The Big Blog Bank Is A One, Two, Or Three

Mark Tibergien, nationally known business consultant to financial planning practitioners, visited Indianapolis to address a meeting of the Financial Planning Association.  Tibergian was very blunt about the importance of growing a business as opposed to staying small. "If you are recognized as one of the top three firms in your market," he said, "you will be given twice the opportunities to acquire new clients as the firm that is #4."

Tibergien produces business succession plans, not blogs, but without realizing it, he captured the essence of "winning search" through business blogging. Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and MSN love frequently updated content, and companies that provide these things through business blogging earn high rankings.  That’s because Google attracts advertisers by bringing visitors who have come to rely on Google as the place to most quickly and easily get the information they need.

Just as Tibergien points out, ranking in the top tier in your market is enormously important in customer acquisition.  Having your blog show up at or very near the top of Page One of a search engine geometrically increases your chances of getting your link clicked on, which is the first step to converting a searcher into a customer. Almost no searchers ever go as far as Page Four, and most don’t look past Number 4 on Page One!

The need to "rank" in order to "get found" is the one of the main reasons blog strategist Michael Belicove defends the practice of ghost blogging. He sees the role of ghost blogger to be articulating clients’ thoughts and unique business propositions with the frequency necessary to achieve and maintain those top search rankings, something most business owners simply cannot manage along with all their other responsibilities.

According to Mark Tibergien, an owner of a financial planning firm focused on growth needs to be able to say to himself: "I need to focus on where I make an impact, and hire other people for where they make an impact." That decision, says Tibergian, is the one that was most responsible for the most successful firms’ ability to grow.

As a retired financial planning professional now part of a small, elite group of specialty writers for hire, I found value on a variety of levels in Tibergian’s talk. His words made me more dedicated than ever to the task of helping each of my corporate blogging clients get to one of those top three spots on search engines’ results pages.  (That’s where they begin leaving their competitors in the dust!)