“Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness.” - Allen Ginsberg

As a passionate believer in the importance of self expression and being yourself for as much of your waking day as possible, I cannot stress enough the importance and benefits of blogging; be it a personal blog made anonymous, personal or private, or for your business. Very much like physical exercise (in my case it's weight lifting) I don't know much but I do know this; as soon as you start, you will feel the benefits. Physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, spiritually, who knows...challenge yourself to do it, make it happen and go from there.

Over the years I have blogged for many reasons; at first I did it privately as a daily journal for my health improvements, a collection of things I find funny, interesting or downright awful. I've blogged under pseudonyms for corporate clients and I've blogged anonymously against "the man". I love to write, and I love that there are some people love what I write and the way I write it. I also love that there are some people that hate what I write and how I write it; it keeps the fire of passion burning and inspires me to keep going.

For myself, having struggled for years with self-belief, distraction and an over active mind; blogging is part of the necessary ritual I have created and evolved to keep me focused, busy, healthy, happy and prosperous. I know my weaknesses; I hear that little voice at times whether I am writing B2B or personal stuff that's in my head telling me that the content is not good enough, or more likely that I am not good enough. Turning frustration to fascination, after a lazy Christmas where very little was written or lifted, this year I have set myself the challenge of writing every day. Regardless of my mood or my environment, to create something daily that benefits myself, my peers, my clients and who knows, maybe someone out there. Training my mind like I train my body, I know that more begets more and everything will improve; my awareness, my health, my outlook, my opportunities and my thinking.

On a personal level perhaps you can relate to some of the above. Focus, discipline and simply "getting it out" of you are good enough reasons. Perhaps you fancy a change in career: blogging is a brilliant way for you to express your passion that you can do in your free time and it costs nothing (well I pay $5 a month for my hosting).

How can a blog help your business?

It can work wonders. In just one minute, Google receives over 4 million search queries, Facebook users share 2.5 million pieces of content, Twitter users share 277,000 tweets, YouTube users upload 71 hours of new videos, and Pinterest users Pin almost 4 thousand posts.

Much of that content came from blogs. Some of that content could be yours...

· It will drive traffic to your website and improve SEO - Your site probably has lots of static pages whose content doesn't get refreshed very often. Google now rewards sites for fresh content. By blogging daily, weekly, monthly or even quarterly, you improve your chances of being found because each blog you publish creates a new indexed page on your site: this tells Google's "spiders" to check in more often. Each new indexed page is another chance to show up in search engines. Enabling readers to share via social media links all helps to expose you to a new audience

Blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages (Source: Content+) Blogs give websites 97% more indexed links (Source: Content+)

· It will establish authority and build credibility - Create your brand, your identity and publish regular, insightful and interesting content will help you gain trust and respect as a source of authority

· It will help you convert traffic to clients - Simply by adding a lead-generating call to action to your posts you increase your chances of growing your client base.

B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who don’t (Source: Social Media B2B)

Companies with active blogs receive 97% more leads (Content+ 2013)

· It will strengthen relationships with clients and potential clients - They will get to know you, your company, your people. How you think. If something is wrong or you want to shout from the rooftops about something, a blog is a great tool for customer service

· It will create long-term results - The beauty of your blog post being picked up by search engines is that at anytime in the future; it could be several days, several weeks or even years; you will continue to receive traffic and potential leads from your post. Just an hour a day or week can generate hundreds, thousands if not millions of views in the future

Here at TNBA, we host a blog page with contributions from our team. This keeps us fresh and relevant with all of us posting about the subjects we specialise in and are passionate about. We help clients get more exposure and new business opportunities by discussing their products, as well as the industries they serve. Come and say hello to us and find out more about how we can help you spread the word about you or your business