Blog, But First, Find Out What’s Working

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"The first mistake that an adviser can make is to come in with a solution before understanding the problem," writes Fred Barstein in Employee Benefit Adviser Magazine.  "Start by asking what is working with the plan," is Barstein’s best advice.

These days, many businesses are lightening up on traditional forms of marketing in favor of reaching out to the online world through "pull marketing". Blogging for business is all
about the new pull marketing, but the traditional principles of planning and strategic analysis still apply.

The standard question I pose to each business owner considering adding a corporate blog to her marketing strategy is, in fact, about what’s working well now. 

Next, I ask "Do you envision blog marketing enhancing what you’re already doing, targeting the same type of customer, or will you use the blog to attract a new segment of your target market?   By what standards will you measure the success of your blog?"

"What’s working NOW with your website?" is the question TopRank online marketing blog recommends as a starting point.  When prospects visit, what type of content are they looking for and where do they click on your website to find it? What CTA (Call To Action) in the blog posts will guide prospects in a direct path to fulfilling their needs, thus converting from prospects to buyers of your products and services?

The bottom line in all this?  Blog – but first, ask what’s working. Then, begin your business blogging strategy with more of the same in mind!

 

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Cause A Little Creative Destruction With Business Blogs

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Economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase "creative destruction" to describe the process of new technology continually replacing the old. Nowhere is creative destruction more evident than in business marketing.  "It’s a whole new ball game," say David Verklin and Bernice Kammer, authors of the book Watch This. Listen Up.Click Here. Blogging for business is certainly one of the new ways to play ball when it comes to marketing strategy.

By the time you’ve finished reading one page of their book, Verklin and Kammer point out, 200,000 would-be car buyers and 5,000 would-be brides will have researched wheels and weddings on Google. In fact, using "search" to navigate the Net is so ordinary, google has become an accepted verb! 

If your business isn’t being "creatively destructive" by adopting online marketing strategies, the implication clearly is, you’ll be inhaling competitors’ dust! Roughly three new blogs are started each second of the each day, according to Technorati. Only problem is, keeping them up with enough consistency and frequency to make a difference has proven a problem for more than half of business blogs.  In fact, my profession of ghostblogging was born out of this very not-so-creative "destruction" on the part of business owners too busy running their business to also write about it!

A small business owner’s or professional practitioner’s business blogging efforts can have a disproportionately large effect on marketing results – IF those efforts are kept up.  Those positive effects are enhanced when the information in blog posts is "re-purposed" for print newsletters, brochures, and ads, as professional website copywriter Matt Rouge remarks.
It’s ironic, but true.  With blogging, business owners can have the "creative" without the "destruction"!

The newer technology of blog marketing and more traditional marketing methods can enhance each other, with "old" and "new" playing off each other’s strengths, creating business as they go!

 

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Small Blogs, Small Birds, Big Payoff

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When I’m talking to new clients about setting up their blog, I sometimes need to address their fear of giving away valuable information "for free". Those "giveaways", I hasten to explain, are exactly what makes blogs successful in positioning you, the business owners, as "go-to" guys and gals.

Business bloggers can take a lesson from a Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop "advertorial" I found in the paper.  Along with color pictures of the American Goldfinch, there were some 500 words of text.  I counted a mere eight of those words that were used to promote the company; the rest were devoted to interesting facts about goldfinches.

Wild Birds stayed true to feature/benefit format, sharing with readers that goldfinches don’t nest until mid to late summer, long after most other birds have started their families.  "This very delay in nesting affords bird enthusiasts the opportunity to focus their attention on goldfinches during this exciting time of song and activity, especially since other birds are less active because of their new family lives."

In short, I found no "Buy our goldfinches!" messages, only lots of information that might make me want to buy goldfinches!

True, the Wild Birds article is a printed piece, not an online blog.  A well-crafted blog, however, might use this same feature/benefit formula, adding key phrases to help online searchers find their way to the blog post, and from there to the company website, through search engine optimization.

Blogs need to provide just that kind of immediate value to readers, making those online searchers glad they found your blog and inviting them to learn even more by clicking through to your website.  Like small birds, small blogs provide big value – and a potential big payoff to your business.

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Blogs Are the “Plum Puddings” Of Websites

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Myth-busting is one of blogging’s best uses, I’ve found.  First, correcting misinformation reflected in customers’ questions and comments highlights your own special expertise.  Second, myth-debunking makes for engaging blog-reading!

Just the other day, I read a fascinating "debunk" in the newsletter of Central Alabama Mensa.  The article was about, of all things, plum pudding.  Author Richard Losch engaged my attention by posing this question: "Have you ever wondered why there are no plums in plum pudding?" (Actually, I hadn’t wondered about that; nonetheless, I was hooked.)

Plum pudding, I learned, is a steamed dish made out of flour, suet, sugar, raisins, currants, citron, and spices.  The ingredients are stirred frequently while they ferment.  When the pudding is steamed, it swells up, or "plumps".  In time, people began to drop the  "p" and called it "plum" pudding.

Common myths surround every business and profession, and you can use these to create captivating content for your corporate blog posts, engaging readers’ interest and enticing blog visitors to keep coming back.  And, while these myth-busting tidbits are probably not appropriate for the more permanent website content, they fit perfectly ino blog posts, "plumping" up the overall effect of your online marketing.

One of the goals of any business blogging effort is to create "conversation" between the author (the business owner, employee, or perhaps a ghost blogger like myself) and the audience of readers.  Myth-busting is perfect for keeping conversation alive, say blogging mavens Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos.  Invite comments and questions, and then address those just as soon as they appear on your blog site!

What are the common myths in your business?  Plump up your blog content, in turn plumping up traffic to your website.  Who knows? Like Jack Horner, you might stick in your thumb and pull out a plum!

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Best Reader-Hunting Tips For Blogs

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The teen job-hunting tips offered by the family finance organization Share Save Spend might have been written for bloggers.

Stay In The Sweet Spot
"Your kid may now be up against adult competition for retail and restaurant jobs, so steer him to city-run youth programs, amusement parks, pools, and camps."

Target your blog posts to a specific niche in your market, selecting key word search terms that are not so competitive you have little chance of "winning search". Expert SEO (search engine optimization) advice can go a log way in moving your blog higher in search engine rankings.

Capitalize On Face Time
"Employers may be more apt to hire your teen if he frequents their business, so advise him to look for HELP WANTED signs where he’s a regular (comic stores, guitar shops)."

This piece of advice relates to blogs in several ways.  First, to increase traffic to your blog, go "out" and visit other blogs, leaving comments and starting a dialogue. Second, you can put out a survey question, or set up an opinion forum, anything to  make visitors feel a personal touch.

Keep The Presentation Professional
"In a crowded market, he has to set himself apart.  Help him make business cards and/or resumes highlighting his qualifications."

As I’ve emphasized in former blog posts, when posting a blog in the name of your business, you’re "putting yourself out there" every bit as much as you would be in a job interview.  You always want to make sure poor usage and misspelled words aren’t detracting from your message and from the impression you’re leaving with readers.

"In today’s economy, just finding a summertime gig may be hard work for your kid. Get the job-seeking going with smart strategies," advises Share Save Spend.

Attracting the attention of search engines and the loyalty of readers is hard work for your blog – no doubt about it!  Blog posts need to be well-researched, create interest in readers and keep them coming back. 

 

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