Many large companies are developing blogs to complement the company’s official website, the goal, in order to more easily interact with customers, and with a more casual way. Blogs are also a means of beginning to introduce business products or services. If managed properly, blogs can draw attention to the business, in addition to reaching new customers, and changing existing customers into fans. Take a look at brands like Apple, BlackBerry, or Crocs, they not only make consumers use goods, but also affects the people in the neighborhood to participate wear.

But creating a blog for small business is not easy. It takes hard work, ability to think creatively about your business, and develop a blog that is read many fans. If you avoid the five mistakes in the following blog this, your chances of building a successful business blog is not just a dream anymore.

a. Error # 1: Treating your blog as a press center
This was mistake number one business bloggers. Blog is not the place to give a press release. Blogging is a means of speaking, which offers a way for consumers how to connect with your business at a new level. The press release is just the opposite. Its contents are not personal, self promoting, so that most readers do not believe it. If you use a blog just to publish a press release, the reader will not be interested to read it, let alone believe it.

Tip: Make a blog to announce your product or business, with an original way of writing and more casual. Then, use the blog to write things other than business. Share your thoughts about the industry, how the working life from day to day, and provide tips and tricks to do business based on your experience.

b. Error # 2: Not to post regular text
Ever see a particular blog on a regular basis? How often do they publish the article? Most blogs are widely read people usually have posted new content at least several times a week. Such blogs are also trying to comply with the timetable to make writing a regular basis, because if the blog continued to show something new, the reader will continue to return. You too can build a user community, and turn them into fans.
Tip: If you having trouble finding an idea of what to write, you can take your team to discuss, or a trip to the mall to observe the behavior of visitors. You can even lure customers to provide input on topics to be written.

c. Error # 3: It allows interaction with readers
If blogging is a means of discussion, what does it mean if we do not open the opportunity for readers to interact with us? Make the most of blog comments field to receive comments or criticisms from readers. Invite them to respond to your postings, or anything related to the blog.

Tips: Communication should go both ways. Therefore, respond to reader comments, whether praise, give advice, or even criticize. Your willingness to connect with the reader will develop a community, that the faithful will provide quality feedback. You also need to participate in conversations on other blogs in the same industry. Blogging point to introduce your brand, and reach new readers.

d. Error # 4: New Content hard to find
Your blog will be judged less applicable if the reader can’t find a new content-content with ease. Make sure that any new content you add up quickly and has a plot that is easy to read.

Tip: Your blog can be made in order to find a link to it prominently from your company website, or enter your blog address in the email. It could also put it on business cards. Use the RSS feed, or data format used to provide content that has been updated regularly for the reader. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can also be used to spread the new blog content.

e. Error # 5: Expecting too much, and too fast
Like race, blogging is not a sprint race, but a marathon. Building a blog to known people need time, even in the first few months you’ll feel for your own writing. To build a community of readers, especially readers who are faithful, certainly is not going to happen in quick time. Do not expect an instant feedback.
Tip: Set goals that are achievable, and do not give up after three months. Give at least one year to send the content on a regular basis.

Service excellence is not only for the physical retail industry, but also absolutely necessary for online services. How you can create service excellence for online services? Here are some important points:

Well-Designed
Can not be denied that often determine the performance of the trust. Similarly, performance can determine the website of our customers’ trust. If a website designed with clean, neat, with the appropriate branding to your target market, then of course this will make the customer feel at home and can encourage a desire to buy.

Such is examples of pinkandprinci.com, which is designed with a very neat, and well suited to the target market, namely women. Pink and white, a very good mix, and designed with great detail. Compare with other websites to navigate messy, hit-and-color, and layout settings apart, of course, makes the assumption that random, right? Of course, customers are also hard to believe.

Make Sure You’re Trusted
Basically, people find it difficult to trust online transactions. Therefore, you must be sure that your party can be trusted, namely by ensuring that customer privacy is valued, and the data will not be given to other parties. Using the label ‘security guarantee’ is also one important point.

In addition, you can also bring the recommendations of previous customers, to convince other potential customers. These recommendations would also be more credible if contained in a link in the blog / website the other, so it looks authentic.

Fast Loading, Easy Navigation
Speed is a very important factor in providing online services, especially in Indonesia. Internet services are often not stable to make the customer prefers a fast opening site accessible. Thus, make sure that your site is light and easily accessible. Do not use too much flash, because although good, it would make loading much longer. I myself, if the site but its content was a flash, if you do not need it then surely the site will direct me to stay.

Create an easy navigation as well, putting yourself as a customer. Make it easy for them to find the product, see the detailed product information, select a product, so do check-out. It is also important to include the tools to compare prices and product features, because this is what consumers do when shopping, isn’t it?

A Simple Shopping Process
Regular retail consumers in general hate the long queue. The same thing applies online: they hate the complicated process! Often websites asking for too much information unnecessarily thus becomes a turn-off for consumers who then finally decided to leave the site.

Create a process as simple as possible and not complicated. Make the process of shopping as a quick process and saves customers time, compared with it in line at the store.

Personalized
Personalization is an important component, too, and was widely adopted in various online services. Thus, personalization is done in accordance with historical data that we do on the site. For example in the Amazon, will give a recommendation of goods that may make us interested, based on the terms of the things we never find or buy.

Being Helpful
Although information on the website may seem complete enough, but in general customers want to obtain more information. Therefore, it is given access to services such as sales force or your customer service. For example, by providing direct access to chat, or provide a phone number that can be reached.

At Zappos, customers are encouraged to contact the company; it is seen from the presence of Zappos phone number on each page. This is deliberate, so that customers can be assisted and interact with their employees, hoping to create engagement.

One thing is important, which helps employees to be responsive. Thus, knowledge of qualified, good interpersonal skills, customer-oriented attitude, and quick response are the main components. In a case that I know, a friend of choosing a web hosting service because it gives a very good support, because every chat is always answered, and support ticket is answered very quickly.