Does Your Marketing Toolbox include Blogging?

If you work at home for yourself, whether as a consultant, writer, virtual assistant, or cake decorator, you need clients. You already know that if you want to be in business and make your creative talents profitable, marketing is a must. What you may not realize is that blogging is an important tool in your marketing toolbox. It helps you connect with potential customers, and it allows them to get to know you and your work.

Offer Value

Determine your audience and create useful content. A blog cannot simply be an ad. If it is, no one will come back to your site. Hallie Vanszl, owner La Retro Gifts (www.LaRetroGifts.com), a toy boutique store, just began her first blog and her goal was clear. “I wanted it to be more story and less product - with just a mention in a place or two, rather than the majority of the post being related to product.” So while you’ll find the occasional link to a specific toy, you’ll also find her recipe for snow cream, sample love notes to leave in lunch boxes and, play ideas for children with special needs.

Show Your Creative Side

One reason blogs can be helpful is that you can showcase your ability. Your portfolio of projects for other clients may be limited to fairly serious or otherwise “dry” material. You can show those as an example of work for satisfied clients, but your blog can be a place to shine. Show pictures of what you’re working on, describe a particularly successful event, or post a personal project that allows your unseen abilities to be showcased.

“Besides being another place and way for my name to be out there (and being in the right place at the right time is everything when your door's always open for more work), my blogs give me a place where I can “untether” on topics just a bit,” explains Tracy Morris, a freelance writer.

A Word to the Wise

Choose your content carefully. Outside of your immediate family, only a very few people care about your daughter’s potty training. Unless you sell toilet training products, consulting or the ultimate how-to book, keep your potty training stories to your personal site.

Getting started

Where do you begin in setting up a blog? First, you need a host where your blog will live. There a few things to consider, including price, ease of set-up, and reliability. As with most things in life, blog platforms come with a variety of price points ranging from free to more expensive options. Some blog platforms are easier to use than others, although most offer forums dedicated to helping people get the most out of their chosen platforms.

The best thing to do is look at a lot of blogs by people you look. Check out the design, see if it is easy to navigate and ask people you know about their experiences.

Consider these potential hosts:
www.blogger.com/home
www.wordpress.com/
www.livejou
al.com/