April is National Home Inventory Month: Find out more
09 Dec 2021

Blogging – Are You Ready?

BloggingEach year we add new courses to the NICA curriculum. This year, we focused on blogging with Introduction to Blogging, which provides you with the framework and tools to create and write a blog. and recently we added Blogs – Creating and Marketing Your Content that includes the framework and tools to generate content and market your blog. 

Knowledgeable resources for ideas and information can be fellow NICA members. Read others’ blogs to learn from them, and periodically share one of their articles (remember to follow our Associate Members’ blogs, too!). Reading others’ material helps in many ways: 

  • Meet fellow members!
  • Possibly refer business to others throughout the country.
  • Gain information you might not have known.
  • Using someone else’s articles means you didn’t need to research and write it yourself.

Of course, when using others’ blog posts, always include a link to that specific blog article. This is a plus, also, as it gives good back-links for your blog, helps spread the word about their blog, and most likely they will reciprocate and occasionally use some of your articles, along with a link to your blogsite.

If you haven’t yet earned your 5 CEUs to retain your certification, these 2 courses will provide you with the CEUs as well as great knowledge to help your start and maintain your blog!

21 Jan 2021

Marketing Minute – Do You Blog? If Not, Should You?

This Marketing Minute is provided by Associate Member Mary GillenMary Gillen

One big question that most small business owners ask, is … how do you stay in touch and find new referral sources or potential clients? The answer is … start or beef up your blog! Following are helpful tips from Mary Gillen:

  • Always include an image with your blog post.
  • Include Call-to-Actions at the End of Blog Posts.
  • If you have a newsletter, add an email subscribe box at the end of every blog post. Be sure to offer some quality content such as a case study, white paper or a discount coupon as a thank you for the subscription.
  • Create an “About Me” video that welcomes visitors to your blog. Embed it on your About Page.
  • Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of information on your Web site? Repurpose these frequently-asked questions as blog posts so the info is indexed in the major search engines. This leads to more traffic from potential customers.
  • Use your blog to post the offer of a free consultation to anyone who leaves a thoughtful, business-like comment.
31 Aug 2016

Opportunity for Writers

WritingMembers! If you write articles or a business blog, we would love to share your information!  It can be as easy as emailing us a word document of the article, or just a link to a blog or article that’s on line. We’ll copy and paste it into the News page on the NICA website, and also share it on our social media sites.

This provides a variety of topics for NICA members and readers of our blog, highlights your expertise, and offers extra exposure for you, since we will link the article back to your website!

You can become a regular contributor or just send an article or two per year. Whatever works for you; we’ll be happy to share your work. Just send it to nica@nationalinventorycertificationassociation.com. To help us find them easily, please put “article” or “blog contribution” in the subject line. Also include a brief bio and a photo to accompany the article.