Many of our clients ask me if they should have a blog on their website. A lot of business owners have heard of blogging, but aren't quite sure what it is or the benefits of having a blog on their website. To blog or not to blog, that is the question many business owners have.
I've found that my first response to this question is another question, "are you ready to write?" Better yet, "are you willing to write on a regular basis?" If yes, then you should certainly include a blog on your website. If not, perhaps you should consider a newsletter instead.
Blogs Require Attention
I don't advise that anyone start a blog with a few articles, and then abandon the blog thinking they have enough material to keep readers occupied or coming back to the website. For one thing, blog articles usually have dates for each post. If I encounter a blog with the most recent article written over a year or so ago, I think that the owner either forgot about it or went out of business. The same holds true for empty forums. Consequently, I'd be reluctant to leave a comment or request more information because I'd be willing to bet I may never receive a response from the blog owner.
Business owner that are serious about blogging should dedicate themselves to writing frequently and to get involved with the online community they are trying to attract. I'd recommend writing at least once a week, and attending to the blog more often than that to see if you've received comments or traffic. However, if you often find yourself struggling to come up with compelling blog content or suffer from writer's block, then you should consider alternative forms of electronic communication with your customers other than a blog.
Newsletters as an Alternative to Blogs
If you're one of those who considers writing to be an exercise you did when you were in trouble in elementary school (not that I would know or anything 
), but yet you still want to communicate with your clients or potential clients, then perhaps you should consider a newsletter.
Newsletters can be written less frequently than blogs without appearing dead. You can send out a newsletter monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or just when you want to talk about a specific event or promotion. If you really hate to write, you can even hire someone to write your newsletters for you.
Basically, before you invest in either forms of customer communication, you should consider the time requirements involved with managing it. If you have specific questions about the advantages or disadvantages, I'd like to hear from you.