Friday, April 06, 2007
Business blogs: Small business secret weapon
Business blogs are a secret weapon for the small business owner. While perhaps not as dramatic as some of the high tech toys, employed by Batman or Wonder Woman style superheroes, a blog can provide an even greater impact. The power of a business blog is global in scope, providing unlimited power that would even make Superman raise an eyebrow.
A blog provides global reach for your independent business. In the past, a startup entrepreneur was confined by geography and limited cashflow to a very localized area. In countless cases, that small trading field was insufficient to develop a viable customer base. Opportunites for minor niche markets were simply not possible. If not enough potential customers and clients were within easy travelling distance of the company location, the business failed from lack of revenue.
The introduction of the internet removed those distance barriers with the click of a mouse. Entrepreneurs began to add an online component to their business, with an eye to adding sales from the world wide web. All too often, the mere act of activating a website was the end of the internet activity. Dreams of building an internet presence, and seeing customers surf magically to the site, were soon dashed into bits and bytes. Many entrepreneurs realized immediately that marketing was required in the virtual online world. That not so startling epiphany never happened for all budding internet marketers, however.
One of the most frequently met reasons, for not adding an online marketing component, is a lack of funds. When cash is tight, all too often the crucial marketing function is the first item on the chopping block. The results are usually a self fulfilling prophecy. Instead of surrendering to the failure loving forces of the Dark Side, it's time for taking positive action. The powerful marketing secret weapon for a cash short business is the business blog.
The business blog is the great equalizer for small business. With a blog, and its built in search engine optimization ranking power, the lone entrepreneur can compete on a level playing field with the giant corporations. Business blogs put the independent company into the global marketplace as real people. By building trust, through personalization and relationship development, the small business blogger can win the international market for their product or service. Prior to the advent of blogging, this competitive advantage didn't exist.
Blogging has provided the entrepreneur with the unique opportunity to be indistinguishable from a major corporation. By combining a blog component with a professional website, the small business looks identical to the large company. With the personal approach provided by the business blog, the small business person can even attract more online market share than the enormous competitor. The secret weapon is the creating and nurturing of an ongoing relationship with current and prospective customers.
By taking advantage of the secret weapon of the internet, known as the business blog, your entrepreneurial business can be an online superhero.
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Nice article, as ever!
It's certainly a great secret weapon for small businesses, but I get the impression that many still worry whether they have enough ammunition to use it effectively.
I think that we both agree that they shouldn't worry. The small businesses that I see talk to their customers all day long and are highly expert in their area - all they need to do is translate that into the written medium that is a business blog and talk with many people at once rather than individually.
It's certainly a great secret weapon for small businesses, but I get the impression that many still worry whether they have enough ammunition to use it effectively.
I think that we both agree that they shouldn't worry. The small businesses that I see talk to their customers all day long and are highly expert in their area - all they need to do is translate that into the written medium that is a business blog and talk with many people at once rather than individually.
Business blogging totally is a secret weapon and has to be used wisely. Blogging by definition creates a log of information for anyone to find out more about your company which is extremely valuable but can also inadvertantly disclose information the business may not want to reveal to certain parties.
Also a blog almost acts like a news feed regardless of whether it discusses new about the company. If a business blog is not given a regular stream of new posts the public might get the impression that the company doesn't get enough action, or from the opposite angle, too much posting could result in (as mentioned above) over informing.
On the Ekaweeka site blog I try to post at least 3-4 times per week about relevant topics, still to stay consistent with the site some posts are more silly then others. Ekaweeka is a light hearted community of small businesses for the most part and so I try to not get too serious while still providing useful information.
If I want to blog about other stuff I do it elsewhere - knowing full well that anyone doing background checking can see those posts.
Also a blog almost acts like a news feed regardless of whether it discusses new about the company. If a business blog is not given a regular stream of new posts the public might get the impression that the company doesn't get enough action, or from the opposite angle, too much posting could result in (as mentioned above) over informing.
On the Ekaweeka site blog I try to post at least 3-4 times per week about relevant topics, still to stay consistent with the site some posts are more silly then others. Ekaweeka is a light hearted community of small businesses for the most part and so I try to not get too serious while still providing useful information.
If I want to blog about other stuff I do it elsewhere - knowing full well that anyone doing background checking can see those posts.
You know I also agree with Mark and Thomas. The small business blog is here to stay.
dont under estimate the power of the many small bloggers out there, the small sites of today may turn out to be the site you seek tomorrow.
my friend lauched his small business blog for new zealand a few days ago. small business blogs for a geograpchical niche area have a greater chance of success becuase the information is more relevant and researched. have a look at www.businessblog.co.nz for NZ business information.
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dont under estimate the power of the many small bloggers out there, the small sites of today may turn out to be the site you seek tomorrow.
my friend lauched his small business blog for new zealand a few days ago. small business blogs for a geograpchical niche area have a greater chance of success becuase the information is more relevant and researched. have a look at www.businessblog.co.nz for NZ business information.
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