13 Reasons to Blog

Back in January, I posed the question to the blogosphere - ‘Why do you blog?’ as I wanted a client to start blogging. Everytime I talked with her, I discovered new levels to her fountain of knowledge. I thought she should share that knowledge with others.

Whenever I brought up the blogging topic, she always asked me the same question:

“But Denise, why should I blog? Why do you blog?“

I blog because I have ideas to share, to build credibility and to engage with the community around me. The very same reason that she should blog.

So to get extra help to persuade her, I asked my fellow bloggers and got some great comments. You can catch the entire comments HERE so I’m paraphrasing.

Reasons to Blog
These are the main reasons that I saw when reading the comments of fellow bloggers. They are in no particular order of importance:

1. Own my own little piece of the internet
2. It’s a good way to force me to pursue my interest in writing
3. Gain a superior understanding of the topics/subject when it’s written down
4. For the joy of writing, learning and sharing
5. Others may benefit from my articles
6. Aid SEO
7. Help establish me/my company as industry experts on a topic
8. Share observations or thoughts on the way people/companies do things
9. Recount a story from from recent travels
10. Advise companies/people on things they could do differently that I’ve seen elsewhere
11. Act as a FAQ site/repository of information
12. Provide my thoughts on a range of business/technical topics which can be accessed  reasonably accessible way.
13. Another way to help others

So in summary, people blog to:
- Help others
- Get higher rankings on search engines
- Gain clarity in their own mind on a particular topic
- Make use of the instantness of the medium

A caveat - or indeed follow up question.
Most of the people that I spoke with said that they don’t blog regularly enough.

So, how much is regular enough?

I’ve got a goal: 100 articles in 100 days

I signed up for the ‘100 articles in 100 days’ (#HAHD) last year but through one thing and another, I didn’t complete it. This year, I’ve decided that I’m going to complete it.

I want to get:

1. Downloadable #HAHD Certificate of Achievement (frame not included)
2. Original Limited-edition EzineArticles #HAHD Trophy Mug
3. Limited-Edition EzineArticles #HAHD Mouse Pad
4. Limited-Edition EzineArticles #HAHD Canvas Tote Bag
5. Limited-Edition EzineArticles Motivational Wall Clock

It’s not the goodie bag that I want but the sense of achievement and accomplishment.

So please - can I ask for encouragement from my friends and readers?

And give me your ideas as well!

What is your biggest marketing challenge at the moment?

I’ve been very quiet for a while and you know what? I think It’s time to get back to solving marketing issues for small businesses.

But instead of me assuming what your issues are, I thought why not ask you what your issues are.

You only need to turn on the radio or open up the newspaper to be (constantly) reminded that things have changed.

So I want to know:

• What is your biggest marketing challenge or issue at the moment?
• What are you struggling with?
• What would you like to do better?
• What would you like to know more about?

There are a myriad of issues in marketing, such as:

• Getting the strategy right
• Competitive analysis
• Market research
• Pricing
• Promotion
• Customer value
• Customer retention
• Promotion
• Direct marketing/selling
• PR
• Social media
• Writing of brochures/case-studies/leaflets/etc
• Printing of brochures/etc
• Website marketing

I could go on for days - but these are just a few ideas for you to think about.

So go on - take five minutes and tell me what your biggest marketing challenge is.