Small Business Blog, Where to Begin Pt.2

Small Business Blog, Where to begin Pt.2

 This is part 2 in my Mini Series “Launching a Small Business Blog” part of my series titled “Blog writing from a Old School Internet Geek”

Ok, where do I start? Let’s jump right into what I’ve recently learned about ROI (Return on Investment), How to measure it and using my blogs feed to provide content to my users.

6. ROI, So in thinking about things, I was concerned about my ROI, I mean if you think about it, Starting a blog takes considerable time and effort, and honestly I’ve noticed you can get very little return on your investment.  So I figure one of the best ways to figure out how people are finding you on the internet, is ask them directly, don’t be afraid to ask your visitors.

Another great tool I have found is Google Analytics and Google Alerts , they will provide you with a ton of information about your visitors, and where they are coming from, as well as the path they take on your site, its actually fun to see the results of your hard work, I love seeing the changes in traffic depending on what I post and when I post it.

I also set up a RSS feed, this provides a convenient way for my visitors to get updates when I post new stuff. Here is Wikipedia’stake on a RSS Feed, I have also set up an email list to offer updates to my blog, I figure this is a great way for me to build a mailing list of Opt-In people.

7. Be prepared!!  So again in thinking, I think another important thing to consider is Real Life, things happen and sometimes I won’t be able to sit in front of my computer for a hour every other day to write my blog, so keep at least 5-10 postings made up in advance, this will take the pressure off, and allow you some time to develop more topics, here is a great site if you have a shortage of topics to use: 31 blog post ideas. 

8. Hit the bricks, now I think it’s time to jump in the forums, visit the sites that are related to my niche, and get some exposure, to me this is some cool stuff, because my blog tech4000 is about offering goodies related to tech support I love to help people so I am visiting the help boards, offering help and building trust on the discussion boards, this takes time I can see, but is a invaluable resource!  You will drive amazing traffic to your site this way.

9. Reach Out!!  I think it will be a great asset to my blog if I can contact people that are influential in my niche, email is a great tool to use to contact people that share the same interest, I am going to try and set up interviews with people that can add content to my blog postings, and give me added input, if your one of those people, please feel free to contact me rarmstrong@tech4000.us I am always open to any help I can get.

10. And last but not least, issue a press release, make sure its web optimized, let the world know your now online and ready to do business, try services like Pitch Engine and How to Write Social Media Press Releases – By Brian Solis.

So that about covers my ideas on starting a Small Business Blog, Hope this helps someone, heck hope it helps me!! J  Thanks for your attention, be sure to follow my progress and follow my series: “Blog writing from a Old School Internet Geek” where in the next release I will cover the Rules to starting a blog in 2012 and not breaking the 7 New Blundersand Mistakes I have.