For a small business that is looking for a cheap SEO service, a business blog is just the answer.

While a good SEO specialist is worth every penny of the thousands of dollars a month they charge, they are often out of the reach of the small business.

If you are a small business owner and you like the idea of getting great business SEO results, you really need to consider a business blog software solution.

What you need to know about your business blogging solution is that a normal blog will not get as good of SEO results vs a business blog that has been set up with search engine optimization and lead generation as the primary goals.  SEO with Blogs works best if you are planning that from the beginning.

Can a Blog be a Lead Generation Tool?

Yes, Lead Generation with Blogs is very possible and only takes a commitment to treating your business blog like a lead generation tool.

Your lead generation depends on your call to action.  If you want to increase your lead generation you need to decrease distraction – that means your call to action must be the predominant element on the page.

Here are some examples of things you can do for lead generation with blogs.

1. Subscribe to email course – this is a series of informative emails your visitor opts into and you have the chance to sell your business as well in the emails.
2. Advertisement – If you are just looking for more eyes to see your ad, your blog can do that.
3. Purchase – you can really sell things that are clear products with a clear target market very effectively via your blog.
4. Download a free whitepaper or report – this captures people’s information for later follow up, which is how you generate leads for service businesses.
5. Register to see video – now popular with the people doing video – you can get a great, informative video after providing your name.

These are just some of the strategies you can use to do lead generation with blogs.

Why would you want to buy a business blogging software solution instead of just sign up for a free blog?

Actually, you should do both.

A free blog is a great way to create inbound links for your business blog and it is a place that is a little less focused, but it can boost your business blog results.

That said, if you have invested in a business blog solution with software that focuses on business outcomes and lead generation with blogs, you will want to focus most of your engergy and content on the domain where your business blogging software is hosted and running.

The free blogs you set up are more of a support role if you have the time for it.

The #1 reason you want to invest in business blogging software instead of going with free blogging software is your ROI.

Business Blogging Software is going to be designed to get business outcomes.  A business blog can generate significant leads and sales when positioned correctly and supporting products or services that can be sold via the web.  (Either sold directly or resulting in qualified leads that can get followup)

If you are shopping for business blogging software there are some things you really have to consider.

1. Don’t look for the most bells and whistles.  Your business blogging software should be simple and focus on lead generation.
2. Search Engine Results – The most powerful business blogging software is going to optimize content to maximize results from search engines for your target market.
3. Call to Action – Your business blog should minimize links and maximize exposure of your call to action – that is how you generate sales and leads with your business blog.
4. Group blogging – a must for your business blog software is to have multiple writers and levels of permission.  The free blogs out on the market usually do not allow multiple authors.
5. Easy to use – The best business blogging software is going to be easy to use.  Maximizing your ROI means more leads for less money and less time spent blogging.  The simpler the blogging software, the less investment of your time.
6. Support – you will want to pay more for a business blog if you are expecting results because you need support and people that are researching improvements all the time.  The industry changes and it is important to stay up to date on the industry and tweak the business blogging software when needed.
7. Linking – Ideally, you choose a Business Blogging company like Buzzoodle to help you because they offer additional important elements like linking and writing when needed.

If you are serious about generating leads with your blog, you need to put out regular articles.  You can set aside some time each day to write, you can get your staff to help you write as employee ambassadors and you can also hire a blog writer.

But don’t necessarily go looking for a blog writer to hire.  Writers can be called all kinds of different things, and writing on a blog is not a specialized skill.  What is more important is someone that is affordable, can write with search engine keywords in mind and is dependable.  Oh yeah, people need to like reading the blog article as well or they are never going to become a client of yours.

If you want to hire a blog writer for your business blog, run ads in places like craigs list.  But remember, they may not respond to blog writing jobs.  Consider the following titles.

1. Freelance Writer
2. Search Engine Specialist
3. Blog Writer
4. Social Media Manager
5. Article Writer
6. Virtual Assistant
7. Marketing Assistant
8. Public Relations Specialist (Might take on blog writing)
9. Ghost Writer
10. Copy Writer

I am sure I am missing some – feel free to add them in the comments.

The point is that the technology is not the issue.  (In this instance, blogging is the technology)

What is important is they can write for your audience, are dependable, experienced in writing and are within your budget.

Buzzoodle also offers Gold and Platinum packages that include additional writing and linking services.  We only offer these services to Buzzoodle clients, but they save you the hassle of hiring and managing your own blog writer.

Many people want to know what the Blog ROI will be for a business blog before they begin.

Asking that is no different than asking what a website ROI will be.  Everyone is different.

A better way to look at Blog ROI is to work backward.  Begin with the end you want.

For example, you may want to spend $500 on you business blog.  That is just a made up number taking into account hosting and writing.  You may want to generate $15,000 in sales on that $500 per month budget.  That is a nice ROI and very possible in some cases.  To know if this is a realistic projection, you have to look at your product and your close rate.

Here are some questions to ask:

1. How many of my products do I need to sell to make this return?
2. How many leads to I need for client acquisition to meet the sales numbers?
3. What is the lifetime value of an average new customer?
4. How many people are out looking for our product or service on a daily basis IN OUR MARKET?

Your Business Blog ROI has nothing to do with having a blog.  It has everything to do with crafting a lead generation engine that makes sense with your business model and can generate better client acquisition outcomes that lead to strong ROI from the web.  Reverse engineer the outcome you want to see if business blogging makes sense.

Schedule a demo today.

Is Client Acquisition possible via business blogging?

Yes, but just like anything, your business blog should be honed and optimized to produce the best business results.  And by business results, we do not mean fluffy things like brand awareness or relationships.  We mean Client Acquisition.

Unlike a personal blog, a business blog should focus on very few outcomes.  A clear call to action and sophisticated search engine friendly blog architecture are needed if you want to acquire new customers.

Luckily, a system like Buzzoodle is 100% focused on the business outcomes of a blog.  Buzzoodle has fully rebuilt the most popular blogging engine to achieve high ranking and clearly present the call to action that businesses want prospects to take.  Client Acquisition should not only be hoped for, it should be expected when you are using a professional system for achieving results.

Lead Generation with Blogs is possible if you stop thinking about your business blog as a normal blog.

It is easy to get caught up in what a blog is “supposed” to be.

The Purpose of Blogging is whatever purpose you make of it.  Lead Generation with Blogs is one of only a few good business goals for blogs.

Another purpose of blogging is to help protect your brand.

Your business blog can also be set up to build your CEO into a well known industry expert.

However, here at Buzzoodle we focus on using Blogs for Lead Generation and it works great.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking about a blog in a traditional way.  Your purpose of blogging is whatever you make of it and Lead Generation should be one of your main purposes – if not your only blog purpose.

If you want to use blogging technology to create Inbound Marketing results that translate to lead generation, request a demo today.

One way to create buzz is to give more speeches. How do you get more quality speaking engagements? Blog.

Short of writing a best seller, blogging is one of the best ways to build up your credibility and get in front of more people. In the next eight weeks, I have ten paid speaking engagements, which is more than all of last year.

What else can help you get speaking opportunities?

• Have a new approach to a common problem.
• Have a good story to tell.
• Have enthusiasm and believe what you tell people.
• Practice speaking regularly
• Let people know that you speak, want speaking opportunities and what you speak about.
• Write a best seller. (OK, I am padding my list with the obvious now)
• Know what your speaking fees are in advance so you are professional if you get an inquiry. I was not expecting some of the opportunities that have come up within 10 miles of my office, and was unsure of how to price them.
• Repackage the obvious. Is there anything older than word of mouth? No, it is just going through a renaissance currently.

And did I mention blog?