A blog is never a be-all and end-all solution to sales and marketing.

Blogging is a great sales and marketing tool. It can also help establish a better environment for online marketing.

But, what about using a blog specifically as a lead generation tool?

Good news. It is not only possible but also a great tool for capturing leads.

A blog attracts traffic from organic search engines. It could increase traffic if used properly.

A blog is also a medium for conversation. When other bloggers link to other blog, they bring referral traffic.

It is not for hard selling though.

There are other medium that are best suited for moving a stranger (or some marketers call it suspect) to prospect, and accordingly from prospect to customer. Some examples of such tools are white papers, teleseminars, email marketing, RSS marketing, etc.

As visitors come to your blog, you quickly build trust by offering the right content in front of them.

Before they go, hook them with more information. If they raise their hand, you are starting a sales process.

Hint: A blog can include an opt-in email form or subscription to web feed.

Still, offering more information involves no hard selling at all. The mindset of the prospects remain open to more information. As the result, they are more receptive to your offerings.

Integrating other marketing tools to the process let you concentrate on the things that a blog can do best. Not only does readers are more likely to come back because they can find valuable information without feeling sold, but you also can reach them anytime you want to — until they decide to opt out.