Deciding to write a company blog can feel like kind of a big deal. Setting it up is not hard – at least not any more. Almost all Content Management Systems (CMS) and eCommerce platforms come with blog modules or apps built in or easily installed. And the quality of all the major CMS blog tools is pretty good and they’re easy to use. What’s hard is being committed to the project and getting past the intimidation.

You might think that an entrepreneur or small business owner would have no problem at all overcoming a little self-imposed intimidation. Heck, they take risks every single day. The very act of being an entrepreneur is the very definition of accepting risk. But this is something different. For some people, having a blog for their business can feel like a mini public speaking gig each time the write a post. Even the most tech savvy entrepreneur who is creating new products that will change the world might be a little self-conscious about their writing. Just because you might be a product genius doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a good writer, right? And who wants to be judged?

Fortunately, none of that really matters these days. We’ll get to that in just a moment. First, let’s talk about why writing a blog is so important for businesses today. In short, it’s all about Leadership, Marketing, and Brand.

Will Writing a Blog Benefit Your Business and Website?

Leadership – Crystalizing Thought

As entrepreneurs, we already believe in our businesses. That belief is strong enough to get us to invest our time, effort, and sleep for hundreds of often thankless hours each month. This is time spent making our products or delivering our services – not to mention all the marketing, billing, accounting, and staffing tasks we have to do.

But if you ask even the most expert and committed entrepreneur to describe their products and services, the benefits, why they do what they do, the state of their industry, or anything else that has to do with the business that they love, most entrepreneurs fumble for words. It’s not that they don’t know what they think or what they want to communicate, it’s that the core vision and beliefs that they “feel and know” on an intuitive, gut-level are the kinds of things that they have not practiced communicating out loud most of the time.

The famous businessman, author, and success guru Paul J. Meyer is quoted as saying, “Writing crystalizes thought and thought produces action.” He believed that individuals and companies should go through the process of writing out their ideas, policies, and goals in detail. In his view, it is the act of writing them out in as clean and organized a manner as possible that made the ideas real and actionable.

So, the first value of writing a blog is not to communicate what you think to others … it’s to communicate it effectively to yourself in a way that others can easily understand. And in so doing, your thoughts and ideas become more real to you. And once you do it, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to talk about your products, services, and the industry you are in. In short, each blog post you write lets you practice communicating. That practice makes you a better communicator. And the better you communicate, the better and more effective you are likely to be as a leader.

Blogging is just good for you.

Marketing – SEO and Content

Since all businesses are online these days, your business blog will most likely be an element of your business website (as it should be). And this means that every bit of content that you add to your website has the potential to be found in search engines. Optimizing a website to be found on Search Engines (Search Engine Optimization – SEO) is a huge business unto itself. Some businesses spend thousands of dollars annually to make sure that when someone types a search term into Google or even Bing, their website is listed near the top.

If your blog is a part of your company website, every time you post an article – even a short one – the search engines see it as new content relevant to your business or industry. This raises your website profile and generates SEO. Content Marketing is a fundamental part of all online marketing. And while the term “Content Marketing” these days covers everything from images to infographics and from social media to podcasts, the easiest and most natural place for most businesses to start is with a blog.

Blogging generates traffic.

Your Brand – Proving Authority and Passion

You love your business and are excited about building it. And even though you are learning new things every day, you have become an expert in what you do. You know these things to be true. Most likely, your employees know it too. And if you are lucky, most of your current customers understand it. But what about all the new / potential customers and everyone else?

There are a few things in my life that I am truly passionate about. And since I am passionate about them, I know a lot about them. For me the list includes human communication, economics, music – especially Blues and Jazz – and food, among other things. Now, you might “trust” me when I tell you that I am passionate about these things. But you probably don’t “believe” that I am. At least not yet. But if you get me in a room and start a conversation about any these things, without even trying you will hear my passions spill out of my words and excitement as we talk about the topic.

Another way you could know is to read some of the hundreds – and I do mean hundreds – of articles and blogs and ad copy snippets that I have written about those topics. One glance and you will believe my passion – even if you do not agree with my opinions.

I am not suggesting that you set out to “prove” anything at all when you write about your company or industry. I am saying that when people see you writing about them, it will prove something to them without you even trying. Writing is a lot of things. One of those is a gesture of affection and attention to a topic. It is a kind of social proof. If you don’t love what you do, it will be hard to fake it. If you do love what you do, people will automatically understand it.

The truth of your passion and authority will come out in your company blog.

Do or Do Not … There Is No Try

So now that you understand that writing a blog for your business delivers substantial value in Leadership, Marketing, and Communicating your Passion and Authority, you still have to decide if it’s something that you are going to do. Then, you are going to need to understand how to get started.

Our very next blog post is going to address just that – including how to get ideas to write articles about, getting past writer’s block, and why you don’t even have to be a “good” writer to blog successfully. I’m going to call it “Entrepreneurial Blogging 101 – How To Get Started” and we’ll get it posted next week. In the meantime, let us know if you have any questions or need help getting a blog started on your website. We are always happy to help.

Thanks for reading!