In the early days of your blog, you may feel like Sam Brownback during the 2008 primaries: perpetually speaking to an empty room.

For a business, the Internet can be a brutal place. And businesses that blog are businesses that put themselves in the center of the storm. Blogs take a while to mature, and along the way, every business blogger will deal with languishing in obscurity, cutting criticism, and a lack of motivation. Here’s a guide to handling the growing pains along the way, but keep this in mind too: the payoff is worth it. Those bloggers that can weather the rough, early days, will be rewarded with a collection of strong content that attracts new readers, promotes discussion and feedback, improves search engine ranking and ultimately generates new business.

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