As we learned in an earlier post, inbound marketing connects you in a very social way to your customers/clients. Through engagement, you are building relationships and branding yourself or your company as a vehicle that is focused on delivering good information, solving issues and providing value to potential consumers.
A good way to achieve this is to start blogging. Through this medium, you can offer a lot to existing and potential customers/clients by writing about many topics related to your business.
Let’s once again use our fictitious friend Wyatt (from a previous post) as an example of how blogging can be used to further your business growth.
Wyatt works from home marketing pet products online. He’s developed a social media presence and now wants to create a blog for his customers so he can answer questions about the various products he markets, give tips on pet-related issues and provide what he hopes will be useful information for pet owners.
He also wants to invite vets to guest blog on his site and is eventually hoping to brand his blog as a valuable resource for all his readers.
Wyatt knows the value of doing your homework before you undertake any project so he’s already checked out a few blogging platforms to use. Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr are the most well known so he’s decided to use WordPress.
He has a friend who’s pretty adept at using this platform, so he’ll get a lot of guidance on the how to’s that encompass setting up his blog. He also knows that YouTube is a good resource to find trainings on, too.
He’s now in the process of completing his keyword research so he knows what people are searching for and after he finishes that, he’ll choose what domain he wants to use for his blog’s name.
NOTE: Many individuals want to use a cute or catchy name for their blog. If you’re thinking about developing it as a marketing tool, you’ll want to rethink your approach and go with a phrase that people are actually searching for so you can effectively use SEO campaigns.
Wyatt decides on “essential pet products” for his blog’s name and then gets the domain “essentialpetproducts.info”
Once he gets his blog finished, he’ll be able to follow through with his ideas for content. He’s in the process of developing a schedule for his postings and is starting to post about it on his social media sites.
He’s really excited about all the possibilities his new blog will open up for him and he anticipates a real growth spurt for his business as a result of this new inbound marketing tool.
You can follow the same steps as Wyatt for creating a blog for your own business.
Creating a plan is your first step in achieving success. Do your homework and proceed slowly so you’ll gain maximum results from your efforts.
Blogging takes time and patience — you’re probably not going to attract thousands of readers overnight. You will develop a following overtime if you deliver interesting and informative content that people like and take value from.
As you brand yourself as a trusted expert in your field, you’ll find that your readers will willingly suggest your blog to their friends and associates.
Hmmm, does word of mouth advertising spring to mind?
Think about the possibilities that can open up for your business as a result of your inbound marketing efforts!
David