Blogging is more than a fast and easy way to add content to your website. A blog is a powerful tool that you can use to develop new and deeper relationships with your website visitors.

Blogging doesn’t have to be formal. You can post full articles that you’ve written but you can also post shorter ‘on the fly’ posts as well. If you want your readers to feel like they are getting to know you, let them catch glimpses of your life behind the scenes. You don’t have to provide private information to do this so don’t worry about divulging too much.

If you want your readers to think of you as an expert you may feel like you have to present yourself as someone who never makes a mistake. The truth is that someone who seems perfect can be so intimidating that they make themselves unapproachable.

You don’t have to tell your readers about every little thing you have done wrong but sharing an occasional blunder from your history helps to make you seem more real. When your visitors see that you’re human and found success anyways, they start to believe that you can help them do it too.

We all have goals, don’t we? Make your blog readers your accountability partners and share both long and short term goals with them. At the start of a new month, let them know what projects you want to accomplish and how you’re going to tackle them. Promise to come back at the end of the month with an update. Invite interaction by asking them for encouragement and advice.

You could go too far and get overly personal – taking the emphasis from your business and turning your blog into a personal journal. This would probably back fire and reduce the effectiveness of your blog as a business tool. If you find that you really enjoy blogging for personal reasons, go ahead and start a separate blog on a new domain and bring the focus of your business blog back to business.

If you’re willing to let your website visitors see you as a real person, you’ll find that it will go a long ways towards building relationships with them. People are more likely to spend money with and follow the advice of someone they know, like and respect.

• Blog Profits: Make Money Blogging