I’ve been blogging for quite some time and by far the best use of my marketing time and energy has been writing blog posts.

Before I started blogging, I was trying to get my messages out by email. But when only 20-30 percent of email messages get opened and read, you know you’ve got to find a better tool for communicating.

I don’t sell widgets. I can’t hire someone to write marketing copy about how good my widgets work. I am a service provider and I have to sell myself. I must make my core values stand out. My brand is myself.

I have found that a business blog is the best way to share my thoughts, my perspectives, and my experiences. This is how I can show readers how I work with clients and how I get results for them. It’s called relationship marketing or content marketing.

It works if you have the right platform and are consistent about posting at least 3 times a week. But there are a lot of details that go into making a business blog work.

That’s why I just didn’t jump in and start blogging willy-nilly. I took some time to learn to do it right, the smart way.

There are no better experts on business blogging for the small business professional than my colleagues Patsi and Denise, aka The Blog Squad™.

This week they’re launching the 3rd edition of their best selling manual Build a Better Blog. I highly recommend you make the investment and learn Better Business Blogging.

If you’re just starting out with a blog, then I recommend their Build a Better Blog ebook (Plan A).

If already have a blog and you’re struggling with getting results for your blogging efforts, stop right now and read about the Better Business Blogging program (Plan B).

And if you’re like many of us, you want to save your time and energy and have a blog set up for you and then get trained on what to do to make it work right, read about Plan C:

Don’t make blogging harder than it really is. It’s easy once you know the key strategies and tactics. Trust me. Trust The Blog Squad. I do and you can.

I’ll close with The Blog Squad’s traditional cry, “Blog on!”