What’s The Value of Business Blogging?
In my spare time I blog on Pharmaceutical Strategy about things related to my industry, as well as new drugs in development for cancer (also known as oncology) and the science and biology behind modern targeted therapies, how they work, why they work better and in what patient subgroups they are more likely to be effective.
- Image via Wikipedia
Mostly, I blog once a day from Monday to Fridays then chill out for the weekend (unless Sarah threatens me with a machete 
). It takes time, focus and attention to keep that up over a few years, although it has a nice readership now and grow interest, as well as engagement either on the blog, Twitter or by old fashioned email.
The reason I’m talking about the concept of your own business blog though, is why do it? Why bother with all the effort and free material that others, including competitors can read and take advantage of?
The answer is I prefer to share and offer some stuff for free while offering premium services to clients in the form of paid strategy or consulting projects. A dynamic blog compared to a static website for showcases what my company can offer and how we differentiate ourselves from the competition, which is indepth knowledge and experience about marketing, strategy and oncology.
Remember Malcolm Gladwell’s point in Outliers about how it takes 10,000 hours to become reasonably expert on a topic? Well, I have that in oncology and hopefully, clients and prospects who drop by will read it, use the nifty Lijit search tool to find something relevant or interesting and see that for themselves over a volume of material.
I was rather surprised to find myself in esteemed company recently, making the Top 10 of Pharma analyst blogs at #7
Which brings me to the impact of blogging and how you can use it for inbound marketing, ie the art of getting found by qualified customers. I think of it more simply as having people with a pain call you to fix it and find a solution rather than have to rely on cold calling to bother stressed and harried people who don’t want to be sold to.
It’s not enough to just blog and hope someone on the web will find there way to planet Pluto aka your Blog. You also have to market it, through social media such as Twitter and places where your prospects will find you. In my case, many Pharma and Biotech folks in marketing, competitive intelligence, market research or new product development (my target audience) are on Twitter and LinkedIn. LinkedIn now allows you to update your status, so once a week I update mine with a new blog post.
After a fashion, people start to read it via the links on Twitter or LinkedIn and eventually, they have an urgent need. Maybe they are not happy with the current vendors or move to a smaller company without the dreaded supplier lists and need fresh new approaches. Yes, you guessed it – they read the Pharma Strategy blog and call to ask if we can help them with their pain. Priceless.
What’s your approach to attracting new business and is blogging a central part of your business strategy?
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About Sarah ArrowSarah Arrow is the managing editor of Birds on the Blog, in real life she is the communications director of a same day courier service. She is an enthusiastic UK based pro-blogger and co- author of the soon to be published Zero to Blogger
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6 Responses to What’s The Value of Business Blogging?
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Blogging is a central part of our strategy too. It works for us. It took a while to get into but the key was to continue when others would stop.
You get used to it, and you start to improve and your writing improves.
One of the first people to comment on one of my blogs, was our guest blogger Rhiannon Hill
and I was thrilled to have a comment, as Emily points out in her blog earlier today – it’s the knowing your voice is heard.
Blogging is a central part of our strategy too. It works for us. It took a while to get into but the key was to continue when others would stop.
You get used to it, and you start to improve and your writing improves.
One of the first people to comment on one of my blogs, was our guest blogger Rhiannon Hill
and I was thrilled to have a comment, as Emily points out in her blog earlier today – it’s the knowing your voice is heard.
Glad to hear it, Sarah… your blogs are very compelling and effective. They’re a great brochure for a glimpse about the people and business principles and ethics behind who you are and what you do.
I think the thing that I didn’t realise when I started out was how a blog become an effective inbound marketing tool – random people from either Google search or subscribers can become future customers because they like what they see and read.
The SEO may bring people in, but it’s the content that ultimately converts interest to paying customers.
I only wished I had started doing it earlier!
Twitter: maverickny
Glad to hear it, Sarah… your blogs are very compelling and effective. They’re a great brochure for a glimpse about the people and business principles and ethics behind who you are and what you do.
I think the thing that I didn’t realise when I started out was how a blog become an effective inbound marketing tool – random people from either Google search or subscribers can become future customers because they like what they see and read.
The SEO may bring people in, but it’s the content that ultimately converts interest to paying customers.
I only wished I had started doing it earlier!
Twitter: maverickny
I have learnt a great deal about blogging from Sarah and Babs – not least, is that I still have a lot to learn!!
These two are masterbloggers and know so many tips and tricks for making blogs work well – I blog for my business, but I don’t think I have yet got the art of engaging with people, the writing tends to be rather formal . I now know that I need to mix it up more, adding related topics and more personal comment to make it more relaxed and friendly.
I also have much to learn on the distribution side too – and if you’re like me and you need to develop your skills, then the place to go is http://www.blogmistress.com
I have learnt a great deal about blogging from Sarah and Babs – not least, is that I still have a lot to learn!!
These two are masterbloggers and know so many tips and tricks for making blogs work well – I blog for my business, but I don’t think I have yet got the art of engaging with people, the writing tends to be rather formal . I now know that I need to mix it up more, adding related topics and more personal comment to make it more relaxed and friendly.
I also have much to learn on the distribution side too – and if you’re like me and you need to develop your skills, then the place to go is http://www.blogmistress.com