If you don’t have a blog by now, you likely know someone who does. In fact, as of April 2007, there were approximately 120,000 new blogs being started each day. That’s right – each day.

So…as a practitioner, do you need one? Should you have one? Do you want one? Does it matter?

The Benefits of Blogging

There is a substantial upside to blogging, particularly if you’re jazzed about marketing your practice online:

• Blogging can help your search engine traffic – search engines tend to like the blog format, and the freshness of the content.
• Blogs are a great tool for generating discussion, creating community, and keeping topics current.
• Because patients can “subscribe” to your blog and receive updates automatically, you can stay in touch with some of your existing patients with minimal cost and effort.
• For clinics with multiple practitioners, a blog can be easier to sustain, and give prospective patients a taste of each practitioner’s style prior to their visit.

But is it a great tool for CAM practitioners to build a practice? Before you make the leap, it’s worth considering the drawbacks.

The Downside

• There are millions of blogs languishing in cyberspace. Stale-dated, untouched and unloved, they just hang around aging. While there’s nothing really wrong with trying a blog on for size and then abandoning it, remember that a blog becomes another part of the public face of you and your practice. From a credibility perspective, having no blog at all beats a blog that hasn’t had an update in six months.
• It can be time consuming, and if it takes you away from other marketing you should be doing, it may not be worth the investment.
• If you’re not a strong writer, it’ll show on your blog.

In the end practitioner blogs are for those who will enjoy the actual act of keeping an online journal. In other words: blog as an end, not a means.

But, if you’ve got something to say, and really want to make the leap to blogging, here are a few tips to help your startup:

• Write 20 or so Posts in Advance. Really. Before you do anything else, just keep a diary for 30 days on your computer. If, by that point you’re still jazzed about blogging, you’ll know you’ve got some time and stamina. You’ll also have a clearer idea of what it is you really want to say, and have a nice backlog of posts to start with.

• Use Your Own Domain. Don’t mess around with a hosted blog at www.myblog.blogspot.com, etc. Get your own domain, or add your blog to a domain you already own. For the $8 or so per year, it’s a small price to pay to build a brand, and enjoy full control over your blog.

• Use WordPress.org. This blog was started in Blogger, and recently made the transition. WordPress is a far better way to go. Just trust me.

• Remember You’re on Stage. You’re putting yourself out there – good for you. Just remember that your patients can now easily see a far more personality-driven side of their health care provider. What you choose to say and how you say it is up to you – just remember that it’s public.

Some additional info (these links are not affiliate links, just honest advice):

• AlternativeHealthPractice.com is hosted by HostGator , which provides automatic WordPress installations. The domain was registered with GoDaddy.

• For newbies wanting to set up a personal blog, you can ask the folks at Install4Free to install WordPress for you. Free is a very reasonable price.

• For commercial blogs (like your practice), you can ask your local geek, or try WordPressInstall.com – they’ll do it for $20.

If you’ve got a practice blog, tell us about it in the comments so we can all be inspired. Happy blogging!

This post is part of the Practice Website Series.