Why blog if my competitors don’t?

One of my clients asked me a good question the other day: “my competitor doesn’t have a blog…if a blog is so important, why do they not bother to have one?”  Some of the answers: “we don’t want to write about our company secrets”, “I don’t know what to write about”, and “I don’t have the time to blog”.

The fact is that no matter what type of business you are in, a blog is one of the best and cost-effective marketing tools of today. The key thing to remember about having a business blog is that you have to actually use it.

There are several good reasons to start Blogging:

1. A regularly updated blog increases your ranking compared to a simple static or informational website. Postings to a blog containing the right keywords can make the company’s website easier to search for.
2. Many businesses have successfully utilized blogs to provide more information about their products/services to their clients without sounding as if they’re desperately selling.
3. You are building yourself up as an “expert” in the industry by providing valuable info and advices in your blog. If you create your own contents, you are directly contributing your knowledge to the industry and over time, your blog could be a credible source of info for anyone looking for info in your industry.
4. Blogging also encourages interaction which would led to a more trusting, personal relationship between you and your readers.

Blogging is still considered new in the corporate world, and if companies aren’t taking advantage of this new communication to build customer connections, then they are missing a huge opportunity.