blogs.
A blog is a window to your soul
That might sound a bit deep, but it’s true.
Think for a minute about blogging and why it’s so good for your business.
For starters, it’s a great way of adding fresh content to your website on a regular basis. That means it’s a great way to generate engagement and those all-important back links.
Plus, through your blogs you can demonstrate your knowledge and position yourself as an expert in your field – the ‘go to’ woman or man.
Notice I said ‘your knowledge’, not someone else’s.
Your customers want to get to know you because they like to do business with people they trust.
If they read your blogs, love them and think they have a pretty good idea of your personality, they’re going to be peeved when they actually meet you and you’re nothing like the person they picture writing.
Then the realisation hits them that the person they think they’ve got to know – the author – isn’t the person they thought it was. They feel betrayed. The trust has gone.
It’s a bit like Internet dating. You come across a profile of someone that sounds interesting. They look nice in their photo and, after a new email exchanges, it appears as though you have a lot in common and share the same values.
You decide to meet up. When you arrive at the pub there’s someone there waiting for you, but they don’t look like the photo. OK, you think, perhaps it was just the lighting that made them look different so you sit down and chat. It’s then that you realise they’ve been lying all along. The claims in their profile were exaggerated and they were only agreeing with your opinions so you’d meet up with them.
You feel betrayed.
Blogging builds relationships
If you want your blog to build relationships it’s important you do the writing.
As I mentioned before, it’s your opportunity to share your knowledge, get your personality across and show the human side of your business.
OK, yes it takes time to write blog posts, but surely the inconvenience of that is outweighed by the positives?
All you have to do is build it into your weekly routine.
First thing in the morning, rather than making a coffee and standing around and chatting for half an hour, sit down and write something. It can be:
- Your opinion on something that’s happened in your industry
- A solution to a common problem
- Top tips
Absolutely anything that’s related to your business and that’s relevant to your customers.
Create a blogging rota
Assuming you’re not a one man or woman band, get your staff to pitch in and help.
Take it in turns to write one blog a week to bring a fresh perspective to things. For example, your customer services team can write about common questions they’re asked, and your sales team can write blogs about how products or services can be used.
If you divide the workload, not only will you be able to easily find the time, you’ll be adding variety to your blog post. A short author bio on each post will identity who wrote what, so your readers get to know your whole team.
Yes, blogging takes time, thought and time, but the benefits you’ll get will far outweigh any perceived downside. Plus, you might get to enjoy it – writing down your thoughts and opinions can be very therapeutic.