Blogging for Business?

Remember when blogs were secluded to LiveJournal and reserved for nerdy niches? Well, those days are long gone as blogging for business has become a staple of every marketing strategy.Business blogging is as essential to marketing a business as the yellowpages once were and if you haven’t adopted the practice yet, you may be at a serious disadvantage to your competitors.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to get started. In this article, I’ve put together everything you need to know to make up for lost time and start blogging for business right away. 

The Truth About Business Blogging

With so much contradictory information (and opinion) being thrown around, it can be difficult to know what to really expect from blogging for business. Business blogging has evolved quickly and much of the information you find online is simply outdated, even if it was technically true a few years ago.

In 2011, for example, before blogging was fully-accepted as a legitimate marketing tactic for businesses, Daily Blog Tips shared 6 ugly truths about blogging.At the time, they were all valid points to consider, but as expected with time, many have grown untrue. 

These six statements represent common beliefs (and misconceptions) that still exist today. For those of you new to the medium, let’s take a few minutes to set the record straight about each one. 

“Ugly Lie #1: Business Blogging isn’t easy”

Blogging isn’t easy in the sense that the results come quickly with little effort, but when you consider the other ways businesses have used over the years to reach customers, blogging is a piece of cake. (I’m talking funfetti.)

What’s easier: blogging or walking door-to-door? Would you rather publish a post a day or make 100 cold calls a day?

I’ll stick with business blogging, thanks.

“Ugly Lie #2: Business Blogging isn’t a viable business model” 

Now, this one is flat-out wrong today. Between Mashable, Buzzfeed, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, and VentureBeat, there are millions being made off of blogging these days. 

While most businesses (including IMPACT) use blogging to drive traffic to their website rather than their main source of income, it is very much possible. 

“Ugly Lie #3: Business Blogging isn’t all about you”

Ok, I’ve got to say, they’ve pretty much hit the nail on head with this one.

 Your company blog is all about your buyer persona, not you.

If you’re not providing value to your ideal prospects and customers (i.e. answering their questions, addressing their ideas), you’re taking the wrong approach to blogging for business and are unlikely to attract traffic or subscribers.