I’m happy to have another guest post by best selling author Corey Perlman to share with you. Today Corey delves into many virtues of using your blog to attract and retain customers. Take it away Corey…
I already know something very unique about every single person who is reading this article. No, I’m not channeling David Blaine or spending too much time watching reruns of Mind Freak, I just know each and every one of you is an expert on at least one topic in his or her field.
I also know that you have a massive audience via the World Wide Web that is eager to hear what you have to say. Regardless of your profession, you have information that we need and that’s what makes it valuable.
Let’s use a dentist or dental hygienist as an example. They know how to keep our teeth healthy and pearly white. If they provided that information free of charge, wouldn’t you read it? I know I would – especially with that candy jar sitting outside of my office.
What if you were in the market for a new home and a real estate agent gave you free tips on how to negotiate when buying a new home? I bet many new home buyers would be first in line to gobble that information up. And I could go on and on with other examples.
Channel Your Expertise
The point is everyone has valuable information to share with the public and the Internet has provided a vehicle to get your message out to the masses quickly and effectively. That vehicle is called a blog (or web log or online journal for us non-techies out there) and it is a web page where you can publish content for others to read and comment on. Blogs are easy to use and you can set one up absolutely free. Isn’t the Internet great!
My blogging site of choice is www.blogger.com and I like them for two reasons. First, it’s very user friendly and perfect for the beginner blogger. And most importantly, it’s owned by a company you may have heard of called Google!
Chorus of Readers: Why do we care that it’s owned by Google?
Corey: Great question readers!
Take Advantage of Search Engines
As I touched on earlier, a blog is a Web page and a Web page can be ranked in search engines such as Google. In fact, blogs are very popular with the search engines because they like content heavy web pages and blogs are simply loaded with content.
So if you are looking to increase your overall presence on the largest search engine in the world, why not use the blogging tool that they own.
Content is Key
Chorus of Readers: I like it! But I’m still not sure what I should write about.
“If you provide value, they will come.” Ok, so Kevin Costner I am not, but the message is still the same. Give high value content in your blog posts and you will begin to gain a following. And the exciting part is people will come back again and again as they will have become addicted to your content.
Value First – Sell Second
Chorus of Readers: Ok, but where’s the new customers and repeat business come from?
I thought you’d never ask. Once you have people reading your blog and gaining value, you can softly sell your products or services without offending your audience. So my philosophy is provide value first, sell second.
My world is Internet marketing, so I might write a post in my blog about how to rank high in Google and then my next post might be an invitation to one of my workshops. And they won’t be put off by my self promotion because I sell rarely and provide value often.
Chorus of Readers: Ok, we have work to do, any final words?
Remember Two Things
I will leave you with the two most important things to remember when creating content in blogs. First, what words are people searching for on Google that you’d love to have your Blog appear at the top of the page? Use those words over and over again when writing in your blog. Search engines evaluate frequency when determining where to rank web pages on their site. Finally, always remember to Hurl Your URL! That simple means to provide a link on your blog to your main Website so people can easily go there for more information about you or your company.
Chorus of Readers: This is great! By the way, who are you?
Corey Perlman is the author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business. The book provides easy-to-do strategies and techniques to help you market your business on the Web. It covers topics such as social networking sites, Web site optimization, online articles and press releases, video marketing, and much more. To learn more about eBoot Camp or to purchase a copy, go to www.ebootcampbook.com.
Photo Credit: Mexicanwave
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree that Blogging can lead to some great client introductions. The most pivotal part is balancing what you write for the search engines and what you write for your readers. There needs to be a balance b/c writing for search engines is boring copy (usually). The compelling copy comes from story telling and personal relationship building, something that SERPS haven’t caught up to yet.
The 2nd major factor is the off page stuff that overwhelms most small business owners looking to jump into blogging as client building. The business owners that take your advice and get out there and devote time, energy and resources to building great content will reap the rewards. Great stuff!
@Greg
You bring up a great point, and I couldn’t agree more. Don’t write just for search engines, write great content and the search engines will come to you. You’ll also build more of a community if you tell those stories, and personalize the copy than you will if you solely focus on search engines.
Thanks for coming by,
Matt
I agree that the value has to be there. As well, make an attempt to stand apart a little bit from the throng. If you’ve chosen a niche that you are passionate about, this will come easy.
Great guest post. Bravo!
Cheers
George
Hi interesting post! I’m actually toying with the idea of going into business helping small businesses start blogs.
I disagree with you about using blogger though, I think a wordpress blog isn’t that much harder to set up and looks more professional. From what I hear, there is no difference at all between search engine rankings between wordpress and blogger blogs.
That said, I totally agree with you that small businesses need to set up an online presence and a blog is an excellent opportunity to gain customers and retain them by offering something of value. It shocks me how many businesses in this day and age don’t even have a site with their hours on it!
For beginnings, Blogger might be a good way to learn how to write a blog post, but if someone is setting up a business they should have their own domain name. Tracy is right that WordPress is easy to use and is optimized well for search traffic.
Owning your own domain name actually has search engine benefits that Blogger doesn’t provide despite being owned by Google. I’ve set up hundreds of blogs and I can’t think of a time when I’ve seen a Blogger blog outperform a blog that I set up with WordPress on a standalone domain. I’m sold on WordPress and owning your own real estate.
I believe that blogging can get you a job in a tough job market and create opportunities you may not have had other wise. I have landed two jobs through my blog alone. Though I am interested in internet marketing I believe this is a great way to showcase your skills.
The first thing I was taught was to blog. Then as I read I have learned comments are just as important as the blog itself. By commenting, then getting creative, I have landed an interview with a newspaper for an article, a job, and other good things.
Content is king and when you have great content and others believe in you than doors open.