Small Business Essentials

I read a post today on how a corner gas station owner could benefit from having a blog.

Challenge: Can You Stump Business and Blogging?

I know you’re going to read it and then tell me it was not about gas stations needing blogs, but about the benefits of blogging for any and every business. My argument is that this post is absurd and misleading in its self-serving logic. (Of course a site that generates ad revenue based on content for business blogging would say every business needs a blog!) I know the piece was meant to be fun and attract traffic, but this was just over the top. I would also not take such offense if I didn’t see this same sentiment echoed by 95% of the web developers and marketing professionals out there. To combat this problem, and to help the non-tech people just looking for advice on marketing their business and their website, I offer this:

Every business does not need a blog!

As I have written before, there are many reasons why some people should not have a blog. To elaborate on this with the gas station owner:

Writing skills are important.

Many gas station owners, especially in this area, either don’t speak English, speak English as a second language, or lack the writing skills of a professional writer. Running a gas station requires good management skills, but not necessarily good written and oral skills. If you do not speak English fluently or do not write well, your blog is not going to be a strong marketing piece for your company.

Blogging is not cost-effective in this niche.

Which of these takes less time and costs a gas station owner less:

• Setting up and maintaining a blog, or
• Putting out a sign on the corner with prices and specials?

I’m going to make an educated guess in saying the sign is also more effective as well.

This niche has already been done.

Do you think the local gas station will have more internet marketing power than Yahoo! Answers, AAA, or About.com? There is just no way my local gas station is going to surpass the power of a search engine or a social media site.

Conversions and traffic are not guaranteed.

After composing his posts, the gas station owner would then have to spend time building traffic to his site … so now he is spending time marketing both his blog online and his company offline. All of this effort does not mean any of his stumbling-in readers will convert to regulars to build trust, nor does it mean his blog readers will convert to sales at the pump. In fact, I’d guess that the conversion rate from first-timers to regulars, and from readers to gas-purchasers, is pretty low in this scenario.

Gas stations are local businesses.

Very few people will drive more than a mile or 2 out of their way to fill up their gas tank, and it usually has to be quite a deal to be worth it. Having a blog will not attract customers to your station from 3 cities over. What are the odds that people living in your immediate area will find your blog through Google, become a regular reader, and then start using your station instead of their regular one?

Gas stations don’t require experts.

It’s gas, not rocket science—the station provides it and you put it in your car. Many people don’t even know who works there or owns the station because they just pay at the pump and drive off.

The proposed questions can be found on Yahoo! Answers.

Most single-topic quick-answer types of sites don’t have long-term readers or regulars.

Running a gas station is time-consuming.

When the owner is not running his business, do you think he’d rather be home blogging or spending time with his family? My husband works long hours, and I know that thinking about work is the last thing he wants to do when he gets home.

Your Opinion?

What do you think? Do gas stations need blogs? Can every business benefit from having a blog?

Update

The discussion has been continued over at Business and Blogging and the StartupNation Community. Follow the links for direct access.