Does Your Small Business Need a

It seems as if everyone has one, and experts say they're a great marketing tool. But is the time commitment worth it? I own a small service firm, and I've been advised to create a blog as a marketing tool. What are the pros and cons of this new medium, and how would I get started?—

There's no doubt about it, blogs are hot. With their interactivity and their ability to position even micro-business owners as niche experts, blogs are the "it" marketing trend (see BW Online, 5/22/06, "Into the Wild Blog Yonder"). There are more than 39 million blogs in existence and 75,000 new blogs being created every day, according to Technorati, a resource Web site with a search engine that covers the universe of blogs, known as the blogosphere (see BW Online, 4/18/06, "Blogs Multiply. Our Heads Explode").

Some definitions for the uninitiated: A blog (the term comes from a slurring of the phrase "web log") is an online journal. The blog owner regularly posts journal entries, usually fairly short essays including links to relevant information, that readers can react to in a comments section. Additional readers comment on the comments, and the blog owner may or may not weigh in with some follow-up thoughts.

In a real sense, a blog is like an ongoing conversation led and shaped by the blogger. This is in contrast to a newsletter or static Web site that conveys one-way information. Bloggers write about anything and everything, from the personal to the professional, and the successful ones attract loyal communities of readers (see BW Online, Fall/2005, "Blogging For Fun And Profit ").

THE REAL YOU. Business owners sometimes establish blogs alongside their existing Web sites, but blogs can also substitute for Web sites, says author and blogger Patricia Gundry. "A blog will give you a Web presence that is much more reader- and user-friendly than any ordinary Web site can be. It will also be much less expensive for you to create and maintain," she says. "It will do almost everything a regular Web site can do, and more, and one of the best things is that it can create a more personal relationship with your customer."

Blogger Susan Kitchens, a technical writer, agrees: "It's a way of sharing yourself as yourself -- a human, not a marketing droid. You establish trust and build a relationship with an audience." As a blog catches on, it can develop a wider audience and potential customer base for your business. But first you must have something to say. What are the issues surrounding your business that are worth discussing? "If yours is a swiftly-changing business -- like technology -- then your blog can follow the trends," Kitchens notes.

A business blogger could also review industry-specific books, conferences, and organizations and point out relevant articles and Web sites -- a service that engenders gratitude and loyalty. "The more you send them away, the more they come back," Kitchens says (see BW Online, 4/14/06, "Want to Keep Customers? Set Them Free").

TIME INVESTMENT. Josh Hallett, a business consultant who specializes in blogs, says that small-business owners can benefit from the fact that blogging has a low entry barrier in terms of technology and cost. "There are plenty of free and low-cost blogging tools, and publishing is very easy," he says.

Many of his clients start off establishing their own simple blogs, he says, and quickly recognize their potential as marketing vehicles. That's when they contact him and invest a small amount of money to take their blogs to the next level in terms of professional appearance and content.

What are some of the drawbacks to blogging? The major one is time. Blogs must be updated frequently -- several times a week, if not daily or even several times a day -- in order to hold readers' attention. "Depending on the situation, small-business owners either have [no time] because they're constantly working on their businesses, or it's the only resource they have since there are no hard dollars associated with it," Hallett says.

KEEPING SECRETS. Chellie Campbell, an author and financial management consultant, does not blog primarily because of the time commitment involved. "I'm already failing the time-management portion of my own seminar," she says. "I don't need another daily, time-consuming 'to-do' every day. I have a monthly e-zine which I think is enough." She also wonders who has time to read blogs, especially those aimed at other small-business owners. "I can't even read all the monthly newsletters I get, let alone everyone's daily blog," she comments.

Campbell has another objection to blogging that many service providers may share: "Giving free samples is great in small doses, but small-business owners need to watch the bottom line, too. The temptation is that we love our work so much and so enjoy helping people that we can make the mistake of giving it all away for free," she says.

PROFESSIONAL TOOLS. In deciding whether to start a blog, you should also consider your market, Hallett says. "If you are trying to market only in a finite geographical area, then you need to consider how 'bloggy' that area is," he notes. "For example, many of the major markets in Florida have very few bloggers as compared to major urban centers." Not a good thing, he says, since there will be few local blogs for you to link to and interact with.

If you decide to start a blog, you'll probably have to deal with naysayers who don't understand the concept, Gundry says. "They think [blogs] are mostly online journals where people talk about their dogs and their knitting. They aren't. Blogs are the means by which businesses keep contact with their customers, professors with their students, specialists with their field of expertise, and much, much more."

Once you determine blogging makes sense for your small business, here's how to get started (MAY 18, 2006)

A small business which decides to enter the blogosphere should set specific goals and expectations up front. For instance, a goal might be to bring customers into a discussion about your company's products and use their feedback to inform your development efforts. Your expectations for the project might be to expand your online presence and enhance your site's status in search engines.

"A blog can be a great part of your marketing effort, but it should be planned appropriately with strategy in place," says Ruth Bielobocky, president of Ion Design, a design and branding consultancy based in Frederick, Md. "A blog should position you as an expert and demonstrate your experience. But don't forget the true needs of your target audience. If the information from the blog doesn't directly help them solve a problem or address their wants and needs, it will not work."

Once you've got an idea of what you want to accomplish with your blog, read other peoples' blogs and get a handle on what they're doing, advises James Governor, a technology analyst with Denver-based RedMonk. Reading blogs within your industry will give you a sense of what niches are underserved and will help get your own creative juices flowing so you can write authoritatively when it's your turn.

ONE TRUE VOICE. "One other reason to read blogs, particularly those with an active readership, is that other bloggers are your best friends, from a readership perspective," Governor says. "Initiate conversations with other bloggers by commenting on their blog entries. When you set up your own blog, [they will be] more likely to link to you, and send their readers...your way to check out what you're doing." His blog, redmonk.com, has helped position his consultancy as a place to find savvy advice on technology issues, he says.

You'll want to find someone in your company who's willing to blog regularly, under their real identity and with an authentic voice, says Jeneane Sessum, a communications and social-media consultant. "The role of corporate blogger can be filled by a passionate employee...or [through] a concerted effort that encourages all employees to blog...or it can be the CEO, the development team, or the courier," Sessum says.

And you'll want to be sure that your blogger has something personal and interesting to write about. "If small businesses are thinking of reiterating internal news or press releases on the company blog, they would do well to save their energy and avoid the wrath of the commenters who have been known to swarm on lame entrants into the blogosphere," she warns.

GETTING HELP. Small companies that have formed alliances with other businesses could launch joint blogs that would help them share the work with others and deliver more interesting content to their readers, Bielobocky suggests. "An interior designer, furniture store, and painting company could form a blog to share current trends in their industries and cross-promote each other. [Just make sure] all parties are equally dedicated to the effort," she says.

Contact your Web master or Web-site designer if you want to add a blog to your existing Web site, suggests Rex Hammock, who owns 25-employee Hammock Publishing in Nashville and has been blogging for six years.

If you would like to start a standalone blog or one that links to your Web site, "there are some very inexpensive, even free, Web log platforms. If you don't know where to start, go with one of the big names, [such as] Yahoo! Small Business. I also like the open-source platform WordPress, and host my company's Web log on a server running it. Also, for experimenting with a blog, there's nothing more simple than setting up one on Blogger.com, operated by Google (GOOG)," Hammock says.

TECHIE TIME. Susan Kitchens, a technical writer and blogger, cautions that some of the free blogging platforms have begun to attract spam blogs, known as (what else?) "splogs." "Because of the ways that blogs work for getting links and [search-engine] ranking, there's a whole underbelly of fake blogs that will use certain Web log features to post comments or trackbacks on your blog. The upshot is that the ills of e-mail spam are repeated for the blog," she says.

Most blogging software is set up to include your blog in search engines like Google. You may also want to use a "tagging" service, such as that provided by Technorati.com, to help advertise your blog, Governor suggests. "A tag is basically a label you give your blog -- say 'professional services.' Anyone who uses Technorati and has subscribed to that tag will receive a notification of your new blog entry on that subject," he says.

While it gets a tad more technical, Hammock recommends that you also encourage your customers to subscribe to your blog's RSS feed. "It's one of the few techie things I encourage even my most un-techie small-business friends to learn about," he says.

Some additional resources: Blogging evangelist Andy Wibbels has written a book, Blogwild, focused on small-business blogging. He also sells an e-course on blogging, called easybakeblogs, that walks clients through setting up a blog using TypePad.com. Governor's company has put some how-to guides up on its Web site, including advice on how to get started reading blogs, and easy-to-follow graphic instructions for how to set up a blog.

Many early blogs focused on technology and the ubiquitous "this-is-my-life" blog produced by teens and adults; an intermediate wave focused on news, politics, and the Iraq conflict; more recently, the hottest blogs are business blogs. Why do businesses want to participate in a medium that is commonly perceived to be the stomping ground of narcissists, egomaniacs, and children?

Your company may already have a Web site. You may even have some great mechanisms in place for sharing company news or handling customer support. What makes what you're already doing different from a blog? Three words: writing, updating, and dialogue.

The biggest strength of blogs is in establishing dialogue with readers. For that dialogue to be successful, you need a blogger whose style, personality, and knowledge meet the needs of the audience.

Keeping the writing in your blog short, to the point, and useful. You don't need to finely craft every word; in fact, levity and a casual, friendly style can serve you well.

Blog writing is all about openness, honesty, and information. Blog writing isn't formal, so keep the tone conversational and personal. A blog is not the place for business jargon or marketing propaganda.

Most blogs are organized reverse-chronologically for a reason — it's so you can't miss the latest post. The blogging format lives and dies on current information.

Current doesn't mean every couple of weeks. Current means posting often, even multiple times daily if you can swing it. Many bloggers post several times a day; most post at least a few times a week.