7 Questions To Ask Yourself BEFORE Starting A Business Blog

Blogging is the latest buzzword in online marketing and PR.

Butwith so many marketers jumping on the blogging bandwagon, few peopleare giving a thought to whether blogs are really up their alley, ortaking the time to consider the best ways of going about it.

If you are planning to start a business blog, ask yourself these questions before you take the final plunge.

1. Do you really need a blog?

Writingand maintaining a blog takes a certain degree of commitment, as well asa passion (or at least a liking) for stringing words into a decentsentence. If you don't enjoy writing that much, you could always createan audio or video blog.

But would your business objectivesreally be served by starting a blog? Or could other methods of onlinemarketing - like SEO, ezine advertising or newsletter publishing workjust as well, if not better?

2. Whom do you want to reach with your blog?

The first step to reaching your audience is understanding where they go to find information about your products.

Ifyour audience largely consists of people who live in your town or useproducts that they search for in the newspapers, offline advertisingmight be more suited to your purpose.

If however, your targetaudience belongs to one or more of these segments, a blog might be justthe thing to boost your business.

- Internet users

Doesyour target audience really use the internet? If not, then starting ablog (or any online activity, for that matter) will just be a hugewaste of time and effort.

- Blog readers

Does your targetaudience read blogs? Or do they prefer to get their information intheir inbox? If the latter is true, then an email newsletter might be abetter option than a blog.

- Search engine users

A blogis an excellent way to boost your search engine rankings and get listedfor a lot of your target keywords. If you know that your audience usessearch engines to find information, a blog will increase your chancesof getting their attention.

3. What do you want to achieve with your blog?

There are a lot of things that a blog can do for your business. Blogs can help you -

- Increase your visibility and search engine rankings

- Brand yourself, your products, your services, your company

- Build a community and network with people who have similar interests

- Expand your reach to those outside your current sphere of influence

- Establish your credibility as an expert or thought-leader in your field

- Put a human face on your business

- Reach out to potential customers and stakeholders

Decidingexactly what you want to achieve with your blog can help you getfocused, so that you can spend your time and effort in activities thathelp, not hinder your business objectives.

4. How much time can you spend on your blog?

Seriousbusiness bloggers not only spend time writing their own blogs, but alsospend a great deal of time reading up on current events and browsingother blogs in their field for information.

If you are preparedto put in the time and effort required to do that sort of research,your blog will serve as a good branding tool for your business.

If not, you should either hire someone to do the research or seriously rethink your decision to start a blog.

5. What blogging platform will serve your needs best?

Decidingyour blogging platform is an important step that you should take onlyafter becoming familiar with the features and benefits of each option.

Thereason it is so crucial is because it can be extremely difficult tomigrate an established blog to a new platform once you have started it.Moving your blog can result in you losing your data, search enginelistings and readers, so don't take this decision lightly.

Decidewhich platform will best meet your marketing objectives, timeconstraints and personal preferences before you make your first post.

Accordingto T.L. Pakii Pierce who writes at "How to Blog for Fun & Profits!"Blogforfunandprofit.blogware.com, if you are short of time, andwant to spend more time writing, then a hosted solution like Blogger,Blogware, Squarespace or Typepad might serve your purpose better.

Thismight also prove a better option if you want to get started as soon aspossible, are new to the internet, or are unfamiliar with scripts orcode.

If, on the other hand, you're a control freak (like me)and don't mind spending some time and effort to customize your blog,then a server-installed software, like Wordpress, b2Evolution orMovable Type might be just right for you.

If you don't want toinstall the scripts yourself, choose a hosting solution withFantastico, which comes with a one-click install of a number ofblogging software.

6. How do you plan to promote your blog?

Whyis it good to know this before you start your blog? Because it willhelp you decide where best to invest your time and effort when you needto build traffic to your blog.

You'll learn more about themethods to promote your blog when you subscribe to the email coursebelow. Some of these tasks can be outsourced, while others you wouldhave to do yourself.

Decide what you want to take on and lookout for service providers to handle the other functions so you canstart building traffic to your blog as soon as possible.

7. How will you assess the success of your blog?

Todetermine how successful your blog is in boosting your profile orprofits you will have to measure your blog traffic and track sales orleads that have come through it.

Planning this in advance willhelp you take more informed decisions about your blogging metrics,choice of blogging platform and degree of customization you require onyour blog.

Understand that blogging is not for everyone. It's just another form of communication.

Don't get so hung up on the technology that you end up ignoring more appropriate ways of communicating your message.

Some things may be easier to communicate face to face, in a conference room, or even through the good old telephone.

Butif you asked yourself all the questions above and decided that bloggingmeets all your objectives, then a blog may be just what the doctorordered for your business.

Editor's Note. Browse Template Monster WordPress themes to get professional design for your blog.

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