Have you noticed that when you lose touch with old friends, it can be really hard to reconnect? I’m finding that when I step away from blogging momentarily to focus on urgent, priority projects, that it’s also hard to get back into blogging mode. Granted, this has been more than a momentary lapse, but it was necessary to truly focus on some client projects. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
I’m frequently asked if blogging makes any difference to the small business owner – if it’s worth the time commitment. My experience is that YES, it’s definitely worth it on a couple of different levels. For one thing, it’s a growth experience for the blogger. It forces you to constantly try to get inside the head of your audience … what will you find valuable and interesting? What have I just learned that I can share with you? Who just wrote an insightful post that would benefit my readers? These are good questions for any business owner to ponder!
On a completely different level, blogging is good for business because it increases your online presence. Search engines still love blogs because they’re continually updated with fresh, hopefully relevant content. They’re fun to promote. We’ll go into detail on that in a future post, but for now, I’ll just say that it’s a joy to find truly interesting writing. When you leave a comment on an interesting post, you’ve created a backlink to your site. Yes, there’s more to it than that, but in a nutshell and for the sake of brevity that’s the basic idea.
It took about three months of consistent writing, commenting, and cross-linking with my other blogs to notice business-building results from my efforts. This blog has already helped me gain copywriting assignments and web site development projects, in addition to serving as a resource for my customers.
The other side of that coin is that blogging isn’t for everyone. It’s time consuming. Once-a-month posting won’t get the job done. You need to have something to say, be willing to reach out to other bloggers, and enjoy writing.
OK bloggers … I need your help. Do you blog for business or pleasure? What results are you seeing from your blogging efforts? How long did it take to see those results? Do you feel it’s worth the time commitment?
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Well, as I think you are aware, I have been on a break from my regular blogging for more than a week. Work and school have become increasingly demanding. So I’ve had to ask myself this question.
For me, the return on blogging has not been financial. I actually started blogging to learn. I wanted to better understand the Internet and the new social media. It’s been an amazing education and well worth the time. But it does have to be balanced with other aspects of my life.
Hi Jim – Yes, I know how busy you are. That’s one of the reasons I gave you a shout on StumbleUpon. You’ve poured a lot of yourself into your blogs and I’m glad to hear you confirm that you’ve found it worthwhile.
I agree completely about the need for balance. Thanks for your comment!
Blogging is one of the most time consuming SEO practices for me. Writing, editing, and being creative is hard. I am not sure that it pays off for business, the verdict is still out. I do it more for fun than anything else. It is nice to be tied in globally with your niche.
I maintain a business blog (http://blog.createdebate.com) to push traffic towards my startup and, so far, it has been a worthwhile time investment.
I blog out of pleasure. We see a decent enough amount of traffic (wish there were more commenters) mostly from a former blog we contributed to. For me it’s kind of like an online scrapbook I share with others since most of our content is music concert related. There’s also a bit of anonymity where we can get a little silly about the artists we admire (or don’t). At the end of the day I’m doing it for myself. If I start to look at it as a project where I have to do something for readers then I tend to avoid it.
I feel that blogging is time well spend because it allows you to express your thoughts to your customers. They can use comments to talk back so you are getting feedback on how your clients feel about your products. This dialog keeps you in the loop.
I’m preparing to launch as a independent SEO consultant and plan to use a blog to help verify my knowledge base to incoming clients. Taking the time to write a blog even if you do one post every two weeks and often don’t bother promoting can be okay in my opinion.
The demonstration to incoming visitors you are capable of create quality insights on niche topics related to your services should help in the decision making process.
I agree with you shari…Blogging is indeed worth it..because it gives you a chance to be heard and get noticed..it’s just a simple way of telling people that your site exist..^^
Thank you all for chiming in about why blogging is worth your time. These are all great answers, and you’ve really illustrated my point! The value of blogging is different for each individual and I think its worth also evolves over time.
My motivation to continue writing is different that my original motivation to start blogging. Somewhere along the way, I realized this is a multi-faceted endeavor. It’s fun, educational, conversational, and a venue for self-expression, in addition to its potential for drawing visitors to your site. Thanks again for joining the conversation!
[...] came across an interesting post recently in my regular reading that posed the question – ‘Is blogging worth the time commitment?‘. Great question and one that most bloggers will ponder at some point. I’m not afraid [...]
I blog for both business and pleasure. I run a personal blog, but it’s focused on the industry I work in (digital marketing), with the ultimate goal to build a personal brand/authority within the field.
The issue that small biz needs to overcome is the lack of ROI in the first months of blogging. You indicate it took you 3 months to see any sort of tangible benefits, and my experiences are silimar. Just how many businesses will commit to a cause with zero ROI within the first 3-6 months is the question. Those who understand the online space will persist. Those who are just dabbling with different online techniques will try it out, but are likely to quit when results don’t immediately eventuate.
You cannot answer this question generally. Its like asking “is it remunerative for my business to buy a lorry?”.
In many cases blogging, if done correctly, is woth the effort but there are companies that do not profit to much from it and should spent their marketing ressources on something else.
You cannot answer this question generally. Its like asking “is it remunerative for my business to buy a lorry?”.
Yes it can be meaureed it is called ROI.
Besides asking if it is worth the investment, business owners must decide if it is better to blog than do something more worthwhile with the time you have at your disposal (limiting factor.
I try to blog twice weekly,my goal is to blog daily, and sometimes I get real close. I have enjoyed learning from your site as a newbie to the online writing world. I’ve linked to some very informative sites through yours and continue to grow through this experience. I expect great things to come of it, and am patient enough to see it succeed. If I didn’t have that drive, however, I can see how some could lay it aside. Not me! Looking forward to more useful info on this site.
Blogging is for me a serious business already and I am in that online business for solely monetary purposes. I obsessively write on multiple blogs and try to generate more cash than my daytime job.