Archive for June, 2011

Blog Design Question of the Week (#2) – Does My Business Need a Blog?

Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 12:31 pm

Welcome back! This is week #2 for my Blog Design Question of the Week series. Like I mentioned last week, this is an opportunity for you to ask a question that’s been on your mind. Or for those of you who know the answer to the question or have something to contribute, please feel free to chime in and join the conversation. The more the merrier.

This week’s question came from a recent client of mine. It is a question that I receive quite often actually… Does My Business Need a Blog?

This is an excellent question. I personally feel that blogs are underutilized and overlooked in many businesses and non-profit organizations today. The way I see it, if you have a business then you must have customers. If you have customers, then you need a way to interact with them. It’s that simple.

You may be thinking that a blog is JUST an online journal where people talk about their personal lives or blog to help raise funds for a specific cause. Contrary to what you may think, a blog has a lot more potential to grow your business than you may be aware of.

There are 3 reasons that your business needs a blog:

Interact With Customers - Utilizing a self-hosted blog is a great way to interact with your customers. A successful online presence should involve blogging about relevant information about your business on a consistent basis. The goal should be to engage your audience by sharing brief and valuable information about your products and services. Another key for meaningful interaction with customers or potential clients is to integrate your blog with other forms of Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. You may want to reference this article that I posted earlier titled “4 Tips for Marketing Successfully With Social Media”. Finally, wherever possible, try to encourage participation by inviting your readers to engage in the conversation.

Drive More Traffic – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical component of doing business online. Many of the top marketers have often said that the key to a successful business is “location…location…location”! This concept does not only apply to traditional brick and mortar businesses (a company that possesses a business or store for operations). It is also relevant for online companies. So, whether you are operating your business from a suite in a strip mall, a home-office, or blogging from your neighborhood coffee shop; it is important that people can find you. Effective SEO techniques is the best way for your potential customers to locate you online.

Become the Expert in your Niche – Establishing your expertise is synonymous with branding. You must effectively communicate your brand to successfully establish your expertise. Many of today’s brand leaders have an entrepreneurial spirit. In order to generate sales and/or followers your audience must view you as knowledgeable, credible and helpful. A great way to enhance these characteristics is by having a will to succeed and through a path of continuous learning. Immerse yourself into your industry or the product line that you are involved in with a goal of learning everything about what it takes to succeed. Seek out classes or mentors if necessary.

So does your business REALLY need a blog? The answer is definitely YES!

If you already have a self-hosted blog for your business, do you need to look into adding some basic SEO techniques or an online marketing strategy? If you do not have a blog, maybe you should look into starting one today. If you need any assistance feel free to contact me and I’ll be glad to help.

Thanks and have a blessed day!

Thanks, and you should connect with me on Facebook here.

Blog Design Question of the Week (#1) – What is a Facebook Landing Page?

Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 12:17 pm

Comments (4)

Every week (probably on Mondays), I will post a new Blog Design Question of the week. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions that you may have. It doesn’t have to be just on blogs though. The topics can range from Blogging, Entrepreneurship, Web Design, SEO, Social Media and Branding.

My goal is to share knowledge and solutions to help you with any challenges you may be facing as you grow your business online. And I’m hoping to learn new things via this process as well.

Please join in on the discussion and get involved. And feel free to answer any of the questions by leaving a comment.

So let’s begin…..this week’s question….What is a Facebook Landing Page? This question was actually asked a few weeks ago by one of my fans on my own business FB Fan page.

If you have created a Facebook page for your business, then you are off to a good start. The next step in really engaging your visitors would be to create a landing page. This would be mainly for your 1st-time visitors that come to view your page. This landing page is your opportunity to welcome new visitors and tell them what you would like for them to do now that they are on your page.

On my custom landing page, I basically tell my new visitors who I am and what to expect on my page. And then I invite them to “like” my page and stay connected with me. For some of my clients, I have recommended that they make a special offer or discount that will help convert their visitors into “fans”.

Without a landing page, the visitors will just land on your wall. They may be confused as to what you offer as they browse through the most recent status or posts on your page. So why not make the best use of your time and your visitors’ time, by telling them up front about your brand. This is also a good time to clearly tell them what you would like for them to do. I have found that when people are clear on what you are asking them to do, they are usually more responsive.

Here are a few examples of FB landing page designs that can give you some inspiration for your page. I design landing pages, so feel free to check out my design portfolio and contact me if I can be of any assistance.