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How do You Find Your Blog Audience? You Don’t.

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Aug 12, 2009; Category: Blogging, Communication, Marketing, Search/SEO; Tags: Blogging, Communication; No Comments

That’s right: you don’t find your audience. They find you. Your job, as a blogger, is to make it easy for them to find you when they decide to look for information. It’s a simple formula, but it’s so easy to get off-track.

1. Identify your audience, or "Tribe" if you prefer. You’d be surprised how few bloggers even think about this. If you’re writing for one-legged ex-sailors with an unhealthy obsession with white whales, you will need to write differently than if your audience is primarily librarians who recommend books about sailors with an unhealthy obsession with white whales (also, these two groups will face different problems, I would guess).
2. Understand your audience’s needs, desires, and frustrations. Do NOT assume they are just like you: they aren’t, although you may have some things in common. Do some research. Find bloggers who are already engaging your audience and read their posts and, just as important, read the comments.
3. Once you understand who they are and what they need, share information that helps them solve a problem. Pick one problem per post. Another day, another problem, another blog post.

Worried you will run out of problems to help your audience solve? Don’t. Your audience will never run out of problems. Collectively, they have more problems, with more variations than you can possibly imagine. If you keep researching your audience (oh, did I forget to mention that’s an ongoing task?), and interact with them, you will discover new things you can help them with.

Their problems (it doesn’t have to be a big problem; it could be a small problem like "where can I find pipe tobacco locally?") are what send them to Google in search of solutions. If you have created a focused, frequently updated resource of information and search engine magnet by writing blog posts that address their questions and issues, they will find you.

If Markets are Conversations, Blogs are Natural Marketing Platforms

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Aug 6, 2009; Category: Blogging, Communication, Marketing; Tags: Blogging, Communication, Marketing; No Comments

I don’t know how many of you have read the iconic book, The Cluetrain Manifesto, which was first published in 1999, the same year I moved to New Mexico. I am almost certain I read a portion of it a few years earlier, however, because I was working for a corporation when I first read its 95 theses on marketing. Because I was a marketing communications manager in a corporation, the ideas it contained hit me right between the eyes. I almost ran up and down the hallways yelling things like, “Companies that don’t belong to a community of discourse will die!” (thesis no. 40). Fortunately, I kept a grip on my inner revolutionary and was able to depart corporate employment a couple of years later on my own terms rather than immediately, in a padded vehicle.

That bit of personal history aside, I am still amazed at how prescient the book was. Thesis no. 1 is “Markets are conversations.” Honestly, I’m not certain I completely understood what that meant at the time. OK, I’m not sure I completely understand what that means now. But social media has become common in the years since as a platform for the kind of conversations the authors were talking about. Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter are considered by some “marketing gurus” to be the three pillar plarforms of online market conversation.

Personally, I’m not that taken with either Facebook or Twitter (witness my lame showing on both), though I see lots of companies and individuals using them effectively to reach their markets on a conversational level. Business blogs, however, I understand. They offer business people the opportunity to address and engage their customers, offering assistance in ways that were not possible before blogs were common and before people went to Google so frequently instead of the Yellow Pages. The ability for people to comment on blog posts, and for business people to respond to comments (all the time creating new, searchable web content) creates relationships with customers that only conversations can create. Also, since we’re on the subject of the Yellow Pages, as Google search replaces the Yellow Pages search for information (MerchantCircle; Local SEO Guide), blogs are becoming more important as information providers.

Can businesses still survive without an active online presence? I’m sure many can, just as many did without a Yellow Pages presence in the past. The important question in my mind, however, is “How much business are you giving away to your competitors by not participating in the conversation?”

Which is Better: Posting in Drips or Bursts?

Author: Guest Author; Published: Jul 20, 2009; Category: Blogging, Guest Post, Marketing; Tags: Blogging; 4 Comments

Note: This is a guest post written by Jan Felt. The author is a blogger at CyberFootprint, and a marketing and communication enthusiast. You can check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter.

This post won’t make you a better lover, just as it won’t make you rich or famous. Don’t switch to YouTube yet, it is going to be interesting. Let me share with you an insight into subconscious blogger behaviour that will help you to become a better, more self-aware writer.

A debate is going on whether regular posting guarantees success. In short, it doesn’t. Knowing that good content is what makes you or breaks you in the cyberspace, I’ve decided to study the approaches to posting and share the conclusions with you. There are two main points of view on writing frequency: drip feed and burst posting.

Drip Feed

Regular every day posting helps you to capture the readers and condition them to come for more information every time they open their browser or RSS reader. The obvious advantage of this type of posting is an increased chance to expand your readers base by following and reacting to current events. That drives traffic and attention to your blog.

The downside of this type of writing is an easy disappointment of the readers, should your posting frequency falter. The readers will come a few more times to see what has changed. If they find nothing new, they will abandon your site completely.

Bloggers are afraid of losing readers, so they often compromise the quality of their content only to put out a half-baked post. They are able to skim on the surface of many issues and topics, but the time pressure often detracts further pursuit of deeper analysis.

Burst Posting

Posting in bursts, on the other hand, gives you the time and energy to create high-quality content at the expense of timeliness. The significant advantage of this approach is no burnout syndrome to worry about, because the pressure to maintain continuity at all costs is much lower.

The disadvantages of this sort of posting are apparent—the lack of timeliness and lost opportunities to write about stories you might have missed. Be aware that readers’ patience and attention span are limited, so if you have to make up for low frequency by posting high quality content.

Finding the Optimal Approach

It is difficult to precisely determine what strategy will work for you. As a rule of thumb, I can say that you should post at least once a month regardless of what strategy you decide to follow.

Everything about your blog, even the posting frequency depends on your readers. Get some time to know them and then determine the optimal amount of posts per week or month. If you are not sure, ask them in a satisfaction survey. Send them an e-mail or ask them to fill in an online survey. As long as you listen to your audience, you will never get it wrong.

To Blog or Not to Blog: What Your Company Should Consider Before Jumping onto the Blogging Bandwagon

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 8, 2009; Category: Blogging, Business, Communication, Marketing, Search/SEO; Tags: Blogging, Marketing; One Comment

If you’re struggling with whether or not to launch a blog, you need to download and read this whitepaper.

Sometimes the hardest part of blogging is making the decision to do it. That can be especially true for companies, where it may be necessary to get buy-in from several stakeholders across multiple departments in multiple layers of management. While this whitepaper is written primarily for people in companies with multiple layers of management, people in small companies, and individuals who are considering blogging will find plenty of information that applies to them.

“I was surprised at the amount of useful information in such a quick read. When I reached the end, I was ready for more.”

Marcie Davis
www.davisinnovates.com | www.workinglikedogs.com

I don’t think every company should have a blog. If the conditions are right, the benefits can be enormous. If the right conditions don’t exist, or can’t be brought into existence, blogging can be a big waste of time. This whitepaper helps you evaluate your situation so you can make an intelligent decision for your company (and your career).

It also offers some "getting started" advice, helping you avoid the I-wish-I’d-known-that-when-I-started syndrome that affects most bloggers within their first 6 months.

An excerpt:

Download To Blog or Not to Blog, and pass it around to everyone in your company (or outside your company) who has anything to do with an existing or potential blog. And feedback is greatly appreciated!

Jumping on the Blogging Bandwagon, or Not

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 4, 2009; Category: Blogging, Marketing, Search/SEO; Tags: Blogging, Local Search, SEO; No Comments

Bandwagons are lots of fun to jump onto: there are usually a lot of upbeat, excited people already there. Many of them are convinced the bandwagon is taking them to a lovely, special place where their dreams will be fulfilled. And possibly they will be. The problem is, when people are in a state of expectant dream fulfillment, they talk as if they’ve found the "one true answer." And if it’s the one true answer, everyone should be on the bandwagon, right?

We think you need a better basis for making a decision to blog or not. We believe there are questions people in companies can ask themselves, the answers to which may indicate whether or not blogging will help them achieve their goals. Blogging can enable people (and the companies they work for) to do great things that they would not have imagined before they started blogging. It can also be a complete waste of time, money, and effort. There is no ideal company profile by industry, size, or geographic location that indicates the likelihood of successful blogging. In every case, that likelihood rests with an individual’s (and their company’s) ability and desire to have a successful blog. Blogging is not for everyone or for every company.

Make no mistake: we are blogging enthusiasts. We believe blogging creates opportunities for businesses that no other form of communication can provide. We also believe effective blogging can be learned, but only if circumstances support learning.

We’re writing a white paper (it will be available on EvoBloggito) to help you determine if those circumstances exist in your company and if blogging is likely to benefit you and your company. There is no "passing score" for the number of questions checked. It’s up to you to determine both the answers and their bearing on your decision of whether or not to launch a company blog.

If you decide to blog, the whitepaper will also offer some guidance and suggestions to help you get started on the right foot. Because getting started is the biggest step you’ll take.