One thing you’ll notice when you take a closer look at the web is the small number of great blogs started and owned by businesses.

This is the case even with lots of posts, statistics and case studies – clearly pointing at the benefits of business blogging – already published all over the internet by bloggers and companies reaping the benefits of blogging already.

You’ll also notice that most of the businesses with blogs have not yet made the decision to work with bloggers who run some really great blogs to leverage their clout to grow their own blogs.

So, what is stopping these businesses from starting their own blogs…

and making a vow to build something useful to them and the prospects and customers they are keen on building  a lasting relationship with?

Could assumptions like blogs don’t make you money be what’s stopping them? Let’s look at some of the reasons and assumptions that may be holding them from starting and building great blogs to promote their businesses.

1. Some businesses think blogs are so hyped

There are business owners who wonder why go the blogging route when they can simply slap an ad on Facebook, Google, local FM radio and TV stations, newspapers, magazines or a cause or show they are sponsoring.

After all some of their efforts in these areas brings instant results and gives them the opportunity to catch the attention of many people.

And what do they get from their blogs, if at all they have one? Numbers not pleasing to the eyes and spam, a lot of it. What they don’t realize is that blogs are for the long term. If properly built, they can help a business do so much, cheaply.

Imagine the power your business wields if you have a place where your customers and prospects can find answers to almost 99% of their questions any time of the day, fast, and still have a chance to talk to you about the 1% if it so happens that they come up with unique questions you haven’t yet covered.

That is the advantage you can get from a blog. So even if you think they are hyped, build one that doesn’t ride on hype. Build something useful, because you can.

You don’t want to wait till the results you are getting (from your marketing efforts right now) dry up to put together a blog for your company.

 Also check this detailed post on Niabusiness.com: Why Blog? 30 Reasons to Start a Blog. Take your time reading it. It will give you plenty of ideas for what to do once you launch a blog for your small business, company or startup. 

2. Some business owners don’t know how blogs (and inbound marketing) work

Talk some business owners into getting blogs and the first thing that may come to their mind id, ‘How do they work?’

Start explaining, and you’ll notice the changes in the faces of some. Instead of getting more interested, certain words you use may give them another reason to avoid starting a blog – even when there are more than 30 reasons to start one.

To those who are interested, blogs simply gives you the advantages of being a publisher. You can teach, entertain, inform, and be friends with those who come to your blog.

And doing all this doesn’t stop you from making more money. It could actually help you attract more profits, and you like profits, just like every business owner, right?

A blog could be one of the best places where you connect with people who are interested in what you do.

People who see (or want to know) the value they can get from you. Even if they don’t buy immediately, they are likely to talk about you and recommend your products and services to their friends and family.

Choose to use this advantage to grow your business today. And if you need help starting and growing your blog, get this.

3. Some business owners dread running blogs for their businesses

There’s so much time and money that goes into building successful blogs, and this is a big reason why some businesses don’t start their own blogs.

But what if you take things one step at a time, to choose not to be overwhelmed by very long lists of things you need to do to build a blog that’s just perfect.

To some business owners, blogs are liabilities, sinking company time and money in return for very little traffic, poor conversion rates and low sales.

So, they do actually start one but abandon it. No new content, no theme and plugin updates, no moderation of comments…no engagement.

They just let the thing sit online for a year, until their web host calls them to pay the annual fee (domain and hosting) if they still want their site online.

The good news is that running a blog is really easy when you have clear goals, reasonable expectations and the will to make your blog work for you and not the other way round.

Don’t be the business owner who will only be ready to deal with the ‘hassles’ of running a blog only when you see a growing trend of businesses increasing their profits owing to the efforts they put in their blogs.

So even if you think a blog can’t and won’t benefit your business or make you more money than it takes, you still need to start one:

1. To make it easy for the increasing number of people turning to search engines to research companies , businesses, products and services, to find you, talk with you, and open their wallets and buy from you.
2. Because it is cheap, doesn’t necessarily have to take tons of your time and can become a great asset in less than a year. But, of course, you won’t know this until you start one.
3. To separate yourself from the crowd that strongly believes that a blog won’t be beneficial to their business in any way, and instead of starting one to prove if they are right or wrong, simply cling to their usual ways of doing things – and wondering if maybe, just maybe, starting their blog last year would have been a good move..
4. Because it can give you the opportunity to build an email list filled with customers and prospects who are likely to stick with you and buy from you for a very long time. You love repeat customers, especially the ones that know you and you know them, right?

With all this said, you can also…

Start and use blogs to turn your ideas into small businesses.

The first question that may come to your mind when you read that is, ‘Is this possible? Can I build a blog and use it to turn my ideas into small businesses?’

The answer to that question is maybe.

It depends.

I don’t want to say yes to get people excited and then have all that excitement lead to one big disappointment when they begin struggling with some of the newbie challenges mentioned in the ebook / online course, How to Start a Successful Blog.

What about a no? I don’t want to say that either because it is possible to start a blog that eventually leads to a profitable small business.

Why start and use a blog for sales (lead generation), your business, company or for your marketing department?

1. It is easy to test the viability of your ideas without investing tens or hundreds of thousands in a business startup

Most ideas are subjected to the viability test – a period where the owner of a new business does two things: one – offers a solution at a certain price or fee, and two – determines whether the results he gets for his efforts to make the idea work justifies putting in more effort, reaching out more, asking for more sales and generally keeping the business alive.

Doing this offline can take a lot of time and money – though this is not always the case.

Online, it may cost less. And that’s always an option for people who want to start businesses but don’t have the time or money to cater for all the expenses that come with testing an idea offline. Besides, a blog also gives individuals the opportunity to test their ideas offline and online.

Say your business offers editing and proofreading services to small businesses, you can test the viability of your idea offline (for example by visiting businesses in your local town or city, showing them the solution you have for them and what pains your solution is made for – and getting them to work with you) and online (by writing articles related to editing and proofreading for small businesses to get search engine traffic from people looking for a solution like the one you offer, and by connecting with persons that can benefit from your services – inviting them back to your blog every time you make contact).

2. You can use a business blog as a tool for market research

Your blog can be an inexpensive way to get business and also learn from the people who come to your site. And it is in the learning that you get more ideas to polish your product, improve your service and meet the needs of those you are serving.

If you don’t have the money to start offline, you can jump online. Add your blog on the internet, build relationships with prospects and customers and learn from those relationships.

With a blog usually you can see the keywords leading people to your site. They can get in touch with you via email, live chat or phone, leaving you feedback you can use to move from idea to business to more growth.

They can leave you comments, testimonials, tell you what they like or dislike and why. And the good thing is that you don’t have to limit yourself to a particular geographical area.

They can come to your site when you sleep – and all the stats you get (traffic coming in, sales, bounce rates, email subscribes and unsubscribes) can be really helpful when thinking of ways to grow and do a better work at helping your clients.

3. A blog can be a great platform to connect with other people

You can do this offline, sure, and bit by bit turn your idea into a real business. You can also do this online. Or both – which is better.

But what happens when, for various reasons, you find it difficult to build a platform that gets the attention of persons who are interested in, or know people who are interested in, the solution you are charging for?

One option is creating a blog with the goal to make it a success and using it to connect with others.

After all business is all about connections: solutions to pains, customer to customer, business to customer, business to prospects. Money flows in these connections when value is given.

A blog can give you a quick way to position your idea as a solution – that for the money paid gets whoever takes money out of their pockets, a solution they’ll love, love, love.

It also gives you the individual business owner a chance to be found by others, a chance to be referred to by others and a chance to grow the connections you make further – developing them into stronger relationships.

What happens with this is that it then gets a little bit easier for more people to find you.

It gets a little bit easier to reach new and existing customers within and beyond the borders of your country.

It gets a little bit easier to get more people spreading the word about you.

It also gives you the chance to reward such people by creating solutions that are even more useful, involving them in what you do and giving them a chance to say, everyday, that they are part of something important – your vision, allowing them to make some money for the referrals they make etc.

4. Reinvesting the money you make online into your business

When, as a result of your blog, your idea makes money, that money can be used to grow your business depending on the plans you have.

In the example above, on an editing and proofreading business, you can make money working with the businesses located in your town or city.

With your blog, you can reach more businesses inside and outside of your town, city, state, province or country.

You can use the money earned for the services you render to the people living in different cities, towns, countries and continents to create even better things for all your clients.

Blogging is an affordable way to turn an idea into a business if you don’t have the capital to get started and don’t want to start with loans from banks, saccos or micro finance institutions.

It takes time and requires a lot of hard work and restraint. And this may not be the best route for everyone / every idea.

If you are ready to give this a go, all you need is the discipline to build a successful blog.

Have questions or suggestions? Share them with me in the comments below.