Business blogs: The rules and rewards

In a time when many business owners are struggling to keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape – Google+, anyone? – writing a blog might seem decidedly old-school.

But think again. The last few years have seen a sharp rise in the number of blogs in Australia, with many written by business owners and executives seeking to influence, shift opinions and drive word-of-mouth for products and services.

A blog, which is best described as a frequently updated publication of personal thoughts uploaded to the web, can help a business stamp its authority on a particular industry and has the genuine ability to. Best of all, it costs nothing but time.

Some businesses have already built a strong following through their blogs.

These include gift ideas business RedBalloon, car marker Holden’s Tell Us Your Holden Story blog; Mr Minimovers, which was started by Mike O’Hagan, the founder and owner of moving firm MiniMovers and Problogger, one of Australia’s best-known business blogs written by Melbourne’s Darren Rowse about how to make blogging work.

But the Blog Designer’s Michael Halligan says that businesses need to understand where blogs fit in the overall marketing mix from the outset.

“In most cases, blogs are not about building sales, but supporting the rest of your brand and improving your connection with customers and fans,” Halligan says.

Is it for you?

If you’re trying to decide if blogging is right for your business, consider this. Nuffnang Australia, which connects bloggers with advertisers, has just released the results of its largest online blogging survey. It found that 89% of respondents are swayed by a blogger’s review of a product or service and want to go on to try it for themselves, which means that blogging can be a powerful marketing tool for a business.

Nuffnang country manager David Krupp says the survey demonstrates the power of blogs and how important they can be for a marketing campaign.

“Blogging is still relatively new in Australia.” Nuffnang has seen an explosion of new bloggers in the last three years, with 64% of respondents having only been blogging for less than three years.

“Many bloggers start a blog for self-satisfaction but quickly evolve this vision, hoping to become an expert or publicly recognised,” Krupp says.

So how do you get started? The experts agree that businesses shouldn’t be tempted to hide behind a company logo when launching a blog, saying blogging is about letting your customers get to know you and what makes you tick.

You also need to blog regularly.

Jim Stewart is behind Melbourne search engine optimisation (SEO) business Stew Art Media and has been running a blog on the topic for years. His blog offers tips and advice on SEO, which is religiously posted every Wednesday, helping him stamp his authority on his space. Google also rewards regular posters with a higher search engine ranking, he says.

“I’ve never missed a post, which is what keeps people coming back. Now, we are a resource that people go to.”

Krupp believes that businesses should be posting around once a week, agreeing that regularity is the key to garnering a dedicated following.

Successful bloggers

Blogging has worked so well for business woman Karalyn Brown that it’s the only form of marketing the careers consultant undertakes.

Her blog, www.interviewiq.com.au calls itself job hunting intelligence and has enabled her to build a strong niche in this space. A couple of her posts generate the most interest and enquiries, which she says are optimised for high Google rankings.

“So, in effect, is it a blog post or is it more traditional advertising? These posts give away a lot of information but still invite people to contact me for professional help,” Brown says.

“I think a blog demonstrates that you have expertise, rather than claiming it. And you can achieve almost all of your sales from a few posts if you are clever about what you write and invest in SEO.”

Brown says blogs are only a worthwhile pursuit if you’re passionate about your topic.

“You need to have some deep level of expertise you want to share and you can write in an engaging way. People are looking more for insight, than for information. That’s what Wikipedia is for.”

Nikki Parkinson is a fashion blogger at www.stylingyou.com.au and recommends blogging with a conversational tone and including content that lets your readers see a little into your life.

“Give them something that allows them to connect with you and they’re more likely to become ambassadors for your product or service,” Parkinson says.

But blogging does take dedication and you need to make sure you don’t wander off into unrelated territory.

Emily Doig blogs at www.socialmediadaily.com.au and also teaches businesses about the importance of blogging and how to create a strategy for their blogs.

“In order to maintain high quality, relevant content that people actually want to read, create content that is funny, awesome and different by planning in advance with a content strategy. This ensures that your content is interesting, relevant and fresh and that you are committed to your blog,” Doig says.

Stewart believes that blogs should also allow readers to post a comment, which encourages interaction.

“I reserve the right to publish the post, but I wouldn’t necessarily edit a comment.”

What about if a comment is negative?

“That’s fine, I’ve had public disagreements with readers on the comments section. Controversy also helps my blog get read by more people,” Stewart says.

However, not everyone is a proficient writer or has the time to blog. Stewart says it is possible to outsource the writing of a blog.

“Some people might feel intimidated or they just don’t have the time, so you should write down the pertinent points and get someone to write it for you. Just make sure you read it well and feel that it is a good representation of your thoughts before you post it.”

Promotion

Promoting your blog is crucial. Firstly, make sure it is linked to your website so visitors can click straight through to it.

Stewart is also a big believer in networking with other bloggers.

“Posting comments on other people’s blogs that links back to your blog is another good way to promote yourself,” he says.

Parkinson says social media and an email database are also crucial.

“Not everyone is going to read your posts by clicking to your site every day. They may be Facebook followers or they may hang out on Twitter more.”

An email newsletter that sums up all that you’ve blogged about over the week or month (and be consistent on when you send this out) can also direct people to your blog, Parkinson says.

Lots of Australian bloggers are finding it to be financially rewarding, including prolific Melbourne blogger Darren Rowse, who has been making a full-time living by writing on numerous niche topics since 2004.

While businesses should start a blog to promote their business by positioning themselves as an expert, Krupp says: “There are plenty of bloggers earning a very healthy part-time salary from blogging. Some earn enough to take a nice overseas holiday.”

But depending on your business, allowing Google to place ads on your site may not necessarily be in the best interests of your business, with the ads potentially coming from your competitors, which will dilute your branding.

Determining if blogging drives business

So how do you determine whether your blog is good for business?

Krupp says that analysing the raw data is the first indication of success, with blog software like Nuffnang, WordPress or Blogger offering metrics measurement.

For Stewart, he knew the blog was doing well when people started recommending it to others and he started getting requests for speaking engagements.

Brown suggests setting up an enquiry form specifically for each post or a unique email address at the end of the post.

“Obviously you can’t tell if that’s the only page people have visited before they decide to buy, however it’s a fairly strong indicator. I also look at Google analytics and my statistics page, which tells me how long people spend on the page, how they are finding that page, how many pages people visit, top ranking pages and so on,” Brown says.

And you never know who is following your blog.

Stewart reveals that a client with a budget of $250,000 found him on YouTube and was following his blog for several months before contacting him.

“That client alone was a huge coup for us, but it’s bought us lots of business over the years.”

About blog readers:

• 89% are swayed by a blogger’s review of a product or service and would like to try it for themselves.
• 89% make the purchasing decisions in their household and of these, 87% have learnt about a new product or service via a blog.
• 81% notice banner advertisements displayed next to the blogs they read.
• 90% pass on blog information to family and friends.
• 92% have used a search engine to find out more about a brand after reading about it on a blog post.
• 78% agree that blogs are a better source of information than traditional and mainstream media.

Source: Nuffnang online survey, July 2011

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