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Company blogs are long passed the early adopter stage of their lifecycle. But does that mean all (or even most) businesses should have a blog by now? Should your business have a blog?

Blogging has several benefits to businesses in a marketing and PR capacity, from direct sales conversions to visibility and exposure within your industry. However, it isn’t right for every business. To determine whether or not business blogging is right for you, you’ll need to evaluate those benefits along with some of the risks.

Benefits of Business Blogging

Business blogs can do a lot to help your business–to help you build an audience, grow your company, increase revenues, and more. Here are some of the specific benefits of launching a blog for your small business:

• You can offer company news directly to your customers, readers, subscribers, etc.
• You can provide customer support.
• You can receive customer feedback (free market research).
• You can network with colleagues, potential customers, and others in your niche or industry.
• You can sell products (or services).
• You can earn advertising revenue.
• You can build brand awareness.
• You can position yourself as an authority source of information.

Risks of Business Blogging

Business blogs can certainly do a lot of good for your business, but there are also risks. If you’re careless with a company blog, you can damage your professional reputation and even lose business. Here are some of the risk factors of business blogging:

• You can damage your company’s credibility if false or misleading information is published in haste.
• You can face legal consequences if posts are libelous or infringing on others’ rights (another risk from the ease of publishing without strict editorial control).

• You can turn customers against your brand if you don’t handle two-way communication effectively (such as deleting constructive criticism or becoming rude with customers through your comments).
• You can lose further credibility if you use a blog solely for SEO and not to actually educate, inform, entertain, or have conversations with your audience (publishing constant links with the same anchor text, posting keyword-stuffed garbage or content that’s practically illegible, etc.).
• You can hurt your overall productivity if executives spend too much time blogging and being engaged in other social media outlets while losing some focus on the larger objectives of the company (they can be a time drain).

How to Decide if Business Blogging is Right for You

For many companies, the benefits of a business blog outweigh the risks. Whether or not that applies to your company is up to you and your staff. One of the most important considerations before jumping into business or corporate blogging is whether or not you have anyone in the company capable of carrying it out.

Blogging isn’t a one-off project. It’s a commitment. More than that, it’s a responsibility. If you don’t have dedicated staff or contractors who can keep the blog updated regularly and be present to answer reader questions and respond to comments then your business probably isn’t quite ready for blogging yet. But if you do, kick off your business blogging the right way–through proper planning, just as you would any other aspect of your business. Every blog won’t offer every benefit. Decide what your blogging goals and motivations are, and work out a plan of attack before making that first post. That’s the best way to get the most out of blogging while minimizing the risks.

Nothing is more important in today’s world of social networking and Web 2.0 than your online reputation.  Dipping a toe into that pool for the first time can be intimidating.  Millions of people use Social Media outlets, blogs, social networking and bookmarking sources on a daily basis – not only to discuss products, services and brands, but to share their experiences with others.  If you’re not actively monitoring and managing your online reputation, you’re falling behind countless individuals and companies that already are.

Knowing what is being said about you online is essential, whether from a personal or business standpoint.  More and more employers and prospective customers use the Internet to research a people and products by name, rather than simply relying on a resume, online profile or company website for information.

If you’re looking for a job, chances are anyone considering you for employment will Google you long before contacting you about a position.  If you don’t know what publicly accessible information exists, you are doing yourself a great disservice.  One of the best things you can do to manage your own reputation is start your own blog and make sure it ranks well when someone uses your name in a keyword search. (more…)

At both SMX West and SMX Advanced I made an effort to attend PPC panels, but I never ended up sharing my notes. This post features two conferences’ worth of my PPC education. I’ll try and avoid repeating / summarily address what is well-known and just address the higher quality stuff. (more…)

The story of America’s First Ladies is one as varied as that of the land that made them famous. Some were happy to focus on being a wife and mother in spite of the limelight. Some made deliberate efforts to avoid exposure even though their position as “First Hostess” typically required them to play an active role in entertaining dignitaries. Only a few were truly remarkable in how they used their position to help others. Each was a stand-out woman in her own time. Each made a point to leverage her position toward creating a better life for others. Michelle Obama, wife of the 44th President, Barack Obama, became the first African American First Lady when her husband took the oath of office on January 20th, 2009. With her Princeton and Harvard Law School education, Michelle Obama stands at the head of  a long line of incredible women with the grace to fill the First Lady’s shoes and the tools to make a difference. For your consideration, 12 First Ladies Who Made A Difference: (more…)

She’s played a virgin and a whore, a blushing bride and a gold digger. Madonna Louise Ciccone turns 50 this year; she’s spent the last 25 years of her life in the public eye. During that time she’s been hailed for her style, condemned for her sexuality and adored by multitudes.

When Madonna does something people notice. And that’s just the way she likes it. A change in outfit or hairstyle–and there have been many–can start a fashion revolution. And a new single or video brings forth ardent fans as well as detractors. Whatever you think of her, she’s never boring.

Here’s a look at her first 25 years as a star.

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Being a professional search engine optimization consultant, answering the same questions about SEO is something I frequently do. Often times, clients are anxious to get started because they know profits can be boosted yet they only have a vague idea of what SEO is and what it truly means to optimize a website for organic search.

I find that people, who are curious about SEO, generally ask questions so they can determine a) what type of a commitment a SEO campaign will involve and b) how much time and effort will be required on their part. Understandably so, they often have many questions about the whole process and more importantly, the results they can expect to enjoy. (more…)

Towers. Whether seen as monuments to mankind, or as a tribute to just… men, towers are without doubt one of our greatest engineering feats. Sure, the same could be said for bridges, but whereas bridges have a practical nature, towers are built for one simple reason, “Because we can.”

Taipei 101

Located in Taipei, Taiwan – construction of this tower was completed in 2004. It has 101 floors and reaches a height of 1670.60 ft. It has been named one of the Seven New Wonders of the World by Newsweek Magazine. (more…)

Image by Franco Folini

Want to know how to use Social Media in Business… Follow an Airline.

I am extremely impressed with how the following four airlines are using Social Media. So much so that I will go as far to say that Business Owners confused with how to use Social Media activities in their business should look towards the following four airlines for examples. (more…)

Before any marketing campaign can get off the ground, there is some essential information that needs to be looked at. This includes target audience information, recent statistics and reports, and most importantly, keyword research – that is; what words or phrases is my target audience using to find my services/products/content?

Unfortunately, many site owners fail to understand the importance of conducting the research and, in turn, they fail to reach their full organic traffic potential. In reality, keyword research is possibly THE most important aspect of any online venture, especially where the outcome involves the intention of gaining significant natural search traffic.

Keyword research will generally uncover information that can be used to:

- help customers find you online
- better define your business to users
- create targeted anchor text
- create more descriptive page titles and Meta descriptions
- create compelling titles for blog posts
- find targeted topics to write about
- create/word your website navigation or internal linking structure
- create online marketing/promotional materials

If you’re selling anything online, be it a product, content or whatever, chances are there are more than just a few phrases your potential customers will use to try and find you. And since the search engines aren’t exactly openly sharing that info (with site owners at least), conducting keyword research is the only way to investigate what those phrases might be. (more…)