Your Business Blog is Your Online Reflection

Blogs and websites develop with the personality of the website author. So, how can you take your personal interests and use them to intensify the effect of business blogging?

Business blogs completely dedicated to humor show that it works to shine your best work.  Just have a look at Funnyornot.com (one of my favorites) to see a wide range of sardonic contributions that spin the Web in viral explosion.  Do the same and solicit humorous stories from customers (this strategies could also work to improve list building endeavors).

If your personality is one that enjoys art you might consider a site that has a bent toward graphics, fine art, or even art appreciation (a college course of mine). Perhaps the listing of personally selected art shows or concerts may provide the personal touch to your blog you are looking for.

If you are a motorcycle enthusiast (as am I) you might find a tasteful way to incorporate business blogging design based on motorcycles with personal links to a forum dedicated to serving fans of a variety of riders.  This approach, as with most, may be best linked to products you are selling that have something in common with the motorcycle you feature or bikes in general.

Personality doesn’t have to be put on the backburner in every case when it comes to your online presence.  Many business blog sites are incorporating an interest in social issues as a site design feature. Some blogs may do this by promoting affiliate products that share a portion of the proceeds with a charity of choice. They may also highlight a social issues site that focuses on the issue closest to the personal interests of the site owner.

This doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) obtrusive, but it can help your customers understand a little bit more about your personality and passion to help others in need. Imagine a business blog that took on the idea of assisting in fighting poverty, as an extreme example. They choose a well-respected charity and set aside a portion of their sale proceeds to help their cause.  The business blog benefits because they may have individuals with similar interests who will make a purchase simply because they identify with the motivation and view this as a way to help. Others will buy because they love your product, and the charity you are interested in receives publicity to help others take notice of what they are doing and how site visitors can help.

You can’t rely solely on social marketing to be the only way you improve site visitation so make sure you work on other means of getting the word out about your business.  But infusing your personal interests into your business blogging can be a positive way to connect in an emotional way with some visitors of your blog. The key part to this idea is that because most individuals form an emotional connection with a product this approach could be the means of developing that connection for a segment of site visitors. The growth of your website can happen in numerous ways, but the idea of personality marketing may not be something you have considered before, but should.

It’s a balance, though.  You don’t want to overpower the visitor with your personal interest while negating the marketing effect of the product you are trying to sell. If you’ve made your blog business site into a fan site of something you really love you might have gone too far. On the other hand if you enjoy something that much consider creating a secondary site and then include links to that site from your primary business site.