Reach Your Target Market with Your Business Blogging Efforts

Just about every business has a certain group of people they’re trying to reach, aka their target market. Using a business blog is a smart tool to use for that very purpose. Here is how to use your business blog to reach your target market.

First, you need to determine who your target market is. Is it work at home mom’s, small business owners, large business owners, mom’s who work outside the home, dad’s, single men or women, people who make crafts, jewelry or who are artists? There is a wide array of people who could be your target market, so determine who it is that you will be selling your products or services to.

Once your target market is determined, you can begin directing your blog posts towards them. In your title and the body of the post, use keywords that your potential customers would use to find that item or service on Google or Yahoo. This will help ensure your blog post is found. Once they find it, you will want to keep them there as well as returning time and time again.

To achieve this goal, be sure the first page they come to has content that will catch their eye and interest them enough to look around some more. The top part of your blog, the area your customers see in their screen first, should have titles and headers directed to your target market.

Also, your overall blog appearance should entice them to want to look around more. For instance, if you are selling baby clothing, your blog should feel like a baby store when your customers arrive. Using appropriate colors, images and fonts can achieve this goal. In addition, you want to keep your blog appearance neat and clean, free of clutter that would draw them away from your site and take them to another.

Using social media networking is fast becoming the number one way to reach your target market. There are hundreds of thousands of people on Twitter, Facebook, Stumble Upon, Digg, De.lic.ious and so on. If you don’t personally have time, hire a virtual assistant or social media manager to do the social network marketing for your business.

Offer your readers a weekly newsletter that will be emailed to them. On your blog, include an email submission form that your readers and customers will fill out giving you permission to email your business newsletter, promotions, specials or other pertinent information that they will benefit from. Once you begin building your email list and sending valuable information to them on a regular basis, you will have loyal readers that will not only return to your blog time and again, but who will also tell their friends and family about as well.

Reaching your target market doesn’t have to be difficult. By using the information given here, being consistent and persistent, soon you will begin to see the rewards of your efforts. It does take time to build a loyal readership and doesn’t happen overnight, but it can happen if you stick with it.

Marketing Your Business Blog via Social Networks

If you have a business blog but aren’t using social network marketing to promote it, you are losing out on literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential readers and customers.

Social network marketing is becoming, if it’s not already, the number one way businesses are marketing today. This is because the potential to reach people all over the world is on the Internet through social networking.

In order to make social networking work for your business blog, obviously you need to be a member of the major social networks. However, more is required. You must be active on the social networks. You simply can’t just belong but not interact with other members and expect to build your business that way.

The whole idea of social networking is not simply to drive more traffic to your blogs and sites, it is to build relationships with potential new readers, subscribers and customers. It is then through those relationships that your new contacts will come to know and trust you. Therefore, they will be more apt to purchase from you as well.

So, how do you go about making social networking work for your business? One way is to add, follow or friend people in your target market or niche. Then, begin building relationships with them first. Yes, let them know about your blog, but don’t be all about expecting them to go read it without first knowing why they should. This is where the relationship comes in. Once your subscribers know they can trust you and that you’re not just out to sell them something, but you genuinely want to help them, they will be interested in what you have to say and what you have to sell or your services.

Social networking can be tricky too. You may have a tendency to want to build up your number of friends and followers, but if they are not part of your target market or niche, then they are just a bunch of people. If you don’t have to offer what you’re followers need and want, then all your efforts are a waste of time.

As mentioned earlier, social networking takes time and effort. If you don’t personally have the time to devote to really make social networking work for you, hire a virtual assistant or social network manager to do it for you. It won’t do you any good to belong to social networks if you never have the time to spend building relationships with your potential new readers.

The hottest social networks right now are Twitter, Facebook, Digg, De.lic.ious and Stumble Upon. Of course there are numerous other social networks you can join as well, but these are recommended to get started. Trust me; you will be plenty busy trying to keep up with these five.

Once you start building relationships through social networking, then you can begin promoting your products and services to your audience. But remember, helping your readers, finding ways to benefit them is what’s going to keep them coming back to your site for more! Don’t let your relationship become all about only selling to them.

How to Have a Focused Business Blog

Your business blog is probably the single most important tool you can use to gain added traffic to your business and/or your business website. Whether your business blog is part of your website or a separate entity, it is important to know how to focus your blog to help drive customers to it which, in turn, ultimately drives customers to your business.

A focused blog is one that has a specific purpose. Your business blog’s specific purpose it to get others to want to buy your products and/or services. Therefore your business blog should include lots of details about your business including: stories about how your company began, how you came to be the owner of it, where it’s located (if it’s brick and mortar), etc.

In order to have a focused business blog, you want to avoid getting into too much personal stuff. Some is good and valuable, as it connects your customers to you, but you want to avoid venting about your personal life, your family members and so on. If your business is family owned, obviously you want your customers to know this, and it is valuable to include in your business details.

Your business blog should naturally talk about what sales or specials you have going on currently and should link directly to the sales page on your website. If you don’t have a website, then your blog is the place to post all the details about the sale or special and directing them to your place of business.

Details of the services you offer are another great way to focus your blog. If you’re adding a service to your business, your business blog is the place to get the word out to the public. Also if you’re discontinuing a service your blog can let your customers know this as well.

You can write a single blog post about a specific product by talking about how your product can help them, whether it’s for personal use or business. You can also create posts about an entire line of products that you carry, as a series of posts. The more your readers know about a product or line of products the more apt they are to purchase.

Another very important aspect of a focused business blog is to let your readers and customers know you are there for them. The whole point of your business, of any business for that matter, should be to help others in their personal or business lives. Talk about what you have to offer as being a way to help them succeed in whatever they’re doing. Show your customers how your products and services can help them. By doing this you’re creating clients that will continue to return to not only your blog, but your business as well because they know they can count on you and that you’re there to help them and not just for your personal gain.

As you continue to build your blog, you will be building your business as well. By having a focused business blog and using specific key words in your titles and posts, you will soon be driving the traffic you want to your business blog, which in turn will drive them directly to your business!

Consistency is Important for Business Blogging Success

When you start out posting to your business blog, your readers get accustomed to your style of writing and the content you’re producing. They come to rely on it and if you deviate from it, they may discontinue reading or feel they aren’t at the right blog. Obviously we don’t want this to happen, so below are some important keys to help you stay consistent on your business blog.

Branding your business blog is the key to retaining and building your readership. Branding is simply creating a look that is uniquely yours, including your business logo, your picture or an image that people will automatically associate with you and your business. If you have a blog that is separate from your business website, be sure your brand is consistent throughout both.

Even if your brand is simply an avatar of you, having it somewhere on your blog will let readers know they are at a blog that belongs to you.

Being consistent as far as the appearance of your blog goes is also key. Use the same colors, fonts and images on your blog that are on your website. You want your customers and readers to know they are at your blog when they first arrive. If you have a logo for your business, use it on your blog. If you have a custom header, use it throughout your site.

How often you write is also important to your readers. Your readers rely on hearing from you on a regular basis, whether that is every day or once a week. If you start out writing every day then all of a sudden drop off to once a week, they may turn away, thinking you’re not doing business as much or whatever. If you have to change how often you post to your business blog, let your readers know with a simple post. Or better yet, send message to your readers on your email list.

Take care of your readers by letting them know you care about them.

Not only is being consistent important for how often you write, but consistency is important regarding what you write about. The purpose of a business blog is to introduce readers to your products and services, inform readers about what you have to offer them, let readers know how your products and services can benefit them and to increase sales. With that in mind, the content of your business blog, your blog posts, should always do just that. Don’t be all over the place talking about subjects that aren’t pertinent to your business. If you start talking about your mom or your spouse or other things that have nothing to do with your business, you will lose readers fast. They come because they want to know about your business, not your personal life, or what’s going on down the street (unless of course it has to do with your business).

Being consistent with your style of writing, the appearance of your blog and what you write about will keep readers consistently returning to your business blog and increasing traffic to your business!

Build Your Business Blog’s Mailing List

Once you get your business blog up and running, you will want to begin building your email list. Building your email list is not too complicated and it requires using a mailing list management system.

To begin, you will need to have a form on your site where people can register to begin receiving email from you. This will give you permission to begin sending email to them on as regular basis.

Using a mailing list management system, you can send to everyone on your list. Using a mailing list makes your relationship with your readers stronger and deeper than just a casual stop to your blog via an RSS feed or email feed.

It is very important to use your email list wisely. You never want to send information that your specific readers will not want. Do not send an email simply for the sake of sending something out. If you don’t have pertinent information to send, don’t send anything. It’s better than spamming your customers to death; if you start sending stuff just to send it, you will lose readers a lot quicker than not sending anything at all.

So, what do you send then? Information that will benefit your readers is useful to them and pertinent to your business. If you don’t have enough information to send on a weekly basis, then start with once a month. You can build from there as your list grows and as your business grows.

You may find you need to divide your lists up. Perhaps you have regular readers, who are not committed customers yet. Or maybe you have customers to your business, but aren’t regular readers of your business blog yet. Maybe you have a list of affiliate marketers that requires separate information from your regular readers. You may even have a list of readers who are connected to your blog on a more personal level, so you may want to send a more personal message to them.

Whatever the demographic is, sending information to them on a regular basis and that is pertinent to your readers is important. It keeps your readers coming back for more, which in turn helps grow your business.

If you’re wondering where to look for an email management system that’s right for your size blog, here are a couple of suggestions.

Mad Mimi (http://www.madmimi.com) has a start up plan that allows you to send up to 100 list members for free. It’s a great if you’re just beginning to build your list. You can also upgrade to add more members for a monthly fee at a later date when needed.

Aweber (http://www.aweber.com) is an email management system that you can also create sign up forms for your blog or site. It does not offer a free plan, but the monthly fees are reasonable if you have a larger list.

Building your email list begins with your first subscriber. Make sure you have a registration form that is easy to use and an email management program that fits your needs. Then begin building your list one by one, email by email and soon you will begin to see your efforts pay off!