To Blog or Not to Blog that is the Question

Here is an interesting observation, most people that blog also tweet… however most of the people on Twitter do not blog. Not blogging is costing them traffic… and ultimately money. Don’t get me wrong here, Twitter and Facebook are great places and they are key components of your overall marketing campaign. However blogging is where “it is at,” so to speak. Your blog is really your key to consistent traffic and long term benefits for your business.

To help illustrate this, I am going to give you ten reasons as to why you need to blog if you seriously want business.

Reason 1: True commitment to your industry is shown through blogging, and so is your passion for what it is you are doing. Passion is what grabs peoples’ attention and gets them involved. I know that sending a “tweet” is much easier than sitting and coming up with a 500 word post. But if you really care about what it is you are doing you will invest that time and get that blog post created.

Reason 2: Articles/blog posts are valuable no matter how old they are. Thanks to the internet, you can write something today that is pertinent and five years from now when someone is searching for something related to your post… they will still get to read your post. This means that they will still be able to get to your site and read everything else you have done in that area.

Reason 3: The links in your blog posts will get clicked and provide value to your reader. Value that will then make them invest in what you are doing also known as buying what it is you have to sell. The links on Twitter are really just noise. Yes they help… but not as much as the great link in a great blog post.

Reason 4: You want to be the end product that everyone is linking to and sending traffic to. Yes it is great to click the links and go to other websites and help out those people… isn’t it better for you though if people are taking your link and getting you traffic? That isn’t going to happen on Facebook or Twitter.

Reason 5: Blogging gives you complete control and ownership of everything that you put in your blog. Control is important when you are trying to build a business and establish a solid customer base.

Reason 6: You want to show your followers/readers that you are more than just a sample size serving of the real thing. Hosting a blog says a lot about who you are and how important your business is.

Reason 7: Blogging allows you to add value to your site, on an incremental and continual basis which is important for traffic, links and sales. You are in the business to make money, not just be a cute brief on a page.

Reason 8: A blog will provide you with full analytics. This is important, these analytics will tell you what people are clicking on within your blog, what posts are of interest and how they got to your site. These are vital pieces of information when it comes to marketing.

Reason 9: Blogging allows your followers multiple ways to keep up to date on what you are saying or offering, such as RSS feeds, emails, and onsite info.

Reason 10: Blogging doesn’t limit you to a number of characters you are allowed to use. While 140 can be plenty to deliver a point… many times it is not enough to be effective.

Neil Bartlett is the founder of MyIMCoach.com. My IM Coach provides aspiring Internet Marketers with Tips and Techniques for getting started and/or improving their marketing skills. To learn more INSTANTLY grab his FREE report “How To Make It Online”