Why Consultants Should Blog, by Dave Lakhani

Why Consultants Should Blog

by Dave Lakhani

You can’t turn on the television or pick up a newspaper without someone talking about blogging. The question you should ask yourself is: “Does my consulting practice need a blog?”

The answer is yes.

Creating a blog will help your practice:

Drive more Web traffic to your site

Create a following for your business

Give clients a sense of who you are and the personality of your business

Generate higher search engine rankings

Attract media attention to your perspectives.

One of the most powerful potential outcomes of blogging is to increase specifically targeted traffic to your Web site at little cost. Nearly every professional service provider spends hard earned money to maintain a Web site, drive traffic to it, and to convert visitors into clients. A blog is a valuable tool for bringing prospective clients to your door.

The challenge is that most professional service Web sites are nothing more than electronic brochures that leave the client feeling confused and unable to see the difference between similar providers. A well-written blog can help draw out those important distinctions in the client’s mind.

The ABCs of Consultant Blogging

Current, relevant content is the key to a successful blog. You must give readers fresh and insightful information. They may have read about the subject before, but give it a different or new twist. Your blog is a great educational platform, so use it to answer prospective client questions about important issues.

Write with personality. Blogs aren’t consulting reports, so don’t write them that way. Be generous with your opinions, facts, and analysis, but do it with some flair. Let your readers get a feel for who you are and what your firm is all about. Make them laugh, arouse emotions, or surprise them. That is the secret to getting more subscribers and getting them to read and recommend your blog.

Cross-Market Your Practice. Many people who sign up for your blog will also be drawn back to your Web site to sign up for your online newsletter, giving you additional opportunities to communicate your marketing message. People still typically read their email more often than blog posts, so don’t miss the opportunity to encourage blog readers to sign up for your email newsletter.

Every professional service provider should have a blog. Blogs have become as important as a Web site in a consultant’s marketing strategy. Embrace that fact and you’ll have another way to build relationships with prospective clients long before they ever meet you.