Why blogging is healthy for business

Bloggers know it. Google knows it. But, many businesses still have an unhealthy shyness about blogging. Mark Ford of Red Website Design even went so far as to say 'social media strategies will fail without one'. I agree. It is the lifeblood of all your business social media messages, and the greatest information archive easily available. So how do you get others on the blog bandwagon?

Consult a specialist

There is still a lot of stress around social media. How much time will it take? Where will I get the information? Who is going to manage it? All relevant questions. But, a blog can address all of them. Get your communications staff person or consultant to generate your blogs. Keep them short: 3 - 5 points (paragraphs). Incorporate 2 or 3 links. Use the blog information to feed your hungry social media sites – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. There, that's one stress factor under control.

Use standard planning

Blogging is most successful when integrated into your marketing strategy. Just plan for it, and, it will happen. Think media release, e-blast, advertising and social media—all rolled into one. Tools like Hootesuite mean you can manage what you say, which platform it goes on and when it goes live on just one site. It will become like any other daily task - reading emails, going to meetings, having a cappuccino. When it is part of your daily routine, you don't have to think about it - just do it. Another stress factor sorted.

Businesses use blogs in their web sites for their organizing and archiving abilities. Then they call it something other than a blog—something that suits their brand and their clients. I call it the 'big blog advantage'.

Business benefits from blogging

Ford lists nine reasons for blog success in social media strategies. If you are struggling to get your managers, team or self committed to a blog, here's motivation from Ford:

• Websites with blogs have 97% more inbound traffic.
• Majority of US consumers purchase based on blog posts, reading 5-10 per day.
• 70% of consumers learn about a company through their blog.

Now you can persuade others to join in. With your team of blog supporters behind you, you are no longer going it alone. Strength in numbers - and the numbers are there to prove it.

Blog and be happy - and see the healthy business benefits.