Step 2 in “Your 7 Steps to Create More Business” is NOT about creating a blog, it’s about…

…learning about and participating in blogs.

The people in the photo above represent some of your online friends (and potential clients) waiting to meet you!

If you’re not familiar with the blog world, don’t worry.

First, let’s take a step back and ask:

“What exactly is a blog?”

A blog, or web log, is a platform for releasing articles, or posts, usually in a diary-type format.  The newest posts usually appear first, and then older posts on down the list.

The Big Picture (what you’re reading right now) is a blog.

Here are few more examples, these are blogs we’re involved with:

• the Sanibel Captiva Daily,
• How Do I Lose Weight Now, and
• Help Me With My Mac.

If you’re still unsure of the blog concept, I suggest you take a moment and learn more about them on Wikipedia.

So, how can a blog help you create more business?

There are a few reasons, but the most important for this discussion are:

1. Every blog post can be optimized to attract Internet traffic.
   Each blog post can become a landing page for a keyword phrase.  To see an example of this, go to Google, and search for “Sanibel Entertainment”.   You should see the post I made for that keyword phrase show in the #2 position. 
   Take a moment and think about how powerful that might be for people you’re trying to attract to your web site.
2. It offers a low-cost, one-time, many benefit way to talk to your customers, and hear them.
   The most effective blogs today talk in a conversational tone, one-to-one.  In our blog training sessions, we review how you should pick your perfect customer, and write as if you were talking to them.
   The best part is that your customers can comment to you (publicly, or privately) providing you valuable feedback on a product, service, or something you’re thinking about trying.
3. You can direct people to your web site from other blogs.
   One of the most powerful things you can do is read other blogs, respond, and drive people to your web site.  You do need to be careful you’re not overzealous, you should participate and then add value to your part of the discussion by saying “See what we do on my web site at: www.xyx.com”.

Soon, we’ll learn how to “Blog for Success”, but for now, let’s get our feet wet with blogs, and concentrate on #3 from above.

Today’s exercise consists of two items:

1. Read 3 posts in 5 industry related blogs
   The best place I recommend to find blogs about your industry is BlogCatalog.com. Also, you can sign up for a free bloglines.com account and search there as well.
2. Comment in 3 blogs
   Practice commenting in blogs.  You’ll want to post relevant comments, it’s easier to follow the flow of discussion, so pick a busier post (one with quite a few comments).
   Feel free to do your very comment below!

Have a question?   Need some help?

Feel free to contact me, I really want to see you succeed on the web, and it all starts by taking the first step here.