I don’t have time to blog

One of the most common “objections” I hear from prospective clients about launching a blog is the concern over the perceived time investment required.  For many business people, the term “blogging” brings visions of hours spent preparing daily blog posts.   This leads to the  most common battle cry uttered by small business owners, “I don’t have time to blog.”

There are two ways to look at “blogging”.  One view – the most popular one – is that in order to become a ” business blogger” one must post an article each day – or more.

It’s true – if you want your blog to BE your business – then posting daily – even hourly – is almost a requirement for success.  If however, you want to use your blog as a marketing tool for your business instead of becoming your sole source of income – it’s possible to build a successful business blog in as little as an hour each week.  Of course the next question you must answer is to define how you’ll measure blog success.

Unfortunately, this perceived time poverty by small business owners can lead to a number of missed opportunities in the future.

It’s almost a cliche to say that time is money.  Not only does time equal money but  time also affects the value of money. The time value of money  states that the value of money is affected by time.  For example, if you’re a rational person and you’re offered the choice between receiving $100 today or $100 one year from today, you’ll probably choose to receive your $100 today.  That $100 is worth more today because it can be put to work to be worth MORE  in one year than it is today.

You may think that the same “rule”  holds true of the time available to you as well.  Perhaps you think that the time you have available today  or even this week  is more valuable than time available in the future.   After all, time is the ultimate perishable commodity.

It might surprise you to learn that – when it comes to the web – your time today isn’t worth as much as the time you invested last year.

When it comes to building a web presence – older content is ALWAYS better than new content.  The only exception to this rule is blog posts – which momentarily get a “pass” when it comes to the “older is better” rule.

Do a search for any competitive term and then look at the AGE of the content returned naturally and you’ll see that older content is more respected content when it comes to the web.  Of course, there are literally a hundred or so other variables at play when it comes to determining SERPS – but it’s an established fact that older content seems to have an advantage when it comes to winning the search game.

This preference for older content by the search engines means…

Business blogging is one of the few pursuits where the time you invest today can earn interest tomorrow.

In my blog post, “Measuring Blog Success” post – I tell my own personal story of how a single blog post created measurable results… results that literally required YEARS of preparation to achieve.  Unscrupulous marketing gurus might try to package the experience as “Buy my report where you’ll learn how 30 minutes spent preparing a blog post resulted in a five figure payday for me.”

However – I’m well aware that the 30 minutes I spent preparing that initial post was preceded by literally hundreds of blog posts and years of preparation and I’m not about to try to sell you on anything less than the unvarnished truth.

The unvarnished truth is the “overnight success” stories are – 99 times out of 100 – anything BUT overnight.  Many overnight success stories have taken literally DECADES of preparation.

I recently heard from a client who began blogging for his business two years ago.  He recently landed a new client who told him the reason she chose him over dozens of his competitors was his blog.    Even if this is the ONLY client he ever lands from his blog – his time investment in blogging has already been a measurable success.

My client writes infrequently about problems he solves for his clients on his blog.  Truth be told, he probably doesn’t spend a full hour a week on blogging – but by sharing his insights via his blog – he has created a way to  build the trust needed to convert prospective clients into paying clients.

Did I mention that two years ago – this client also claimed he didn’t have time to blog?

However, over the past two years – he’s build a blog filled with success stories.  He also has a “traditional” set it and forget it style web site for his business – one that has 10 pages of static content.  Over the past two years – he’s published over 100 blog posts which means, from a search engine point of view – he has over 100 “pages” of content.

Not only does he now have 100 more opportunities to be found via the web – he also has created an archive of client success stories – success stories which impacted one woman so powerfully that she felt compelled to tell him during their first meeting that his blog was the reason she chose to hire him.

This client’s business is growing – and as such his time is becoming much more “valuable” which means he’ll probably have LESS time to invest in “blogging” in the future.  But that’s ok – because the time he’s already invested creating blog posts was time well spent.  He’ll continue to reap the benefits of his blog for as long as he keeps his blog.

Anyone who tells you that you can build a successful blog – or a successful business – overnight is simply doing their best to part you with your hard earned money without as much as kiss to go with it.   However, I can’t think of a better investment in time – or energy – than building your own business and the blog you use to promote it.

Unfortunately, when the gloves come off – the “I don’t have time to blog” is usually an excuse.  It’s an excuse used to cover up what may be literally a CANCEROUS TUMOR which may be growing within the belly of your business.    More on that next time.