Do I Need A Blog? - 7 Reasons Why You Do
I started blogging just over a year ago when I decided to take my freelance business more seriously and officially set up as a small business. Before then I had a blog, with my old portfolio, and I loved writing but I found I never kept up with posting as much as I wanted, and so I stopped blogging altogether.
That was a big mistake!
Looking back at that time and also taking on board the learnings of the past year as a small business owner, I wanted to share 7 reasons to why you should blog.
Related: 3 things I have learnt in my first year of business - plus free printables!
1 | Shows expertise
As a small business owner, there is only a certain amount of networking, connecting with other like-minded business owners, or ways to inform my clients that I "know what I am on about"- without sounding big headed or salesy! Ultimately I find that blogging helps to show my expertise in branding, design and being a small business owner as that is what I blog about the most. For other businesses or bloggers, the aim is to show you are an expert in your field and writing a post or an article can really help reinforce that.
Not so long ago I wrote an article about repeat business, can you read that article here - Repeat business: 5 ways to reap the benefits of your existing client base.
This article was found by another blogger who was composing a blog post for Shutterstock about making the most of new client relationships. Can you imagine the excitement when I was asked to be an expert voice for that blog post, all because of my article! - I was thrilled!!
Read the Shutterstock article here : How Creative Freelancers Make the Most of New Client Relationships
2 | Builds credibility
Following on from above, blogging can help build credibility. Look at it this way, if you are looking to book someone's services, and you are on their website, you will naturally look for verification, testimonials are great for that reason, but so is blogging. By being confident in your blog posts, researching and reporting data with credible facts and figures and also links from other bloggers will also boost/build your credibility.
3 | Shareable content
Blog posts are one of the easiest ways to create shareable content. Together with social media, you are able to get your voice, teachings, learnings, expertise to a wider audience than those that are currently already in your network. Creating pinnable blog post graphics and sharing this on Pinterest is a great way to share your content.
4 | Website SEO
Blogging is a great way to increase your website SEO, especially if you write your blog post and you also optimise it. This will help ensure your website is more visible to people who have searched google (or other search engines) looking for keywords that are associated with your product, service or brand. For example, when I write a blog post about branding I will always aim to use that keyword in the copy of the article itself, but also in the title and URL of the blog post as well. By increasing your website SEO, your website can attract more customers, clients of followers.
5 | Enhance client relationship
Blogging can enhance your client relationship. Once a project is complete I wrote a blog post about it. I share my work and details about the project from start to finish and enjoy letting everyone know - Not only does this help promote my business, but it also helps promote my clients brand/website as I share it on social media. This definitely enhances my relationship with my clients as I am sharing their business to my network.
Related:
6 | Blog through any pain points
Often blogging about my experiences, or the design decisions I make, or my process for a branding project can be really useful content. Being able to answer common questions by writing an in-depth blog post can also help solve or steer any future clients or customers.
Providing quality content or answers, and blogging about relevant topics that will directly affect a potential client's decision to work with me is another reason to why I enjoy blogging and why I believe blogging is definitely a good idea as it builds trust.
7 | Writing opportunities
Last but not the least on this list is writing opportunities. If this is something you as a small business owner are interested in then what better way to start then on your own blog. Many moons ago, when I set up my old portfolio and blog, I was headhunted to write for a well-known web design and development online magazine - Onextrapixel. I gained further exposure to my blog, I received recognition and appreciation from the design and development audience and I gained acknowledgement for each article reinforcing my expertise.
Related : Read the articles I wrote for Onextrapixel here: www.onextrapixel.com/author/krishna-solanki
Ultimately, it's really important to remember to keep your blog on brand. Your tone of voice and your brand values must be in line with your blog.
Now it's your turn! Have you pondered about if you need a blog or not? What decision did you make?
