As a VA business I’m sure you’ve written your fair share of blogs for your clients. You can see how important they consider it, as part of their overall business marketing strategy.  However, many VAs still avoid having a blog on their own website.

For many VAs, the decision has been made based around one of five common misconceptions – and they’re missing out, as a result.

Misconception #1: It’s difficult to start a blog!

If you already have a website, it doesn’t take much to get a blog on it. For many small businesses especially, their websites are currently created and hosted on platforms such as WordPress or Wix – both of which have built-in blogging options.

If your website was designed specifically for you, the chances are it was still created on a platform such as those mentioned above. The reality is, a blog can easily be set up and installed on your website – simply by clicking a couple of buttons (or emailing your IT support/website designer to do it for you).

Misconception #2: I have nothing to say that will interest my clients

The services you offer your clients are designed to help them run their businesses more efficiently and/or effectively. Whether you offer social media management or diary management, transcription or report creation and presentation, I’m guessing your clients love what you do. I’m also guessing they’ll value anything you can suggest, to help them be even more efficient and effective as a business and an entrepreneur.

Instead of worrying they won’t be interested, why not start thinking about how you can help them more? Your tips and advice could be just what they need. The reality is, it’s often just fear that’s holding you back from writing blogs.

Do your clients tend to ask similar questions or have similar problems? Share solutions. If you’re stuck for ideas, here’s how you can easily come up with lots of potential blogging subjects for your VA business and here’s another one on how to get 20 ideas in 20 minutes.

Misconception #3: A VA business blog is all about SEO and keyword research

Predominantly, a blog is about helping your clients by giving them access to information they’ll find useful and informative. Yes, there is an element of SEO and keyword research needed, but it’s not as huge a task as it sounds.

Let’s break it down into realistic tasks. Firstly, I’m sure if I asked you to write a list of keywords that spring to mind when you think of your clients needs and wants, you’ll be able to come up with plenty. If I asked you to tell me what subjects they are interested in and/or need help with, you’ll be able to name them too. When it comes to running a blog on your website, that’s the kind of keyword and SEO insight you need – the rest can be achieved with plugins such as Yoast SEO!

Misconception #4: Blogging takes a huge commitment of time and effort

Any marketing activity you implement, will take a certain amount of time and effort. It also takes a certain amount of commitment to see it through, to wait for results, and to tweak and make changes as needed. A blog is no different.

However, gone are the days when a daily blog was needed, if you wanted to make an impact. Blogging does need a commitment of time and effort – but that can be as little as an hour or two a week. If you find it easier, you can opt to set aside a day a month to write all your blog posts. What’s important is that you a) set a blogging frequency that suits you and, b) stick to that frequency.

Misconception #5: Blogging doesn’t work

There are often rumours tied to the death of blogging, how effective or ineffective it all is, and whether it’s worth the time and effort. You only have to look at other social media platforms and marketing strategies to see, their perceived relevance changes as often as the seasons.

However, if you think that blogging doesn’t work, look at how many businesses still use it in their overall marketing strategies. Look at how many of your peers are using it and how it’s helping raise their visibility online. Do a quick Google search of the questions your clients may have, and see how many results are linked to specific blog posts.

When it comes to blogging not working, that really does depend on what you’re measuring it against. Is it not working because it’s not bringing in money and/or new clients? Maybe it’s not working because you’re not getting comments, likes and shares? How about your Google search results – is it not working, because you’re not on the first page of Google?

Bottom line, if you’re not blogging at the moment – it certainly won’t be working for you! If you haven’t ever blogged – how can you say it doesn’t work, if you haven’t tried it? And, if you used to blog but subsequently stopped, how long did you give it to work/were you blogging about the right things/did you market it?

If you need a further push to get a blog onto your website, take a look at this Hubspot article on why blogging should be part of any businesses strategy or this one by Business Matters, that explains how to use blogging as a top marketing tool. Blogging is still an important business strategy for website SEO, marketing plans, business visibility and client relationship building. The question is are you going to let the misconceptions you have around it, hold you back from reaping those benefits for your VA business?