Do I Really Need A Blog?

As with anything related to Internet business, the subject of blogging for business brings forth a wide variety of passionate opinions. If you want a short answer to the question of “Do I need a blog?” I have one for you.

The answer is NO (but don’t stop reading yet).

If you want to earn a living online, there is no one thing you NEED.

• Some people don’t have their own website (but that’s not really a business, but that’s another story…)
• Some people don’t have their own mailing list (crazy… I know!)
• Many have blogs and many don’t.
• Plenty use sales letters and many don’t.
• Some people sell information products. Some people don’t.

All in all these are just tools and you need to choose the right tools for your business. What tools you use will depend on:

• Your business goals (this post has info showing you some of the benefits of blogging).
• How much time you can invest.
• Budget (but thankfully, in the case of blogging, in its simplest form, personal blogging is cheap).
• Your personal style and preference.

Now, just because you don’t feel like blogging, don’t swear it off as a tool for your business just yet. Here are some benefits to consider about blogging.

A blog allows you to:

• Get more personal with your readers. You can speak directly, offer glimpses into your life.
• Give your readers and customers more opportunity to communicate with you directly through commenting.
• Create linkable “content”. Most people won’t willingly link to a sales page, but they will readily share an entertaining, thought-provoking or informative blog post.
• Easily post updates about your company or products.
• Sell while informing. Your blog can be a center of information that leads your reader to buy your products.

What if you can’t blog regularly?

Many people worry about starting a blog if they aren’t sure they can post regularly. Now, you don’t necessarily need to post every day or even several times per week, but having some kind of regularity will help you gain a following for your blog.

Consider these tips for less frequent blogging:

• Remove the dates from your post. A blog with an old post date may appear abandoned.
• Try for a weekly or bi-weekly update. If your readers know you post on Wednesdays, for example, you can (in effect) train them to look forward to your posts.
• Plan your topics in advance. Knowing what you plan to write about makes it easier to put your posts together. You can even write several at once and publish them ahead of time.
• Invite guest authors to post on your blog.

But also consider… a blog is not just a blog.

When we think of blogging, we often think of a public diary/online journal of sorts, but a blogging platform offers you a convenient and relatively simple way to share information and updates, even if you don’t do the blogging yourself.

Here are some alternative uses to the blog platform:

• Blog as a CMS: Use a WordPress set up as a content management system (CMS) where you post general articles. You might employ ghostwriters or use PLR.

• Blog as a media centre: Post your press releases and brief company updates. Your VA can do these updates for you.

So once again, a blog isn’t a necessity, but comes with many benefits and uses. Whether you become an avid blogger, post occasional update or use your blog as a CMS, blogging will likely become part of your online business.

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About the Author

Alice Seba is the owner and creator of Contentrix.com. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from writing, she loves helping online business owners get more bang out of their content.