Blogs – Diamond in the Rough for your
Marketing?
by Richard Zwicky
Blogs are a potential goldmine of insights for readers,
provided by business leaders, market leaders, innovators, philosophers,
marketers, political commentators, and many other opinion makers who never
before have enjoyed such easy access to a simple and unmoderated public forum
in which to share their opinions, ideas and insights.
These leaders
have taken to using the Internet to publish their thoughts for the same reason
they make public speaking appearances; to build credibility for themselves and
for their company, and to become recognized as a resource, usually with the
expectation that it will lead to sales. Blogging presents them with an easy,
non-time consuming, and inexpensive way to quickly reach thousands of
interested parties all around the world.
The effect that these leaders
have had in posting their thoughts and musings online has helped evolve blogs
into powerful viral marketing tools. Blogs allow you to quickly and easily
reach people who are not in your direct network, and greatly expand the number
of people you and your company reach.
Are you an expert in your field?
Do you know things about your favorite subject that you would like to share
with others? Do you write articles for newsletters, like this one, and want to
help the publisher expand their reach? Then blogging may be right for
you.
Have you never looked at a blog? Are you sure? A lot of articles
and content on web sites is currently blogged. But if you are looking to see
what a blog is, here are some interesting ones to look at.
Blogs.Sun.com
BlogHerald.com
If you want to start your own, and your company doesn't
offer one, try these tools, and link to them from your site:
Blogger.com
Blogware.com
While sometimes you can find blogs that are interesting,
some of them simply are not. This happens when the author / contributor either
has nothing of interest to say, or has nothing to add to the facts they are
recording.
However, blogs that are maintained for extended periods are
usually filled with interesting and often humorous commentaries. That's to be
expected; the person blogging is enjoying seeing the world, and allowing you to
share in their vision; it reflects a joy for living.
So how are blogs
a diamond in the rough, ready to be polished and turned into a gem, capping a
marketing goldmine?
You might be surprised, but many people have
found ways to make money off their blogs, just by making sure it's up to date,
interesting and relevant.
Just like any other web site, blogs allow for
traditional Internet revenue streams such as affiliate programs and banner
advertising, etc... Now, I don't know that you can add a Google adsense banner
or any other banner for that matter to your blog if it's third party, but if
you are hosting your own, the possibilities are enormous. But that's just one
way to earn money from a blog. The best way, is to have it lead to new sales
for you and your business.
But for any of these monetary systems to
work, you need people to find your blog first.
How Visitors Find Your Blog i.e. How You Can Make
Money Off a Blog
As you are building your blog, you need to be
conscious of other web sites, and blogs. Remember, yours is not alone. If you
read something interesting somewhere then "blog it." In more traditional
terms, just link to it. Link to a lot of other blogs and news sites. The people
who run blogs, also tend to read their own web site traffic reports, and will
notice the traffic your blogs are sending. They will read your blog, and if
they find it interesting, they will blog it. If you see a news story in another
blog, link to it as your link to the article.
Some people maintain a
list of their favorite blogs within their own blog. It helps paint a picture of
what the author finds interesting, and also helps your blog gain goodwill from
other blogs.
When I first created my blog, one thing I did was submit
it to a bunch of blog search engines. I used:
Blog Search
Engine
Daypop
Blog Catalog
Feedster
Ice Rocket
Bloogz
Blogstreet
Blogwise
Some of these tools crawl the blogs hourly - so your
content will get out there quickly. Others take longer; just like the
mainstream search engines!
Many independent blog tools, automatically
offer RSS/XML feeds of your blog. You just need to ensure that they are turned
on. They make it easy for you to get syndicated.
I saw a note recently
that there are now over 4 million blogs around the world with a new blog being
added every 10 seconds or so. By comparison, there are 10 million new web pages
being added to the Internet daily - or 116 a second. This means that blogspace
is less crowded than the rest of the Internet.
So, what are the
disadvantages to building and maintaining a blog? Well, they vary from
individual to individual, and company to company. But here are my thoughts:
1) You need to contribute regularly. I notice some
people make updates many times a day. That's wonderful, but it's also a time
commitment.
2) You better have something relevant to say. If you
don't keep it interesting, people will not keep coming back for more!
3) Does the person writing your company blogs have good writing skills?
Are you happy with the quality of grammar and vocabulary?
4) Are
you, or is the person writing the blog for your company, representative of the
company's perspectives? Do they enunciate a coherent vision of, and for, your
company? That's a risk you take when you assign a blog to someone else. If it's
your own blog, are you the right person for the job?
5) Does the
blog offer a valuable perspective, or just some ramblings?
In the end, the value proposition in a blog is the same
as in any other content you or your company publishes. Is the content valuable?
Is the information worthwhile? If not, if you have nothing to say, or add to a
conversation, don't speak. Do you enjoy the company of people who just speak to
hear themselves? Probably not. If a blog leaves you with that same feeling,
then it's probably not going to be successful.
But, if you consistently
maintain an interesting blog, people will recognize it, and you. That's where
the real value proposition, and the opportunity to make money off a blog lies.
The real value in blogs is in getting your word out. If you have something
meaningful to say, and the better you do it, the more likely someone is to
reference your blog, and eventually your corporation's web site. This will lead
to increased sales. Just don't expect it to happen overnight.
I would
highly recommend that you have some sort of publishing strategy for your
business. Whether it ends up being a blog, or writing newsletter articles as I
have done here, sharing good, coherent information with interested parties will
help you and your business build credibility. Publishing will go a long way
towards building your professional reputation, one word at a time.
About
The Author
Richard Zwicky is a founder and CEO of
Metamend Software and Design
Ltd. Metamend's cutting edge Search Engine Optimization (SEO) technology
and software has been recognized globally as a leader in its field. With
successful clients on 5 continents, and over 50 countries worldwide, the
company has experience in a broad range of markets and marketplaces. Metamend's
client web sites rank near or at the top of the search engines for their
respective search terms.
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