FireStarter: Blogs ARE Changing Business NOW

Blogs ARE Changing Business NOW

Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. You can either catch up...or catch you later. Unfortunately it can't wait...

Sorry it can't wait. Most of you are probably sick to death of hearing about blogs, remember when we told you to start getting a website. Well that's evolution for you. Just as you got used to swimming in the river you are now having to grow legs and try strolling around on the land. Give it a go, its pretty cool.

You know these millions of online journals link together into a vast free marketing (FREE! Got your attention now?) and information network? And yes, there's plenty out there not to like. Self-obsession, politics of hate, and the same hunger for fame that has people lining up to trade punches on The Jerry Springer Show. Name just about anything that's sick in our society today, and it's on parade in the blogs. On lots of them and yep, even the writing stinks on many of them.

You can't afford not to...

However, you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they're shaking up just about every business -- including yours. It doesn't matter whether you're shipping paper clips, pork pies, or videos of Burkes Backyard, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate. Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They're a prerequisite. (that goes for us, too.)

Some discuss poetry, others Australian law. And, yes, many are plain silly. "The spiders in my brain tell me to morris dance," reads one posting. Let's assume that 99.9% are equally off point. So what? That leaves some 40 new ones every day that could be talking about your business, engaging your employees, or leaking those corporate discussions you thought were hush-hush.

Give the paranoids their due. The overwhelming majority of the information the world spews out every day is digital -- photos from camera phones, keynote presentations, government filings, billions and billions of e-mails, even digital phone messages. With a couple of clicks, every one of these items can be broadcast into the blogosphere by anyone with an Internet hookup -- or even a mobile phone. If it's scandalous, a poisonous e-mail from a CEO, for example, or torture pictures from a prison camp, others link to it in a flash.

Here's the killer: Blog posts linger on the Web forever.

Yet not all the news is scary. Ideas circulate at the speed of gossip. Potential customers are out there, sniffing around for deals, information and partners. While you may be putting it off, you can bet that your competitors are exploring ways to harvest new ideas from blogs, sprinkle ads into them, and yes, find out what you and other competitors are up to.

Here's the "just give it go and stop the whining" guide to starting your business blog.

Identify your audience - it's the basic precept for any marketing venture and same goes for your blog. Target your audience and decide what is going to make them read and write. Ask yourself, What's not being covered in your industry well by anyone else? Whats your angle, your unique approach? Why are they going to read it? Answer those and you'll have something relevant, engaging and worth ten minutes of your targets time.

Decide where your blog should live - Best if you can attach it to your site, nice short stroll to your product and service descriptions, web store and web forms. You can create a blogger account, use WordPress or even easier use live spaces.

Start talking - Bringing your blog to life is less painful than you think and requires nothing more than 100 to 500 words per entry. Put your thoughts, observations and inspirations into a fresh lively take that brings new interest, discussion and yes even a little controversy into your industry. If you start spouting on about how great you are and cranking out marketing bile, guess what, people get that every day and are not about to waste their time specifically reading yours. Get up to speed by reading other blogs, offer your viewpoint there, start interacting and it will happen on yours too.

Get into "blogrolling" - Getting regular visitors to your site isn't just a matter of fresh, insightful commentary. Building traffic between blogs is another central element to luring repeat visitors. Here, "blogrolling" is the power pill for your blog. It's just a set of links on your blog site that identifies other sites on the Internet - related to your business, industry or expertise that you find invaluable. Developed in conjunction with a fresh voice, blogrolling encourages a steady back and forth between various sites, including other blogs. Write about other bloggers, what they are writing and they will link to you also and popularity rises quicker than a quick stint in Aussie Idol.

Mind your keywords - Search engine traffic will generate hits for your blog so be mindful of what you are talking about and the specific keywords and phrases you use. One strategy to attract search engine interest is through careful use of keywords in both your headlines and blog copy. If your topic focuses on marketing a business overseas, use of the words "marketing" and "overseas" as often as possible and used in varied combinations can help push your blog site toward the head of the search engine line. Stay on one topic, so your content is focused on keywords. Don't forget to link to blogs on the subject.

Keep it fresh - Don't follow the crowd, don't let it get stale or your traffic will follow the same path. If readers return they need to see action! The best blogs are well linked, full of short to the point articles. Be ruthlessly persistent in recording topics you can make brief and interesting comment on and dedicate 20 minutes a day to it, its like a business diary, so what did you get up to today and what made you laugh, cry or throw your hands in the air. How is it relevant?

Watch your traffic closely - Expand your topic, don't feel trapped or trap yourself into a niche topic your are likely to run out of content for. Check your traffic, if it slows get radical, be controversial and in an industries face and stir the pot. Please don't be offensive and know when "turn off" the mike!

Are you serious?

If you are serious about marketing your business online, call Kevan at FireStarter on 1300 13 89 31 and convince him you are a serious business owner and he will show you how to take your business into a whole new world of opportunities!

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