Why Do You Need A Blog For Your Business?

Well hello! You may be in the early stages of building your online or direct sales business or maybe you haven't started yet and you're scoping out all your options and gathering intel first (and if the second is you then I like you! That's totally my way of doing things too). Either way, I'm sure you've seen plenty of blog posts and Pinterest images about the massive world of blogging! And if it seems really overwhelming and maybe not necessary then I'm glad you've stumbled upon my blog and this post specifically because I'm going to help you get past a few assumptions and most importantly, help you realize why you need to seriously consider starting a blog for your business! 

WHY NOT JUST STICK TO INSTAGRAM/FACEBOOK?

The hard thing about building a business on a social platform (i.e. Facebook or Instagram) is that it is unreliable, unstable, and always changing! I mean who can keep up with the algorithms changing every day? "Ain't nobody got time for that!" And guess what? It's all just a big game that you have to play just right and follow the rules and if you get lucky, you'll hit that jackpot and find yourself with a ton of followers and massive engagement! Unfortunately this happens for very few and most of us are lucky if a 1/3 of our followers even see our posts and if a handful of THOSE actually engage with them.

We also forget that a big part of social media is... SOCIAL. You've got to build relationships and connect with people and that takes a ton of time! Most of us want to engage and socialize but we just don't have time to do it (or have more important things to do) Also people don't typically use Instagram and Facebook to find information or to shop. They want quick updates and inspiration through well taken photos and short captions. It's most often a time killer or a habitual scroll. 

So.. what does that mean for your business? It doesn't mean you should abandon social media because it definitely has a lot of benefits and can really help grow your audience when used right! But if you are wanting to really share your business and have your own place (not the rented space from social platforms) then you need to start blogging! When you have your own website, you more or less make the rules! And those who follow along and more importantly subscribe to your updates- they are YOUR followers. These followers are more dedicated than the ones you have on Instagram because they are anticipating your posts, reading them, and getting the value they need from them, and even sharing them with others! (Rather than quickly double tapping on a pretty photo and forgetting about it).

I personally find a blog way easier to do than Instagram. It's hard to come up with consistent photos, a perfect looking feed, just right captions, and not get caught up with stressing over your follower count! You have so much freedom and creativity with a blog. Write what YOU want to write!  you don't have to stress as much about photos and while subscriber count matters at some point, it's not a daily thing staring you down! 

STARTING A BLOG- THE BASICS

First myth busted, it is NOT hard or expensive to start a blog. You can find free sites to start on or choose to invest in a nicer/more user friendly one! I use square space for mine which I know is on the pricier side (about $25/mo) and has its own limitations. But I liked the ease of setting it up (beautiful pre-made templates means you don't need to be a web designer or hire one) and how it's very clean and easy to navigate! Other popular ones are wordpress and blogger and you still don't need to be a web designer to use them but they do take a little trial and error and research to get going but they have their own merits!

And what about content? You can't tell me you have nothing to say or nothing worth writing about. EVERYONE has stories, opinions, experiences, interests, hobbies, and talents! Just start sharing! If you don't want to write about your business and products all the time, then don't! Hone into your brand and write what feels right. Remember, you aren't writing to EVERYONE and you aren't trying to be everyone's best friend or inspiration. You need to figure out who your ideal audience is and who will connect with you and just write to them! Like literally picture them in your head as if you are just writing a personal email or letter to them. Your tribe will find you and be attracted to you, you don't need to chase them down.

Also, don't get too hung up in a name and every little design element of your blog. I would put some thought and care into your name and brand but don't feel like it can't ever be changed! And make sure the major stuff with your blog is decided and worked out but as long as you keep it simple, I'm pretty sure most readers aren't going to notice all of the little things.

OKAY.. THEN WHAT?

Okay so you've started a blog (yay!) Or I've convinced you to get realllly close to doing so (also yay!). And now the question is, what now? Well now it is time to get your content seen and get traffic to your blog! This is where your blog is also going to help you with your business even if you aren't necessarily writing about it. You can and SHOULD have a link or small snippet somewhere about your business that people who visit your blog, can clearly see and get more info if they want. This is where you can connect your social platforms, your contact info, your company's website or a link where they can shop.. ect. Again, this is your HOME, this is where everything comes back to and where everything connects and stays organized and belongs to you!

So once you've written a couple posts, get it out there! Pack it full of SEO so it gets tagged on google search more, share it on your social platforms, pin it to Pinterest! It's going to be slow and take some time at first to see a good amount of traffic but consistency is KEY. Lock down your content and lock down how frequent you are going to post and stick to it! You will see after some time, how much more potential a well thought out and rich blog has to grow your business and your LOYAL following than social media platforms do! Just remember, your blog is YOUR website. It's where you want people to end up; away from distraction, and away from someone else's platform and competing content. Put your website on everything! On business cards, on images you create, at the end of emails you send.. it needs to be synonymous with your even your name!

WAIT, THAT'S IT??

I know I didn't go into specifics but that's honestly because it's so simple. Just start one! I know you will have more questions, the more you dive in and so I plan to write another post later on offering more in depth blog training but this should be enough to either convince you that you need a blog or remind you of it's importance so maybe you'll shift some energy and focus back into it! I do wish you luck and I hope you can be bold in this new thing you're about to tackle! As always please leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions or need help with anything!

><Holly><