By now, it’s pretty common knowledge that having a blog is good for business. It is. But why stop there? A blog can be used as a very straightforward tool or it can be used to annihilate the competition. Or, depending on your aggression level, leave them in the dust. When you plan is internet domination for your keyword or industry then one blog just won’t do. You need to get vertical.

How to dominate your market with niche blogs

Chances are your product or service can have multiple uses. One of my clients sells a product that keeps ice from forming under boat docks in the winter. That same product is also used by duck hunters to open up holes in the ice of a frozen pond. Another product they have prevents condensation in boats that are covered up in the winter. That same product is used for keeping mold and mildew from forming in RVs, cabin closets and gun safes. When you can identify other uses for your product or services then you will start to see vertical markets that you haven’t taken advantage of — yet.

At the heart of my business is writing. I’m a writer when you boil it all down. But I have three distinct markets I deal in. I have a market with internet marketers who are great at selling but not so good at the writing part. I provide the content they need to sell their products. However, I also cater to small and mid-sized businesses. Same thing. They are good at their business, they outsource the rest. But I also have a market in other public relations companies. Larger PR firms specialize in media campaign strategy that I don’t deal in, so they often outsource the writing work and concentrate on the real hand-holding and complex marketing that big corporations need. These are merely the three markets I choose to engage, there are many more out there that I could target if I really had the time.

If you sit down and think about it there are probably several markets that you haven’t even thought about breaking into. Identify those markets and start blogs in each.

Let’s break it down step by step

1. If you sell flowers, along with your company blog, start a Wedding Flowers blog. Focus it on everything you ever wanted to know about choosing flowers for your wedding.

2. Make a list of about 50 different blog posts you could write. Don’t worry about writing them now just list the topics. For example, “Choosing flowers for a winter wedding,” “The top 10 wedding flower trends of 2010” “Flower meanings” “Silk vs. fresh flowers” etc.

3. Start writing or hire someone to write them. Try eLance or oDesk for freelancers that can write those first 50 articles for you.

4. Buy a domain as close to the subject as possible. It should have nothing to do with your company name. So in this case it will be “Wedding Flowers” or “Wedding Flowers Ideas”.

5. Slap together a pretty generic blog that focuses on the content of the blog posts. You can pretty it up but you really want it to serve as a valuable tool for visitors not necessarily sell to them or get them lost in widgets and gadgets.

6. Link to your blog. Within the posts link to other helpful blogs and websites (not competition) but also link to your main website. You can do this with a blogroll but you really want to link to it within the posts. Don’t be overzealous, but do sprinkle in the links when you can. For instance the posts all talk about wedding flowers but say you mention something about finding flowers to match your wedding dress. Link “wedding dress” to a bridal shop or an article about finding wedding dresses and link the words “wedding flowers” to your own company site.

7. Schedule the 50 posts on the site and then get started on the next 50. You want to keep your site updated as much as you do your main site or blog.

8. Identify the next market, maybe it’s funerals, maybe it’s a series of seasonal sites (Christmas, Valentines Day etc.) that posts hard and heavy during that particular season, and repeat the steps above for that market.

To gain total control of your market you want to reach your customers from various directions, give them the help they need and be there for them when they are ready to buy.