How blogging can improve your online presence
I have encouraged a lot of my clients in the Cayman Islands to start blogging. I have even gone through the motion of showing some of them how to blog, where to blog and why. I am providing a bullet point outline of the importance of blogging and am hoping that even the lazy reader will find this interesting if not empowering.
Why YOU should blog
If you have a business; YOU should blog because:
If you DON’T have a business; YOU should still blog because:
There are many other reasons why you should blog but let me end at these bullet points. Like you, I am a lazy reader and bullet points provide me with what I need without having to beat around the bush.
Where should YOU blog and why?
There are many free blogging services available. Here is a list of the more popular ones…
www.blogger.com
Free
Google owned and operated – it hosts the largest blog members. Whats nice about this is if you already have a gmail ID – you can use that for the blogger ID as well. I use blogger because I like things to be simple.
www.wordpress.com
Free but charges for extra storage and unlimited users but who needs more than 3GB?
Has more choice templates than blogger and some of their more famous bloggers include: CNN’s Political Ticker; Time Inc’s The Page; Om Malik; Robert Scoble…oh and flickr blogs!
www.livejournal.com
A friend of mine swears by this online blog. She says its easy and even a dummy can figure it out.
www.webs.com (formerly www.freewebs.com)
I started my first blog here and have committed it to my website although I am currently in the process of migrating my site to a joomla template.
www.typepad.com
US$ 4.95 monthly for a basic blog
Has more choice templates than, uh, wordpress. Interesting to note that you can make money from your blogs through their advertising program.
www.squarespace.com
US$ 8 monthly for a basic blog If you can afford this then this would be my pick. Watch the video and learn…
www.reallifelog.com
Free
Provides videoblogs (but again so do the others). I know nothing about this blog service…just putting it here to make this list longer…
www.odiogo.com
Free
Turn your blog into a podcast for Free! I just signed up for the service so I can’t say that I recommend it yet.
Industries that would benefit tremendously from blogging
There are many Cayman themed blogs online. Some are politically inclined, some are geared towards advertising, some are reviews – rants and raves, etc. And although some of these blogs are entertaining, to say the least, it is always best to write for a large online readership base.
You can predict your readership base from the amount of searches for a given keyword on a daily basis. Based on the keywords of the past month, December 2008, the top industries which would benefit most from an online blog would be the following:
If you or anyone you know belong to any of these industries – tell them to blog and tell them to make their blog specifically about these industries. In that way they can increase online presence and increase their customer base without increasing advertising spend. In this present economy – we all need a little help and hopefully my informative ‘blog’ about the importance of blogging has made you realize that it’s time to start writing that blog.
If you are interested in learning out to optimize your blog for a specific keyword, hit me up and I will hit you back!
I have encouraged a lot of my clients in the Cayman Islands to start blogging. I have even gone through the motion of showing some of them how to blog, where to blog and why. I am providing a bullet point outline of the importance of blogging and am hoping that even the lazy reader will find this interesting if not empowering.
Interesting NOTE: Blog is short for ‘Web logs’
Why YOU should blog
If you have a business; YOU should blog because:
- -blogging is a formidable online marketing tool
- -the search engines easily index blogs because it is text heavy versus websites that are sometimes more graphically intensive
- -blogging is as easy as sending email, except in this case you are sending an email to many
- -blogs can easily be integrated into your website so even if you don’t want to pay to maintain your website, it is still getting new content from your blog
- -blogs enable your readers to connect with you on a more personal level
- -blogging can help establish you as an industry leader in your field
- -blogging can help grow your business
- -blogging helps you share knowledge about your industry
- -blogging can help protect and promote your ideas and concepts
- -blogging can help maintain your reputation…(or it could destroy it too!)
- -blogging can help connect you with market leaders
- -blogs create a historical record of your content as well as gives you complete control of what you publish
Interesting NOTE: A CPA Lawyer estimates that the time he spends on his firms newsletter and blog is roughly equivalent to playing a round or two of golf. So while his partners may build relationships with clients on the course, he uses a comparable chunk of time to reach approximately 250 people who read his blog on a daily basis during tax season. Fore!
-an excerpt from www.journalofaccountancy.com
If you DON’T have a business; YOU should still blog because:
- -it is a means of expression
- -blogging can help improve your writing skills
- -blogging is a wealth of knowledge
There are many other reasons why you should blog but let me end at these bullet points. Like you, I am a lazy reader and bullet points provide me with what I need without having to beat around the bush.
Where should YOU blog and why?
There are many free blogging services available. Here is a list of the more popular ones…
www.blogger.com
Free
Google owned and operated – it hosts the largest blog members. Whats nice about this is if you already have a gmail ID – you can use that for the blogger ID as well. I use blogger because I like things to be simple.
www.wordpress.com
Free but charges for extra storage and unlimited users but who needs more than 3GB?
Has more choice templates than blogger and some of their more famous bloggers include: CNN’s Political Ticker; Time Inc’s The Page; Om Malik; Robert Scoble…oh and flickr blogs!
www.livejournal.com
A friend of mine swears by this online blog. She says its easy and even a dummy can figure it out.
www.webs.com (formerly www.freewebs.com)
I started my first blog here and have committed it to my website although I am currently in the process of migrating my site to a joomla template.
www.typepad.com
US$ 4.95 monthly for a basic blog
Has more choice templates than, uh, wordpress. Interesting to note that you can make money from your blogs through their advertising program.
www.squarespace.com
US$ 8 monthly for a basic blog If you can afford this then this would be my pick. Watch the video and learn…
www.reallifelog.com
Free
Provides videoblogs (but again so do the others). I know nothing about this blog service…just putting it here to make this list longer…
www.odiogo.com
Free
Turn your blog into a podcast for Free! I just signed up for the service so I can’t say that I recommend it yet.
Industries that would benefit tremendously from blogging
There are many Cayman themed blogs online. Some are politically inclined, some are geared towards advertising, some are reviews – rants and raves, etc. And although some of these blogs are entertaining, to say the least, it is always best to write for a large online readership base.
You can predict your readership base from the amount of searches for a given keyword on a daily basis. Based on the keywords of the past month, December 2008, the top industries which would benefit most from an online blog would be the following:
- -Offshore banking
- -Real Estate
- -Jobs and Recruitment
- -Flights and Travel
- -Tours
- -Weather in the Cayman Islands
- -Cayman Food
If you or anyone you know belong to any of these industries – tell them to blog and tell them to make their blog specifically about these industries. In that way they can increase online presence and increase their customer base without increasing advertising spend. In this present economy – we all need a little help and hopefully my informative ‘blog’ about the importance of blogging has made you realize that it’s time to start writing that blog.
If you are interested in learning out to optimize your blog for a specific keyword, hit me up and I will hit you back!
Excellent work!!!! Have a nice weekend!!!
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