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Can a small business really benefit from a blog? You bet your sweet can-can it can.

OK, so that’s too many cans for one article. Bottom line. You CAN run a small business blog and make it profitable. Here are a few tips on how:

• First, don’t try to swallow the whole apple in one bite. Take it slow. You may not need a daily blog. Start with a weekly blog and move up from there as you need to.
• Secondly, make a list of keywords before you do anything. Then, focus each blog entry on a single keyword. Write 150-200 words on that keyword and link back to your main web site.
• Thirdly, don’t promote your competitors. Promote yourself. No-brainer? You would think, but I see small businesses promoting their competition all the time.
• Fourthly, speak to your audience, not at them. Invite them to participate. Sponsor contests or encourage comments and interaction. That’s really what blogs are for.

Blogging is nothing new. It’s been around awhile. But it is relatively new for business. Some corporate blogs have been quite successful, but not too many small businesses are taking advantage of this free promotional tool. They should.

A blog on your small business web site gives you fresh new content every time you post a blog. That’s very important for search engine saturation. Also, every link from your blog to your web site is counted as a link by Yahoo! and MSN. Google is a little more strict, but that may not be important.

For one thing, Google is largely the search engine for corporate players and techies. The statistics that show Google’s market share are a bit skewed; that’s the big secret.

People who live on the web use Google. They make dozens of searches every day. Most people only make one or two searches a day. AOL users use AOL. Most new users of the Internet are using Yahoo, MSN or AOL. If you run a retail business, those search engines are more important to you than Google, so it’s important that you understand how your blog is being read by them.

Your local business can benefit from a company blog if you understand your customer and address each blog to meet their needs. Key things to remember:

• Blogging takes time. If you don’t have it, don’t start one. At least, don’t do it every day. Once a week or twice a week is OK. But keep a consistent schedule.
• Use a software that allows you to timestamp entries. You can write several at one time and set them to post at an appointed time.
• If you can’t do it yourself, hire someone to do it. You can get a blog ghostwriter for as little as $5 per post.
• Make it keyword focused, for the search engines.

Above all, have fun.

If you are new to blogging and still feeling your way around, or if you’ve been blogging for some time but you’re making less money than you expected, it could be time to examine your blog for simple mistakes that most new bloggers make. Correct those mistakes then set your course for a lifetime of profitable blogging! These are the most common early blogging mistakes:

• Failure to Plan. Which means if you don’t plan your blog by choosing a layout that suits your purpose and determining what to blog about and when, you will just end up wasting your time, and making nothing. Spend time planning your blog before posting to it, look at other people’s blogs and adapt their ideas to suit your purposes (do not copy too closely and do not breach trademark and copyright laws), study ways to grow traffic to your blog or else you could be blogging forever with no one ever to admire your work.
• Failure to Focus. Be focussed and choose a definite subject for your blog. Niche blogs tend to rank higher in search engine listings than blogs having no special order or theme. This is because, when people search online, search engines look for sites rich in information to benefit their customers and will choose themed blogs over others containing information about anything and everything and sometimes nothing!
• Expect immediate visits. Don’t expect immediate results and do not stop blogging if your blog doesn’t attract visitors or profits during its first month online. As for any web site, the more content you add to your blog the higher your blog will rank in search engines and the sooner you’ll attract regular visitors.
• Create boring posts and titles that no one wants to read. Make your posting titles unusual, make them cryptic, this way you’ll incite curiosity and ensure your visitors actually read your postings and probably also join your mailing list or buy one of your recommended products.
• Failure to promote. Promote your blog every day, use free and low cost traffic generating techniques. Write articles, for example, featuring your blog in the resource box; post on other people’s blogs and link back to your own; post in forums and mention your own blog as a source of helpful advice to solve common member problems and queries; place free classified ads. on and off the Internet offering free gifts to people who visit your blog.

After all that you really can expect regular high traffic and good overall profits for all your hard work.