Anyone who has lurked on the Flying Solo forums, realises the amazing breadth and depth of talent hidden in back bedrooms around Australia. For others hard at work in traditional servicing businesses, they are weighing the odds between having the perceived safety of using an agency or company that employs staff and talks the language of the corporates... or realising that their marketing/IT needs can be filled best by 2-3 trustworthy freelancers.

One advantage is that small businesses on a budget can order up a small project of low-cost, like Adwords management, that their staff might flounder with, to gain better results. Similarly, if the freelancer knows about SEO they can educate the business owner of the benefits and work it into a web makeover or content writing job... without expecting them to pay $2,000 upfront for SEO without knowing the return. Conservative business managers tend to believe it only when they see the numbers and the results. Inch by inch, it’s a cinch!

Luckily, to create web logs, you don’t even have to be a great writer. As people are searching for specific, helpful content, they are looking for ideas in plain English.

With blogging, you must remember that is not like advertising; first you must build your credibility and this means focussing on giving readers good value. That said, a blog can be a great way to gain more traffic to your site, and get people talking about issues in your industry.

So, remember to add your URL (main link) to your website and, if the blog is a separate entity, fill out the ‘About’ information section with a summary of your background.

How Often Should I Write?

This depends on your time, but if you put aside half an hour per week, this should be enough to write a good post. Prior to writing, you should read a few business magazines and/or content rich websites, so that you are up-to-date on today’s talked about issues. The latest Dynamic Business and Nett magazine issues talk about:

• Beginner’s guide to social media
• Using Twitter
• Working from virtually anywhere (virtual offices, PAs, technology)
• How should importers deal with today’s difficulties
• Cloud computing and outsourcing of IT
• Rewarding staff on a shoestring
• Starting your own social network
• How green is my computer? (Environment and IT)
• Beginner’s guide to content management
• Business-class service (for B2B)
• Foreign trade for the small business