A Professional Blog Can Connect with Your Customers

Let’s talk about Anne Frank, one of the most celebrated women in history. Her life was brought to open not because of the time she was in—Anne was a victim in the Holocaust—but because of a gift given to her on her thirteenth birthday: a journal.

Such is the power of writing, and such is the effectiveness of a diary. However, since we already have technology that we can take advantage of, we have something very special and even more powerful. We have a blog.

Blogs today are no longer used by those who want to talk about the food they ate at lunch, newborn babies, plans for tomorrow, gossips, and celebrities. They are also being utilized by business owners who want to connect to their customers.

Any Comments?

The comment section of the blog is perhaps abused, with plenty of links from suspicious websites. However, it should not be turned off because it’s a highly efficient tool in communicating with your customers. It’s how they get to air their voice, and it’s how you can let them know that you’re real and that you are someone who listens to them. If you’re receiving questions or even hints of doubts, you can use Comments as your way of making them feel assured.

It’s in the Words

Of course, you can never underestimate the effectiveness of blog posts. Let’s take the story of Green Cine. It’s just a small DVD rental company, but it’s earning huge profits every month because of its blog, which is generating thousands of hits every month. All they have to do is to write about the various film festivals all over the world and other entertainment-related news.

The good thing about blogging is that you don’t need to sound like an intellectual or a genius. In fact, it’s a death knell, simply because readers don’t want to spend a lot of time understanding what you’re trying to say. Blogging permits you to be informal yet conversational, as if you’re just talking to a friend.

Introduce the Guest Blogger

Here’s another way on how you can interact with your customers: invite them to write an entry for your blog. They can develop testimonials for you, which are actually more effective than press releases or sales letters. They may also create news that are related to your business—anything that will keep the interest of your readers high. Besides, having a guest blogger means that you don’t have to generate stories on your own. You already have great partners with you.

A start-up company can surely rely on blogs as one of their most efficient marketing tools. They are for free, and yet, they are loaded with plenty of features that will help you create a very unique blog site. They are also very easy to maintain. To make the readers come back, all you need to do is to come up with interesting stories. Blogs are also favorites of search engines, which means ,they can improve your search engine ranking. Most of all, they provide you an avenue where you can talk and mingle with your customers.

Social Networking Is the New Wave of Online Marketing

Got Myspace? Indeed, who would have ever thought that a website that aims to connect people will be such a hit, with millions of members from all over the world? What’s more, this is not the only one—there are plenty of them. In fact, Facebook is coming in close to Myspace in terms of market share.

Business wise, though, this only means one thing: you have a huge potential market in social networking websites. Making your marketing ploys a lot easier is the fact that there are several built-in applications that you can use to promote your products and services. To give you an idea, read below:

1. You have the blog. Admit it, people will always be hungry of information, whether it is about the weather, social issues, your business, or even about the life that you live. Your entries can be read by your friends, and if it is good, they can even be passed on from one person to another. Simply put, a blog can offer you a very effective free publicity.

2. You can set up groups. Would you like to have a very good idea about the size of your target market? Try to set up an online group right at your chosen social networking website. In here, only those who have interest in what you are offering would definitely like to join. You cannot really expect many, but you know that they will be ones that are the easiest to convince. You can update them about your business, share more information, or invite them to your mailing list, which then allows you to promote your products through their e-mail.

3. You can build up your authoritative character. Why are there some ridiculous products that still get sold every day? Well, it only proves that in business, it is not really what you have per se but how you are able to present them to your market. There are a number of social networking websites that have message boards that you can participate in. If you can just check on them, there could be some questions that you are relevant to your chosen niche. You can share your knowledge and expertise to others, thereby increasing your reputation as an authority in your own field. When there is trust, there is no way that you will not be able to persuade them to accept your business and make it part of their lives.

4. They are free. When you’re in e-business, social networking websites give you an opportunity to save yourself hundreds of dollars in advertising costs and yet be able to reach out as many people as possible. Most of these social networking websites, if not all of them, are completely free. All you need to do is to sign up.

5. You can choose your friends. If you’re using social networking sites to gain contacts, you might as well choose your friends. Fortunately, you can narrow them down by using the Advanced Search option. You can identify the profiles of your potential market.