Why Blog?

I run across business owners that have great businesses. They sell quality products/services. They keep expenses low. They have enough funding. They even have a solid business plan. However, even with these characteristics, they are apprehensive about business blogging.

If I get an extended time to talk to them, I give them these 4 reasons why they would make a great blogger.

1. They’re well informed.

Many bloggers spout their own opinion without much practical experience to back up what they’re saying. However, business owners are different. They have the practical experience, the expertise, and the unique insights into their industry that the average blogger doesn’t have. So, what they say usually carries more value.

Think about this way. If a professional photographer and an amateur blogger both have a blog, which one will be more informative? Yes, there are some amateur photographers that know more than most pros, but those kind of amateurs are rare.

2. They’re passionate.

Passion is definitely a characteristic of successful bloggers and most business owners are passionate about their industry.

You can see this passion whenever they talk about their business and their industry. They love to talk about these things for hours. Also, you can see their passion in the long hours that they choose to work. Almost all the business people I know work more hours per week than the typical worker.

3. They’re good conversationalists.

I like what John Battelle says:

…your site needs to be a reflection of you. You’re a great conversationalist, or you wouldn’t be running a business.

With the internet being more social than ever before, blogging is more about starting or joining a conversation than just getting information out there. If you can start or join a conversation in real life about your industry, you can blog successfully for your business.

4. They don’t have to be experts in writing.

One of the most common misconceptions about business blogging is that you have to have serious writing chops or you won’t be successful. I’ve written about this before. Basically, you don’t have to be Shakespeare to make your blog a success. In fact, most of the popular bloggers would be long shots to win a writing contest.

Here’s the big principle:

If you can talk, you can write.

By and large, the internet is an informal communication channel. This means an authentic, conversational tone is going to work better than a formal, corporate tone. In fact, I bet that the top blogs in your industry are written in a conversational tone. So, pretend you’re speaking to someone as you blog, just write down your words, and you’ll be fine.

If you still don’t think you have the writing skill to succeed, you can hire an editor or a ghostwriter. Or you can record yourself speaking and then get your posts transcribed. Also, try voice recognition software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking. That works for many bloggers.

With 2009 right around the corner, it’s really time to start blogging if you haven’t already.

One of the things I’ve noticed is how blogging is getting more and more mainstream. Blogs are starting up where I least expected it. I work in a couple industries and know friends that work in other industries. One trend we’ve been seeing recently is the proliferation of blogs in industries that didn’t use to have a lot of blogs.

In social media and blogging, the first mover advantage is very real especially with blogging becoming the norm. If you’re one of the first ones in your niche to start blogging, you’ll probably earn a great reputation within your industry.

Blogging has changed the tech and political landscape. It will only be a matter of time until blogging affects all the other industries.

Also, you might think, it’s only the younger crowd that really does social media, but if you look at many of the blogs out there, a lot of them are written by people over 30 years old. Also, a quick check into Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter shows that many of the participants on those sites are also over 30 years old.

I believe in the next couple of years most online businesses will have blogs. Internet users are becoming more savvy. They are realizing that they can easily participate online instead of just consuming information. So, they’re creating blogs and joining social media sites. I think many online business owners are seeing this. They’re starting to realize that social media users are more likely to buy from companies that also join the social media movement.

I don’t have much experience in offline business, but I have a friend that consults and helps offline businesses. I like to pick his brain whenever I get the chance. One of the things that I’ve noticed in his business stories is how often the successful businesses are ones that are able to partner with other great businesses.

He told me of a wedding planner that was able to build her client base by exchanging referrals with a local wedding store that sold dresses and other wedding products. I love his story of the car salesman that partnered up with well-known local realtor to increase his sales.

He told me the main ingredient that makes these partnerships work is trust. And to build that trust, you have to have positive face to face interaction. Yes, you can get away without this interaction if you have a good referral. But even that referral is built through a face to face friendship.

Basically, it boils down to personal interaction.

So how can we apply this principle online? I mean, it can be difficult to interact with an online business person face to face.

This is where blogging can help a lot. If you have a blog, all a prospective partner has to do is check out your blog. By reading your blog, they should get a sense of the kind of person you are. Moreover, they can do it on their own time so you don’t have to inconvenience them with a scheduled meeting.

Let’s face it, people respond to other people whereas they ignore the impersonal, faceless company. A business blog is one of the best ways to put a “face” to your online business.

Therefore, if you want to partner with someone, make your offer and then point them to your blog. If they like what they see, they’ll partner with you.

Also, to make your blog more personal, write in a conversational tone and include pictures of yourself on your blog’s about page.

I know I talk a lot about the monetary benefit to blogging. Blogging can definitely help any online business make more sales and increase traffic. However, there are also non-monetary benefits.

I bring this up because a common thread with the business people I interact with seems to be their passion for their industry. They didn’t just go into business to make money. They wanted their business to be in a field they love. They wanted to enjoy their work.

Blogging adds to this enjoyment including getting positive feedback in emails from blog readers. After you blog for a couple of weeks and with a little bit of marketing, you’ll probably start getting emails from your readers. If you’ve been publishing great posts, many of these emails will be positive. Here is an email I just received from my Magic The Gathering (strategy card game) blog:

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you so much for this site! I have played magic for a while (previously) but am getting back into it after a rather long hiatus! I’m supposed to be going into a tournament on the weekend(lol I think it is a Pro Qualifier) and I had no idea before coming here. Seriously, I googled around and this site has all the strategy etc plus it has the neat effect of showing the card without having to go into another window or tab (which saves so much time!). Anyway, just wanted to give you some feedback on how great your site is!

These type of emails are very rewarding. They show that you’re on the right track. They motivate you to keep blogging. And not only that, you can actually interact with your readers in a personal way. This is great because running an online business can be an impersonal endeavor, since you’re not interacting with customers in a face-to-face basis. I like to ask readers who email me what future blog post topics they would be interested in.

Finally, make sure to put a link to your contact page in a prominent position so that your blog readers can easily contact you. The contact page link should be one of the most visible links on every page of your blog (and maybe even every page on your whole site).