Even though blogs and blogging are more common today than they were five years ago, the big question I get when I’m talking to people is “Why does my business need blog?”.
I can think of 3 reasons immediately, BUT, before we cover them. I’d like to touch on a few important issues where blogging is concerned.
What is a Blog? – “A blog is short for “web log” a sort of online personal diary where “anyone” can reveal his/her innermost thoughts, feelings, desires, dreams, ambitions, fears, hopes … – Dr. Mani – one of the earliest marketers to embrace blogs. It is basically a website, with one small difference. It allows you to create and list posts that are ordered by date in a personal journal format, and it is much easier to create than a normal website.
Do I have to be good at it? – In a word NO. the only reason I say that is, I’m not good at it…but I’m getting better with every opportunity I take to write something down that I feel would be of value to someone else. If fact, I used the ‘I’M NOT GOOD AT IT’ excuse for so long, it took a very good friend of mine to kick me in my ‘mental-butt’ to get me started. Do I struggle? YES, but it is worth it when I realize I can actually do this….one post at a time.
Is it hard? – Only as hard as you want to make it for yourself. There are plenty of people around you that can, and will help you if you find them and ask. You’ll be surprised at who you know well is actually blogging and you didn’t even know.
Have a purpose! – Many blogs are just there as a venting or sharing page for an individual, but if you want to make your business blog effective, you will need to decide on it’s purpose. Is it for: educating you clients and prospects, building your brand, identifying and converting clients, or just sharing your expertise….? Whatever the reason, talk it over with others to help you get clarity on the purpose.
Now to the reasons why your business needs a blog…
· Easy to get started
· Easy to update
· Allows people to interact with you
Blogs are extremely easy to get started. You can use Blogger or Word Press, and both can be started easily without much more than creating an account and clicking a few choices that you want to use to make your blog work effectively for you. Now there are huge advantages to having your blog hosted on your own domain (more on that in a future blog post). And the bit I like best, you don’t have to have any great technical skills.
Blogs are easy to update! All you have to do is push a button and your post is published. This works on most of the blog platforms, making them one of the easiest web sites to update. Also on most platforms you don’t have any need to know HTML (a web language), though it does help. If you can create a word document you can update a blog.
Finally, the biggest advantage to businesses is that blogs can be very interactive. Most blog platforms allow your readers to make comments on what you have written. People are able to easily subscribe to your blog and when they have, they are informed as to when you have updated your site through various RSS readers. This does two very good things for you.
1. You get to create regular, additional, updated content for your blog (which the search engines like), and…
2. You can get feedback on what you have written from your subscribers when they comment on your posts
Which are you most likely to do? Click a comment link and leave your input on a blog, or try and find a way to contact the average webmaster. Even if you do find a webmaster, it is usually through a form or email that does nothing to increase the content of the site.
A blog definitely gets my vote. How about you?
Welcome back!
If you look at most businesses, it is quite sad that many passionate people do mediocre things and wonder why their businesses are struggling. Paul Dunn, a very good friend and mentor, once said everyone seems to do the ordinary things, yet so few, the truly successful businesses, do the extraordinary.
The following story recently came across my desk and I thought to share it with you. I think that it really does illustrate that a little effort, really does make a difference between just hanging on and truly reaping the rewards of success!
Excerpt from: The Simple Truths of Service - by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz
Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.”
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”
My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”
Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.”
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”
Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustratedand USA Today.”
As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”
As if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.
Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of the day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights, or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.
“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”
Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’
“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”
“I take it this has paid off for you,” Harvey said.
“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
Think about your business, what one small thing can you do today, that will make a difference to your business. A clean uniform, a clean car, smiling often at customers, saying thank you regularly…… Give it a shot, and let me know how you get on.
Have you ever noticed that there is a pattern to the way you interact with people, earn, invest and spend your time and money. If you are like most people, then you have probably been repeating this pattern for as long as you can remember. Here’s why ….. Read the rest of this entry »
