Apr
1
Quick … What’s the one thing you’re answering more questions on, talk to more people about, and are selling more of? 
Now take that one item, and make that the focus of your business for the next few months.
Today I was reading through my ezines and RSS feeds, just trying to stay current and come up with a few new ideas for writing.
A lot of information right now is focused on starting up your own business, and creating an income stream out of something you love. Since many people are losing their jobs, with little chance of recovering a position equal to the one they lost, it’s definitely a hot topic.
One article in particular spoke of taking your passion, and become the expert in your field very quickly. As I read through the post, I realized that the advice held true no matter if you’re thinking about starting a business, or have been in business for years.
Mar
5
The Biggest Lie – Why Traditional Marketing Will Kill Your Business
Filed Under Blogging For Business | 1 Comment
A week ago, the Rocky Mountain News finally closed its doors forever. Everyone knew it was coming. They merged with the Denver Post many months ago. And the rumors have been flying for a long time. 
And they aren’t the last to close their doors. Traditional newspapers are closing down week after week, from Philadelphia, to San Francisco, and beyond to many different countries around the world.
I’ll admit I don’t read traditional newspapers. I get all of my news from online sources, and Twitter has become a big resource for me. The last time I took the time to look through a newspaper, I was amazed at the amount of news versus the amount of ad space.
In 10 pages, I counted two stories, and the rest was full sized ads from several large companies here in the Denver area.
Two questions came to mind:
- Is there really so little news to fill up a paper?
- How long are companies (any companies, it doesn’t matter the size) going to be willing to pay for this kind of advertising?
Last night when a friend talked about putting a classified ad in the newspaper, the response was an immediate “no”. Use Craigslist instead.
And when another friend talked about a yellow pages ad this morning, again it was an immediate “no”. Why not try a blog?
Instead of spending hundreds or even thousands on a dying form of advertising, invest in something that has a huge potential. Something that’s growing and reaching out to a ton of potential prospects.
Feb
23
The changing economy is affecting everyone. And the more I speak with business owners, the more I’m discovering people that have been in business 2 to 7 years are the hardest hit. 
Why?
They started in a rising economy, and have always had growing sales and a growing client base without a ton of work. The marketing they’ve done in the past has always worked – why change it now?
That’s the exact reason why you should be changing it now. Businesses are changing every day. What worked in the past doesn’t work today. And what worked even just six months ago will no longer give you the desired results you are looking for.
So if you’re relying on a website built in 2005, with a handful of pages, you’re missing one of the easiest and most economical ways of getting results to your business.
And that of course is blogging.
“Blogging is simply for people with a lot to say and a lot of time on their hands. It can never bring in business,” you might be thinking.
And yet blogging can and is bringing in business for a ton of different businesses right now. (I ghost blog for companies in several different industries, and I’ve seen the results in just a matter of weeks.)
Why does blogging work so well?
Feb
13
All I needed was a simple answer. 
I headed out to the website, and searched for over 10 minutes through their help section. No answer.
I searched for another five minutes to find a phone number. I picked up the phone and dialed the 1-800 number.
After listening to a long message, choosing English as my choice language, and inputting my account number, I was given six choices. Guess what? None of the choices matched what I needed.
Frustrated, I chose a number to try and connect with a customer service agent. Wrong choice. I only had an opportunity to leave a message and hang up.
Over 30 minutes later, my simple question had turned into a complex problem.
It was no longer about getting an answer. Now the real question was, “Do I really want to continue doing business with this company?”
Ever have one of those experiences? It can be quite frustrating.
Jan
13
The Point In Blogging
Filed Under Blogging For Business | 1 Comment
I had an interesting conversation with a person I met out networking today. I explained a little of what I do, and of course the subject of blogging came up.
First question was, “What is a blog?”
Second question was, “Why would you do that?”
I get that from a lot of
people. Why would you keep writing up posts giving away solid information when you aren’t getting an immediate return? Is it really worth your time?
Your blog is an extension of your marketing program.
If you’ve been in business for a while now, chances are you do certain marketing items just to keep your name out there. Maybe you continually advertise in a community magazine. Maybe you send out newsletters. Whatever you do, you do it for the exposure. You do it to remain in the thoughts of those who know you.
Dec
16
Every year I sit down towards the end of the year and come up with my goals for the upcoming year. This year is no exception. Yet I’ve also added a new level to my goal charts – a whole section on blogging.
Even though I’ve been blogging for years, I’ve never used them to generate revenue. Instead, I always saw them as a way to build traffic for my sites, ultimately selling my services.
But something clicked this year, and I’ve seen what blogging can do. So this year, I’ve decided write down my goals for my three blogs, (HowToBlog, Virtual and Vision) and use them to evaluate my performance throughout 2009.
Want to join me? Write up your own blogging goals, and post your comments here. Or if you want to make it even more official, write a blog post about your goals, and put your ideas in writing.
My 2009 Blogging Goals
- to reach 10,000 RSS subscribers on each of my blogs
- to reach 2,000 Twitter followers
- to make a full time, six figure income through revenue generated by my blogs
- to publish 1 new program on each blog, helping my readers develop their businesses
- to teach one class each month on the power of blogging
What are your goals?
Dec
9
What To Expect For Cash Flow When You Start Your New Blogging Venture
Filed Under Blogging For Business | Leave a Comment
When you take on a blog, it’s for one of three reasons:
1. You want a place to write for fun and for personal issues.
2. You want to become a professional blogger and have your blog earn you a full time income
3. You want your blog to drive traffic to your site and help you sell your own products and services.
Obviously number one will earn you no revenue (unless you later see the benefit and turn into a professional blogger).
Numbers two and three are your revenue generators. And both will have different tactics in which they make money for the business.
A professional blogger writes for his audience, and brings in revenue based on his audience. A professional blogger will typically make money from:
Nov
10
The next time you create a blog post, should you worry about all of the optimization techniques you’ve learned over the years, or not?
When you create a blog post, its to connect up with your readers, and with potential clients that find the post through a variety of means.
When you blog, you should be blogging on a regular basis, meaning you should have a ton of content over time. If you’re writing one post per week, that’s five per week, 20 per month, 260 per year. That’s a lot of content.
Now imagine if each of them were properly titled according to SEO. Eventually they would all become just a little boring. Putting your key phrase in occasionally is great, but overusing it becomes just a bit mundane.
As more people Read more
Oct
14
Everyone says you should be blogging – but the real question is "Why?"
Maybe you don’t like writing, and the thought of having to come up with 500 word posts on a regular basis is, well, somewhat unfathomable.
It’s much easier doing something when you understand the real purpose behind it.
So if you use postcards, and mail 2500 out every month, you understand the process and why it works.
But if you don’t understand the overall process behind blogging, why do it? Why waste your time when you and your office staff are the only one’s reading?
Blogging helps your business in these 5 ways:
1. It puts quality information out in the online world that people will find and connect to. A few weeks ago I wrote an article Recession Proof Your Small Business. It touched quite a few nerves, and it soon was linked up with several other popular blogs. Now my content is being read not just by people on my blog, but also on many others. And ultimately it brings the traffic back to me.
2. It proves your expertise. Let’s say someone finds my article from #1 on another site, and follows the link over to my blog. They read my complete article on Recession Proof Your Small Business, and then they start looking around. The more they read, the more they begin to trust what I have to say. I’m now a blogging expert in their eyes. (But only if I have enough information for them to browse through and prove it in their eyes.)
3. It feeds your social networking sites. Head over to Facebook (or one of the many other social sites). You can attach your blog feed to your Facebook profile – which means each blog post is being put in front of all of your friends and connections. And this happens automatically. 
4. It allows you to easily capture long tail keywords. Let’s say you have a phrase that people use quite a bit in your industry, and you would love to rank in the top 10. With a blog – it’s easy. A month ago I created a blog post "Micro Blogging By Email". I’m currently number 3 out of 1,710,000 results in Google.
5. It gives you a place to do business. Have a new product? Blog about it. Have resources to share with your clients? Blog about it. Blogging gives you a way to stay in touch with your customers – for virtually no cost.
All you really need is a blogging strategy. Start with a custom designed blog. Then create your blogging strategy. The rest will soon fall into place.
Sep
24
Who Is Active In Blogging?
Filed Under Blog Statistics, Blogging For Business | 4 Comments
Is your target audience active in blogging?
I’m willing to bet the answer is yes. Or if not yet, very soon.
I’m continuing to follow the State of the Blogoshpere 2008 by Technorati, and found a few more interesting facts.
Over 51% of all respondents to their survey admitted they have more than one blog. Once you start, its easy to become a huge fan of the results! I fall into this category. I blogged for a number of months through my personal, free blog on Blogger. Once I began seeing results, I quickly moved it to my own blogging account, and opened up several niched blogs. (And I guarantee you I’m not finished starting niched blogs.)
I also found some interesting facts on women bloggers.
Female bloggers really take the time to learn how to maximize their profitability when it comes to blogging. They may be slower at creating a blog, and blog on more personal issues, but they know how to use it to its maximum potential once they start.
- Female bloggers are twice as likely to sell through an ad network as men.
- They are more likely than male bloggers to participate in a blogroll
- They are more likely than male bloggers to produce content for other blogs.
- 36% have converted business leads from their blogs – vs 27% of men.
If women are this sophisticated in using a blog, imagine how well they utilize blogs to learn more about products and services, and how willing they are to do business with companies that have blog presences.
So if you are selling to women, are you blogging? This trend will only continue, so get blogging today.
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