Blogging

All Blogged Out – Getting Your Blog Read Amidst the Noise!

September 30, 2011 by Dave Wellman 4 Comments

Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment. Before 1920.

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I was talking with a friend the other day about the way social media was going. I was speaking from the perspective of someone who see social media as an essential and exciting tool for doing business, she from the perspective of someone who is inundated with blog posts and social media sales pitches to the point that she is tired of them all. In this conversation, my friend told me that she was all blogged out!

The truth is that my friend is right! Everyone has a blog these days and businesses with the proper view of blogging and who have taken the right approach are being drowned out by the plaid panted, white shoe wearing, snake oil salesmen who have discovered social media. The influx of these folks has turned many an interested blog reader into an uninterested blog hater. The are simply all blogged out.

So, how does a blogger with the right intentions (producing real and valuable content, asking real questions, and engaging their clients in the processes of innovation and improvement) create and grow the readership of their blog in the midst of all the noise?

Three quick thoughts:

Be true to your business and its purpose. Too many blogs these days build readership with wild claims and crazy ideas that rarely if ever create lasting results. Your blog should be built just like any successful business platform: Satisfied customers who know you, like you, and refer you to their friends!
Build your readership organically. This is simply the best way to guarantee a solid and continual readership. As you gain the respect of your audience with good articles that set you apart as a true thought leader in your field, they will begin to pass your good information and advice on to those who they influence as well. People sharing your content has a far greater effect than if you try to force it down someone’s throat.
Build a level of consistency that people can count on. When you start blogging, the question of when and how often to blog is always a question that you must answer. While the answer is based on many factors, you must determine what is going to work for you and your customers and then stick to it. If you are going to have a blog that has an integral place in your companies overall marketing/sales strategy, you must make time for it and the content you share. A lack of consistency will make your posts part of the noise and not considered worth reading.

So, if you are really interested in sharing your knowledge with your current and potential clients through a blog, you have got to be able to cut through the noise and reach people who otherwise are all blogged out. Take this advice, build consistently, and watch your readership and your reputation grow your business!

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media Tagged With: Blog, Business, good content, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Oganic growth, Social Media, vaulable content

Social Media and Baby Boom Business – 3

July 12, 2011 by Dave Wellman 8 Comments

The College Blog Network Screenshot. THIS IS N...

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This is part three of the series Social Media and Baby Boom Business. In this post we will take a look at the tool of blogging to build interest in your second career. Enjoy and don’ t forget to comment!

Blogging …. sounds scary to most people. I hear all the excuses: I can’t write; Nobody would read my blog; What would I write about; Nobody sits around all day reading blogs; etc. and so on!

However, if you are like most people, you really do have lots to say about you, your passions, and why those passions turned into your second career! Folks do want to hear stuff like that. They have dreams and passions as well and your stories help them to breath life into theirs.

I truly believe if more people defined themselves and their passions and then lived those passions, told stories of those passions and built their lives/businesses around those passions, the world would be a much better place.

This, my boomer friend, is where blogging comes in!

Once you have determined what your second career is going to be, you need to talk about it to as many people as possible. Blogging affords you that option. Whether you use words written, video presentation, or even podcasts, the place to find these things ought to be your “home base” which is your blog. With so many blogging platforms to choose from and so many easy ways to get started, this is a free (or nearly free) way to make yourself stick out from the crowd. To provide your potential customers with the information they are looking for and to provide access to your new businesses products and services.

Three things you need to understand as you begin the blogging process:

Be yourself! I remember watching the movie Aladdin with my daughter many years ago and hearing the Genie remind Aladdin to “Be Yourself” as he sought to win the heart of the princess. In the end that is what won him the hand of his bride. Be yourself.
Tell your story! In being yourself, tell stories about what has brought you to the place of offering your products/services. Many people become very health conscious after undergoing some major health challenges. Others find a particular hobby that really brings them to life. Some “have always known” that what they are offering now is what they wanted for others. Your story is unique, tell it!
Bring good information to the forefront. Always provide information that has great value to those who will be reading your blog. Don’t just write sales letters or tech manuals. Tell people what you know and how that will help their lives/businesses just like it has yours.

When I first started my blog, I had all the questions that I listed at the top of this post, but what I have discovered is that there are lots of people in this world who are craving real, valuable content that will help them make the right choices in their lives about virtually any and every thing imaginable. All you have to do is commit to the process and you will find a niche looking to hear from you!

Filed Under: Blogging, Entrepreneurialism, Social Media Tagged With: Aladdin, Baby boom, Baby boomer, Blog, Blogging, Boomer Blogs, Business, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social media, Twitter, YouTube

Is it Time to Start Blogging?

June 29, 2011 by Dave Wellman 4 Comments

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Most of the time when I ask a business owner the question, “Is it time to start blogging?” I can pretty much predict the answer. “I don’t have time to blog, I don’t know have anything to blog about, and nobody is going to read it anyway. Now, I don’t know that any of these answers is true, but they are definitely the first response of most business owners. However, if we stay with the conversation it isn’t long before most of these business owners at least come to understand that a blog could become a part of their marketing strategy if they wanted it to be.

So how do you know if it is time to start blogging? I want to share three tests to determine the viability of a blog for your business:

1. Do you have something valuable to say? Blogging works, and gains followers when the blogger has something to say. Business blogs need to provide insight, answers, and instruction in the area of that business. They also need to do these things in an entertaining way that causes people to return often.

2. Are you willing to spend time in the development of your blog posts? Just like any form of marketing, advertising, and public relations, blogs need time and attention. Lots and lots of businesses start blogs because they are the “cool” thing to do and then find out that to make them work takes time and effort. One post deadline missed leads to another and before long the blog sits unattended. The readers it had gained are quickly off to someone else. In the end blogging is blamed and abandoned for good.

3. Are you willing to listen to learn how blogging can bring you both new and repeat business. Blogging is the beginning of a well thought out online strategy that is ever evolving in the fast paced world of the internet. Your blogging efforts need to evolve with these changes and you need to stay educated on these changes. Those who do can grow a large leadership and will find their blog to be both a pleasant diversion from the day to day as well as a power marketing and business identity tool.

If you think that it is time for you/your company to start blogging, do three things: (1) start by learning, (2) find someone who can help you through the process, and (3) create a plan first!

What do you think? What other thoughts should a potential blogger consider? How has your blog benefited your business?

Filed Under: Blogging, Networking Tagged With: Blog, Business, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Marketing strategy, Social Media

The Patience of Getting Found

April 18, 2011 by Dave Wellman 2 Comments

Ok – you have made the decision to start blogging. You have done your research and have decided on the five key categories of content that you want to create. You have dug down into those categories and found long tailed keyword phrases that your market is searching for and you have begun the process of blogging in those areas.

But … wait …. it seems that no one (or at least almost no one) is reading your blog posts or commenting on all of your great content. What’s up with this? How come nothing seems to be moving like all the ebooks, articles, and gurus said it would? Your frustration level rises and you wonder if this whole blogging thing is even worth it!

But, before you quit, before you throw in the towel, before you wash blogging’s “bad taste” out of your mouth, be patient. Take a deep breath and let your niche market find you. You have to remember that, until you have been around for a while, until you have been discovered by other successful bloggers, until you have established yourself as a thought leader in your niche, you are just part of the blogosphere “noise.”

Successful bloggers understand the patience of getting found. They know that like any form of advertising and/or marketing you have to establish yourself as someone that stands out from the crowd. To do this you must:

1. Separate yourself from all the noise. With millions of blogs and tens of thousands of “gurus” you must develop a strategy that says, “You need to listen to me!”
2. Become the “go to guy/gal” for value-added content in the areas of your expertise. Thought leadership is essential to the success of your brand.
3. Develop a thick skin and a never say die attitude that will allow you to keep going when things look bad and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

The story is told of a man who bought a gold mine during the American gold rush. He worked the mine diligently for two years to no avail. Broke and discouraged, he sold his claim and all his machinery and headed back east to sell insurance. The man who purchased his mine struck the “mother-load” just about one foot farther into the hillside. The first man lost his patience and the mother-load he had worked two years to find.

Don’t let a perceived “slow start” discourage you or even cause you to quit. Keep working, keep producing value-added content and trust in your ability to get the message out and the right people will find you in due time. Learn the patience of getting found that is a must to reach any level of success on or offline!

Filed Under: Blogging, Inbound Marketing Tagged With: Blogging, Business, getting found, Search, Small Business, Social Media, start blogging, thought leader

Is Crude the New Cool?

April 15, 2011 by Dave Wellman 4 Comments

Ok – so I’m about to go off on a bit of a rant today. I read a lot of blogs every day and I have seen something that has me really bugged. What bugs me is the use of crude language to get a point across.

I know that in the modern world language has been devalued and what we never spoken in business circles in times past is now “simply the way people talk today.”

It is seen in the “no BS” blog post titles, to the use of formerly unspoken words for defecation. I was even on a live webinar recently where, to my surprise, two of the countries premiere authors where throwing around the “F” word. The problem is that these are not isolated incidences, I could literally quote the use of this kind of demeaning language on more than 50 blogs I have read in the past couple months.

You can laugh at me and call me a prude if you like, but I believe that the use of such language diminishes the credibility of the user. It makes me suspicious of the “altruistic” inferences that these bloggers make about “value-added content.” It makes my desire to follow them, to re-tweet them, and certainly to hire them a non-starter for me.

I think that in hard economic times, marketers should be raising the bar and creating a level of credibility that is unimpeachable. Lowering our language to that of an “angry rebel” takes that credibility away from me.

If crude is the new cool – I choose to be old fashioned, funky, or anything that isn’t cool!

Enough said ….

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: crdibility, crude language, language, language devalued, modern language

Creating Original Content

April 11, 2011 by Dave Wellman Leave a Comment

One of the most important things that every blogger needs to understand about the development of valuable content is that this content, for the most part, needs to be original. Creating original content sets you apart and an expert and thought leader in your niche.

You see the point of a business blog is to create a sense of trust between the blogger and his/her readers. If you, as the blogger, don’t produce your own content then it is impossible to create this level of trust.

There are times when another blogger/writer answers a question or makes a point about your business in a way that you think will really benefit your readers. I have not problem with quoting that author, with giving acknowledgment to that author, and even pointing people to his/her whole article (this is actually the correct thing to do), but make your post a review of theirs, not just a re-print.

I know that writing blog posts take time, they take research, and they aren’t all that easy to produce (especially in the beginning). However, if you are not creating original content, you will not see the long-term loyally, readership, brand building, or, in the end, sales that you hoped blogging would bring.

Original, valuable content …… yea, that’s the ticket!

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: blog content, Niche, orignal content, target audience, valuable content, web content

Creating Valuable Content

April 8, 2011 by Dave Wellman 4 Comments

I have been reading a lot of blogs and following twitter very closely since re-opening the doors of Doulos Marketing at the end of October, 2011. In all of that I have found a wave of marketing being done online. However, what seems to be missing in most of what I have read is that few bloggers are creating valuable content.

To this end, I am beginning a short series of articles that will help honest and interested bloggers stem the tide and provide their readers with the valuable content that will benefit them and make the blogger a thought leader to current and prospective clients.

Valuable content begins when a blogger sees a problem in the life of his/her niche market and provides a solution for that problem. Now remember, content isn’t valuable unless it really does provide the reader with a solution to the problem, not just a tease that requires the reader to buy something from the blogger.

When you are creating valuable content, you are building a level of trust that will bring your readers back to you time and again. Your readers will know that what they are getting from you is real and really good. They will learn to trust what you say and when they need something you sell, they will purchase it from you because of what you have already done for them.

It may seem like you are putting a lot of information “out there” with no guarantee of results, but it is that willingness to give first that will bring a great return on the back end.

So, as you think about your blog or the one you are planning to create, make sure that creating valuable content is a key consideration in your marketing strategy.

What do you think? Your opinion is always welcomed!

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media Tagged With: Business blogging, content strategy, creating content, How to, interet, Marketing, quality content, Social Media, valuable content

The Strategy behind your Business Blog

April 4, 2011 by Dave Wellman 2 Comments

A couple days ago I wrote a piece entitled “Any fool can write a blog post.” In that post I defined a “fool” as someone who had an ardent enthusiast who cannot resist an opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm.” Most of us blog because we have an ardent enthusiasm for what we write about, and that is great. But, as business owners, do you have a strategy behind your business blog?

A strategy!!!!! You mean a purpose and direction for what we say, what we write about, and how we “market” our blog? A strategy!!!!! I don’t think so ….. We just need to be enthusiastic about something and then just write. People will find us, they will love what we write, and because of that they will buy our stuff. That’s how blogging works …. doesn’t it?

Unfortunately for most business blogs, this is exactly how it works (except for the whole “buying our stuff part.”) Remember that blogging, just like any other part of your business must be done with a strategy that causes your readers to gain a level of trust for us that reaches a point that will allow them to want to “buy your stuff.” So, especially for business bloggers, there has to be a plan, a strategy behind your business blog.

Three basic questions should make up your strategy:

1. How do I become a thought leader in the minds of my current and prospective clients/customers?

2. How can I express my enthusiasm in an informative and entertaining way that will cause people to want to read my posts?

3. How can I move my readers through my “sales cycle” in order to create a desire in them for my product/services?

Being enthusiastic about what you blog is definitely important, but have a strategy behind your business blog is what will make your business expand and grow!

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: bloggers, business strategy, Business success, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Solo-entrepreneurs

Any fool can write a blog post!

April 1, 2011 by Dave Wellman 4 Comments

Sitting here this morning, April 1, 2011, thinking about blogging and the power of this medium, I was struck by an interesting thought:

Any fool can write a blog post!

Knowing that a statement like this might cast aspersions on those of us who blog for a living, let me clear the air by saying that I know this to be true from personal experience! Let me explain ….

According to my trusty online dictionary, a fool is, “an ardent enthusiast who cannot resist an opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm (usually preceded by a present participle): He’s just a dancing fool.”

This definition often describes bloggers: Ardent enthusiasts – after all isn’t it our enthusiasm about something that brings us into this crazy world in the first place; Who cannot resist the opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm – most bloggers just can’t wait to get their words in print and published to the web. Often times their posts are published without a reasonable time of effort or research. They are enthusiastic, dare I say even evangelistic about their “thing,” and they want the blogosphere to know it!

Now, don’t get me wrong (remember I said I understand FROM EXPERIENCE what this kind of enthusiasm can do) I love enthusiastic people. They make the world an exciting place and bring life, and creativity to the world. However, as we enter the blogging world, we need to remember (unless we are just blogging for our own benefit) that our enthusiasm must be tempered with three thoughts:

1. Who are we blogging to/for? After all if those we are blogging to/for don’t share our enthusiasm, they will just think us a fool and move on.

2. What do they need? It is in looking to fill their needs that we will gain the greatest reward. (Thought leader status, social capital, referrals, and in the end sales!)

3. How can what we are so enthusiastic about meet their needs. This is where our enthusiasm can do a great deal of good, if it is given out in the proper proportion.

Remember, on this day of celebrating foolishness, any fool can right a blog post … but not any fool can be successful! They must bring their enthusiasm into check to do the greatest good for those to whom they blog!

Talk more later ….

PS – You didn’t think I would use anyone’s picture but mine did you?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: April fool's day, Blog, blog post, Blogging, Social Media

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