The first thing we recommend for any professional or business that wants to go online to grow business is to set up a business blog.
What about a website? Well, you can put up a website if you want, but if you want to get results (get published, get found, get clients) right away, then starting a blog is the best bang for your buck.
A blog is your first priority. Because a blog will get you found quickly on the Web by the people who need you, we recommend starting a business blog even before a website, if you don’t have one already.
A blog is simple and inexpensive to do. You can do it yourself, but
first you should learn a few key issues about optimizing your blog for
business purposes. The Blog Squad’s Build a Better Blog ebook will give you everything you need to know about setting up your business blog with Typepad.
Or you can hire someone to do the set up work, then train you how to
use it effectively. You can ask us to do that for you, through our blog set up services.
Or you can just plunge in and then ask for a Blog makeover, or a blog critique. Either way, you’ll most likely want to save yourself wasted time and energy making common blogging mistakes.
I am providing these links because we caution people that just
because anyone can set up a blog and start posting on the Internet, not
everyone should. There is a way to do it that gets results. And most
professionals – who are otherwise smart at what they do – don’t have a
clue when it comes to blogging.
It’s bad for your online reputation when you have an messy or abandoned blog representing you on the Web.
Start smart by planning out your blog. Pay attention to these four areas, which we call the CODA system for smart blogs:
- C = Content that is relevant and useful
- O = Outreach to others in your field
- D = Design for usability and findability
- A = Calls to Action
You can also download our special report, What the Heck’s a Blog to help plan your blog out correctly.
(This is the third post in an ongoing blog series called Pathway to
Profits, how to start from zero and build an online marketing presence
for your business.)
Related Posts:
Post 1: Writing for Your Business: A Pathway to Profits
Post 2: The Content Journey Begins with a Map
What’s next on the Pathway to Profits? Step 2: The Cart
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