A blog is an brilliant way to keep in touch with your clients. There are many small, offline businesses that could use a blog as a means of free promotion.
Step1
The first step is to get your blog set up. I advise using blogger.com, principally for beginners, because it is very simple to use. Take time to create your user name because this will also be the name of your blog. For example, if your business is Murphy's Plumbing and you're in Seattle, a grand user name would be murphysseattleplumbing or something similar. This would give you a blog url (web address) of murphysseattleplumbing.blogspot.com
Step2
Once you have your blogger account, you can start to use your blog as a way to be in contact with your local area by posting announcements, such as new products, services, particular sales, etc. While blogging may sound complex, it's really not. Just think of it as a message board for your business, like an online version of the old arrow signs that let you modify your message.
Step3
After you have posted your first message, is to get the word out that you have a blog. This can be accomplished in many different ways. The easiest way is to start adding the blog address on all of your companies printed products, such as business cards, flyers, and any free print advertising. This will get done direct, local promotion of your blog.
Step4
Another very significant reflection is making sure your blog can appear in online search results. This is done by submitting your blog to the search engines (article on this below, under resources heading) and also with other techniques, called search engine optimization (article below).
Step5
It is also essential to keep your blog up-to-date to keep visitors coming back. An outdated blog will not likely be revisited by your customers. Providing new information is a grand way to obtain replicate visitor's to see what's new.
Step6
There are many ways to use a blog for your local business. By doing a bit of study online, you can get many great ideas. Start by doing a search on 'business blogging' or 'business blogs' to get extra information.
