If you spend as much time talking to small business or professional service firms as I do, you probably get some of the same questions too. One of the most common is, “How can I use a blog as a small business owner?” Of course, we are assuming they know what a blog is in the first place.
Below are 44 ways a small business owner can use a blog.
Build Trust, Authority and Credibility
- Answer those common customer/client questions you get all the time
- Share your own opinion, insight and experiences in your particular niche or market place
- Give your readers links to other interesting post and articles you think they might find interesting
- Blow your own horn when you deserve it by showing your company featured on other sites or in the media
- Share content with your readers and customers that is great quality and relevant to what they are looking for
- Share information about your industry, even about your competitors
- Promote your competitors when they have both earned it and deserve it (this one should get some comments)
- Post video of you speaking at events and even share your slides with your readers
- Are you going to be speaking at an event, promote it in a blog post
- Be one of the first to break hot news that concerns your niche, market, industry or what your customers are talking about
Market Your Business or Firm
- Talk about what your mission statement is for your business
- Keep your readers informed about the events you or your business will be attending through out the year
- Reward your readers by offering discounts or other special offers just for them
- Talk about your business and those who work with you there
- Unless it is a trade secret, talk about what new stuff you have coming for your customers or clients
- Show a human side to your business, your customers will respect you for it
- Really discuss your business with your customers on a blog, who you are and why you do what you do
- Sow and harvest referrals from your blog
- Offer a way for your readers to subscribe to that brand spanking new newsletter and build that list
- Connect with your vendors and offer them a way to promote what they do
- Conduct a poll or survey to get your customers input
- Getting testimonials (you should be), use your blog to publish these testimonials
- Allow your customers to engage in the conversation by allowing comments
- Use a blog to direct traffic to that static website you may have for your business
- Share reviews of other products you know your customers use
- Admit and handle any complaints about your product or service (be proactive not reactive)
- Holding a contest, promote it on your blog
Listen to and Engage With Your Customers and Readers
- Allow comments on your blog but moderate them
- Encourage your readers to get involved in the conversation
- Answer comments and engage with your readers
- Really listen to what your readers are saying about you, your business and your product
- Use your blog for market research
- Write about what is working and not working for you and your products
- Write about what is working and not working for your customers
- Write about how your customers may be using your product in ways you did not even imagine
- Write about how your customers have provided input to you and you have used that to improve your product
- Ask your readers and/or customers for their opinion on your blog and listen to it
- Use your blog to announce holdups, mishaps or anything which may affect your business or product (proactive not reactive)
- Have your readers and/or customers guest post for you
Grow Your Online Presence and Network
- Put a link to your twitter account on your blog
- Include the twitter widget of your twitter stream
- Put a link to your Facebook Fan Page
- Include the widget for your Business’ Facebook Fan Page
- Put a link to your LinkedIn Public Profile
- Have a special page on your blog that your twitter followers find on your twitter profile.
- Ask your readers to follow you on twitter
This list is certainly not all of the ways a small business can use a blog. Please share your own so we can grow the list further.
