Blogging, Anyone

Publisher1

Are any of you Blogging as part of your marketing strategy -- or do you know of any blogs which are effective in your opinion in communicating your business to target market?

I've been publishing my own blog at constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com for about six months and almost from the start have set a permalink to contractortalk.com. It looks like anywhere between one and three people a day are now visiting contractortalk.com from my blog because of the hyperlink. Research with the Society for Marketing Professional Services. which represents the marketing departments at architectural, engineering and larger general contractors in the U.S.) shows not too many people -- if any -- are using blogs for marketing yet.

Does the blog work? I can't say I've received much hard business from it yet -- but there are indications it is an effective resource for positioning the company, adding to reputation, and is very helpful in recruiting qualified employees.

If you have a blog you are using for marketing/promoting your business, please let me know so I can publicize and hyperlink it.

Ed the Roofer

Mine is only about one month old and I have no direct vision for it yet, but someone on another forum requested I start one up so he could link to it from his construction resources blog.

http://rightwayroofing.wordpress.com/

Ed

JenRan

I decided to give blogging a try, though keeping it updated is the hardest part. I only market it mainly of my two websites, newhomec.blogspot.com



Randy

Publisher1

Thanks JenRan and Ed the Roofer for your postings. Blogging, I think, is not a quick fix for most people, especially in the construction/renovation field. However I think the limited success of blogging so far here is actually an opportunity since the marketplace is not overcrowded.

The biggest immediate value of blogging is in the area of Search Engine Optimization; it creates the opportunity for some legitimate backlinks, pushing your main site to a higher level. The second immediate payoff, from my experience, is in recruitment -- you can express your business and personal values in a human kind of way; and prospective employees, going through the search engines or directly referred to the blog by you, get a better idea of your character and values.

The other stuff -- including significant branding advantages, new client development and even some advertising revenue -- is a longer-term process; you won't get it without a lot of commitment and patience.

Since I'm a writer, not a builder, blogging is fun for me -- so I keep doing it. Should you? I would advocate that people who enjoy posting on this forum should have their own blog; but I don't think you should force yourself into contortions to deliver a blog if writing isn't your thing.