You want to boost your business, so you think about blogging—everybody says it’s good for building an audience and gaining exposure for your brand. The only problem? Blogging takes time, and, just like extra cash flow, time is a thing you ain’t got when you’re running a business on your own. So what should you do? Are the benefits of blogging actually worth the investment? How can you tell?
To help answer these questions, here’s a look at some of the benefits that come from blogging as a solopreneur. When you’re weighing the costs against the rewards, make sure you consider these:
- Blogging Helps You Tell Your Story: Nobody knows your business like you do, and blogging lets you show it. Regular blogging gives you a platform to share your company narrative in a way that generates interest, makes your brand relatable, and gives you an advantage in the marketplace.
- Blogging Strengthens Business Skills: The same skills required to be a successful solopreneur are the ones required in successful blogging. As you practice innovation, creativity, self-motivation, and consistency online, you grow the same qualities for your work tasks.
- Blogging Establishes You as a Thought Leader: When you blog consistently about your business topic area, you build a body of content that proves to readers you know your stuff. Say you’re an Internet marketing company; you blog weekly about tips for building email lists, retaining social media followers, and launching pay-per-click campaigns. Perhaps you’re a local restaurant sharing original recipes and food-focused articles week in and week out. People read your content and begin to look at you as an authority on your field.
- Blogging Is Networking: Blogs are great resources for connecting with colleagues. Other business bloggers read your site, and you read theirs. Through comments and online interactions, you build rapport and a sense of community. This sense of community is an asset for building your company as you and other businesses cross-promote and support each other.
- Blogging Brings in New Leads: When visitors come to your site and find valuable information, it’s only natural that they want to learn more about who’s writing it. In some cases, they reach out to you, which essentially means they bring new leads to your doorstep. In other cases, they comment or engage with you, building connections that equal new leads. The more you blog and interact with readers, the more prospects you find.
- Your Competitors Are Blogging: Like it or not, your competitors are probably blogging, especially the big guys. So if you skip out on blogging, you skip out on the chance to engage your prospects before your competitors do. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?
Decision time: Considering the real, specific benefits blogging offers, you have to ask yourself if it’s something you can afford to ignore. Would you rather put time into business blogging or into another activity? And if another activity, will that other activity provide better benefits than blogging could? If not, you’re making a mistake by ignoring the opportunity in front of you.
Your Thoughts
Are you blogging as a solopreneur? Why or why not? If it’s the investment of time and money that’s been holding you back, have you considered what you stand to gain?
