Why You Need To Blog

written by Liz Evangelatos Barney

12 · 12 · 20

Blogging · Social Media Marketing · Website Strategies and Tactics

The More Things Change,

The More They Stay The Same.

I must begin by confessing that I’ve been creating websites for micro and small businesses since Mozilla was the browser of choice and HTML 1 was still being developed. Yes, I’m older than the Mozilla dinosaur logo.

I also feel the need to confess that I thought blogging was dumb when it started to become a “thing”.

CONFESSIONS OF A WEATHERED WEB DESIGNER

I must begin by confessing that I’ve been creating websites for micro and small businesses since Mozilla was the browser of choice and HTML 1 was still being developed. Yes, I’m older than the Mozilla dinosaur logo. I also feel the need to confess that I thought blogging was dumb when it started to become a “thing”.

As the interwebs got busier and busier, I (finally) realized regardless of what you sell, you need a blog section on your website to actually talk to people. A space where potential customers get to know you.

Those of you that have seen anything I’ve ever posted since social media came along, know I’m a long time supporter of getting your message out to the most people possible. Coming from a real estate background (I was in real estate for about a decade and a broker for the last few years of that decade) I learned early on that sales was a numbers game.

When I made a career shift to computer work I took that belief with me. I quickly had all local Internet Service Providers sending me referrals for websites and became known locally as the best and busiest web designer in my area, creating hundreds of websites for small businesses.

THEN ALONG CAME SOCIAL

When social media started, I created a Twitter account of around 80,000 followers, a LinkedIn account of around 7,000 followers, a Facebook account of around 5,000, and an Instagram account of around 7,000 followers (two years ago it was almost the golden 10,000). In the last year or two, these numbers began to falter. Why? Partly because I got tired. Tired of keeping up with all the different rules of all the different platforms, their gradual pay to play strategies (like the proverbial frog in a pot of hot water) that made it harder to make real connections. The list goes on. And the number of followers I had began to drop.

Here’s my math.

In the interest of transparency, I believe there are three types of people in the world - those who are good at math and those who aren’t. So I’ll rephrase.

By the time social media became the world’s all-consuming force, the world was full of websites

When I started building websites for small brands, websites were still new and I could count on any website I launched to becoming a financial asset to its owner. As more and more websites flooded the planet, it was much harder for any website to be found.

I found it so much easier to find customers on the different social media platforms than trying to drive people to any website and hope they’d comment so we could start a conversation. On my own site, I turned commenting off and dove into social head first.

I set out to find my people. What I discovered was that I had created communities that I loved.

I set out to find my people. What I discovered was that I had created communities that I loved. Click To Tweet

I created large followings and sent my messages (and many bad puns) out into the social ether. I was rewarded. I made tons of friends, customers, and had fun the entire time.

But at some point, we all realized that our messages weren’t being seen by all the people that were following us. That even when you paid the platform that once treated you so well, you still don’t get many eyeballs on your messages.

So, I had to ask myself, if people aren’t seeing my messages, how are they going to get to know me? If I have to worry about having my account turned off by the platform I’m on, how will I continue doing business?

Don’t tell anyone, but

It seems like I was wrong about that whole blogging thing.

Who remembers Friendster? Mosaic? GeoCities? What about Google+? YikYak? Meerkat? MySpace? Ok, I’ll admit, MySpace is still around, albeit on life support.

And now, seemingly, millions of people are flocking to Parler, Gab, Rumble, MeWe, DuckDuckGo, and more.

Wow, that’s a lot of info to simply say, I’ve revised my game plan for business success and I want to share my journey and what I’ve learned along the way with you.

I’m revamping my website to include a blog section, and yes, turning comments on! And then I’ll be back online building a new community that share my views.

Because as long as I pay that domain name and hosting invoice on time, I can share information with you and not have to worry that I’ll wake up one day and it’ll be gone. Everyone should have a #CyberHome.

HOW WILL BLOGGING HELP YOUR BUSINESS SPECIFICALLY?

If you’re a real estate agent and your broker gave you a cookie cutter site they call a website, I say go get your own and make it unique. Besides the usual search abilities, etc, a few blog posts about yourself and how you handle different parts of the buying/selling experience makes you a lot more approachable than your competition.

If you’re a hairdstylist, you can have a website and tell people your prices, and have a photo gallery of your work, and social media platforms full of pretty pictures, and you should. But. How much more meaningful would it be to your customer to be able to read a blog post telling them what those certificates on your wall mean? How hard they were to earn? Your personal experiences with going through the school or the training, who you met, how it changed how you work. You get it. Your story. The story no one is really going to notice as they scroll through your social accounts as fast as their fingers will let them.

What if you’re a life coach? Your customer is not likely to contact you if they don’t feel a connection with you. A few blog posts can make that happen a lot faster, and in a much more authentic way than a Facebook ad. Whoops, did you see my eyes roll there? 🙄 #SorryNotSorry.

Are you a fitness trainer? Blog posts about your journey, your unique process will make a much better connection than a sales page with your latest protein shakes.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a few blog posts will change your life or your business, but it’s a key part of building your community. If you’re ready to get started, head to my post about creating your Style Guide that includes a free template.

After that, let’s talk about building out your blog and begin driving social media traffic to your blog.

#GrowYourBiz

Now, it’s your turn. Let me know where you are with your blog and/or some other online business. Do you have a website? Do you already blog?

Don’t let the techy stuff deter you. Read my post on setting up your blog and go from Zero to Blogger in under an hour!

Are you ready to revamp your #CyberHome and RE-INVENT yourself? Tell me what your goals are.

2021 is definitely the year we should all REINVENT ourselves. Or at least our business models. Click To Tweet

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Ultimate-Guide-To-Blogging-Under-An-Hour

Regardless of what type of product or service you're selling, you should start blogging right away. . I've put together the Ultimate Guide For Starting A Blog for Non-Techy people.