Blogging is a concept that started in late 1990s. It used to be a way to comment on an existing webpage, an opportunity for visitors and readers to react or voice one's opinion on the page. What started as a single-sentence commentary has evolved into pages of personal takes on anything and everything under the sun. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into a blog's potential. Here are 5 reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool for your business.

1. Blogging is simple. The simplest way to get on the 'net is through blogging. No skills are necessary... an average adult can read and type, or at least click a mouse. It's like having a virtual piece of paper: you write about your ideas, experiences, and new products, show your readers you are credible and trustworthy, and entice your reader to try your products or services. If you have a computer and an Internet connection you can blog and market your business and your products.

2. Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where advertising saturates our lives, we question the credibility of promoters' claims. However, on blogs, real people share real-life experiences. Transparency about your business is encouraged to attract your blog readers to interact through commenting and build your online community. As trust grows, your readers often become clients or buyers of your products.

3. Blogging is free or inexpensive. You can get a blog account for as little as $5 a month from one of the leading blog providers, Typepad.com. Other accounts are offered free. Any opportunity for free web time is a bonus, especially to businesses that are starting up. Needless to say, fee-based blogging systems have more features that can generate more traffic and income for seriously growing your business.

4. Blogging builds credibility. As you get more into writing your experiences on a particular product or industry, your readers come to realize they can depend on you and your blog posts for their information needs. You become an expert; as a consequence, more readers visit your site, and more bloggers link to your blogs.

5. Blogging builds your market. Unless you are a Hollywood star, chances are, only your Mom reads your posts. But you need more than Mom to increase your readership base. As companies and professional organizations notice the growth of your readership base, they will get in touch with you for advertising on your blog, or make you an affiliate, which pays for every referral generated from your blog site. Often joint ventures and partnerships thrive among bloggers.

There are many ways to build your market through blogging:

- By using your e-mail. Let readers explore your site by using a short e-mail message as teaser to your blog. Use your e-mail signature to give a link to the blog.

- By using subscription. An easy way to get your readers' e-mail addresses is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your blog, such as with a free Feedblitz subscription account. Give some exclusive information for your subscribers to entice readers to subscribe and give their e-mail address.

- By understanding your readers. Conduct a simple survey for your readers to understand their profile and advertising preferences. Ask consumers to give you feedback on a post, an ad link, or a trial that you shared. In this way, it is like interviewing your readers without the commitment and intrusion of a face-to-face interview.

- By joining a blog network. A network of blogs may be a collection of blogs that share the same industry, interest, readership base, payment mode, etc. Consumers find credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several bloggers about a single subject.

- By using RSS. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is the fastest growing technology on the Internet today. As such, having RSS feeds to your blog is definitely another means of generating awareness for your readership base. Having a variety of feeds can add interest to your blog..

Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

About the Author

As the The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman have teamed up to work with professionals to maximize their marketing strategies by implementing blogs, ezines and ecommerce tactics. They have co-authored "Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog", "Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger: From Boring to Brilliant in 30 Days".