Why Your Professional Services Firm Needs a Blog, Pronto

Blogging is no longer optional

There was a time not very long ago when a business blog was optional.

My, how times have changed.

I’d argue a blog is no longer optional for any B2B professional services firm; it’s a must-have. Buyers are increasingly relying on Internet search to identify and learn more about firms with which they wish to do business. And a blog plays a substantial role in firms being found online by these buyers.

If you stick with it, a business blog can deliver big results. In Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere Report, 71% of respondents who blog for business reported they increased their visibility within their industries through their blogs, and 56% indicated their blog helped their company establish a positioning as a thought leader within their industry.

There are many success stories of professional services firms that have successfully leveraged their blogs for media coverage, business development, and client relations. For two examples, check out these case studies published on RainToday.com (if you’re not a member, the free trial gives you access to download): FirstRain’s Market Mine blog case study and Harris & Moure’s ChinaLawBlog’s case study.

Still wondering what a blog can do for your services firm?

Here are 5 benefits your firm can realize from blogging:

1. Extend your network. A blog is great way to develop relationships—it allows you to share your persona  (firm leaders, associates) with an audience of clients and prospects and helps to build trust.
2. Establish two-way communication with prospects and influencers. With commenting enabled, you leave a door open for prospects, colleagues, reporters, analysts, and others to engage with you in a “safe” environment (i.e., on their terms).
3. Expand your firm’s reach and strengthen your brand.
4. Gain a vehicle to publish and distribute thought leadership.
5. Increase website traffic. Blog content (when optimized for search engines) can drive traffic to your firm’s website and increase its search engine ranking.

Make Blogs Part of Your Internet Marketing Strategy Firms must pull prospects toward them with inbound marketing tactics, says Brian Halligan, co-author of Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs. > Listen to “Internet Marketing Strategies Professional Services Must Adopt”

And, if those benefits aren’t enough to persuade you, Google’s recent move (12/7/09) incorporating real-time updates into search results adds another compelling reason to push your blogging initiative forward. As Shel Holtz explains on his blog:

As of Monday, Google began incorporating real-time updates into its search engine results pages (SERPs). Within seconds of posting, tweets, Facebook status updates, blog posts, and updates from news sources will be indexed by Google and made available for searches. This change has been anticipated ever since Google and Twitter announced the relationship, but it’s unlikely that most organizations have considered the implications or made adjustments to their SEO efforts.

Companies that have delayed or rejected social media nevertheless invest resources in search engine optimization (SEO). After all, we function in an era of what one writer called “survival of the optimized.” With luck, nobody reading this blog needs to be convinced of the importance of search.

Now, with real-time updates mingling with search results from static pages, if your organization doesn’t have a presence, you’ll be crowded out of the first page of results by those who do.

If your professional services firm isn’t blogging yet, take a look at what other service firms are doing. These can give you some ideas on how you can approach implementing a blog for your firm.

Some professional services blogs worth checking out:

• Accenture (consulting)
• Edelman’s Authenticities (PR)
• Foley Hoag (law): http://www.lawandenvironment.com, http://www.emergingenterprisecenterblog.com, http://www.massachusettsnoncompetelaw.com
• Forrester Research (market research)
• LexBlog (law)
• PriceWaterhouseCoopers (accounting)

Maintaining a blog remains a major time commitment; it certainly is not a silver bullet. When you launch a blog—beyond writing—you should also commit to participate in the blogosphere by reading and commenting on other blogs in your niche and provide marketing support (through linking, keyword optimization, and so forth) for your blog.

But, it’s a commitment you need to make, if you want your B2B services firm to thrive. If you’re not publishing a blog yet—what’s holding you back?