The Best Marketing Platform for Home Based Businesses

Are blogs more effective marketing platforms than websites for home based businesses? With more internet enthusiasts utilizing web 2.0 techniques to communicate with one another and their target markets, some question whether websites are even needed as a part of the sales strategy anymore.

There's no doubt it's easier to set up a blog or use a social site such as Squidoo or Facebook then it is to build a website. In many cases the need to be familiar with using html coding, Frontpage, or FTP is a must when putting together websites. When setting up a blog there is no need for such technical knowledge. To post to your blog all you need to do is just compose your content and then publish it with the click of a button. The interface is usually that simple.

Another difference between blogs and websites is the ability to interact with readers at your blog thru comments and responses. A website only allows you to dispatch information without any input from your visitors leaving it difficult for the site owner to determine their visitors mindset, attitude, or opinions.

The popularity and effectiveness of interactive sites is mainly due to the site visitors satisfaction knowing they can be heard by leaving their opinions. This leads to a sense or feeling of community thereby establishing more of a bond between the site owner and the readers making any future comments or recommendations by the site owner more influential on the readers and any marketing efforts all the more effective.

The key to any blog is to post quality content regularly to keep your readers coming back. Another benefit of consistent posting is that the search engines will visit your site more frequently in search of any new content thereby helping to boost your search engine rankings.

Now you may be thinking 'why even bother using websites' as part of your marketing strategy. Well before you go and 'pull the plug' on all your current sites realize that they serve a very definite purpose in your overall sales strategy. On any dedicated website, extensive product pitching and information is acceptable and expected whereas a blog is more useful by freely dispensing helpful, witty, or interesting information thus gaining the loyalty and trust of your readership without being pressured to make a purchase. Any hard line sales attempt on a blog could jeopardize this trust with your subscribers being they are expecting nothing more than to be entertained or informed. At most any sales attempts on a blog should be more in the tone of a suggestion and/or recommendation with of course a link to your sales site.

If used correctly in conjunction with a blog, websites can and do serve a highly effective role in the overall marketing strategy of most home based businesses. Simply put you can build up your customer base with a blog while using your websites to market your products and services.

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
For additional success tips and a free guide that demonstrates how to find both profitable markets and products visit:http://blogbrawn.com/