Blog marketing has become a powerful way to get more people to know what a business offers and why they should should use the product or service that is being offered. Blogs are no long just online journals. Large and small businesses alike are using blogs as marketing tools to expand their research and generate new business.

What Is A Blog Anyway?

The word “blog” is actually a shortened form of the the phrase “web log.” When blogs first appeared with regularity back in the 1990′s, they were used almost exclusively as “online diaries” where people would simply write down their daily activities, personal opinions, thoughts, goals, and dreams. It took a few years for businesses to recognize the potential that blogs had to connect with prospects and customers. Blogs can be a part of a website or stand alone.

How Blog Marketing Can Help Businesses?

1. Be An Expert. A blog allows a business owner to communicate with individuals on a personal basis. Blogs are generally not static. Instead, they tend to be updated regularly and are less formal in nature. Blogs let business owners cover a variety of subjects and issues related to the niche the business is in. This will increase the credibility of both the business and the owner, and demonstrate the knowledge and expertise associated with that niche. Blogs also allow owners to go over additional information that just can’t be covered via other forms of advertisement methods such as commercials, display ads, telemarketing, and direct mail.

2. Increase Exposure. Most blogs generate a RSS feed that third party websites and individuals can use to instantly get updates whenever the blog has a new post published on it. “RSS” stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is what lets a site to subscribe to a blog and receive the new posts as they occur. What this means for the business owner is a dramatic increase in exposure. Every time the blog gets new posts, the posts are immediately distributed to all of the RSS feed subscribers. So hundreds, even thousands of people outside of the blog will be reached.

3. Increase in Traffic Generation. Because blogs tend to be highly focused on a specific topic, they tend to rank well in search engines like Google and Bing. The higher the blogs rank, the more people will find them in their search for information. Getting a blog to the first page of Google can result in an explosion of highly targeted traffic. Businesses thrive on theses type of prospects.

Blog Marketing for Businesses

Although blogs have become very simple to create and maintain, most business owners still prefer to use the services of an internet marketing consultant to help them establish a professional-looking and effective blog. These internet marketing firms can also create keyword-rich content related to the niche the business is in, as well as managing the time and effort to publish those posts at specified time intervals.

Today’s business owners are quite aware of the marketing power provided by the efficient use of blogs. Besides being a way to generate new customers, it also gives owners the ability to interact with past customers and develop long-term relationships with them.

As a Las Vegas small business marketer, you are always keeping an eye out for low cost ideas to market your products and services and boost sales and profits. There are hidden marketing opportunities all around that you can take advantage of to help give you a competitive edge! Just takes a bit of thought.

Have you been overlooking potential customers? Are there any particular vertical markets you may have missed? If so, do you currently advertise or market to these potential groups? By tapping into new vertical marketing groups, you just might uncover a large amount of business you never knew your could have. Try running a campaign targeting these new groups and tailor your ads and messaging specifically to these groups.

For example, if you are targeting the Hispanic community be sure the creative of the advertisement speaks to the Hispanic community. Does the advertisement need to be in Spanish, English or both? What messaging and special call to action will speak most to this community. All of these points should be considered so gain an insight to their special needs.

Will your website, brochure and other marketing materials need to be revised or updated to help market to a new vertical set of customers? Make sure your materials support forging into a new market of hidden potential customers!

If you are searching for new ways to market your Las Vegas company’s products and services in a tough economy, consider cross-selling related products and services.

What is Cross-Selling?

Cross-selling is the strategy of selling or pushing additional products and services to a new or existing customers. Cross-selling is designed to grow your customer’s reliance on your company and decrease the chance that your customer will go to a competitor in the future. I’m certainly not advocating that you sell products and services that your client doesn’t need or won’t benefit your client’s marketing and business goals, however, even if you think that your clients are aware of all of your company’s products and services, they probably don’t.

For example, let’s say you run a computer IT company and you have a prospective client that is interested in having their laptop repaired. You might go over the potential client’s issues and recommend a solution for that one laptop. With a few more questions, you might discover that he or she also has a PC that hasn’t worked for the past few weeks, or that lead might have a small business with an entire computer network that is being services by an unreliable vendor. Furthermore, they might have no virus protection in place or are having issues with email as well.

So you have addressed a client’s immediate issue and discovered many more issues that you can help resolve for that client.

While cross-selling may make things more convenient for the customer, it also enables you as a business or company owner to sell more products and services!

When starting a new business in Las Vegas, after your business plan, the most important plan you should create is your company’s marketing plan. You can hire a company or marketing professional to help write your marketing plan, however, if budget is an issue for you, there are many free online resources to help assist you in writing a solid marketing plan for your new Las Vegas business.

Let’s start with an overview of why a marketing plan is important (some online resources for your review):

• Why you need a marketing plan to achieve ultimate success
• Yes, you REALLY need a marketing plan
• Do you really need a marketing plan?
• Why do we need a marketing plan anyways?

Starting a Business in Las Vegas? Here’s a “To-Do” List For You to Follow

Great – you’re going to start your own business. Going into business for yourself is a great adventure. You’re going to have to put in a lot of time and effort up front, and when your business is successful you’re going realize that all that work was well worth it.

No matter what kind of business you’re starting – sales, consulting, manufacturing – you’re going to have to work your way through a “To-Do” list that can be a full time job in itself. Here are some items you’ve got to think about.

Decide on a name for your business. Make sure it is not being used by someone else. Most states will have a website where you can check this out and register your business name.

Business licenses and registration. These requirements can vary from state to state, city to city. Make sure you’ve completed all the required applications and registrations.

Business taxes. You’ll have to register your business with the IRS to get a tax number. If you’re going to be buying items for resale, check out your state’s requirements to get a tax exempt number.

Attorneys and accountants. You need these. They will help you make sure you’ve set up your business properly to avoid problems later.

Bank accounts. Get a business account as soon as you can. While you can use a personal account to pay some of the start up expenses, you’ll want to get a separate account to make your accounting simpler. Consider a bank account that will give you a debit card for business purposes, or apply for a small business credit card.

Mailing address/Telephone. Get a business mailing address. You probably don’t want your personal address used, so either get a regular or a private post office box. Get a separate telephone line or cell phone for your business.

Business cards/brochures. You have several choices here. You can do the cards and brochures yourself using stock purchased at an office supply store, or you can have a service do them for you. Either way, it’s important that you get them done as quickly as possible.

Web sites. You’ve got choices here, too. Once you register a URL, there is software available that will let you do this yourself, or you can use a Las Vegas marketing company to assist you.

This is a long list, but every item on it is important.

Starting and building your own business takes time and effort. It is, however, the best way to build security for yourself and find the freedom to do more of what you want.

I often write on this website and blog that Las Vegas businesses often try to market to the masses, which is a huge marketing error for any business or company in Las Vegas. To run truly successful marketing campaigns that are targeted and well planned, you should identify your target market. 

Even with your target market in mind when running a marketing campaign, another successful marketing strategy and tactic that many Las Vegas businesses use is targeting zip codes. Targeting a zip code will enable you to reach a specific demographic in the Las Vegas valley or a group of potential customers close to the area where you do business.

By considering targeting a specific zip code, you can plan a mailing, door-to-door marketing, flyer, print, newspaper or internet marketing campaign and target zip code/s of your choice.

Resources to find Las Vegas zip codes and Las Vegas demographics:

• Zip Code Lookup – Yahoo! Small Business
• Las Vegas Zip Code Map – Henderson Zip Code Map – greatlasvegashomes.com
• Las Vegas Zip Code Map with detailed views – act4u.com
• Las Vegas, Nevada ZIP Code Map – hellovegas.com
• Free Las Vegas Demographics Report Available For Area Business Owners And Operators – lasvegasnevada.gov
• Las Vegas, NV – Neighborhoods & Demographics – neightborhoodlink.com