7 reasons why shop owners need to blog

{photo by Amanky}

You've been told you need a blog to help better your business. "Everybody's doing it, it's good for business!" you hear them say. But, why exactly? You already spend so much time running your shop, do you really need a blog too?

Well yes. You do. And here's 7 really good reasons why:

1. Blogging helps builds relationships with customers

As a small business, it’s an asset for you to be able to connect more personally with customers and a blog can help you do that. You can allow them to see a bit of the behind the scenes of your shop and see that it’s run by a person that shares the same values as them. One thing a micro-business like yours has over big box stores is personality, a face, humanness- use those things to your benefit, allowing your customers to relate to you in that way will also make them trust you with their hard earned dollars more easily.

2. Blogging is search engine friendly

Blogs are built for search engines. They are indexed in google faster and more frequently than your shop/website is because they're updated so often. They often have built in optimization tools that make the keywords that show up on your blog (eco-friendly baby clothing, per se) appear in search engines faster and at a higher rank than they would from your site alone. This helps bring you more targeted traffic from people who are searching for exactly what your shop is all about.

3. Blogging is the easiest way to relay information about your shop

Since blogs are instantaneous and updated often, you can use them to relay news or special events notices to your customers, offer special sales or discounts, post a shipping schedule during the holidays, etc. They’re easy for customers to subscribe to if you set up an rss feed so they can always be “in the know.”

4. Blogging shows you know what you're talking about

Having a blog can help make you be seen as an authority on your topic, if you use it well. If you make hand screen-printed t-shirts, for example, and blog about the process of printing and show how you mix the inks to find the perfect color and point out some of the other great hand-printed goods out there, it'll appear to customers that you sure know an awful lot about screen-printing. And people like to buy from shops that they feel confident in.

5. Blogging connects you to other bloggers

When you start blogging, you'll become part of the vast community of bloggers. It's like your special pass into a friendly club. When you start commenting on posts of blogs you like, some of those bloggers will start commenting on yours. When you post about things other bloggers like, they'll re-post about it and point to you as a source. When you make buddies or share mutual interest with another blogger, you can trade guest posts or link to each other often. Building genuine relationships with other bloggers can mean lots more exposure for your business.

6. Blogging is free

You can start and maintain a blog for absolutely no cost at all. And any opportunity you have to market your business this effectively that's entirely free, is really something you need to delve into.

7. Blogging is fun

Eventhough it can sometimes seem a chore to keep up with (and sometimes it is) once you get into the habit of blogging, you may find you can't get enough of it. It's fun to connect with readers and hear instant feedback about your work. It's fun to share your opinions and ideas and little bits of your life. It's fun to talk about what you do and can even help you remember why you do it in the first place.

One drawback to all the goodness that can come from blogging is the fact that it's not easy.

It's not easy to keep up with regularly. It's not easy to know what to write about or find the time to write it. And it's really not easy to start building your traffic up. Those of you who have blogs for your shop know what a struggle it can be at times, I'm sure.

So, next Tues I'll be back with some blog post ideas to help you get the ball rolling when writer's block is setting in. And maybe some traffic building tips after that? Any other "blogging for your business" issues you're interested in?

In the meantime, check out these awesome shop owner's blogs for great examples of how you can use one for your business:

• Heather Smith Jones
• Cicada Studio
• Swallowfield
• Smosch
• Abby Try Again
• Naughty Secretary Club
• Creativadoration