Sarah Von Bargen Small Business Blog Making you awesome on the internet! Page 13

So let’s say I’m in the market for a life coach or GRE tutor or web designer.

I go a’googling and happen up the website of someone who looks like a perfect fit. Her portfolio is great! Her references look good! And she looks super friendly and sweet in her headshots. I click the blog tab in her menu bar and this is what I see:

Three blog posts. One from 2009. One from 2011. And one from two months ago.

Now, I might be a hard ass (spoiler alert: I totally am) but this Does Not Impress Me. Why, fortheloveofpete, am I going to give my hard earned money to someone who doesn’t have their act together enough to update their blog regularly? Or doesn’t take enough pride in their online space to delete an outdated blog? Why would I trust someone with my mind/GRE score/website when they can’t even be trusted to handle a blog?

I wouldn’t. So I move on to someone else.

Of course, one could argue that a super successful, super busy life coach/ GRE tutor/ web designer might be too busy to update their blog. But have you met Nubby Twiglet? Or Marie Forleo? Or Danielle LaPorte? Girlfriends are buuuuuusy with client work and consulting but they manage to keep their blogs updated on the regular.

And if you really, actually don’t have time to update your blog? Or you find it to be an unpleasant chore? Delegate it to an intern/VA/consultant (*cough*me*cough*). Or delete it! There are plenty of other ways to connect with clients and customers and peers.

How often do you update your business’s blog? And if you don’t, what’s your excuse?

social media buttons by twenty three oh one

Everyone and their sister has told you that you need a blog/twitter/facebook/instagram/everything ever for your business. And while it is, in fact, possible to be a successful business or entrepreneur without those, it sure is nice to have thousands of potential customers and clients interacting with you online, enjoying your cat photos and clever status updates, no?

Need a bit more convincing? Here are five nearly un-ignorable reasons that you should start a blog for your business.

1) You can establish yourself as an expert
True story time: I once spent a summer writing for a leading women’s magazine. When we needed experts to weigh in on a topic? We’d literally Google “relationship expert [city name]” or “interior designers [city name].” And then we’d paw through their online lives and if they were active online and could string a few grammatically correct sentences together, we’d email them and request a pull quote on our topic. National press coverage = achieved. Wouldn’t you like to get some national press coverage?

2) Up Your SEO
Search Engine Optimization (how your site and business ranks in search engines) need not be be the stuff of headaches. When you write about your area of expertise (and when people link to your posts) you move up the search rankings. If you just have a static website for your graphic design business in New York, you’ll be buried deep on page 23. But if you’ve got 25 blog posts about the ins and outs of the graphic design world, you’re much more likely to be closer to the top of the pile. It makes sense, right? The more searchable content there is about you and your business, the more people are going to find you. And then buy your awesome jewelry/services/hand-knitted cat sweaters.

3) Make new connections
Is it painfully hippie dippie to say that blogging for your business shouldn’t just be about making money and finding new customers? You can also connect with professional peers, mentors and mentees, companies that can provide you with make-your-life-easier products, vendors and heaps of new friends. When you interview people for your blog, interact with people on twitter, link to other bloggers, and host guest posts you’re strengthening your professional network and, really, you’re just being nice. Which is sort of more important.

4) Create buzz for new products and services
Launching a new line of jewelry? Spend the month before you launch writing about the process, your inspiration, the resources you used, and posting teaser photos or videos. Send out promotional samples to bloggers you think would enjoy them. Easy peasy!

5) Connect with new clients and customers (Dur.)
Well, obviously. OBVIOUSLY. When people like your product or brand (or you) they want to know more about it. And someone who’s reading your blog is about a million times more likely to buy your new products, purchase something on sale, spread the word about your work, and become a repeat buyer. When you create great, google-able content (“How to wear layers under a dress” for a fashion label or “What to pack for Hawaii” for a travel agency) people who don’t know about you and your products will find you. And if you’re lucky, they’ll stay around for awhile browsing all your great content. And then buy something.

Does your business have a blog? What good things have happened to you because of your blog?