Education or value-based marketing is an important tool to attracting new customers to your business. Blogging is an excellent tool for sharing that knowledge with potential customers. Therefore, having your own blog or blog posting, commenting on others Blogs is a smart marketing strategy, as long as you implement these tactics. These tips will get you started increasing your education-based marketing online.
When posting your own Blog remember these tips:
- Blog regularly. Daily is the optimum goal. At least three times a week is better than only one day a week. Blog visibility increases with regular posting so this is critically important!.
- Keep your posts short, yet powerful. People, especially busy ones, like short, value-based information that makes them want more. This tip also helps with the first point because if they are shorter it is easier for you to write and post regularly.
- Pose a powerful question at the end of your blog. Your goal is to get people to comment on what you wrote. Comments are a good thing because it increases your visibility and web traffic. A question tempts them to comment.
- Make comments open. Too often people “screen” comments by having to approve them. First this is a HUGE time eater as you create yourself more work! Second, don’t be afraid of somebody who disagrees with you. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing and you can actually use it to your marketing advantage.
When reading other blogs:
- Read blogs where you can offer your own feedback and value. One of the most powerful ways for clients to find you is through this type of message. Once, I got a client who said, “I was so appreciative of your comment on XYZ blog. After visiting your site I’d love to work with you.”
- If you read it, comment on it. First, again it is great to read blogs, but again you can double your value by commenting too! Second, commenting brings business to you.
- When you comment, always close with your complete name and web address. This is the most common mistake I see made on blogging. How can they find you if you do not make sure they can? I always end with my full name, and web address and my tagline.
Blogging becomes a powerful way to provide education-based marketing to potential customers which increases your opportunity for business. It will also increase the opportunity for people to “find” you when they search! Establish your expertise through blogging, and watch your marketability soar!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Good tips, but I have to disagree with that last one. Many bloggers (and spam filters, for that matter) block comments with links in them. Also, your name is on the comment, why add it again?
Cindy’s last blog post..If I Give Away the Milk, Who Will Buy the Cow?
Well, Cindy, those blogs will end up with fewer and fewer comments because if I cannot assure connection back to me why comment? As the owner of a blog, I can always delete a “spammer” comment!
Also, your FULL name is more Google-able, not just your first name in terms of business and Google likes comments, and so do your clients. It’s a chance for you to establish your expertise as a biz owner! And, if you want people to find you, make sure they can.
Ann Evanston
The Warrior is Within You
Got to give you the FULL name thing. Will start doing that immediately!
I agree with you on these very important points. On my blog…it is not a targeted blogsite, as in a business venture; it is a current events/observational/opinion type of a blog. Still, because of the give and take of comments on my blogsite, as well as those I visit; I have had over 114,000 readers in less than 22 months of blogging.
Reading those comments and following back to their website is part of the joy of blogging for me. That is what builds relationships between the blogger and the reader. After all, what is the value in writing content, that no one cares enough about to comment on? How does a blogger even know that anyone is reading or getting value from their site if people dont feel moved to comment? 🙂
Ann, thanks for creating content worth reading and commenting on! http://www.writeasrain.wordpress.com
http://writeasrain.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/are-we-so-deprived-how-important-is-customer-service/
You are welcome and I was happy to do it! Ann
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
hey this is a very interesting article!
Definitely important to post often, keep it short and make it easy to comment. I’ve been using DISQUIS commenting on my blog and it allows people to login with FB or Twitter and post to Twitter or FB status updates. It’s easy to install and free.
Casie Stewart’s last blog post..99 Luftballons, Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
I am going to adopt a number of these tips. I always include my blog’s website not my corporate website in the form’s request for website, so that the link associated with me, goes to my blog.
Lois Melbourne
Aquire
CEO
Great Article!
I would also like to add linking other blogger’s posts to your post when you find something they wrote that would benefit your readers. The search engines love this for ranking purposes and the blogger will be more inclined to link back to your site too.
Secondly, it’s great to invite guest bloggers to post on your site. The sharing of knowledge and content is huge value in social media. Again, bloggers will be more inclined to invite you to post on their site too.
BTW, I saw you at the BizTech conference in 2008 and really enjoyed your presentation. Keep up the great work!
Brenda T. Horton
http://www.Hware.com
Brenda Horton’s last blog post..Social Media 101
Hi Brenda and thank you! I really do love what I do! Hereis a video from BizTechDay 2009 on making your events profitable!
I do recommend to my clients that they do just that – link to others blogs within their posts, so it is a GREAT reminder! Ann
I'm finding out this is pretty much the norm. Commenting on YouTube videos and other sources will help make you visible to many on the internet which in turn will bring traffic to your web site. It's taken me awhile. Thank you for the information about blogging.
Gregory Cheever
http://www.ChangeTakesAction.com
Offering a For-profit system feeding starving children.
Absolutely Gregory! And you are so right about even YouTube – it is a very SEO friendly site to comment on!
Thanks for the great information. I just started a blog and can always use all of the tips I can get.
If you like this Julia (BTW – hi!) to check out my blog video on Blog commenting strategies!
http://www.warrior-preneur.com/2009/08/03/blog-…
Thanks for the great information. I just started a blog and can always use all of the tips I can get. http://www.ourlittlebooks.com/blog/
.
If you like this Julia (BTW – hi!) to check out my blog video on Blog commenting strategies!
http://www.warrior-preneur.com/2009/08/03/blog-…
As a career coach, I encourage professionals – employed or unemployed – to regularly blog especially about something related to their professional line of work. I especially encourage the idea of commenting on other’s blogs too… Helps to build professional alliances that some day may lead to a better job.
Jennifer Armitstead, Career Coach/Recruiter http://www.jacareercoaching.com
I love that you do this Jennifer. My husband is out of work and I am encouraging the same!
As a psychotherapist and coach, I appreciate your blog tips very much. Honing a message is a challenging job as I am used to writing at length. What advice you offer for shaping a punchy blog? Also, is it your opinion that blogs have to be tailored only to what others are likely to be interested in or is it of value to introduce new ideas that are of interest to me, that others can trigger new ways of considering personal growth. Thanks…Shira
Shira Marin@shiramarin.com
Shira – the first thing is don’t be punchy in your blog if your not punchy in real life. Blogs drive business, your voice must match. and to your 2nd questions, no I think your blog should be fully you- your ideas and thoughts. People choose to work with me because I share my voice and ideas clearly and stand by them! You do the same!
As always Ann, your tips are fabulous. I especially appreciate them now as i am working on my 2011 business plan. Consistency is the area of blogging that I’ve struggled with in the past but am determined to achieve in the upcoming year. Thanks for providing all of us with your consistent, useful, easily implemented strategies! Happy Holidays!
Rachel
I am just in the process of re-inventing my blog and this was just the information I needed. I will focus on making my tips for living a lit-from-within, pain-free life short and sweet. Perfect timing for me. Thanks for the clarity!
Amira Alvarez, Alexander Teacher
http://www.amiraalvarez.com
Life can be easier! The Alexander Technique – the Owner’s Manual You Wish You Had.
Thank you for the great tip about including my full name and web address. It seems so obvious, but I haven’t done it before.
Betty Kaufman
http://www.bettyswinemusings.com
same here, Betty. I do use my name but unless asked for it I usually neglect to use my business link, duh! Great reminder from our Ann.
Thanks for the great tips, Ann. You’ve motivated me to blog regularly!
Jaspreet Mundeir, ND
http://www.suratnaturopathic.com
Thank you. I keep thinking I will have a blog on my yet to be created website and this advice – keeping comments open — just saved me a lot of time and headache. Thanks!
Maya Hiersoux
http://www.imaginalcoaching.com
I just started a blog about 2 months ago. I have been reading a lot about how to make my blog grow and have been commenting on my competitors sites. It’s been a fun two months. But, really it’s a scary endeavor. You just put yourself out there and hope that it generates conversation. The only reason I screen my comments is because I get so many emails from vendors trying to tell me how to increase my web traffic. I don’t want this cluttering my site. How do you handle this?
Elizabeth Barnes
http://leezadesigns.com/blog/
Elizabeth are you using wordpress and Akismet spam filters? And is your comment widget one that sets filter guidelines? These things make spam comments virtually gone-and trust me teaching social media, I have peeps that want to SPAM me!
I started blogging in 2010, and learn something new with each post. I totally agree w/ Ann the short concise posts that give readers easy to digest action items, seem to consistently get the most reads, and positive feedback. I would love readers comments and feedback, AND recommendation to the blogs you most enjoy to improve your creative small business.
=Tamra=
http://blogspot.com/guitartam
I like your ideas but I am a novice and do not know how to “create” a blog. Nor, do I know where to go to read a blog. ANy tips for getting started that way?
Gerrie
gerrie@robtribble.com
Dynamic Health
Energize Your LIfe!
Hi Gerrie- if you search blog on my site I have several posts for you- I recommend this one http://www.warrior-preneur.com/2010/12/09/wordpress-smart-blogging-platform-for-growth-and-change/ in addition there are GREAT training videos on YouTube check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/MyFittingSites
All of the above is so true as I am discovering by working my way through your Social Networking boot camp. It’s a lot of work at first, but once you get the hang of it I have found there is SO MUCH to blog about. Like this post!
As always, you offer up some really good points, Ann. I am terrible about posting regularly to my own blogs but am setting that as my MUST goal for 2011. I do pretty well at posting to others’ blogs thing but need to get back to taking care of mine.
and you know, I rarely think of adding my business URL if it is not asked for? Shame on me and thanks so much for that valuable reminder!
Jan Tallent
Virtual Assistant specializing in proofreading & editing
http://www.tallentagency.com
🙂
just starting to blog! thanks for the good advice..Debbie Kaufman
rugelachdebbie@yahoo.com
You make great points Ann. On the point of blog regularly, I’ve had several of my own blogs and blogged for non-profit organizations for several years. What is handy about the tools available is the ability to schedule postings. Can you set aside a few hours one day a week to write several blog posts that you schedule to publish throughout the week? If the answer is yes, that solves the not blogging often enough problem.
Absolutely you can Monique! I schedule my blog every week on wordpress!
My biggest challenge has been allotting time for my own blog, when I get busy with clients projects. I used to block out time on my calendar as a way to make sure that I get to my own blog, got away from that, but have just re-blocked time dedicated to my blog. Thanks again, Ann. Your email today was timely.
Awesome post! Keeping it short and simple the first time through is difficult. I often write 800-900 words then go back and cut the fluff so it’s a more manageable 400-500 words. I’ve been leaving out my web address all this time…Oops!
I am just entering the world of blogging. The purpose of my blog is to help others learn how to sustain long-term health. I appreciate the excellent suggests in this post.
Maureena Bivins, PhD
http://www.MaureenaBivinsPhD.com
“Curious,
committed, and compassionate. What do
you look for in a health care provider?”
Excellent advice. I will definately comment more on other people’s blogs. Great way to communicate with people in related businesses
Blogging is now becoming most powerful media to make people concern and also a nice way to earning. Blog perceivability increments with consistent posting so this is basically critical! Blogging turns into an intense approach to give instruction based advertising to potential clients which expands your chance for business.