I'm a firm believer that every business should have a blog. Just like every business should be tuning into the conversations that people are having about them via social networks, every business should be blogging as well. Yes, every business.

If you still think that blogs are a waste of time and provide no return on investment, perhaps after reading this article you'll change your mind.

Here are my top reasons why a business should have a blog:

• There are more opportunities for people to find your business on the internet. Unlike regular websites, blogs are on the search engines' radars because blogs are updated more often. Search engines love fresh, relevant content.

• As a business, you have the chance to interact with customers and build a community of loyal followers who appreciate what you have to say. By providing value via informative articles, you create a relationship with your customers and they will remember you the next time they need your product or service.

Let's take a look at an example from a San Diego Cosmetic Dentist...

Dr. Timothy Collins and Dr. David Landau are dentists who have a practice called Complete Dental Health here in San Diego. Not only do they have a regular website that contains a wealth of information about their practice, they also have a blog that provides tips, advice, and news about dental health.

People nowadays are more internet savvy than ever, so let's say that someone in San Diego needed dental work done, but this individual wanted to find a dentist with a blog. They do a Google blogsearch for "San Diego dentist". What shows up first is a list of related blogs...and guess what? Complete Dental Health's blog shows up as a top search result. The blog hasn't been updated since last September, but the information contained on the blog is relevant - meaning that it contains information solely about dentistry and dental health.

So, the potential customer comes across the Complete Dental Health blog and likes the information. This potential customer decides to call Dr. Collins or Dr. Landau to set up an appointment. Voila! A new customer because of their blog.

This is a very simplistic example of what could happen when your business has a blog, but it happens all the time. Hopefully it will clear up those doubts for those of you who still believe blogs are just a "trend" and aren't worth looking into as a marketing channel.

If you are an owner of a business and you have a blog, I'd love to hear your experiences with blogging!