Why Your Business Needs a Blog (and How to Get Started)

Start a Blog for Business

You might be wondering if having a blog is even worth it for your business.

There are many pros and cons to managing a blog – but in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons.

Having a blog gives you a chance to help you keep track of business goals, show off your own success, and helps build your influence.

A con to managing a blog may include cost if you get a custom domain and pay for hosting, or it could be the time it takes to maintain it.

(Note: If you are a USANA associate please review our policies and read the disclaimer at the bottom of this post.)

Step 1: Find your “WHY”

I’m basing this post off of the presumption you’ll want to blog to build a business.

However, you should have something deeper than that that is driving you to want to succeed at this.

Blogging is not easy, and like anything good, it takes time. Writing about something you love or a topic you want to know more about will make it a little easier.

Which leads us to our next step…

Step 2: Find your niche

What’s a niche?

A niche is a topic. Something you’ll position yourself as an expert on.

Having a niche helps you keep your content consistent and people will know what to expect when they visit your blog.

Want to write about health? There’s a lot of niches to choose from.

You could write about weight loss, beauty, fitness, healthy living, healthy recipes, or just general health/fitness lifestyle content.

Narrow down what it is you’re passionate about and how it relates to and can help you build your business and brand.

Step 3: Pick a web host

Here’s where we get into the more technical side of things.

Your blog will have to be hosted somewhere.

It needs to be hosted by a web host provider on their server.

A web host is a service provider that provides the services needed for people to actually view your site on the internet.

You can host your site through companies like BlueHost oeHost or even WordPress.

Both are fairly easy and quick to set up a plan and payment option!

Next, you’ll want to install your blogging platform.

We use WordPress at USANA, so that’s the example I will be using.

Step 4: Install WordPress

BlueHost and eHost both have one-click WordPress installation.

Yes, it’s that easy.

Once you have WordPress installed, the next thing you get to do is pick how you want your site to look.

Step 5: Find a Theme

You want your blog to stand out.

There are a ton of free themes available for WordPress, and you can customize them to fit your needs.

If you want a premium theme, I recommend checking out these ones.

Once your site is pretty, it’s time to brand yourself.

Step 6: Brand Yourself

You know what you want to write about for your blog. But you need to brand yourself outside of that.

Your personal brand should be worked on as much as your blog’s brand.

If you don’t establish yourself as an expert in your niche, people won’t be as driven to read your content.

Pick two social media platforms to be active on and start building your personal brand.

For blogging, I recommend Instagram and Facebook.

There are a lot of Facebook blogging groups you can ask to be a part of, and you’ll be able to promote your blog and get feedback on content.

Blogging Boost and Blog Beautiful are some groups I recommend.

For a more comprehensive list of Facebook groups to join, check out this blog post by Melyssa Griffin. (Related: How to Use Facebook Groups to Get More Traffic and Traction for Your Blog)

Another great way to build your brand is to use a graphic design tool to keep your images consistent. I love using Canva.

Building a brand will help set you apart from others and it will help keep you visible.

Step 7: Use Your Voice

When writing, it is especially important to use your voice because that’s what makes content unique and exciting to read. (Related: Finding Your Writing Voice)

You’ll want to create content that is valuable to others, and a great way to do this is to define your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your writing? Give your readers a persona and write to help them. (Related: Finding Your Blogging Voice)

Step 8: Provide Value and Solve Problems

Almost everything you write should strive to teach someone something, share a lesson you learned, or provide value in some way.

There’s room for other content, sure. It’s your blog.

But in order to build yourself as an expert (back to personal branding), and gain traffic to your blog, your posts should be informative and fun to read.

Which brings us full-circle to why it’s important to write about something you either love or want to know more about.

Let’s Recap!

Writing a blog is a great opportunity to help you:

1. Build a business online
a. As your blog grows, more people will be able to find you or your business online and be given the opportunity to become potential customers.
2. Build a personal brand
a. You’ll be more visible online when people search for you – and they’ll be finding information that is more professional and see that you are creative, driven, and have a multitude of different skills.
3. Build your personal and professional network
a. As your personal brand grows, more people will be able to find you. They’ll see what your passionate about and may want to connect with other like-minded individuals.
4. Learn a new skillset
a. And many of these skills are transferrable. Think time management, writing, organization skills, social media skills, and analyzing data.

If you already have a blog, share it with us in the comments below.

I’d love to go check it out.

Have a question on blogging?

Ask in the comments below. 🙂

*If you are a USANA associate you must be a Gold Director or above to start a blog.
**Submit the blog to Ethics for legal review to have it approved before using it. Each subsequent blog post needs to be submitted for approval.
***Please see our Social Media Policies Here

Start a Blog for Business