If your an entrepreneur, you’ve heard about thousands of people blogging. But whats your ROI? Why do people do it and how do I create a huge following for my company blogging?

First let’s start with a prime example: Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary has a huge online wine store and Wine Library in New Jersey where you can “buy wine from our vast selection ranging from Australia to New Zealand.” Gary got a little bored of answering the question “what wine goes with fish” so he started WineLibrary.TV and said hey, why not start an online television show about wine? After sending his stockboy to the Best Buy to grab the first video camera he saw, Gary was in business.

Gary positioned himself in the social media space he wanted to occupy and stayed there. His passion is for what he does shines through in every single episode, he’s been called the Jim Cramer of wine. He’s got thousands of followers, does millions of dollars in wine, and is repped by the same agency that who reps Oprah and Tom Cruise…Gary who?

The best part of this, is it’s completely free to do. If your not sold by this point see Gary’s keynote at the Web2.0 expo in NYC:

So now your in, your ready to quit your day job and hit the social media airwaves–not so fast; there’s a lot you’ve got to be prepared for. Whether your going to write or do video here’s what you need to know:

1. It takes a huge amount of time. You heard talk about Gary being a nobody for months, but he found his space and hustled to make it happen. This is serious commitment.
2. You need quality content–practice your delivery, let friends review your writing, you’ll get better with time, but you need to perfect your act. If your stuff sucks, nobody will listen.
3. You need to focus on your community. Spending hours upon hours answering emails, emailing the people who comment on your blog and caring about the people who care about you is key.
4. But wait, you don’t have a community yet? Comment on blogs in your space and add to the conversation, this is how you get known “around town”. If these bloggers are hustling too, they’ll check to see who you are and what your all about. It comes down to networking online like a pro. More on this here.
a. Search Google Blog Search your topic and comment there
b. Search Technorati and Blog Catalog
c. Search Twitter and check out people in your space. How to network with people on Twitter here
d. Paste your posts into niche communities like Under30CEO.com and Sta.rtup.biz
5. Stay focused and do what you love. Leave your online footprint on something your passionate about; hit it hard and be tenacious about capturing your niche. Fully engulf yourself in your space!

So why haven’t you started a blog for your small business?