Is your blog really going to win you business?
I talk to a lot of business owners who are sceptical about the role of blogging in their marketing mix. Just like many social networking tools, they see it as a huge time drain, they wonder what on earth they’ll write about, and they wonder who will read it!
I’ve been blogging for 2 1/2 years now and I can categorically say that I would not be without it. It’s helped me build relationships, get slightly famous, demonstrate my expertise and showcase our skills. And yes, I have won plenty of business as a direct result of it. But it hasn’t been easy, and I’ve learned lots along the way. I’ll be sharing my top tips on how to get your blog winning you more business in a future post, but let’s just assert for now that blogging will win you business, if you do it in the right way.
Let me share an example with you.
I’ve been blogging a lot recently about some of the work we’ve done for Matt Pereira. My post on his exhibition stand was particularly popular, and his blog redesign was a hit too (it was tweeted a bit more than that but since I changed my permalinks I lost all the tweet stats!). Now I blogged about this for no other reason than the fact I was proud of it. There was no agenda, no sinister motivation. If we’ve done some work that I love, then I’ll put it on the blog if I have time.
I was pretty astounded when two weeks later I had two meetings with two potential clients. Both of them were photographers, and both of them brought up the fact that they loved what we’d done for Matt. It was definitely a tipping point in them working with us. One of them has already started working with us on her website and blog design; the other we’re hoping to work with very soon!
My point is that blogging absolutely can win you business, but I don’t think that it should be your primary motivation. You’ve got to love writing and have a passion for what you do. And you have to be committed.
