To Blog or Not to Blog: Is It the Right Move for Your Business?

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Welcome back to the business ignite podcast, where we light the fire

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for business growth and marketing success.

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Your hosts, Ethan Walker, Samantha Reed,

bring you the latest trends, expert

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insights, and actionable strategies

to fuel your business journey.

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Let's ignite your potential.

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Samantha Reed: Let's face it, the internet

is like obsessed with blogging, right?

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Everywhere you turn it's start a blog,

boost your business, but is a blog

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really the right move for everyone?

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Yeah.

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That's what we're diving into today

with this piece from 95 Visual.

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Should you add a blog to your website?

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Ethan Walker: It's a question

more people should ask themselves

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before they just dive in, you know?

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: This article does

a great job of kind of laying out

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the framework to figure out if it's

a worthwhile investment for you.

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Samantha Reed: Okay, so the article

starts by laying out all the potential

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benefits of having a blog and

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Ethan Walker: yeah, I

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Samantha Reed: gotta say some of them

are pretty enticing like becoming

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an authority in your field, right?

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I mean, who doesn't want

to be the go to expert?

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Ethan Walker: Yeah, it's

definitely appealing.

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And it's true.

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A well written blog can do that.

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It can lend you that authority

because you're providing such depth

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of knowledge that you just can't

always get across on a static website,

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Samantha Reed: right?

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It's like having this platform to

really showcase your expertise.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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Samantha Reed: And then there's a

whole search engine optimization

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angle, which it seems like we hear.

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Ethan Walker: All the time.

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Samantha Reed: Everywhere these days.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah.

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Samantha Reed: How does

having a blog play into that?

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Ethan Walker: So it's all about

feeding the content beast, right?

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Search engines, they love

fresh content, new material.

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Every blog post you create is

another opportunity to grab their

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attention and potentially climb

higher in those search results.

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Samantha Reed: Ooh, higher.

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Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: But the key.

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Is, and the article makes this very clear.

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It has to be quality content.

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Okay.

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To churn out these like

full, fluffy pieces.

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Right.

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That's not gonna do you any favors.

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Yeah.

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Samantha Reed: It's not just about

quantity, it's about, like you

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said, giving information that's

actually useful and relevant

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to people who might be reading.

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Ethan Walker: Absolutely.

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And that ties into another benefit

that the article highlights,

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which is building trust with your.

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Samantha Reed: You know, I was

actually wondering about that.

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How does a blog build trust differently

than just having a regular website?

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Because isn't a website enough?

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Ethan Walker: Right.

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So think about it this way.

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A website is often very polished.

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It's very corporate feeling.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: A blog gives you

the chance to be more personal.

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more authentic.

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It's like giving your audience a peek

behind the curtain to see the real you and

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how you work and that kind of transparency

can go a long way in building trust.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah, I

can definitely see that.

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Like the blogs that I feel like I connect

with most always feel very genuine.

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Like the person is sharing from

experience, you know, not just

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trying to sell me something.

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Ethan Walker: It's about

that human connection, right?

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Like we're all just people.

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But we do have to address the

other side of the coin here.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Potential downsides.

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Ethan Walker: Because,

yes, there are some.

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Samantha Reed: Which the

article does not shy away from.

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Ethan Walker: No, it doesn't.

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And the big one, the one that often

gets overlooked in all this blogging is

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amazing hype, is the time commitment.

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Samantha Reed: Oh yeah, for sure.

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That's definitely something

I've heard from people who blog.

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It's not just like, you can

just like, churn out a post

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every now and then, you know.

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Ethan Walker: Not if

you want to see results.

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: No, this article really,

really stresses that blogging is hype.

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Effectively means showing up consistently.

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It means carving out time on a regular

basis to create that high quality

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content that we keep talking about.

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Samantha Reed: Which,

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Ethan Walker: which, let's be honest,

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Samantha Reed: can be a challenge.

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Ethan Walker: Can be a challenge

for anyone, let alone someone

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who's running a business.

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Right,

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Samantha Reed: exactly.

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Ethan Walker: So, and, it's not even

just about finding the time to write.

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You also need to be a decent writer.

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Or at least be willing to learn

and improve your writing, because

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as the article points out, forcing

out poorly written content can

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actually do more harm than good.

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Samantha Reed: Ooh, yeah, I

can see how that would reflect

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back poorly on your brand.

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You know, it's interesting

reading through this.

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I was thinking about all of those

businesses out there who maybe are getting

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pressured to have a blog, even if it's

not necessarily the right fit for them.

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Ethan Walker: That's a really good point.

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And that actually made me think

about something that the article

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doesn't explicitly address, but

I think is worth considering.

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Samantha Reed: Oh.

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Okay.

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I'm intrigued.

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Lay it on me.

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Ethan Walker: So the article focuses

on whether blogging is right for you as

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the business owner, which is important.

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Right.

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But what if we flip the

script for a second?

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Samantha Reed: Okay.

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Ethan Walker: And we ask, would my ideal

client or customer even care about a blog?

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Samantha Reed: That's a fantastic

point because you can have all these

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benefits of blogging, but if your

target audience doesn't even read

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blogs, then it's not doing you any good.

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Ethan Walker: It's like throwing

a party and no one shows up.

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Samantha Reed: You know, exactly.

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You

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Ethan Walker: have to know your

audience and you have to know how

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they prefer to consume information.

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Samantha Reed: Maybe

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Ethan Walker: they're

all about video content.

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Maybe podcasts are more their thing.

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Samantha Reed: It's about

meeting them where they are.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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A blog is just one tool in the toolbox.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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Ethan Walker: It might be the perfect fit

for some, but for others, it might make

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more sense to focus on social media, or

email marketing, or even in person events.

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Samantha Reed: It's not just about what

you want to do as a business owner, right?

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It's about what works for the

people you're trying to reach.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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And you know what?

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That actually connects back to something

we were talking about earlier, which

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is this whole idea of building trust.

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Right.

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If you're creating content that your

ideal customer actually wants, And

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finds valuable that in and of itself

builds a level of trust that you

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just can't get from trying to force a

blog post that doesn't feel genuine.

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Samantha Reed: Right,

because they can tell.

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Ethan Walker: They can totally tell.

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It's

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Samantha Reed: like you're speaking

their language, you're addressing their

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specific needs and interests, which

honestly is a breath of fresh air in a

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world that's constantly bombarding us with

like, Irrelevant content all the time.

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Ethan Walker: Seriously.

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It's so true.

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It all comes back to quality over

quantity and understanding that

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like there's no one size fits all

approach to content marketing.

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Samantha Reed: So if someone's

listening to this and they are

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wrestling with that decision, right?

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To blog or not to blog?

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Ethan Walker: The ultimate question.

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Samantha Reed: What would you say is like

the most important thing for them to keep

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in mind as they're making that decision?

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Ethan Walker: Don't be afraid to

really, truly question whether

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a blog is the right fit for your

goals, for your resources, and most

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importantly, for your ideal customer.

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If it is great,

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Samantha Reed: but

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Ethan Walker: if not, there

are so many other ways to build

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a thriving online presence.

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Samantha Reed: Find what

feels right, you know?

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What feels authentic to you and

your brand and what you think is

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actually going to work for the people

that you're trying to connect with.

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Ethan Walker: Well said.

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And sometimes asking yourself a few

tough questions is all it takes to

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uncover, like, the best path forward.

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Samantha Reed: Absolutely.

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Well, another deep dive

successfully navigated.

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I feel like we really unpacked this

whole idea of blogging, the potential

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benefits, the potential downsides,

but then also the importance of like

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really making that strategic decision.

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For sure.

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For your business.

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Yeah.

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And then I love that bonus

inside of like, but also who are

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you creating this content for?

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Ethan Walker: Scientifically.

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Samantha Reed: Don't forget about them.

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Ethan Walker: Because at the end

of the day, it doesn't matter if

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it's not resonating with them.

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Samantha Reed: Okay, so to wrap

things up for our listeners out

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there, what would you say is like the

one key takeaway that you hope they

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walk away from this deep dive with?

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Ethan Walker: The online

world is constantly evolving.

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What works today might not work tomorrow.

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So stay curious, stay adaptable, and most

importantly, stay focused on building

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those genuine connections with the

people that matter most to your business.

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Samantha Reed: Couldn't

have said it better myself.

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Until next time, deep divers,

keep exploring and keep

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asking those tough questions.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning

into the Business Ignite podcast,

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where we fuel your business

growth and marketing success.

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If you enjoyed today's episode,

be sure to rate and review us.

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It does help others find the show.

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Don't forget to follow us on social

media at Business Ignite podcast and

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share this episode with a friend.

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Keep the fire burning and remember,

your success is just one strategy away.

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Until next time, stay ignited.