The main benefit of using blogging to help promote your internet marketing activities is that it can help remove many of the barriers associated with buying things online. Because customers cannot see the product or salesperson in the flesh, they can have their doubts as to whether they should order it at all. Will it turn up? Will they get their money back if they don't like it? Can the seller or website be trusted?

In this sense the very thing which has made the internet such a big opportunity for so many people - the fact that even the best professional looking website can be run from a spare bedroom and no one is any the wiser - can also be its downfall.

Developing a blog through which to promote your internet marketing activities helps to build a level of trust over time which makes it far easier for people to order from you. A blog contains your personal thoughts and experiences, and because you are willing to share these with your readers, you are basically connecting with them and building that trust without even trying.

It takes time to build a steady readership for your blog, but it's time well spent and if you have a website and provide links going from one to the other, you will pick up a lot of extra traffic that way as well.

Having a blog also allows you to cover subjects you may not like to discuss on your main website. If you strive to represent an honest and straightforward image on your blog, your readers will appreciate it and send a lot more business your way. Don't forget that honesty is one of the hottest commodities available online today.

Most blog platforms also allow you to invite comments from your readers. This allows you to open up a dialogue with people if you so wish - and you should take every opportunity to do so, as it helps to brand you as a helpful person who isn't just after everyone else's money.

But perhaps the best part of being a 'business blogger' is the fact that you can start to brand yourself as an expert in your chosen field. You'll be surprised how far afield your name can start to spread once your blog becomes more established. Even though the main purpose of your blog probably isn't to make money, you'll soon find that your profits will start to benefit as a direct result of having one.