What Use Is A Blog?
April 13, 2007 Posted by ROI_GuyDave Starr, ROI Guy, with another guest post for Tyler.
This blog (Tyler’s) is about an Internet Entrepreneur’s Journey, so it’s pretty safe to think most people reading this are entrepreneurs or want to join the on line business ranks. Can you make a business out of a blog alone? You can, but it’s probably not the fastest or easiest way to start and it’s going to be a long slog to get into the upper ranks. Just look for example at the diverse projects Tyler has going … and I could make 10 or 10,000 posts about all the different ways to make a buck. Blogging for bucks is just a very, very narrow niche in the on line world. Does that mean you put off blogging until sometime down the road when you already have a business base? I say no, blog sooner rather than later, and here’s why:
Visibility: (read SEO) A blog offers near instant visibility into nearly anything you want to publicize. A friend recently was riding in a charity fund raiser biking event. He wanted to “get the word out”. He put up a very simple WordPress blog, wrote a few posts an “bang” he had search hits for the keywords naming the event that might have cost hundreds (or more) to buy from a PPC service. If your name is Joe Doakes and you launch a site selling statisframmers, how long is it going to take Google to notice your new site? If you put up a blog today, submit it to Google free submission link (yes, it is still there and it does work), the GoogleBot will be at your blog within 48 hours …. typically less … and your new publicity efforts will be on the road.
Feedback: When you write, and attempt to collect “eyeballs”, you have to remember that eyeballs are attached to real live people. Ever visit a “statisframmers” site and find the pages were hard to read, off topic, boring? Did you just click on to the next site? I certainly would have.
I ran a standard (and I’m sure, boring) “brochure” type site for my former “brick and mortar” sales business. Even though I had several feedback type links I never received a single comment in several years. But with my blog, (or Tyler’s blog) I get comments (often very helpful) all the time … people comment on blogs … and comments are essential to making your business work … you have to fine tune, and then fine tune again and again to make your business grow.
Summary: is there a big return on investment in starting a blog for your entrepreneurial efforts? You bet your sweet statisframmer there is. If you don’t have a blog yet, set one up and tell me how it worked.
7 Responses to “What Use Is A Blog?”
I have been considering setting one up for over a month now. Reading this has given me a drive to set one up.
Another great post!
Rob.
Is it possible to set up a blog without splurging your web site secrets, etc.? Can it still become popular?
I could set up a blog, but it would be rather boring since I wouldnt want to divulge what sites I run.
To me a blog is successful because of the brutal honesty factor… like Tyler’s blog. He says how much he makes and what sites are his profitable onse.
What are people’s thoughts on this?
indeed, honesty plays an important role in blogging imo. What good is blogging if you don’t speak your mind?
The likes of John Chow sit on the fence a lot of the time, you’ll never hear him slating anyone publicly. But you get the impression Tyler will take the knife out if he wants to.
Blogs are diaries. Diaries are about real lives with real people. The more personal a blog is, the more entertaining it is imo.
Thanks for the feedback already, guys. One of the other benefits of blogging I didn’t hit upon hard enough is how much you learn from the poeople who read blogs..
Mike’s comments are certainly appropriate. You wouldn’t want to “give away” the store .. but I think you can be honest (essential) and open (also essential) without divulging too much. Tyler’s a good example, he talked a lot about Publisher’s Spot before it was released without divulging too much … I’m sure he has other irons in the fire for the future as well … it’s just a matter of balance.
And for the doubting Thomases about SEO, type my made up word “statisframmer” into Google less than 24 hours after this post came out … of course it’s a simplistic example, but it proves Google indexes blogs and indexes them fast.
It’s actually scary how many people are signing up for blogs these days. I think it’s getting to the point, where having a blog is as important as having a cellular number. Give it a little more time, and people won’t ask for a number, they’ll ask for a URL!
It does seem more and more common for people to blog.
I recently started a blog to track my money making adventures online. I’m also writing articles to help other people and to share the knowledge I find along the way.
I find this great fun and have met a lot of friendly people.
I recommend trying it to everyone!
Tom Boyd
[…] What Use is a Blog? […]