On the Write Road

Lately more and more consultants have found a low-cost, high-return marketing tool to advertise their services. What is it? Blogging.

Blogs are becoming more and more popular with consultants and other small businesses. The reason is blogs can drive search traffic to you web site, build up a potential customer base, and show your expertise.

What is a Blog?

The word “blog” comes from blending the words “web” and “log.” When I first read about blogs, I thought they were just personal online diaries written by young people with plenty of time on their hands. Why bother doing something like that? However, after researching blogs and joining a course called Become a Premium Blogger given by Yaro Starak, a well-known blogger, and Gideon Shalwick, an online video education entrepreneur, I learned business blogs are better marketing vehicles than a static web site.

Who are creating blogs?

Many freelance copywriters and creative writers have created their own blogs. Brian Clark, a copywriter, created Copyblogger, a site that provides copy writing advice for bloggers and online marketers. Over 16,000 people follow Copyblogger on Twitter. There are other popular sites created by developers, writers, and marketing gurus that also have a large following by blogger standards, over 1,000 subscribers.

Great tool for technical communicators

If you are a self-employed technical communicator will a blog help you? I think the answer is “yes”.  Here are the ways I think a blog can help you:

 Build additional web traffic

Now  a days if someone is looking for a writing company, they will probably use the Internet to do a search. If your company web site does not rank in the top 20 spots on the major search engines, then that potential customer will never find you. One way to increase your ranking is by learning a technique called search engine optimization (SEO). SEO means ensuring that your web pages are accessible to search engines and are created in a way that will help improve the chances they will be found.

Another easier way to achieve high search engine rankings is by creating a  blog. The reason is because search engines rank based on regular new content, link popularity , and other factors.

Before I created our blog, when I searched for “technical writing company” using Google our company website www.writeontimesolutions.com, ranked 20th on the search page. However, after I created our blog and marketed it on blog catalogs, blogs and forums our company web site ranked fourth on the search page.

 Share your expertise and knowledge

A blog is great place to demonstrate your expertise to a larger audience. For example if your speciality is structured content, you could write articles on Moving to Structured Content or the Challenges of Implementing a Content Management System.

The more your write and market your blog the more your will be seen as the “expert” in your area. If one of your readers needs a writer with your expertise, then they will likely contact you. Blogging can lead to assignments, jobs, and other opportunities.

A blog also is like a live portfolio since it displays your writing skills without the benefit of an editor or other writer. 

 Make money

Your blog can make money for you in several ways. The first way is to use it to sell a product or service, such as an ebook. The second way is through advertising. A blog is like a magazine in that you can make money by selling advertising. You can generate income from private text link campaigns, private banner campaigns, and affiliate sales.

Do you have a blog? And if you don’t blog, why not? Leave me a comment. I’d like to hear from you.

photo by cambodia4kidsorg’s