Christian

One of the concerns I hear so often is that you don’t know what to write on your blog. The idea of sharing ideas with your readers on a consistent basis can seem daunting when you haven’t done it. You never struggle with what to say when you’re talking with a customer or client though, right? You talk casually. You have fun. You share ideas. You answer their questions. It’s all very natural.

Your blog is the same. It’s very natural. It’s just a different format. If you’d grown up in the 1800’s, the idea of talking to someone on the phone would have been strange indeed. If you grew up in one of the past few generations, having a cell phone you can carry around in your pocket…strange indeed. We don’t think twice about these things now. Your blog is the same.

Brainstorm out some ideas to share with people, and before you know it you’ll find you have more to share with people than you ever thought possible. You have more value to give than you think. I promise 🙂

Here’s a quick list of blog post ideas to get you started. Please take these and use them as you see fit:

1. Video or written review of the your favorite tools you use in your business.
2. Talk about a book you’ve read that relates to your industry and what you’ve learned.
3. Share your thoughts on an article or blog post you’ve read.
4. Predict where your industry is headed and share why you feel that way.
5. Describe something specific you do in your business that sets you apart, and share how you came to do it that way.
6. Share a problem with your industry or a concern you have about the market.
7. Share testimonials and case studies. Has a client taken your advice recently and had great results?
8. Give a step-by-step system for how to accomplish a specific result in a specific amount of time.
9. Video and/or pictures of your office, your team, your family, your town, your hangouts, etc.
10. Showcase a member of your team or one of your favorite clients.
11. Rave about your favorite blog, magazine or writer. Share what you love about them and thank them for helping you.
12. Share something you’ve learned lately? What are you doing differently now than you were this time last year?
13. Have you responded to an inquiry from one of your customers or clients lately? If one person has that question, it’s likely others do too.
14. Have you ever made a mistake? Share the details and what you’ve learned.
15. Do you consistently see clients or customers making the same type of mistakes? Identify a common mistake and educate your readers to save them a bit of heartache and hassle.
16. Share why you love your business. What motivates and excites you about doing what you do? What got you into your business to begin with?
17. Share your to-do list. What are your 5 biggest goals in your business in the next year? Where are you going? Get your readers involved.
18. Publish your reading list. What do you have on your list to read that will motivate, inspire or educate you?
19. Ask your Facebook friends a question, and share the feedback you get.
20. Interview someone in your industry. Post the audio or video as well as a transcribed version on your blog. This is a great way to educate your readers, yourself and meet awesome people all at the same time 🙂

 

This is a post written by Jodi Keck. We work together behind the scenes here, and if you’ve worked with me as a client, there’s a good chance you’ve talked with Jodi at some point. He has a lot of great marketing and PR experience in both business and politics, and he’s a great asset to the team. He asked to share some thoughts with you on the blog, and I think there are some great ideas here. He addresses a few of the biggest areas we usually address with clients. Getting traffic to your site, generating leads from your website and earning business and sales from your subscribers after they sign up to your list. Let me know what you think 🙂

This whole concept just makes sense:

1. Define what you want.
2. Learn from someone, or someone’s, who have already done what you want to do.
3. Then do what they did to get there.

Sounds simple right? Unfortunately, most people tend to operate using the reverse of this theory. They do (go to college or learn a trade), learn something based on other people’s criteria (counselors, parents, etc.), and then only later, when it’s too late, do they ever take the time to think about what it is that they really want to do. So many of us go through life shooting success arrows randomly and getting frustrated that they never seem to hit the target. The problem is that so few of us ever take the time to set a target. It’s pretty hard to hit something you’re not aiming at.

Getting better results from your blog or website

The same principles hold true when generating leads on the internet. Most sales people and business owners set up a website, learn a few tricks as they go, and then only later, when they aren’t seeing results, do they truly attempt to define what it is they’re trying to accomplish. By following the define, learn, do philosophy you can eliminate most of the frustrations associated with your website. Simply define what it is you want to accomplish, learn from someone (like us) who has already done what you want to do, and then do what we did to get there.

There are a couple basic steps to follow. The main focus of most of our clients’ web pages is lead generation. You want to direct traffic to your site, have them either buy something or sign up for a mailing list of some sort, and then use these contacts to follow up and generate more sales. Let’s start with the first step, traffic.

The Biggest Misunderstanding about Getting Traffic to Your Website

Many of you are under the impression that more traffic always equals more leads. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Let me ask you question. Would you rather have 2000 hits on your web page and get 10 leads, or 200 hits to your page and get 40? It’s a no brainer right! The idea is that quality trumps quantity every time. One way to make this a reality for you is to find a focused keyword or words, like a niche, and direct a much more qualified group of prospects to your page. There are several ways to go about doing this and Christian has covered most of them in previous posts. You can get an entire series of videos here on how to set up and optimize your website in fact.

An Important Point about Getting Leads from Your Website

The second thing is all about calls to action. I’ve found that the reason most websites aren’t generating the leads people want is because they’re not asking for them. Most sites have one, maybe two, calls to action on the entire site. Usually it’s a newsletter or something similar and has a conversion rate of around 2%. Ask yourself this question. Why? Why should they sign up for your email list or newsletter? What do they gain? Are you really so invigorating that people should simply want to sign up just because you’re you? Maybe this is truly the case for some of you but it most definitely hasn’t been that way for me. Our site has multiple calls to action on every page. Many of them are offers for a free report or a training video that requires them to submit an email address in return for getting the item. By offering value in return for information we often generate about a 40% conversion rate compared the 2% mentioned above.

An important point on earning business from your email list

The third thing is follow through. Sure it’s great to build an email list with thousands of names, but how are you ever going to follow up with so many people over an extended period of time? Most sales people and business owners follow up once, maybe twice, and think that the sales should just start rolling in. Unfortunately, it rarely works out this way. Many prospective clients can take weeks if not months before they are ready to buy. In order to take advantage of these leads and not have them fall through the cracks we have to find ways to maximize our effort without spending exorbitant amounts of time. The most effective tool that we’ve found for doing this is blogging.

I know, I know. You don’t have time to blog. I hear it all the time. The problem with that is that you don’t have time not to. Blogging is an effective means of staying in contact with multiple people with one action. Every blog post can be sent to every person on your email list, facebook page, or twitter account with the click of a button. Every time a client asks you a question and you write an email answering it, you have a blog post. It makes sense that if one person has a question many others will have the same question, right? Whether you’re out with clients, reading a book, or just doing what you do; there are always thoughts, questions and ideas that can be written out on a smart phone and sent out into that wonderful space called the internet. Like I said before, maximize your effort while minimizing the time spent. Blogging doesn’t have to be a chore. Christian has an entire video series on how to create, utilize, and maintain a blog. It’ll get you well on your way towards hitting you’re target!

Remember:

1. Define what you want.
2. Learn from someone who has done it.
3. Then do what they did to get there.

A simple concept that will completely change your outlook and your results!