Recently I was I asked by a local business owner about whether or not he should start blogging for business.
As more local businesses are looking to expand their marketing into the social media realm, I expect many readers here have encountered this same question many times from their local business community.
Because the basic things to consider when blogging for business are pretty much the same for any business, here is a list of the Top 3 Questions that must be answered before beginning a business blog. Feel free to bookmark and refer back to this post.
The Top 3 Questions You MUST Answer…
- “Why are we doing this?”
THE most important thing to ask yourself when considering ANY marketing initiative is “Why are we doing this?”If your motivation is simply to start blogging because you’ve heard everyone else is doing it, this is a good indication that you might need a business strategist to help steer you in the right direction.
The truth is, blogging is a significant commitment and you must think about what you expect to gain from a blog and set realistic expectations before you begin.
- Who is the target audience for my business blog?
• Are you interested in connecting on a personal level with existing customers?
• Are you looking to establish yourself as an authority in your market?
• Or are you trying to generate new sales leads?You must know WHO your target audience is in order for your business blog to be effective.
- “What do I blog about?”
Depending on what you answered for question # 1, you should have a good idea whether your blog will be targeted primarily to existing customers or to new customers.
Since it’s more cost effective and lucrative to maintain an existing customer than to acquire a new one – don’t discount the fact that you MAY be better off blogging to existing customers as opposed to new ones!
So, for existing customers you could focus on blogging about the life cycle of your product/service, for example. Create blog posts that contain tips and tricks on how to get the most from your product or service.
You can also blog about support issues your customers have encountered and how they might overcome them. (Yes – this is a viable strategy even if you have a support infrastructure already in place… A blog allows you to be more interactive and puts a human face on the typical “black box” of support.
Don’t be Afraid to Mix it Up Every Now and Then
Of course, even if you are targeting existing customers with your content , it doesn’t hurt to mix it up from time to time and create posts from a “pre sales” perspective.
This will help to attract new customers and will allow your existing customers to confirm that they made the right decision to purchase your products in the first place.
What were those questions again?
So, to recap, the Top 3 questions you MUST answer BEFORE you start blogging for business are Why? Who? and What?
Of course, How? and When? are also important questions, some of which are addressed in a related post about using social networking to boost local business.
What questions do you ask yourself or a local business client before beginning a business blog?
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I always recommend blogging, as long as they add it to their own website, but I always temper it with your number one point, because the worst thing in the world is for someone to start doing something then stopping and leaving it sitting there abandoned.
Mitch´s last blog ..Expert, Specialist, Professional Or Hack?
Hey Mitch!
Do you have a set ‘best practices’ that you use to link a blog to an existing webpage?
Do you just make a menu/link directly to a blog or do you have a ‘landing page’ that offers some additional information about the blog with a manual hyperlink?
(See – I just read your post Expert, Specialist, Professional or Hack and I’m trying to tap into your “specialist” experience!).
- Don
Don Power – BLOG with POWER´s last blog ..Going Local – How do You Use Social Media to Boost Local Business?
Don, I don’t have a “set” best practice at all except to do it as much as you can, and as long as the information is related in some fashion, even if only to that word. Internal linking especially is a good thing.
Oh, maybe this is a practice; if I link to a blog that’s not on my site, I always set it up so that article opens in a new window. Never send people away from your blog or website is possible.
Mitch´s last blog ..Marketing Or Advertising Your Business
Hey Don,
Yeah man great questions to ask yourself when I set out to take over the world with my site, I just wanted to show people that it could be done differently, it can be done your own way, you don’t have to tow the line.
Luckily it’s working, but the way I do it won’t work for everyone, but as far as starting a business, really you’re right, who would want it, why would they buy it and where are they.
Good stuff
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..I Rank Higher Than ProBloggers, But Make No Money
Thanks for your comment James!
BTW – I just left a patented ‘PowerComment’ on your latest blog post too!
Onward and Upward!
- Don
I’d like to see what reasons people have for their blogs. Fun, getting new business, showing off writing, personal, informing current customers, getting a job, etc. Maybe you can do a poll?
Chuck Lasker´s last blog ..Deck The Sites, a Christmas Font Song
Hey Chuck!
Right now, the primary visitors of my blog are already seasoned bloggers so I expect their answer to a poll will be a lot different than local business owners.
But my quest is to do just that – to focus more on my own backyard and offer the greatest value I can – helping my local business community realize the value of social media in their marketing mix.
As I gather feedback from local folks, I’ll take a look at doing a post on reasons people are/want to blog.
Great suggestion! Thanks!
- Don
It’s great to give business makers a reality check on this before they start. The 5W still work perfectly in all circumstances.
Personally, I agree with targeted customers and content to be utmost priorities. Another question I may ask, is probably what my competitors are doing and how they do it; the strength and weaknesses my company have that may affect the plan etc. A little early to worry over that? 
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Ching Ya´s last blog ..7 Features to Brand, Market, Manage with MarketMe Tweet
Hey Ching Ya!
You are quite right – competitive intelligence is also one of the first tactics I employ when advising a client on what they should do. In fact, if you think about it – for a business to grow, they really only have 2 possible strategies:
1. Get a bigger pie - In other words, get NEW people interested in the product/service that were previously unaware or outside the target audience
2. Get a bigger SLICE of the pie – In other words, in an existing market you have x number of target customers. To get more, you MUST, in this strategy at least, steal them away from your competitors…
Methinks, this post will have some legs and a number of follow up posts to boot!
Thanks for your thougtful comments and suggestions!
- Don
Your points are very valid but what I love about Wordpress is it’s ability to be used as a CMS rather than just a blog. When I set up myrddinmortgages.co.uk for my sister in law, I used WP but it currently has no blog as such.
The benefit of doing it this way is if at a later date a business should decide they want to start blogging, it’s just a case of a couple of tweaks rather than a whole site redesign.
I’m very interested in how things work out for you with local business Don. It’s something I’m considering exploring from my end. I’ve done loads of freebie wp installations for friends and family and am wondering if there’s a market to expand a bit.
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Give when you think you should receive.
Hey Eleanor!
I just took a look at http://www.myrddinmortgages.co.uk
So my comment is that if you can setup sites like this for local business clients, then you have a viable business in social media marketing!
With the WP installations that you do, are they mostly new sites like the mortgages site, or do you often have to integfrate a WP blog with an existing website?
Also – do you use the same theme? How do you handle the whole theme selection/setup/plugin configuration thing? Do you do it exactly the same way each time or do you have to customize?
Either way, if this is something you are considering, consider no longer – you are already DOING IT! It’s a legitimate service and you can charge for it!
You will probably see some pretty significant changes with this blog as I “Go LOCAL” (see my comment on James’ post – I rank higher than probloggers). I can’t wait to see and learn what folks like Growmap have to say about this emerging market! Pretty exciting all around!
Thanks for your comment Eleanor – would love to hear your repsonses to some of my questions. And BTW way, you can always leave live hyperlinks to any content you wish – ESPECIALLY GiveaBrick!
Cheers~!
- Don
Hi again Don,
Sorry for the delay in replying. It’s the half term holidays here so that and I’m eldest having her birthday have meant that online business has been sporadic
Thank you for your kind words about Myrddin Mortgages. It was the first mortgage site I’d done and given that it all has to be approved by their regulator, was a bit of a headache
As for theme choice, until this week, I was used free themes that were closest to what the client wanted in terms of look and then tinkered to suit. I have my bog standard batch of plugins that I always use (contact forms, anti spam etc.) then just add whatever extras will suit for the individual. So no, I don’t have a standard form yet. Each client is an individual
However, on the subject of themes, I this week asked my dad to invest in my new business and have got the developers version of thesis. Aren’t dads good?
However, he actually wants a percentage of profits after I take a wage so he can then donate his share to Give A Brick. He seems pretty excited about it all actually so I’m sure he’ll be an asset 
So far, all the sites I’ve done have been new installations so issues of intergration haven’t been a problem. It helps when you’re doing these as freebies for friends and family
There are a couple of sites on half that I did before I learned via my work with Give A Brick, just how flexible and easy WordPress is. I’m want to set them up with WP so will get a chance to play with integration then 
Think that just about cover things
Thank you again for your encouragement and support. I appreciate it very much indeed.
Eleanor
P.S. A quick question about live hyperlinks: Are they good for your SEO?
Eleanor Edwards @ UK Charity GiveABrick´s last blog ..Breathing funny into your bones
Good questions. As for the first one, I think if a business owner can’t commit to writing on his/her own, they can still consider hiring a writer to do their blog for them. Doesn’t mean they have to completely forgo the business blog idea.
Anne Moss´s last blog ..Israel Needs Your Help Now
Hi Anne! Thanks for your comment.
Yes, not having enough time is one of the common objections from local business owners regarding the subject of social media marketing.
What/who do you recommend for writing blog posts on behalf of a local business owner who just doesn’t have the time? The only way I can see of making this option affordable (as opposed to charging cinsulting rates for writing blog posts) is to outsource it to one of the freelance sites…But that also seems like it would be a bit of work to setup and maintain…
What do you do in this situation, Anne?
- Don
I would be happy to explain the benefits of blogging to any business that has questions and then refer them back to you to support their efforts. (I focus my time on teaching through my blog and testing strategies and refer businesses that need direct consulting to others who focus on providing those services.)
If a business will blog intelligently a blog can be a HUGE benefit to growing their business. I strongly advise businesses to start pro-actively growing their customer base and the Internet is the obvious fast way to do that.
I would not recommend any business focus solely on their existing customers because economic changes will continue to reduce how much those existing customers are likely to have available to spend. Unless they are growing they won’t be spending enough to keep your business sound.
Business Blogging´s last blog ..KeywordLuv: How Using It Benefits Us All
Thanks for your comment Business Blogging! (BTW – I got your tweets about keywordluv and it’s now installed – it’ll be available for you on your next comment I hope!)
I like the point you make about NOT focusing solely on existing customers. I recommend ‘mixing it up’ too. In fact, in my reply to Ching Ya’s comment I mentioned that there are only 2 strategies to growing any business – 1. Get new customers into your market or 2. Take existing customers away from your competitors (on reflection there probably is a THIRD macro strategy: 3. Getting your EXISTING customers to BUY MORE – but as you mentioned – this is no easy feat in a recession/post recession).
As I mentioned, I am really looking forward to digging deeper in to your BizLuv Meme and supporting local business in any way I can!
Cheers and thanks again for your comments!
- Don
The Good Millwork business blog combined with a small AdWords spend on pay per click ads has greatly increased our inquiries and sales. The blog is instrumental in raising our visibility online and that coupled with our presence on Twitter and other Social Networks has resulted in collaborations that will bring much larger and repeat sales we would not have had otherwise.
If there are fewer fish in your current pond you need a bigger pond. That is what having a blog can do for any business that understands how to use it. There is no time like now to get started.
You can do it yourself (and we recommend you get assistance to learn how to use WordPress and best practices) or hire someone to manage your blog for you. Which is better depends on your level of commitment and how much knowledge of your industry is necessary to write intelligently.
We are very satisfied with our results so far and know that it will continue to make the difference between being another traditional millworking company that went under when the real estate and construction industries declined and thriving because we have a much greater reach.
Good Millwork´s last blog ..Crown Moldings: Selecting, Measuring, Installing
I am so glad to hear that you’ve been able to weather the storm of a downturn in the economy. If social media played a role in that success, then what better example of it’s power, no?
If you have time, I’d love to hear more detail about how/where you did your adsense campaign to drive traffic to your blog (and especially the budget – I have a feeling you did this quite ‘frugally?’).
I’m also intersted to find out how a small business can outsource their blog management (to someone other than me – who would have to price the management high enough to be worythwhile and thus making it out of the reach of a ’skeptical’ business owner).
If you’d like to do a Guest Post on how/what you did and how you were able to weather the storm – you’ve got an open invitation at http://donpower.me (including whatever links/author box, etc. you’d like!)
Thanks so much for your comment. I hope as the focus of this blog shifts more toward the local business community that there will be even more opportunities for us to share our trials and triumphs!
Cheers!
- Don
Good tips. It’s always good to have some hypothetical thrown at you, just to get the brain matter going and the mind moving a bit.
Dara´s last blog ..Why do some Pastors watch porn && swear?
You’ll be amazed at how many people who don’t ask these questions before they just dive and realize the water is deep! By the time they realize it, it’s too late they’re already drowning.
Kiesha @ WeBlogBetter´s last blog ..5 blogging niche ideas you should run from
Excellent post Don, I wish I did a few of these things before we started all though I would have also liked to create a 6 month timeline with about that many posts in the shoot, that would have been the better move. Maybe, haha.
Extreme John´s last blog ..A Day in the Life of.. Episode 4 [video]
All excellent questions. I think though that #2 couldeasily lead to multiple blogs if not done correctly with one. This in turn could easily lead to the blogger giving up fast as Mitch pointed out.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..WANTED – Keyword Research Expert(s)
Hi Don
Asking why we do stuff is the single most question for building any kind of business.
matthew needham´s last blog ..The Aweber Code – and why you need to promote it
Nice tips Don. I think one of the core elements a business should consider is what they are going to write about, what their content strategy is going to be.
Example: A local hotel that blogged purely about their ‘product’ (rooms, vacancies, etc) would soon become rather boring and attract a small readership (those just wanting to book a room). However, if they blogged about local attractions and events then the blog could become something of interest to local readers and those visiting from further a field.
Regards,
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..How A Small Business Built An Email Subscriber List Without A Website
the key word here is BUSINESS…business offline means selling a product or a service in exchange for cash…the game might be a bit different online but the model still remains the same..sell products or services to people online….but for you to do good business you need to answers the questions you talked about.
Yes, mk! many people get hooked on social media without ever knowing how they are going to use it as a tool to drive sales!
Good point! Thanks for your comment!
- Don
Don Power – Nanaimo Business Marketing Strategist´s last blog ..The Day Before the Internet Died
Hi Don,
Great set of questions. One additional question that I would suggest asking before any of the others is: How do my customers communicate or consume media? It may be that now is not the right time for a business’ current customer set and so a blog may not be the best use of their time.
What do you think?
Adrian
Adrian Swinscoe´s last blog ..Ask more to get more
Hey Adrian!
Good point! Here in Nanaimo, BC, there doesn’t appear to me more than 50 or so folks on Twitter (there may be a lot more but it’s not obvious) whereas there are LOTS of folks (not surprisingly) using Facebook!
So analyzing HOW do my customers communicate is a vital part of the business marketing process as well!
Thanks for your comment!
- Don
Don Power – Nanaimo Business Marketing Strategist´s last blog ..The Day Before the Internet Died
These are the basic things every blogger have to think before they start blogging.Unless we have a clear idea on Why & what to do, we can’t make a plan to get succeeded.Analyzing these things prior to starting a site will defnitely help us to succeed.
Krish – ptcearner55.blogspot.com´s last blog ..Top 25 Blogs for 2009 – by TIME
Having a why behind the business is huge in making it worthy of itself. That’s just my opinion. If you have a strong reason why you’re doing something and it makes sense and is important enough then you can do just about anything as long as you’re willing to put in the effort.
Eric´s last blog ..Build Your Blog With Fire In Mind
Thanks for your comment Eric!
Looks like http://www.bluepop13.com is developing nicely! Sorry it took me so long to reply to your post. I’ve been out in the local business community a lot more than behind the keyboard lately and it’s all good!
Thanks for sticking with me!
Cheers!
- Don
Don Power – Nanaimo Business Marketing Strategist´s last blog ..The Day Before the Internet Died
these are very important questions because they direct and give focus to the business blogger.it also helps in planning …this is the classic ..why,who and what questions…
great one don
mk akan´s last blog ..The Liar Called Social Proof
I would also add to this list: how do we measure the success of the blog. Is it through subscriptions, leads, mentions, contact, clicks to product/services pages etc…
Tom@Websites for Accountants´s last blog ..No email subscription on your blog could cost you dozens of regular readers!
Hey Tom!
Thanks for your comment!
Measurement is vital!
- Don
Don Power – Nanaimo Business Marketing Strategist´s last blog ..The Day Before the Internet Died
Hi Don,
) for ‘No Problem’
Just wanted to stop by and let you know that I met with the business manager in my local branch today and it’s official, I own my own business! It’s called ‘Dim Probs’ which is Welsh (well, lazy Welsh
I’m very excited (and Give A Brick has gotten under 270K with Alexa) too so all in, it’s been a fun day!
Hope all is well with you,
El
Eleanor Edwards @ GiveABrick and Dim Probs´s last blog ..On judging a book by its cover and, what does yours say about you?
Hey , that’s great news Eleanor!!
Love the name! I’ve always loved Gaelic!
So are you going to be doing local business marketing too?
It’s funny – I just got approval from a client to build and implement a client referral campaign/contest so I’m doing what I love now too!
Good news all around, eh? Spring really IS a time of new beginnings!
Llongyfarchiadau!
- Don
Don Power – Nanaimo Business Marketing Strategist´s last blog ..Nanaimo Business After Business – Rate Miser Mortgage Advisors
This is a very nice blog, I always persuade my clients to start a blog because of all the benefits they can bring to their own websites specially when it comes to search engine traffic and SEO tactics. of course; not every one has the ability to write but with a bit of imagination they can make it happen. Great blog!
A couple of other potential tips: produce compelling posts; produce short posts. The first tip is self-explanatory, I think. As for short posts, very few people want to read extensively during one online visit. A short informative post will tend to get appreciation through commenting, visiting other pages on the blog, etc.