Why are blogs valuable for an entrepreneur?

Amy R & Jennifer D. Blog Building.

We live in a world with a lot of noise and a lot of voices.  Everyone is creating some form of content these days it seems and we are all vying for the attention of our target audience.  While there is no denying that social media is a powerful tool for your business, we believe owning a self-hosted blog is an important foundational component for most business owners

Blogging is not dead.

The very first blog started in 1994 but they didn’t really start to grow in popularity until the early 2000s.  Blogs have changed a lot since then, but one thing is for certain. Blogging is not dead.  In fact, we believe now more than ever, blogs are extremely powerful for your business.

Why are blogs valuable to an entrepreneur?

1. Generate leads and traffic to your business:  Blogs provide a lot of information that people can find in a variety of ways.  Optimizing your blog for search engines is a great way to gain traffic from the web.  Getting people to visit your blog means that you are showing them your value and how you can offer a solution to their problem, or, just build the like, know, and trust factor that is so important.

2. Increases your credibility and allows you to showcase your expertise:  When you are actively posting on your blog and sharing valuable content that your readers benefit from, you are proving that you are an expert in your niche and that you can be their “go-to” person for what they are looking for.  Google also sees you as more credible the more you share about your topics as well which is beneficial to help more people visit your blog and hopefully convert into whatever offers, or services you have in your business.

3. Creating a community of like-minded people: One of the best perks about blogging is finding your people.  When you are authentic and share valuable content, you will find people who are looking for the same and create a community of like-minded people who are going to be great for your business.  When you get to know the needs of your community and your target audience, you can also create more products and services to support and encourage them!

4. Creating valuable content that converts: Blogs are a fantastic way to share more knowledge about your topic and provide the solutions your readers, and ideal customers are looking for.  Creating free content for people to consume really is a great way to generate more leads that will hopefully convert to more sales.

Blogging is a low-cost form of marketing:  Utilizing SEO (search engine optimization) and keyword research, you are able to learn more about what people are wanting and how you can help them. This is great news because you can market to their needs in the form of free content that they can consume as well.  You don’t have to spend a ton of money on your blog to get started either.  It can be a great way to build that foundation where your community can connect with you, learn from you and hopefully buy from you as well.

The value that you can provide with your blog is endless.  Not only is it your home base and a place where people can always connect with you, your blog content is always working for you.  And I don’t know about you, but we love to work smarter, not harder.

Creating evergreen blog content

When you create content for your blog you want to think about creating evergreen content that people can learn from day after day, week after week.  This is the beauty of blogging over social media because on social media you have to keep showing up!  Your blog, if you focus on keyword research and SEO, will continually work for you without you constantly having to remind your community of your content.

As a business owner, you likely have many different offers that you have for your target audience.  When you are creating content, ask yourself how the content provides enough information for the reader to learn but leaves them wanting more.  Therefore, they will want to read through more content to see how much you really know and also, get to know you!

Building your like, know, and trust factor

Building the like, know, and trust factor is really important for content creators.  As we said, the voices are loud right now.  Everyone has something to sell and share… so what makes you different?

  • Your unique perspective
  • Your personal experience
  • Your approach to your niche
  • The offers and services your provide

Yes, there are a lot of blogs, but there is only one you and only you can share the information the way you can share it.  If there is another blog out there with similar information, that doesn’t mean the market is saturated, it actually gives you social proof that people like that kind of content so don’t be afraid to create something similar with your own spin and perspective to serve a different audience.

How to get started blogging

1. Narrow down your niche:  Niching down will help you establish an audience more quickly since your readers are more likely to come back if they know that the content is relevant to them.  Your blog is a lot less about you, and a lot more about the people who are going to come to it and how you can help them.  So, when you narrow your niche and know who you are talking to, you can potentially grow quicker or have more targeted leads.

2. Create a self-hosted website: We recommend that most people use WordPress.org to create a self-hosted blog.  On a self-hosted blog, you are able to generate more organic traffic and have more control over the functionality of your website/blog.  If you are a local business or a business that doesn’t want/need organic traffic, you can go with a hosted website instead but be sure to research this because it is an important decision at the start of your journey.

3. Prioritize SEO and understand keyword research: Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for getting your blog seen by the people who are looking for the type of content you offer. There are a couple of aspects to consider. The first is ensuring that your blog is optimized in the best way possible by being self-hosted and by utilizing a good theme. The second is doing research including keyword research to ensure you are creating content that people are searching for. This can be a big challenge for new bloggers but is critical to success. You might spend a lot of time creating amazing content, but if it’s not what people are looking for then it may remain largely unseen, which can be really disappointing. Thankfully there are many tools available to help bloggers avoid this situation.

4. Build your email list: As a business owner, it’s likely that you know how important growing your email list is, but it truly is the bread and butter of your business because, like your blog, you own your email list.  While you do not own your social media followers or content, your email list is yours!  This makes it an incredibly powerful resource for growth in your blogging business so learning how to capture email addresses from the start is going to be really important for your blog growth.

Adding a blog to your business can be an amazing tool for growth, one that we highly recommend!  If you would like to learn more about blogging, we encourage you to visit our website www.sparkmediaconepts.com.  We also have a weekly podcast that we share blogging tips every Tuesday.  You can find The Ultimate Blog Podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you stream podcasts.

If you would like to learn more about how you can generate revenue blogging, you can download this free resource, How to Monetize Your Blog.

Bio:

With over 14 years of combined blogging experience, Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper are passionate about helping women create blogs that allow them to build a business that offers them the avenue to their goals and dreams.

They started Spark Media Concepts in 2017 to help women share their stories, passion, expertise, and perspectives to share content that adds value to others via their blog.
Together they coach women in their courses, memberships, and podcast about growing their blogging business because they believe in community over competition and helping others succeed.

Website:  www.sparkmediaconcepts.com
Instagram: instagram.com/sparkmediaconcepts
Podcast: https://sparkmediaconcepts.com/podcast-option-1/
Email: hello@sparkmediaconcepts.com

Our website uses cheetahlicious cookies. The recipe is in our privacy policy, just in case you need it.