As a small business owner, you have plenty of things to do on a day-to-day basis. The last thing you need is to have another item added to your to-do list. That’s probably why you may not be overly enthusiastic if I suggest you start a blog for your business.

But what if I told you that starting a blog could actually help you alleviate some of your most pressing marketing challenges and enable you get more from the work you were already doing?
For example, if you already create email newsletters, chances are you’re already hard at work, planning and writing content for this month’s scheduled mailing. You’re thinking of content ideas, going through a few different drafts, and eventually you’ll have everything ready to go — just in time to start planning for what’s coming next.

Let’s say instead of just plugging that content into your email newsletter, you published it on your blog first. Better yet, instead of trying to pack every article in its entirety into your newsletter, you use your blog to trim down the amount of text within your email newsletter and link to your blog to read more.

Right away you can identify a few important benefits. The design of your email becomes a lot simpler. This means an easier creation process for you, but also a more enjoyable experience for your readers — especially those email contacts that are checking email on their smartphone or tablet.

There are also benefits that you might not think of right away. One of the biggest benefits comes from how you measure the effectiveness of each piece of content. By providing a link to an individual blog post, rather than packing the entire article into your email newsletter, you’ll have more insight into which content generates the most attention. All you’ll need to do is look at your click reports. This provides a new level of insight that isn’t available with open rates alone.

You’ll also have the added benefit of having engagement and feedback features that come with using a blogging platform. Readers will be able to share links to individual blog posts on their own social networks, or post responses to your content in the comment section of each post. This is a great chance to answer questions and build stronger relationships with the people reading your content.

And finally there are the benefits that last long after your email newsletter has been sent. By publishing content on a blog, you’ll immediately extend the lifespan of the content you create. Because you’re not only publishing content, but also driving people to it with your email newsletter, you’re content should start to generate traffic quickly. This will catch the attention of search engines like Google or Bing.

Content that is available on a public page, that gets viewed, consumed, and shared on a regular basis is the exact content these search engines want to provide to the people searching for answers online.

By posting the content that you’re writing for your email newsletter on a blog, you’ll open your content up to the public and give your business more opportunities than ever to be discovered online.

Adding a blog to your marketing strategy doesn’t need to happen overnight. If you’ve been sending a regularly scheduled newsletter, you’ve already taken some important steps to building customer relationships. Now it’s time to get more from all that hard work!

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Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9’s Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.