Well, here we are on a blog, talking about blogging. If it wasn’t effective, we wouldn’t be here right? Whatever path you took to get to this blog (and regardless of your opinion of it) you’re here, and that’s the point.
Nobody seems to be able to talk about the effectiveness and importance of blogging quite like Marcus Sheridan (thesaleslion.com). Marcus started as a “pool guy” who went through some tough times with his business. He and his partners endured embezzlement, tax liens, and an economy that almost tore the industry a new one. Amidst these challenges Marcus’s “never say die” attitude pushed him to find an answer rather than lie down and give up. With that killer attitude, a lot of enthusiasm, and a pinch of software called Hubspot, Marcus turned his humble VA/MD pool business into the most searched pool business on the internet.
A blog will help you increase your organic search results, save you money on pay-per-click advertising, and give you the opportunity to become a thought leader. Search engine optimization is an important factor in business marketing and return on investment (ROI). Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising can be a powerful tool, but only for the right business. A company that sells a million-dollar software product could pay a dollar apiece for 100,000 clicks to secure a sale, and they can still bring in $900,000. Some will laugh at that example, because if it takes 100,000 clicks to get a sale, you should be under the hood of your product rather than trying to market the bejeezus out of it.
There are 3 steps to getting your blog going.
- Listen – This is the hardest for most people, especially men (smiley emoticon here), but it is exactly what it sounds like. Just listen.
- Grow – This is where you go to train with Yoda on that terribly humid-looking planet (just kidding.) To grow, just think about what you’ve heard while listening. Agree? Disagree? Refine your opinions and post them.
- Teach – Get out there and share what you have learned, and don’t be afraid of criticism. Take it and go back to step 1.
“So I just start a blog and then customers will find me?”
If you think that, you’re either too enthusiastic, you are patronizing me, or you are a little slow. Enthusiasm is fantastic if aimed in the right direction, and you’d be right to patronize me (I can take it), but if you’re slow, you may be better at this than Ms. Impulse or Mr. Cynic. Why? Because you are not inclined to make things overly complicated. Rather, you are going to write blogs that teach people factual and conceptual notions about your industry or service and you’re going to do it in the simplest way possible.
This reminds me of a quote from Albert Einstein, “Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler.” Humans naturally see this, and say, “Duh!” and then spend no time really contemplating why a man of Einstein’s intellectual stature would find it important to bestow this wisdom. We over-complicate everything. Find a way to de-mystify something, and you are a hero, at least in the eyes of the people you’ve helped. It would say a lot about a company if it were to be associated with being helpful. And you want a lot to be said about your company. So hop to it!
