Horse Business eZine – Equine Business Marketing Tips for the Busy Business Owner

The high trotting email newsletter that delivers ideas, insights, inspiration, and practical marketing information specifically for Equine Related Businesses.

February 2007; Issue #2 Joni Solis, Editor

Hi, This is Joni Solis from A Love for Horses with your February’s newsletter about why start a blog!

Well we are now a month into the new year and the last 31 days have been fast and wild for me with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Sounds like your life too?

I have even had to take down the buy-it-buttons on my custom logo packages to try to slow things down enough for me to catch up.

It is better to turn down jobs than to take on more than you can handle. Yep, it is a bit hard to turn away someone trying to hand you money but it is best for you, your business, and your customer that you do, because more businesses have failed by growing too fast than too slow.

But I know you may be wanting to know how to bring in more customers and this newsletter is going to cover that with…

Why you should start a blog? (a blog is an Internet web log – diary)

Reason number one…being discovered by more people

Wouldn’t you love to have more people discovering you and what you have to offer? More web site traffic leads to more people signing up for your newsletter and this can lead to more sales.

Well, guess what, blogs are a great tool for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Managed properly, blogging can get your web site pages spidered nearly immediately and indexed in in only days. Search engines love well-run blogs because they love fresh, regularly updated, content!

Search engines crave fresh content, it is their bread and butter. Without it their customers may look elsewhere. So by feeding the search engines new blog posts, you will be rewarded with listings in their directories which will lead more people to your site!

And let me repeat this again: the more people finding you and your offers leads to more sales/income!

Reason number two…networking benefits

It is very easy and efficient to meet people through blogging and you never even have to leave your computer or go to networking meetings!

You may be able to meet your next great mentor through blogging.

Reason number three…display your commitment and passion

You have read about the studies showing that we like to buy from people we like. Well people that have a passion and commitment are highly appealing.

You have a lot on your mind — ideas, desires, problems, solutions. Use your blog posts to share experiences and show people that you are real and that you really do love your subject and you are committed to improvement and service.

Post regularly, express your imagination and awaken your creativity, and don’t be afraid to show people your passion. It is what will draw people to you and your company.

Blogging is a great way to have your thoughts published and read, commented on, and discussed.

You blog can give people a sense of community with your business just like what use to happen in the old time general store with customers and store owners greeting each other and share bits of their life.

Reason number four – follow the leaders

When the best and most profitable companies devote their time to writing blog entries and swear it helps their companies’ image and bottom line maybe you should follow their lead. “Publish or Perish”

Reason number five – people are snackers

If you write a monthly newsletter for your business you know how it feels to try to figure out how to fill it up with good information. Sometimes it is late or never gets made because of all the time and work it takes to make it. You may start to dread it and drop it altogether.

I see too many over stuffed newsletters. Most of us are too busy and it takes time to read a 1000-4000 word newsletter.

With a blog you can give people bite size bits of info that don’t take them long to read or digest. They are much more likely to read it if they feel it is going to be quick and easy. And you can keep it much more sharply focused than a newsletter that you fill with writings on different subjects.

Besides it is easier on you to write a small entry to your blog a few times a month than it is to sit down and write a large sized newsletter. You will now be able to keep on track better with your smaller sized monthly newsletters and weekly heads up to point your list to your blog entries.

Info on blogs…

For a good introduction to what blogging is all about check out Blogging Basics: Blogging 101 at Technorati.

You can get a free blog at Blogger.com or WordPress.com

Notice: Please read the free blog site rules (Terms of Service for WordPress.com). WordPress.com is really for personal non-commercial use. I wouldn’t pick it for a business blog where you are trying to sell products or services.

Hosting the WordPress blogging software on your own site is a better idea for a business blog. That is what I am doing here.

Remember, blogs are like diaries or news feeds, the best ones are up-to-date. Try to post a small entry once a day at the start to start the traffic flowing then twice a week is good to aim for.

And successful bloggers not only post to their own blogs, they visit and post comments on other blogs. Reciprocal posting helps build the friendships and helps even more people to discover you.

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