Businesses are continually searching for new methods that will serve them well in growing their company. As the Internet blogosphere continues to evolve, literally exploding over the last few years, blogging has become a very popular way for companies to leverage more exposure that can lead to more overall business.

Blog search engine Technorati’s ”State of the Blogosphere 2008” report indicates that more than 1.2 million bloggers have registered with the Technorati website alone. At present there are an estimated 39 million plus blogs in existence, with approximately 75,000 new blogs created daily.

Blog postings generally consist of fairly short essays that include links to relevant information, often with the ability for readers to participate in the comments section. Additional readers can add to existing comments, creating opportunity for a business to interact directly with their end users. This open and personalized dialogue style can create positive visibility and brand presence for any company. Below are just some of the ways in which blogs are being used to augment a business marketing strategy.

Building Online Visibility
It is fairly well understood that ”content is king” on the Internet. It is great content and information which generates the interest of consumers.Blogs that actively work on postive feedback, generate the higher interest among consumers and can typically expect more customer sales. With the ever-increasing proliferation of Internet access and competition websites, a strong online presence fortified by a committed core of followers can give a business the edge needed to prosper.

As observed in Technorati’s ”State of the Blogosphere 2008” study, “In many ways the proliferation of blogging has transformed the venture business — entrepreneurs expect a level of transparency that simply didn’t exist before venture investors started blogging. I can not imagine staying current in this fast moving, high tech world without using blogs and bloggers as a powerful filter of the overwhelming torrent of information we all face.” (David Hornik, August Capital, www.ventureblog.com).

Social Networking and Relationships
Long before the Internet exploded as a mainstay of business marketing, savvy professionals had learned the importance of building satisfied customer relationships. The power of a satisfied customer who tells his story to others is still a very strong tactic for increasing visibility and sales. Likewise, an unsatisfied customer can be equally powerful in changing the perception of a potential new customer. In marketing, this is known as “value attribution” and it has power to influence the reputation of a company or brand.

A blog is an excellent tactic to manage and control the information that is disseminated about a company’s products and services. In addition, blogging can also be an effective tool to use in balancing much of the information that is available about any given company. As an example, specific customer concerns that may have been expressed in an informal blog forum may then be acted upon in a variety of ways by the company. New customer service methods can be devised, products and services may be adjusted, and then those actions can be advertised and promoted for the benefit of the company. This will also serve to provide even greater visibility to attract new customers for the company.

Depending on how popular a product or service is, there may be many people who are already very familiar with that product or service. A blog that discusses popular products and services can be very effective in diverting the attention of potential customers toward your web site as a place to comparison shop or even purchase products and services.

Blogs can also be used to find the kinds of readers who may be more likely to become your customers, by reaching specific demographics. Existing customers could also be encouraged to remain some of your best customers, after you have taken the time to get to know them and have helped resolve an issue or provided useful information to them.

For example, by engaging readers with a comment or feedback form, you can glean what may be more important to people and make an effort to provide it to them. The company blog can also offer many opportunities in which to dialogue with customers and ensure a higher satisfaction rate. This method keeps the lines of communication open both ways, as opposed to marketing techniques that generally only send one-way messages.

Getting to know your existing customers and nurturing the relationship with the best information that you can provide, could also help you to find more potential consumers with very similar needs along the way. Using these methods could potentially create virtually limitless growth opportunities for your business.

Creating and Managing a Business Reputation
Generally, consumers like to do business with people and companies that they have developed a comfort level with. As a business, it is important that the concepts that define your company are being imparted to your market. One great way to strengthen all customer relationships is to let people know what your company stands for and what it is that you are trying to accomplish. This tactic, rather than just focusing on sales, can really serve to set your business apart from others offering similar products and services. By letting people know what’s important to your company, you can often be speaking to their needs, as well.

For example, if you are involved in a charity, you could indicate this and discuss it in a blog. In this way, you are informing people about the humanitarian culture of your company, without making a lot of fuss and fanfare that could obviously be looked upon as nothing more than a photo op aimed at cheap publicity. Instead, the charitable activity could produce a frame of reference that a others may strongly identify with, thus creating a potential for brand loyalty.

Sharing customer success stories, demonstrating solutions that your company offers, and discussing problems that have been solved, can serve very well in building a business reputation while further enhancing a brand image.

Establishing Customer Loyalty
By far, customer loyalty is one of the most important aspects in creating, building, and growing any business. Repeat business sustains companies at all levels, especially during economic downturns. The larger the loyal customer base, the less likely it is that a business will struggle to survive.

A blog’s showcase of many different solutions can ultimately encourage customers to do more business with your company. By detailing helpful and useful information, your credibility as a product or service provider can increase. This can help to establish you as an influencer of opinion down the road. Featuring some of your customers can enhance your business relationship with them and may increase their level of loyalty overall. By instituting a subscription option through RSS and email of your blog, you also have opportunities to interact with subscribers each time a piece is published.

By engaging new and existing customers through a blog and interacting with them, you will be in the best position possible to provide what it is that they need. This creates a win-win for you and your customers, and that will attract even more.

Traffic Building Techniques
Because of the keyword and informational nature of blogs, they are one of the perfect forums that adapt very well to search engine optimization. Search engine spiders live and thrive on fresh content. While a company website might be rather static with little need for content changes, a regularly updated blog provides the freshest, keyword-rich content for search engines. This can cause a web site to rank higher when potential customers search for the products and services that your company provides – which ultimately can drives more traffic to the web site.

Starting a Blog
The first thing to do when deciding to start a blog is to define the purpose of the blog. It is also a good idea to map out a simple plan of topics relating to the issues surrounding your business that are worth discussing. For example, in a fast-paced technology business, a blog could follow current trends to inform clients and attract new ones, as it continually details fresh and innovative ideas.

Blogging Tools
There are plenty of free and low-cost blogging tools available, and publishing is generally very simple. In determining which ones to use, you must decide whether you want to host the blog yourself, or use a free hosted blogging service.

Keep in mind that free blogging services, just like anything else, are not really free. For example, a free blogging service does not provide your own domain. Remember that if you use a free service, you may have no control over the website, and therefore, no way to manage your readership. There may also be some restrictions as to the kind of content that may be published on the blog.

If you are serious about using a blog to enhance your business, it is best to start with registering your own domain name. That way, you don’t have to be concerned about losing a readership if the blog grows and you need to move it elsewhere, or about the blogging service going out of business. Plus this gives you a more credibility as a source.

One of the best and more affordable ways to create a blog is to get a reasonably priced hosting service and use the blog software that is provided by the hosting company, or use WordPress free blog software.

A great place to find out more about blogging is at Webhostingtalk.com. It is the largest online forum community that specializes in discourse concerning the hosting industry. The forum contains some very useful information about its users’ experiences with blogging. You can also join the forum and post an inquiry to receive feedback from some of the more experienced hosting industry professionals.

Regular blogging not only keeps fresh information about your products and services front and center for the online consumer, but it also can serve to lessen the visibility of competitors who are as savvy. The more useful and valuable information that you can provide to existing and potential consumers, the more visible your company will be. Higher visibility makes it possible for more potential customers to find their way to your website and become consumers of your products and services.

As Michael Arrington, Founder of the popular webzine TechCrunch said, ”Whatever happens next with blogging, it’s here to stay. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.” (http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere).

A really great blog can keep your company in the forefront so that those who have done business with you in the past keep coming back to your website for more information. Once your website is established as a resource for information about certain products and services, consumers will be more likely to think of your company first when they are ready to make a purchase. That fact alone makes blogging and social networking well worth the time invested.

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