4 Common ERP Consultant Questions: Why Blog? Part IV

ERP consultants are very busy people. They have billable hours to book, meetings with clients and prospects, upgrades, implementations, training, etc... So WHY the heck would any sensible ERP consultant waste time with blogging? If you are lucky enough to have a very experienced and driven marketing person, they could probably come up with blogs on their own. There are also blogging services that will write blogs for you - just make sure they know your company and your goals and know your industry. If you fall a little short on the marketing side, then blogging won't happen unless it comes from your own head. Fortunately, your head is filled with so much ERP experience and knowledge that there is no lack of content. 

The challenge with blogging that most ERP consultants face is best explained in 4 common questions: 1) Why should I blog? 2) When do I have the time to blog? 3) How do I get strarted with blogging? 4) How do I blog? We will explore these top 4 questions in this blog.  

Here are 4 common questions that ERP consultants ask about blogging: 

1. Why should I blog?  We have already dedicated more about why blogging is important in our previous blog "Attention ERP Consultant: 3 Reasons Why You Must Blog: Part 1"  The reasons stated are mainly for SEO ranking, sharing your expertise and utlimately acquiring new and orphaned ERP customers. If your company doesn't have a blog initiative in place, you can bet your competitors do. Blogs act as an opportuntiy to share your expertise and personality to your current and future customers. It's an expansion of your business card for those who want to learn more about what you know.
2. When do I have time to blog?  If you already feel like you work too many hours, then you are in good company with most ERP consultants. One of our partners got up an hour early to write his weekly blog. If this is not possible, lets explore how you can get content and ideas from the work you already do. Did you recently do great work with a client that involved an ERP solutions that may be of interest to others? You can turn this story into a blog that is an educational success story without being too promotional. Did you or your other consultants help an existing client with an issue or question that may be of interest to others. This can be used as a Tip and Trick or FAQ blog that will help educate others. Both examples demonstrate your expertise and are a great way to find and attract new and existing orphaned clients. We have more ideas on how to get started if you wish to contact ERPVAR, please feel free to contact us online or give us a call: 888-253-6705. It is highly suggested to share the load with others in your ERP consultant team who can make contributions of their own. This needs to be a top down, owner or management sponsored initiative to "motivate" others in order to be successful. Don't forget to focus on a keyword for every blog.
3. How do I get started? Basically, the first thing to do to get started is to work out a blogging strategy which includes exploring what are your specialties and focus on the kind of clients you want to find and attract - or better yet have them find you. You can read more about how to get started with a blog strategy in our previous blog "ERP Consultants: How a Blog Strategy Helps You Grow: Part II"
4. How do I blog?  So you have a blog page and you are ready to write your blog - now what? There are many resources and articles available on how to write effective blogs. You can also view our video on "How to Write a Great ERP Software Blog" co-hosted by presenter Dan Krauss with Leading Results.

Stay tuned for more blogs on the blogging topic and please feel free to like, share and follow. We do not certainly have all the blogging answers or think that blogging is the silver bullet to solve all your marketing challenges. We get a lot of questions around the topic "WHY blog?" and hope this gives you some ideas to get the blogging ideas flowing.

At ERPVAR, we have a goal to blog every day. Most of our blogs come from other ERP consultants who are experts like you. Some ERP consultants are fortunate enough to have a marketing person to do most of the heaving blog lifting. However, many still do not and find the time to blog. We are happy to discuss with you WHY blogging might make sense for you in further detail. Please feel free to contact us online or give us a call:  888-253-6705.

About ERPVAR.com
Established in 2012 and headquartered in Orange County, CA, ERP VAR represents the collective expertise of Sage 50 (formerly Peachtree), Sage 100 ERP (formerly MAS90 and MAS 200), Sage 500 ERP (formerly MAS 500), Sage ERP X3, Epicor, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, NetSuite, Intacct, Infor, Acumatica and QuickBooks Enterprise third party developers combined with the expertise of local implementation ERP consultants. These local ERP consultants provide end users with a thorough needs analysis to determine which ERP software functionality is required to address their unique needs. If a business process assessment is required, the local channel partner is enlisted to provide a comprehensive examination with end user company departments to insure the correct ERP software is selected implemented and the staff is properly trained. For more information, please visit http://www.erpvar.com.

by Kathy Graham at ERPVAR