At the first BOCI event after the holiday season, Weave Your Own Web (WYOW) with Cheryl Hurley of SQ Modern Media focused on a workshop about something she believes everyone needs to be doing--and doing well--this year.

Blogging.

Cheryl has been blogging for over ten years and recently started blogging seriously on her lifestyle blog, the Stylist Quo. She opened her own social media marketing and management company, where she helps her clients get connected with their customer base in a real and really profitable way.

"Blogging isn't just for college students studying abroad or for huge digital corporations," Cheryl says. "Today, it's an accessible way to develop genuine relationships with current and future customers, to disseminate updates and product information, to gain the ever-elusive trust of your clients, and to gain a reputation of expertise within your industry."

Cheryl says you should take blogging seriously, though, or else you'll fade into the noise or simply confuse your customers.

Make sure you can commit to blogging, whether it be monthly, weekly, or daily. Updating daily for three weeks then paring down to a monthly post will jumble your customers' expectations.

"You want to be reliable," Cheryl says. "If you think you can only commit to once monthly, do that for now! Do it well, and gradually build up to more frequent publishing."

Additionally, Cheryl recommends putting a good amount of thought into your blog's topic. It's not enough to simply write about "insurance" for insurance providers or about "football" for sports writers. To set yourself apart, identify your niche and your perspective. What makes you unique? Take full advantage of that.

To help with the process of starting your own blog, Cheryl is heading the BOCI Professional Blog Program. To encourage members to develop their web presence and social media personalities, BOCI members can take advantage of great prices on written blogs at monthly or twice-monthly rates. Set up your profile on BOCI for FREE!  BOCI will provide a complimentary online blog review with an annual Professional Membership!

To explore Cheryl's presentation on getting started with your own blog, take a look at her blog at SQ Modern Media. She will be publishing a full Blogging 101 eBook soon, and you can sign up to receive your free copy when it's hot off the digital press.

While you're at SQ Modern Media, take a look at Cheryl's services and see how she might be able to help you grow your business using online and social media marketing.

Check out SQ Modern Media's website. Contact Cheryl at cheryl@SQmodernmedia.com. Like SQ Modern Media on Facebook. Find her on Twitter at @thestylistquo. Connect with Cheryl on LinkedIn and follow SQ Modern Media. +1 SQ Modern Media on SQ Modern Media on Google+.