I knew someone would ask … ;-)

Why would I post this question on this website and not just email the question to the relevant people? (our accountant and our bookkeeper) The reasons are multifold.

1. Referrals
   Someone out there might be doing a search for “pay or barter” when they have a question for an accountant or a bookkeeper. Maybe they’ll come across this site and see my question. Now if Deborah and/or Wayne answer the question in a comment in a manner that shows their deep understanding of the accounting and bookkeeping worlds, said visitor might just think, “Wow, they know what they’re talking about. Hmm, I could use a good bookkeeper and an accountant, maybe I should contact them.”
2. Google
   A posting on this site means more traffic (activity) on this site. This is a good thing. If Google’s spiders (search engine robots) come to the BNI site and they see it’s all the same as the last visit, they won’t come again as often. More postings mean more reasons to come back–for Google and those who use Google (read: the planet).
3. Link Traffic
   This is getting a little technical, but still very relevant. So say Pamela posts her brilliant comment on the site. Because she signed up with this site and gave a URL for her own site, that will provide a link from her name on the comment to her own site. This has two benefits: (1) a visitor could easily click that link and get to her site. (2) maybe more important, the Google spiders will see that link while scouring (indexing) this site and might thus go index her site. This means better rankings for her site on Google and more traffic to her site.
4. Knowledge Base
   So when Gil has the same question that I did, he doesn’t have to ask our accountant or our bookkeeper, he can just go to our site and read the answer.

Still need more reasons? Because I’m asking nicely. ;-)

- Bradley