1. Last weekend, I spoke at a seminar on the topic of social
media and we spent some time on the subject of blogging.

2. Most people acknowledge the value of blogging, but have
a hard time committing to it. Yet blogs provide one of the
most tangible benefits across all customer and prospect
touchpoints; establishing leadership, insight, providing
value and fueling a company's unique brand in ways that
more traditional marketing methods can't (without taking
a lot of time and costing a lot of money). Why don't more
business owners and managers use blogging as a strategic
tool? Here is what I'm hearing and why you should do it
anyway:

3. I just don't have the time. Spending a few hours per
month is a small commitment when it comes to building
your brand and strengthening your client community.
Create some short cuts to build as you go. Keep a Word
document as an icon on your laptop that is quick and easy
to open. As the day progresses and you read something or
meet with someone, jot down a few thoughts on that doc.
If you have an iPhone there's a cool app called Note Taker.
You can actually jot down notes and store them. Either
way, you'll be creating a list of topics to choose from.
Gives you a running start. One blog per month is all you
need to get this going. Then, of course, you need to get
that blog noticed. That's for another day (or call me and I'll
help you with it).

4. I'm not a great writer. That's good news since effective
blogging is not about using perfect sentences and syntax.
It's talking to your community --- clients, prospects, and
other interested parties. The best blogs use natural
language. Blog the way you talk; go ahead and
ramble, then go back and make adjustments here and
there to clean it up. Have someone you respect look it
over before you post.

5. Not sure that it's useful in my industry. Unless you're with
the CIA, I can't think of a business whose communities
wouldn't benefit from shared information and insight.
Imagine you're having lunch with a colleague or a client.
An issue comes up that you happen to know a lot about.
So you start sharing your thoughts and advice. Write it
down. Good blogs can be as short at 100 words --- short
bits of advice or commentary on an issue that shares your
expertise and insight with your community (or a bunch of
colleagues at Starbuck's, same thing).

6. I don't want to start something I can't keep going. Good
point. Create a schedule you can live with. Go to
WordPress or Blogger and open an account. Shoot for just
1 blog per month. Don't start until you have 5-6 ideas on
tap. Put a reminder on your calendar for the middle of the
month, so that it doesn't jump up at you as soon as the
calendar changes months. Encourage others to contribute.
Set it up so that you can vet their content before it's
published.

7. So you've created a few blogs; now what? Embed them
right on your website. Link to your blog from Twitter or
LinkedIn. Use Mail Chimp or Constant Contact to turn your
blog into a newsletter that links to your website. Even if
you don't subscribe to them, add
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Digg and
StumbleUpon icons so that readers can share your blogs.

8. Need more reasons? Here's an article I ran across from
Businessgrow.com with 25 of them! http://bit.ly/AlD2ie.
Let me know what you think. Are you already blogging?
Let me know how I can help.

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