This is part one of a series of blogs about blogging.

If Bill were alive today, perhaps he could put to rest the question that many business owners have about social networking and the value of blogging. The people that I have spoken to about this subject fall into two very distinct categories; they love it or they hate it. Those that love it have been able to make a direct correlation from their blogging/social networking activities to achieving their business goals. To those who hate it, they feel like it is a waste of time and there is no correlation to the blogging (or social networking itself) to increased revenues. In order to settle the dispute, once and for all, I contacted a good friend and colleague, Debbie DeChambeau. Debbie is the owner and marketing extraordinaire of Select Business Marketing. Debbie runs several groups under the Select Business Team name and provides a forum for business owners to get together and learn how to work more on their business instead of just in their business. I know that she is a huge advocate of blogging and I wanted to sit down with her and talk about the whys and hopefully the hows.

CNS: The 800 pound gorilla in the room Debbie, is ‘Why should I blog?’ With the current economic conditions business owners are doing everything they can to maintain revenue and want to focus their efforts on that task. Why should they take time out of their busy day to blog?

Debbie: There are two main reasons for blogging. From a business perspective, blogging allows you to position yourself as an expert in your industry. From a marketing perspective, it is one of the simplest ways to get exposure for your company. Use the url to share on different social media sites to drive traffic back to your website. For example you could tweet, post on Linkedin, share on StumbleUpon, Digg and even send to different reporters as information that might be useful for a piece they are writing. Once you have the blog post complete, the information becomes very scalable. It can work for you in many ways. You could also use your blogs in your newsletters by providing a summary and then a link back to your web site.

CNS: So that is going to increase my sales.

Debbie: That’s a tough question. Unless you are tracking how people found you there might be a little correlation. For example – if you share your blog on LinkedIn with people you have already connected with and as a result of reading your blog and they decide to do business with you, then there is a possibility you could connect the two. In addition to the reasons discussed earlier, the blog is a great way to touch prospects, similar to placing an ad in a magazine or online…but you are driving the reader to your website and hopefully you have enough information on your website to keep the reader looking around after reading your blog.

CNS: So the blog itself isn’t going to increase business.

Debbie: Oh, absolutely not. It has to be part of your overall marketing plan. But blogging in combination with using LinkedIn and Facebook and other social networking sites allows you to extend your reach at a very low cost.

CNS: The cost is your time to put the blog together.

Debbie: Yes, you have to consider your time. But the ROI on the exposure that you can get and the visibility that you can get is worth it. It should only take you an hour to create a blog post. Can you call the number of people that could potentially see that blog in that same hour? Even if the call is just to touch base and see how they are doing. It is an incredibly efficient way to reach out and touch clients and potential clients.

CNS: So it sounds like everyone should be blogging. Also, it sounds like everyone should be trying to expand their reach by connecting with people in LinkedIn and Facebook.

Debbie: Yes, you should constantly look to expand your reach. A connection on LinkedIn is the new business card. You shouldn’t overdo it though, make sure that the people you are connecting with are legitimate business associates. Join groups that are within your business sector as well. When you update your status in LinkedIn, you will be reaching out to those groups as well. This is where you are getting the maximum reach. The adage of social marketing is ‘You just never know’. If you are determined to keep your Facebook private to your friends and family, create a fan page for your business. Post your blog link as a status update there.

CNS: So it sounds like I should be blogging.

Debbie: It sounds like this blog practically wrote itself.

CNS: Well, that pretty much settles the why. Next week let’s look at the what. What should we write about?

Debbie’s Advice (Part I)

• Start blogging today
• Work with your LinkedIn connections and other social media connections to increase the reach of the blog
• Start blogging today
• Create a fan page on Facebook for your company
• Start blogging today
• Make sure that your status updates have a link back to your website
• Start blogging today
• Make sure that your website has the ability to hold a readers interest if they want more information about your company
• Start blogging today