Get Past That Imaginary Wall

Feeling stuck? Did you know that by adding a blog to your existing Web site, it can actually help make you a better, savvier business owner? I believe it can. Below are just a few ways that blogging not only helps you attract customers, but actually strengthens your business:

1. It Brings Out Your Human Voice

Remember back to the last time you wrote content for your Web site. Not for your blog, but for your home page or your list of services. Wasn’t it awful? It probably felt kind of awkward and you weren’t sure how to explain what you do without sounding like someone you’d never want to do business with in the first place. Blogging corrects this. It reminds you to talk to your customers in your human voice, not your corporate voice. In your blog, it’s easier (and necessary) to talk to your customers as if they were standing right in front of you. In the long-term, it becomes easier to keep this voice when creating all of your other marketing materials which, in the end, will make them more effective and relatable. No one likes reading marketing copy. They like talking to people they know and have a relationship with.

2. Puts The Focus Back On Your Customer

Any blogger worth their salt knows the conversation is not about you – it’s about your customer. Your blog is a space for you to provide value to them by answering their problems, talking about their issues, and helping them to understand the value in your company. By forcing you to put the focus back on your customer and not your company’s agenda, you become more aware of their needs. The more you’re able to think like your customers and address their problems, the more successful your business will become.

3. Blogging Emphasizes Story Telling

Blogging brings us back to the days of educating our customers through stories. We use blogs to share anecdotes to help customers relate to us, understand our values, and to make them part of our businesses. We share stories to help them understand important industry issues and how it impacts their life. By going back to the days of storytelling, we naturally become better marketers and are more successful in our attempt to attract, engage and convert a potential customer.

4. It Forces You To Listen To The Conversation Around You

One of my favorite aspects of blogging is that it connects you to a larger ecosystem and opens you up to different issues, topics, opinions, and news pieces you may not have seen otherwise. The result is that you become a more well-rounded business person who is involved in the community around them, caring about more than just their own bottom line. As customers see you as part of this larger ecosphere, they value your brand more and they trust you. It also makes you a better consultant because you’re aware of issues outside of just your own.

5. Get To Know Your Customers Better . . And By Name

As a consumer, one of the neat things I love about reading corporate blogs is that it introduces me that business on a more personal level. I get to learn about their values, I meet their staff, I get a backstage look at what they’re working on, etc. And that works both ways. As a blogging business owner, it also gives you direct access to your customers. You learn who is interested in what aspects of your business (which you can use to target offers in the future…), you can assign names and faces to orders, and you get a more intimate look at the people you’re targeting offers to. You’re then able to take this information back inside your business and use it to for more informed decisions. You can’t top that kind of market research.

So what do you think? Give me your comments and feedback below. And, oh, by the way, don't forget to tell a friend if you like what you see! xo

For more go to: smallbiztrends.com

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