Blog

8 Ways Your Business is Losing if You’re Not Blogging

By Christian

You’re losing word of mouth advertising – Any business owner I talk to would be quick to admit that word of mouth advertising is the best advertising they can get. Owning and operating a blog enables you to be part of the conversation online. People ARE talking about you, you know? If you have a blog, you have way more than a traditional website, you have a personal presence…one people are comfortable and happy to send their friends to and talk about. People are a lot more comfortable referring someone they know to you if you have a personal blog, as opposed to a traditional static website. It makes you more personal, more approachable, if people can read about you and get a feel for what you’re like. Yes, people like to stalk. If you’re in business, and you want people to do business with you, why would you not want to be part of that? On the flip side, when you DO have a blog, you can set the record straight anytime someone’s talking trash. You can also build a strong community of people who are advocates for you. Strong bloggers eventually build networks consisting of thousands of people who consistently link to them, send them traffic and talk positively about their content. This is word of mouth for the 21st century.
Your name is being dragged through the mud, and you don’t even know about it – People are talking about you. The process of learning how to blog is about a lot more than just writing an article every now and then. It’s about networking. Having a blog will teach you how to be part of your online community. And don’t think you don’t have one…you’re just not aware of it! If you own a business and you’re doing business with people, people are LOOKING for your blog, right now. And they’re not finding it. They’re commenting on other blogs and forums about you, and you’re not there to be part of the conversation.
Your competition is establishing themselves as the expert, while you are quickly becoming irrelevant – Blogging is personal. You don’t use it as a way of simply placing ads or “building a list” or making sales. You’re selling yourself. You’re telling the public about yourself. You’re networking. You’re having a conversation with people. What happens when you do this is people learn that you actually have a lot to say. This is a good thing. Of course, this is assuming you DO have a lot to say. If you’re not actually creating value for your customers at this point, that will become apparent also. It’s best to either BE good, GET good, or NOT blog. Having a lot to say about your industry and how you can honestly help your customers and maintaining a blog together are a very dangerous combination. If your competition is blogging, and you’re not, they are quickly and quietly building a very compelling network of people who love them and who don’t even know who you are.
Customers are simply not connecting with you, so they don’t buy from you – This is an inevitable consequence of not having a blog. Seriously, it’s that big a deal. First, search engines love blogs (well-built and actively maintained ones that is), and if you don’t have one, you’re missing out on a lot of love from the search engines, which means your getting a lot less traffic than you should be. But it’s a deeper problem than that. The type of content people want is different than what it was 5 or so years ago. Yes, things have changed that quickly. People don’t want static content. They don’t want boring ads that talk at them and tell them what to do. They want interactivity. They want to connect with you. Think about this…they WANT to connect with you and like you on a personal level. It’s how they make buying decisions. Your static website is most likely turning them off. Your competition realizes this. They’ve learned to think of marketing differently. They’ve realized that they can connect with many thousands of people through blogging, on a personal level and massively extend the reach of their business. Your customers are connecting with them, not you.
Your expenses are getting out of control, and the money you spend on traditional marketing gives you a less impressive return each year that passes – Let’s face it…traditional marketing, like newspaper and magazine ads, mailing campaigns, billboards, etc…they are getting more expensive each year, and they are getting LESS effective each year. Anyone who’s been in business for more than 5 years knows this intimately. How long can you tolerate your expenses rising coupled with more and more inept returns on your advertising dollars? When you look at this commonly understood fact, it’s obvious that you need to make a change somewhere, isn’t it?
The quality of the contacts you make is going down, which means your return on investment is going down – Like I said in #5, traditional media is getting less effective. The reason is because people are drowning in advertising. If it doesn’t connect with them personally, it’s unlikely to have any effect on them whatsoever. That’s not very much bang for your buck, is it? Traditional marketing is based on “interruption marketing”. The idea is to jolt your attention and get you to notice an advertisement that you ordinarily not be interested in seeing. People have built up some serious walls to this type of advertising. Social media connects with people on their terms. Believe it or not, people want to buy cars, books, appliances, all types of services, or whatever it is that you’re selling. If you connect with them on their level and on their terms, they will love you for it, and they will buy from you. That’s what you can do with a blog that is impossible for you to do with traditional advertising.
You have a lot of talent and expertise that is not being shared – Blogging is therapeutic. As a business owner, you have a lot to say, and blogging can be a channel for all that expertise. Not only is it good for your business and good for your customers, it’s also good for you. C’mon now, let it out!
You are losing your most valuable asset of all…your time – It is a myth that blogging has to take all your time. It can. Make no mistake about it. But it doesn’t have to. As a business owner, you know that time is your most valuable asset. And you know that time is money, right? So stop wasting money on advertising that doesn’t work. You know it isn’t pulling it’s weight lately. I say this confidently, because I know you know it’s true. I’m in the real estate business for example, and I know for a fact that many Realtors are dropping print advertising and mailing campaigns altogether. It just doesn’t work. Yet NAR reports that less that 8% of Realtors have a blog. What gives? You can’t do NOTHING to promote your business. You need to simply do what works.

Blogging will force you to learn new things. It will certainly be a learning process. And it will take time. It’s not a magic bullet. It’s one of the things we need to learn as business owners…good things take time. Blogging will not pull immediate results like a banner ad will. But blogging also will not cost you several hundred dollars a week. And once you get past the start up period, the online network you’re able to create will continue to reward you passively for the life of your business…and if you do it right, it will even continue to reward you beyond that…even if your current business fails for whatever reason, your network will know you, they’ll understand you, and they’ll support you in your next venture as well. What kind of newspaper ad can do that?

The Value of Focus When it Comes to Marketing

By Christian

Life is a series of decisions. I started reading Awaken the Giant Within last night, and it really got me thinking. I think I’m going to like this book…I’ve never read anything by Tony Robbins believe it or not. This guy has something undeniable; when you read his words, a certain kind of energy comes through that is really engaging. One short piece I’d like to quote:

Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. Controlled focus is like a laser beam that can cut through anything that seems to be stopping you. When we focus consistently on improvement in any area, we develop unique distinctions on how to make that area better. One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. In fact, I believe most people fail in life simply because they major in minor things.

And of course we know this is true. How many people do we know who have graduated from college? This cannot be achieved without concentrated effort over time on a particular thing. How many people do we know who have successfully gone on vacation? The process of making the plans, arranging your affairs and making the trip happen requires concentrated effort. The week before a vacation is something many people describe as one of their most productive times of the year. We have the capacity to make great things happen. We don’t give ourselves enough credit. Concentrated effort and mastery of any one particular thing in your life can bring about huge, positive changes. It can increase your confidence, inspire others, increase your performance, lead to new and better opportunities. Focus.

How this Applies to Internet Marketing

This carries an immense lesson for anyone involved with blogging, social networking and internet marketing also. We spend a huge amount of time doing things…but are they the RIGHT things? Are we focused? Knowing your goals is essential. Here are a few things to consider to determine if you’re focused and on track to achieve your marketing goals:

Are you doing things that are moving you in the direction of your goals, or are you just staying busy?
Are you working hard and not getting results?
When is the last time you’ve reviewed your plan? Are you marketing activities bringing you the results you desire? If not, what are you doing to improve?
Do you need more traffic to your site, but you spend most of your time redesigning your site?
Do you want to get more clients to buy your service, but you spend most of your time writing content that doesn’t necessarily attract the right kind of buyer?
Can you state, right now, in a clear manner, exactly what goals you’re trying to achieve with your blog? Or are you just pecking away at different things, trying to “figure things out”?
Can you describe the kind of person you’re trying to attract to your site? What specific things are you doing to attract that particular kind of person? Or are you simply blogging, hoping that the right people will magically find you?

I’ve written about the value of writing a plan for your internet marketing before actually getting too involved in it. You need to know what you’re shooting for in order to truly hit your target in a predictable manner. This book is reminding me about that right now. I wish you all the success in the world…it starts with having a plan. Having a plan brings focus, and focus brings success.

How to Not Suck at Business Blogging

By Christian

This is a post I wrote a while ago, and I’ve decided to share it on Next Level Blogger for this reason…I believe everyone reading this blog is concerned with truly doing what’s necessary to be effective at marketing themselves online. This means different things to different people, but the one thing it means to all business people is that we need to make money blogging. In business, if it’s not profitable, it’s not sustainable. We need to be efficient, and we need to be good.

I maintain regularly in this blog that being successful at making money online requires embracing the salesman we all have inside of us. The topic of sales is always volatile. Most people do not want to be salespeople, but I argue you are a salesperson whether you want to be or not. It’s not a matter of whether you are or not…it’s only a matter of whether you’re good or not. My goal is to help all readers of Next Level Blogger to truly excel in this area and to be successful at making their business all it can be through blogging, social networking and internet marketing. That said, here are some of my thoughts on salesmanship. I’d love to hear your comments…

“Salesman” is a dirty word. It’s one of the reasons I’m attracted to the profession and why I consider myself a salesman. It’s a massively misunderstood profession. It’s also a massively abused and poorly executed profession. There are good salespeople out there, but there are very few. I am one of the good ones. It’s my mission to teach others that salesmanship is not dead but more vital and needed than ever. It’s good salesmanship that will make or break your business. It’s good salesmanship that will make or break your life. It’s good salesmanship (not money) that makes the world go round…

A good sales experience can profoundly change your opinion about something. It can make you a fan for life. It can affect your decisions in a fundamental way. Believe it or not, everyone is in sales. It’s not a matter of debate. You want stuff. Other people have what you want. You want them to give it to you. That makes you a salesperson. Look, this doesn’t mean you’re a GOOD salesperson. You’re probably not. You’re probably a bad salesperson. You’re probably ineffective and inept at sales. But there’s a good reason for that. The reason is you’ve never focused on your sales skills. You’re never sat down to make a plan to systematically improve your sales skills. Probably because you don’t consider yourself a salesman. That’s fine. It’s your choice. But I’m telling you, the sooner you accept the fact that you’re a salesperson, the sooner you can get down to work and finally start getting what you want out of life.

You Have Ethical Responsibilities

Here’s a real key to success in sales. And it’s one of the reasons so many salespeople are bad at what they do. You have ethical responsibilities. It is your right to live how you choose, but it is your ethical mandate to live in a way that is mutually beneficial. Most salespeople just want the close, and that is where they screw it up. The largest most important thing you can do to greatly improve the quality of your life in sales is to answer the question of “why”.

Why do you want what you want? Why do you want your boss to give you more money? Why do you want this person to buy from you? Why do you want more vacation time? Why do you want that new car? Why are you willing to work late and sacrifice time with your family in order to get these things? See, you better have good answers to these questions, and they better be answers you’d be happy to share with your mother. If not, you need to own up to the fact that maybe, just maybe that new car just isn’t worth working for. Maybe you want it for the wrong reasons. Follow?

If you want good things, for mutually beneficial reasons, that is the first and more fundamental step towards becoming a good salesperson. See, if you know why your goal is mutually beneficial, all you have to do is explain it well to your customer, your boss or whoever you’re selling to. With good communication skills, the rest is a piece of cake. It’s when we try to use good communication skills to our customers’ peril…that’s when we give salesmanship a bad name. When we have a goal which is not in our customers’ best interest, but we try to acheive the goal anyway…that’s when we’ve violated our ethical responsibilities. That’s not success, my friend, even if you DO have your dream car.

How to Rock

When you’ve aligned your goals with a healthy concern for others, you will ultimately find that what Zig Ziglar says is true, “You can have anything you want in life, if you can just help enough other people get what they want.” There is no better way to achieve your goals! Now that your goals are simply to help others, you will find that this one factor alone will affect your entire approach to building your business. Instead of just trying to close the deal, you’ll investigate the customer’s motives, needs and wants, and you’ll work to find a way to help and add value. This is true salesmanship. This is where you find common ground and develop a mutually beneficial relationship that lasts. This is how you REALLY reach your long term goals.

And that is why I’m in sales. I know that when I sell a product or a service, I’ve made a friend. I would honestly do whatever I can to help them out, and guess what…I get paid too. A nice little bonus.

How to Use Twitter to Build Business

By Christian

I want to write this quick post about how to use twitter to build business, because almost every time I mention Twitter to my friends, I’m met with confusion. So many people don’t get it. Or so they say. I think you all actually DO get it and just don’t want to admit it!

After all, what is there to explain?

Being able to keep constant tabs on everything people say about you and your brand. Do you not see the value in that?
Being able to contact everyone in your network once, twice or even several times a day and keep in personal contact with thousands of people easily, quickly and for free. Do you not see that value in that?
Having millions of people all in one place in an easily searchable and digestible configuration. Do you not see the value in that?
Being able to not only keep in touch with your base easily and cheaply but being able to massively GROW your contact base, meeting and conversing with as many people as you like…all interested in the same things as you or prime prospects for what your business offers. Do you not see the value in that?

If you do not see the value in these things…which is what Twitter is all about…you do not need to worry about Twitter. You need to get in touch with why you’re in business to begin with!

Is Twitter a funny little tool that will require you to learn some new things and think in new ways? Heck yes. But you’re an entrepreneur, right? Since when does a challenge scare you?

If you want to know how to use twitter to build your business, all you need to do is use it. It’s kind of automatic. Unless of course you just don’t see the value in interacting with people.

How do you feel about this? I know there is some discontent amongst the business community regarding using twitter to build your businesses, because I’ve come face to face with it many times. Does this touch any nerves, answer any questions or tick you off a little bit? Let me know what you think

Quick Start to Internet Marketing

By Christian

Many people out there are looking for a quick start to internet marketing. I understand. Most people in my network are business people, and we are the kind of people who want to get things rolling quickly. You know being online and marketing yourself with blogging, internet marketing and social networking is essential, but you don’t know the best way to go about it, and you have a million questions.

This massive access to information causes what’s called “paralysis by analysis”. In other words, we’re so fixated on learning what we need to do, we fail to act. This is death for business. You need to act, but you don’t want to screw things up. So here is a quick start to internet marketing checklist that will give you what you need to get started. It contains a little philosophy and a few specific actions that will get you off and running. There is a lot of value in knowing you’re starting off on the right foot, so I hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me know by commenting or contact me!

Quick Start to Internet Marketing

Make the decision that your focus is going to be building a real business…or extending your existing business. Do not allow your sole focus to be making money. If your focus is on building a real business, creating a good reputation and brand and creating value for others, it’s hard to screw things up. It’s when we decide to focus solely on making money that we start doing crappy, spammy things that we will regret later…and that will not do us any good. This is the first step, and it’s easy. Just decide that your focus is going to be on creating value for your customers, not just selling stuff. With that, you have already cleared half the hurdles. Believe it or not, it really is that simple!
Start a blog. Don’t over think it. Don’t dwell on it for more than five minutes. Pick a platform, and fire it up. If you want my specific advise, I recommend using WordPress, and I recommend having a professional set it up for you. I can do it for you, or you can have any number of other professionals do it for you. WordPress can easily be search engine optimized, and it is highly extensible. Some of the most successful blogs on the internet use WordPress, and for good reason. That said, it’s more important to have a blog than it is to make absolutely certain that every detail is perfect. Your blog will serve as the hub of everything you do to market yourself online. It is your home. You need a place to hang your hat. You need a blog.
Post to your blog regularly. The more you blog, the more you will learn. The most important thing is to get started. I could write for 10,000 words easily right now about how to do this. And if you want to solve any specific marketing issues sooner rather than later, I recommend using my consulting services to jump start your efforts. That said, this is not rocket science, and if you put in the effort you will learn everything you need to know simply by doing it. You get out what you put in. Again, if you’re focusing on creating value for your customers, your blog will be on target.
Get on Facebook and Twitter. Are there other social networks? Heck yes there are. Is there value in checking them out and learning about them? Heck yes. But this is a quick start to internet marketing guide, right? So let’s keep it simple. The fact is that Facebook is huge, and Twitter is massively important and an indispensable tool. You can do a lot of damage with just these two. Just as with blogging, use them regularly. An inactive profile is worthless to you. Just like if you leave your house unattended…it will deteriorate over time, this is true for your internet property as well. You have to maintain it for it to grow and remain valuable. Use your social networking profiles for being social and meeting people. Sure, link out to your blog posts and such, but keep the content you produce 99% social. Believe it or not, people know you sell widgets even if you don’t tell em. It’s linked up on your page, see? So they know already. You don’t have to tell them every five minutes. Meet people and concentrate on getting to know and learning from others with similar interests. After doing this for a while, you will start to get these mysterious messages in your inbox. They will be coming from people who have visited your site and are interested in what you’re selling, and you’ll wonder where all this magical activity is coming from. Some of it’s coming from Twitter, believe it or not. And it will have all happened without you having to hard sell anyone. This stuff works really well, if you work it. Let it take time. It’s fun anyway, so why turn it into hard work?
Let it take some time. Like I mentioned in the previous step, this stuff doesn’t happen instantly. One thing about internet marketing is that people often expect immediate results. I’m not sure why that is. It must come from a misconception about what’s happening. When you give someone a business card at a social event, do you expect them to buy something from you right there on the spot? No. You meet 28 people that night, and 9 of them call you back over the next few weeks. You build it from there. This is how it works. Social networking has become confused with being this new phenomenon, and we think it’s complicated. It’s not. Social networking is people with common interests hanging out, talking. This has been going on for ages. It’s how business is done. And building a business takes time.
Read and learn. Study what you’re doing. Read other blogs. Look at other websites, especially within the same field as you’re working. Apply the CASE principle of success I’ve described in a previous post. Never stop this. Learning and stealing ideas from your competitors is another age old business principle that is not ever going to go away. Use it to your advantage.
Don’t quit. Be consistent. As I say so many times, things take time. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Of course I don’t consider this quick start to internet marketing checklist an ultra-comprehensive tool. After all, it’s a quick start checklist! However, I would love your input. Do you have anything you’d add?

In upcoming posts, I will be posting some of my top resources. Articles and tools I’ve used to learn this business. It’s only fair for me to share all my secrets with you, seeing as how everything I’ve learned about internet marketing is online…imagine that

Tim Ferriss Blog Talks About How to Blog Without Killing Yourself

By Christian

Perhaps you’ve heard of The Four Hour Work Week. It’s a bestseller and for good reason. It’s just one of those books you have to read. The author, Tim Ferriss, talks in this video about how blogging has played a crucial role in his book’s success, and he talks about how to build a massively successful blog without killing yourself.

I highly recommend this video. I credit Darren Rowse for making me aware of it by posting it on his blog. It’s 50+ minutes long, but it’s worth it. And I know everyone who reads this post is concerned with maximizing the results they get from blogging, so I know you’ll make time to watch it. I learned some great tidbits from this that I am going to apply to this blog for sure, and in case anyone’s interested I’ve included my notes below. Feel free to steal all you like

Even if now is not a good time for you to spend an hour watching a video, bookmark this page and come back later if you like. I spent a good bit of time with this video this afternoon, and I’m convinced it’s worth everyone’s time.

This Tim Ferriss blog post is definitely worth your time. Have fun!

A few notes I took from this video:

https://crazyegg.com/: great tool for tracking vistors’ usage of your site. Heat mapping, etc.
Best day/time of day for posting: 7am pst, 6pm est… Best days: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Changing “categories” to “topics” significantly increased his click through on his category links.
Put up a page called “7 reasons to subscribe”…promote email subscription, not RSS.
Remove date stamping, or make sure dates are not displayed if the post is older. Visitors are biased to current content and tend to bounce off a post if it’s been around a long time.
Post comment rules…use your real name, not your business or keywords. Be nice, no links in comment body, etc.

Also, I highly recommend going to Tim’s blog. I’m surprised that I’ve not been on his blog until this afternoon. It’s great