Copyright (c) 2007 Ferdinand Martinez
Blogging is a concept that started in late 90s. It used
to be a way to comment an existing webpage, an opportunity
for visitors and readers to react or voice out one's opinion
on the said page. What started as a single-sentence
commentary has evolved into pages of personal take on just
about anything and everything under the sun. As it continues
to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the
blog's potential. Here are 5 reasons why you should use
blogging as an Internet marketing tool.
1.Blogging is simple. The simplest way to get your piece
on the net is through blogging. No skills are necessary? an
average adult can read and type, or at least click a mouse.
It's like having a virtual piece of paper and you just write
your ideas, experiences, new products, and hope that the
truth behind your articles comes out and entice your reader
to also try your product. If you have a PC and an Internet
connection (who doesn't?) then you can blog and advertise.
2. Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where
advertising saturate our lives, we question the credibility
of promoters' claims. However, in blogs, real people share
their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising.
Reading blogs about first-hand product use is like talking
to people about their first-hand experience. You definitely
want to buy a tried and tested product.
3. Blogging is free. Because blogging is yet to be proven
as a mainstream online advertising media, most sites see it
as something to augment current marketing tools and thus
offer it for free. Any opportunity for free webtime is
definitely a bonus especially to businesses that are
starting up. Needless to say, paid blog pages can generate
more income for your seriously growing business.
4. Blogging builds credibility. As you get more and more
into writing your experiences on a particular product or
industry, your readers come to realize that they can depend
on your posts for their own information needs. As such, you
become an expert on it; as a consequence, more readers visit
your site and more bloggers link to your blogs. As companies
and professional organizations notice the growth of your
readership base, they may soon get in touch with you for
advertising on your blog page, or make you an affiliate,
which pays for every referral generated from your blog site.
5. Blogging builds your market. Unless you are a
Hollywood star, chances are, only your Mom reads your posts.
Mom has a lot of friends, so she lets her friends know how
interesting your blog site is. But you need not depend on
Mom to increase your readership base. Look into the
following ways to build your market through blogging:
-By using your e-mail. Today, blogging is overcoming the
e-mail's popularity in quickly and effectively reaching and
expanding a market. In this age of speed and quick access,
logging in and downloading e-mail is simply taking longer
than clicking into a blog site. Let them explore your site
by using a short e-mail message as teaser to your blog site.
If your e-mail is on an entirely different subject, use your
e-mail signature to give a link to the site.
-By using subscription. An easy way to get your readers
e-mail is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your
blogsite. Keep some exclusive information for your
subscribers to entice readers to subscribe and give their
e-mail address. Just be responsible in using their e-mail
address, as the last thing you want is a comment on your
blog that you are a spammer.
-By understanding your readers. Conduct a simple survey
for your readers to understand their profile and advertising
preferences. Ask consumers to give you feedback on a post,
an ad link, or a trial that you shared. In this way, it is
like interviewing your readers without the commitment and
intrusion of a face-to-face interview.
-By joining a blog network. A network of blogs maybe a
collection of blog sites that share the same industry,
interest, readership base, payment mode, etc. Consumers find
credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several
real bloggers about a single subject. Clearly, more bloggers
are better than one.
-By using RSS. RSS is the fastest growing technology on
the Internet today. As such, having RSS feeds to your blog
is definitely another means of generating awareness for your
readership base. Having a variety of feeds can add interest
to your blog site.
Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging
as an Internet marketing tool.