After over a year of making myself crazy trying to get the real scoop on web 2.0 marketing (by actually trying just about everything), I realized I had found the answer to my inability to be a salesperson. You see, like many others in the world of Internet marketing, I really cannot simply "sell things." However, one thing I CAN do is tell stories. You can too, I'll show you how I do it. Social media marketing (aka web 2.0 marketing) saved my business from failure, period.

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The Only Must Have Social Media Element, A Blog.

By Sheree Motiska | April 22, 2009

In my last post, I went on about how important it is, for anyone wanting to include social media marketing tools in their small business strategy, to have a blog.

Actually (and I’m going to be crucified for saying this, I’m sure) I feel that a blog is really the only true “must have” element in your social media presence.

I know, everyone says that you MUST be on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin

at the very least.

I simply don’t agree.

But my views on which social media platforms to use (hint: it’s a very personal decision) is another post all together.

So, let’s get started with the hub of all of your social media activity, a blog.

There are several choices out there, some better than others (like anything else), but I want to talk about just two:

1. Wordpress (hosted with your own domain name)
2. Blogger (Google’s blogging platform)

If there is any way at vall that you can swing a domain of your own (only $9.99 a year for .com domains and $1.99 a year for .info domains) and hosting ( Host Gator lets you pay by the month instead of a whole year all at once AND has no set up fee even if you pay month to month) then I would strongly suggest you host your  blog on your own (ideally, keyword rich) domain.

While there is nothing wrong with a free blogger blog, there are several reasons why having a fully customizable hosted Wordpress blog is a smart business investment (and, at a very small price for such a powerful business tool).

1. Having your own domain name, such as MyKeywordPhrase.com, is a branding tool that is owned by YOU. MyKeywordPhrase.blogspot.com (the format which a Blogger blog will be if that is the platform you choose), is owned by Google, technically.
2. People who visit your blog will take you more seriously as a business owner if you have your own domain name than if you are using a free blogging platform for your business blog.
3. As I said above, Wordpress hosted blogs are extremely customizable. The Wordpress developer community is HUGE so if there is anything that you want your blog to do, there is a very good chance that there is already a plugin in existence that will fit your needs.
4. There are thousands and thousands of magnificent themes for Wordpress blogs (there are even tons that are free) and designers who will do custom themes and logos. You can make your blog reflect your personality and/ or make your blog a fierce branding tool.
5. You can write whatever you want and not have to worry about getting your blog shut down. Although it’s never happened to me, personally, I’ve heard of Blogger blogs getting taken down with no warning for violation of terms of service. It is YOUR business, YOU should own your content, not Google.

With that said, there is nothing wrong with starting a Blogger blog for practice if you’re just not ready for the commitment. However, I have step by step videos that I will be posting that will walk you through the process of creating a hosted Wordpress blog. You may want to start writing at Blogger and figure out what you want to focus your business blog on.

Blogging should NOT focus on pitching products or opportunities. It should be about sharing knowledge and stories and experiences that are relevant to the audience you are trying to reach.

Pick a topic that you are knowledgeable about. Your blog should be focused on a small niche that needs what you have to offer. Don’t try to write just bits and pieces about every topic you can think of, try to write a lot about the topics that you know about so that your content is genuinely valuable to your audience.

Next Time: Setting up a Blogger Blog.

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