The Benefits Of Blogging For Business And Marketing

It is shocking how many crafters, makers, artists and other creatives have stopped blogging. I reviewed my blog reading list to see who was still posting. I ended up purging from 125 blogs to 6, and 2 of those 6 are mine. Most crafters hadn't posted since 2015. A handful had posted in 2017 and after that, none of the 125 bloggers that I was following had posted. Something happened around 2015 in the crafting/makers/creative community where people stopped blogging. I asked myself is blogging dead?

Here are some possible reasons blogging has all but stopped in our creative community. Do any of these reasons fit you?

  1. There seems to have been a general loss of enthusiasm, disillusionment and disappointment about online selling. 
  2. Seeing many listing websites come and go. The demise of ArtFire, Dawanda and others was depressing. While some creatives migrated to other venues, some gave up listing.
  3. The postal system started to increase fees yearly, negatively impacting handmades income. Sellers had to raise prices often when they did not want to.
  4. Life has become more busy. Can't find time to blog.
  5. Sales have fallen off and can't find a way to increase them.
One crafter said to me recently that back during the time when creatives were blogging the public couldn't get enough of handmades. I think there is still a love for handmades but other product types have flooded the market. Etsy's homepage is filled with digitals and printables, which I made the jump to because I love graphic design. POD sites are doing well and 3-D printed products are taking hold. Despite this, many handmades sellers are still doing well but they are not blogging. They are overlooking the greatest value of creating blog posts, advertising and promotion. 

Paying for online advertising is not affordable for most independent creatives. We are left with sharing through the few social media sites that are active. Social media, however, does not provide the value that it used to. People rarely interact anymore and there may be likes given but they lead to few sales. Any economically productive ways to market online have dwindled as well. So, why is blogging important for business? It gives us an easy way to draw potential customers and increase sales.

Consider These Benefits Of Blogging Then Ask Yourself Is Blogging Worth It

  1. Can be used to market and promote without being flagged as a spammer. 
  2. No advertising fees. 
  3. Format, content and length of posts are controlled by the blogger. 
  4. The frequency of posting is controlled by the blogger.
  5. No limit on images in a post. 
  6. No limit on links in a post. 
  7. The type of SEO used, words or long-tail phrases, is controlled by the blogger.
  8. Blog posts can be found by search engines. 

If you are blogging, you should continue and tweak your style and process. If you are a creator and you are not blogging but asking yourself should I blog, you should start. Selling competition has exploded over the past few years, since 2010-2015. Savvy blogging is a great way to successfully compete. The challenge is to:

  1. Learn simple ways to start using keywords and phrases in blog posts, product listings, etc. The easy techniques in this book will guide you. Learning and using keyword search doesn't have to be expensive, tedious or frightening. In Simple Keyword Search That Even You Will Feel Like Doing, you'll learn to conduct fast, free and easy keyword phrase searches and add the results to your marketing content.
  2. Choose a schedule to consistently prepare posts. You really can post as your schedule allows. Of course, the more frequently you post the better. You can choose to post once a week or twice a month but the key is to post every time you have set aside a time frame to do it. The goal is to be reliable to readers and potential customers. As you become adept at creating posts and are able to free up more time, you can increase your frequency. If you can never make more time, keep posting on your original time schedule.
Though I have been consistent with blogging over the years, I've known for some time that I'm too sporadic with posting. I've never given up that I will develop a good blogging schedule. Blogging as a marketing tool is invaluable when used with skill and commitment.

Here are some articles on the value of blogging that I found to be helpful:



Printaphoria-Creative-Living-ACDS-post-signature-400px
Labels: , , , , , , , ,