For Success In Blogging, Take The “So What?” Test

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So you’re now a “regular”, frequently posting content on your blog.  People searching the Web are starting to find you, because what they’re looking for relates to something you know about, something you sell, or a service you provide.  You’ve got yourself potential customers who are reading about your business or professional practice.  Now it’s crunch time – are those readers going to “bounce” away from your blog and keep looking?  It all depends on whether your blog engages their interest.
I just read a wonderful article.  The article wasn’t intended for business bloggers, but it provides a great tip for bloggers who want to hold their readers’ interest and keep those browsers clicking through to their business’ websites to learn more. In the September issue of FPA Practice Management, I found a wonderful article that precisely pertains to my work as professional ghost blogger. (I’m a retired financial planner, you’ll recall; in order to keep up my knowledge in that field, I read professional journals and marketing materials about money matters.)  The article’s called “You Can Stand Out In A Crowded Market”, and it offers wonderful advice for financial planners who want to gain both community recognition and new clients. I think this is great advice for all business bloggers.
Here’s what the article says:
The average investor hears the same messages from every practitioner.  “We provide good client service.” “We have a planning process.”  “We care about you.” All of these are important statements to make, but how are they different?  “The missed step here is thinking hard about what you do differently and then amplifying that in every way possible.”  The writer recommends several steps:
a. List the things that you believe make your services different from what everyone else is offering.
b. Methodically work through the list, asking yourself, “So what?”
c. Be tough on yourself in order to get to the real answers to the “So what?” question.
d. Keep only those items that meet the test.
You need to pack each of your blogs with just enough material to show searchers they’re on track to find what they need.  But before including anything in a blog, put it through the “So what?” test.
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One Vote Per Person After Bloggers And Lobbyists Have Their Say

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On the radio talk show “Abdul In The Morning”, a caller was railing about political lobbyists, saying the usual things about how big money interests unduly influence lawmakers.  A lively discussion ensured.  I thought Abdul’s response related to the world of business blogging: “Lobbyists are professionals”, Abdul stated, going on to point out that, just as you would take your car to a mechanic or visit a physician, each of whom has expertise that can be beneficial to you, a lobbyist can provide a useful function. voting
A lobbyist knows how government works, knows when the time is opportune to visit a legislator, and what approach might be most in tune with each legislator’s areas of focus.  And here’s what Abdul brought out that I think is so apropos to my work as a professional ghost blogger: “At the end of the day, lobbyists and legislators have the same number of votes as you and I do – ONE!”  Blogging, like lobbying, is simply a tool – a very effective tool –  in getting a message to a target audience.
Business blogging works to drive traffic to websites.  Many business owners would like to get on board with this marketing tool, but simply lack the time to generate the “recency and frequency” that can bring the desired results.  That’s where a professional ghost blogger becomes a “lobbyist”, bringing experience and expertise to the task of creating the “trade show booth” online.
At the end of the day, each potential customer browsing the web for information about something you sell, something you do, or something you know a lot about, will have one vote (to click to your website or to go on browsing).  Those potential customers find you because of your blog, and can “elect” to move further.  From there, those customers will vote – with their dollars!
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Developers Of Blogs And Strip Malls – Both Out To Save Their Spot

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The Marketplace is filling up. In “The Commercial Real Estate Quarterly” of the Indianapolis Business Journal, Tom Dickey, Vice President of Duke Realty, explained why.  The housing slump has hurt retail shopping strip centers, and Duke’s projects have felt the pinch along with all the other developers.  But, says Dickey, “We’re getting retailers to commit and come to our projects even in this down economy, when their numbers might not work out.”  And then he went on to explain why:  “They want to save their spot.”
Although I’m certainly no expert in the field of real estate, as a professional ghost blogger I really understood the tie-in between Dickey’s observation about the retailers and how search engine indexing works for my blogging clients.  Different businesses may each provide content on the Web through blogging.  Those that post blogs more frequently rank higher on Google or other search engines than those businesses that post only occasionally.  Recent blogs rank higher than old content.  But what’s so important to understand is that the system values cumulative content.  A business that has blogged for a year will rank higher than a competitor who’s just begun to blog.
So, to continue my real estate analogy, blogging has an element to it of building “equity” in a property, saving a spot.  Remember that the whole idea behind business blogging is to move your business’ name higher in the rankings on search engines (when someone is online searching for information or product related to your business, you want your name to come up on Page One of the search engine.)
In blogging, recency counts.  Frequency counts.  But now, cumulative blogging – that’s what saves your spot!
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A Brainiac’s Insight Into Blogging

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reverse the processNo, Mensa isn’t all about arcane trivia and solving puzzles, as I keep explaining to the high IQ-phobic among my friends.  Mensa can be about – business! In fact, I found a wonderful article on the future of advertising in the August Mensa Bulletin, with commentary that’s tailor-made for my efforts in professional ghost blogging as a form of business marketing.
Mensan Richard Yonck cites research showing the average American is bombarded with 3,000 ads every day, which amounts to three ads every single minute.  Yonck explains this number includes all the print ads we view in newspapers and magazines, all the commercials we see on TV or hear on the radio, all the products slipped into prime time dramas and movies, all the billboards and signs, all the logos we see, plus all the ads on web pages.  Obviously, advertising works.  Otherwise, I surmise, corporations wouldn’t be spending all those gazillions of dollars on it.
Blogging, along with advertising, is a way of marketing a business.  But blogs sort of reverse the process.  All those 3,000 ads per day are coming out from the advertiser “towards” the customer.  With blogging, a customer is already there online, searching for an answer, a solution, a product, or a service.  If (and only if) what that customer wants relates to something you know about, something you know how to do, or something you sell, and if (and only if) your business has consistently put blogs out there with relevant, recent, and frequent content out there on the web, that customer comes towards you!
In the Mensa Bulletin article, Yonck predicts the future of advertising will be built around information technology, biotechnology, robotics, enabling marketers to tailor make ads for each customer based on our individual preferences.  Meanwhile, blogs are “winning search”, bringing buyers and businesses together.
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Your Blog Is The Answer To Someone’s Problem

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I always enjoy the omelets at Cafe Patachou, but a week ago, someone interviewing Patachou owner Martha Hoover served me something even tastier – a wonderful word tidbit about business.  Hoover was discussing what being an entrepreneur means to her:  “We do more than serve breakfast and lunch – we provide jobs and a lifestyle for our employees.”  The interviewer, Shawn O’Donaghue of the Central Indiana Women’s Business Center, then came up with this wonderful summary:
“Successful business owners understand that the product or service they are selling is the answer to someone’s problem.”
Wow! That one sentence is so-o-o made-to-order for business blogging and s-o-o apropos to my work as a professional ghost blogger for business.  Here’s why I say that:  People are online searching for answers to their problems.  They might need answers to questions they have or solutions for dilemmas they’re facing.  Or, they might need a particular kind of service and aren’t sure who offers that.  Or maybe they need a product to fill a need they have.  That’s when, if you’ve been consistently blogging, they find you, because your blog post gives them just the information they’re looking for. (Remember, they wouldn’t be there searching if they didn’t need something!) Don’t think of it as business blogging; think of it as providing solutions to someone’s problem.
So, Martha Hoover, keep serving up those fabulous Patachou omelets. Shawn Donaghue, keep serving up those valuable business tips and word tidbits!  I’ll relish them both.
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