Small Biz Survival: Top small business blogging questions answered

When I co-hosted BlogChat with Mack Collier a week ago, it was a great chance to answer the most-requested questions about small business blogging. I thought you might like to see those answers, too.

The biggest reason why a small business should be blogging is to respond to customers; answer their questions. If you answer customer questions on your blog, you save yourself lots of repetitive phone calls, etc.

Good small biz blog content draws in more searches, more potential customers.

Good blog content also helps you train new team members. They learn by reading your archives.

Good content builds relationships. A small biz blogger out of Tulsa shared with me how her blog readers call her up, already feeling a relationship.

Is every small business right for a blog?
Are there any small businesses that would NOT benefit from a blog? @JudyLeeDunn asked. I can't think of any. (Just read over those benefits again, and name a business that couldn't use at least one of them.)

Would a small biz benefit from a BAD blog? @judyleedunn asked. Well, they'd benefit in a small way, depending on how it was bad. But a good blog is NOT that hard. A GREAT blog, on the other hand, really can be HARD.

@FinditFlathead said, "and every business needs a blog!" I replied, "Only if they need customers!"

But what will customers say? How will we answer them?
@MackCollier asked about small businesses people who are afraid of how they would respond to customers online. Small businesses already know how to respond to customers. They do it every day in person, by phone, by email. Blog, too

I just don't have time to blog!
1) When it's important to you, you'll make time.

2) When you have it set up right, it doesn't take much time. (You can email in your posts, use audio if it's easier, post from your phone, etc.)

3) When you answer customer questions in advance, you SAVE time.

4) When you see real value coming back, you'll make EVEN MORE time to blog.

I'm no writer!
Write more than twice a week, even if you don't publish it. The extra practice makes you better.

@RicDragon said, "I have LOT of blog posts half finished that I return to every so often. They get richer." I do this, too. You never know how your writing "scraps" will become useful in the future. Keep them.

OK, how do I get started?
1. Write down every question a customer asks for 2 weeks.

2) Set aside time every day to write or record audio/video answers to those questions.

3) Don't worry too much about the platform. WHAT you say matters more than WHERE you say it.

4) Figure out what's easiest for you: text, audio or video. Experiment enough to find out, then use it.

5) Talk about them (customers) more than you talk about you (small biz).

Every blog platform out there will let you use your own URL. Do that. (Thanks @heidicohen for the reminder)

If your business has no website at all, your blog can be your whole website. I do this myself.

For any small biz, it's important to know WHY you're blogging. Write out a clear purpose. Get help, if you need it.

Connect up with other small business people who are just starting. Share ideas.

But what would I say? After I answer questions, I mean.
Start telling your business stories: founding, history, people.

Share your local ties, your community, other businesses that matter.

Share your supply chain. Who do you buy from? Sell to?

Be a social media mirror. Use your blog to reflect ideas from customers to other customers. I stole the "social media mirror" idea from Mark Harbeke

Your customers are all different: use a variety of lengths, emotion/logic, stories/fact, different media like audio and video.

@patrparkinson asked about using a simple photo or video as a post. I added that *with a good caption* a photo or video can be a fine post.

How is small business blogging different from big business blogging? I mean, I read a lot of blogging advice that seems to be written for big companies.?
There are fewer layers of authority between writing and publishing.

It is more personal in that it's direct, and can be more human.

Should company blogs be in first or third person? @GRTaylor2 asked, saying he liked to mix it up depending on the topic. I said, the larger the biz, the more important an individual voice becomes.

@joebugbuster made a good point: if you're a one person biz, there is no need for third-person posts on your blog!

Using an individual voice to personalize the big company is one of the@smalltownrules.

Come to think of it, would you use third-person when talking to a customer face-to-face??

Do you have a small business blogging question I didn't answer? Ask it in the comments.

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Source: http://www.smallbizsurvival.com/2013/01/top-small-business-blogging-questions.html

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