What is a Blog and how can it help your small business? -


According to Wikipedia:

“A blog is a website where entries are made in
journal style and displayed in a reverse
chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary on news or a
particular subject, such as food, politics, or local
news; some function as more personal online
diaries. A typical blog combines text, images
and links to other blogs, web pages, and other
media related to its topic. The ability for
readers to leave comments in an interactive
format is an important part of many blogs.

The term “blog” is derived from “Web
log.” “Blog” can also be used as a verb,
meaning to maintain or add content to a
blog.”

WHEW – that’s a mouthful. To put it simply, a
blog is an online journal and can be about any
topic that you want to write on: from marketing
to gardening to weight loss to new business
techniques.

In the business world, blogs are a great way to
market your business by generating traffic to
your website. My blog is going live this week
and contains:

* articles I’ve written
* questions and answers from clients and ezine
subscribers
* small business challenges and resolutions
* links to F*REE reports and other resources

If you don’t yet have a website, a blog can be a
great substitute as it allows you to have an
online presence for no or low cost while keeping
in touch with your target market.

Here’s a quick rundown on the major differences
between websites and blogs:

Websites

* Time-intensive (if you are not very technically
inclined and do yourself) or expensive if you
need to hire someone to start up

* Time-delay in reaching your prospective
clients/readers. They can read your information
today and then must call or email with any
questions or comment

* Will be easy or difficult to update/change
information – dependent on your technical skills
and your site management

* Hosting cost

* Not usually updated frequently

Blogs

* Can have one up and running in 15
minutes

* Clients can immediately post replies to your
blog and, just as importantly, they can see what
others have written

* Adding a new post takes only as much time
as it takes you to write it

* Depending on which blog entity you select,
blogging can be free

* Typically updated at least once a week, can be as much as several times a day depending on the topic and author

There are several different companies you can
select in creating your own blog. The most
popular include:

Blogger.com: (http://www.blogger.com) Owned by Google,
Blogger is free and quickly indexed by the
Google search engine bots (a.k.a. “spiders”) so
you can appear in the Google Search Rankings
within 48 hours of creating your blog.
Unfortunately, you can’t do as much with
customizing the look of your blog as with other companies.

Wordpress.com: (http://www.wordpress.com) Wordpress is an
incredibly powerful and user friendly system (and
the one I’ve chosen for myself -- http://www.Online-Biz-Coach.com) which allows you to easily host your blog on their site free of
charge or, you can install their software and host
your blog on your own site. Wordpress allows
for customization of your blog so it can reflect
your marketing brand.

Typepad.com: (http://www.typepad.com) Typepad offers a f*ree
30 day trial period and otherwise costs as little
as $4.95/month for their Basic version and
$14.95/month for their Pro version. Like
Wordpress, you can start with one of their
templates and customize it as you grow. They
pride themselves on loving their customers and
having a great support system in place should
you need it.

Each of the above allows you to have a blog up
and running within 15 minutes, link to other
websites, maintain archives, post pictures,
etc.

If you need an online presence or need
to generate more traffic, get your blog up and
running today! What are you waiting for?

Online Business Coach & Entrepreneur, Sandra Martini teaches small business owners how to create more success in their business while maintaining their sanity and having fun. Sandra's coaching programs are available via teleconferencing, emails and telephone calls. For more information and to receive the FREE special report, “7 Wealth-Building Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs”, go to http://www.Online-Biz-Coach.com.