Archive for February, 2009
5 Reasons Why Blogging Should Be Important to Your Business
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We all know about the different platforms available to bloggers today which include WordPress, Blogger and TypePad, just to name a few. But why should blogging be important to you and your business? Today I am going to share with you the top 5 reasons why I think blogging should be an integral part of your online business strategy.
1. Blogging gives you the opportunity to showcase your knowledge.
In the comments section of your blog, readers get to connect with you in ways that they wouldn’t be able if you didn’t have a blog. You can reply back to your commenter’s and keep the dialogue and conversation going. If you have an RSS feed on your blog, your commenter’s can subscribe to your comments feed so they can be kept up to date with the comments on your blog. If you use WordPress.org as your blogging platform, you can have replies to comments emailed directly to your commenter’s by using the “Subscribe to Comments” WP plugin.
2. You build a relationship with your visitors.
When you blog, your voice is heard by your visitors. On a blog, you can share your opinions, advice and quips about your business and various personal observations in life. When blogging you build a rapport with your readers, get additional RSS feed subscribers and get in touch with your visitors. You give them the information they need when they need it.
3. Blogs are search engine friendly, which means more potential visitors to your website.
Google and other search engines love fresh content and there is no better way to provide the fresh content that they want than through blogging. If your blog is attached to your website (for example through WordPress.org), you also create additional ways to enter your main website.
4. Blogging can be a non-threatening marketing platform.
Blogging can easily become an extension of your marketing plan. Many times, I have talked to both new coaches and entrepreneurs and one of their biggest hang-ups is marketing themselves and, by extension, their business. Be sure to engage your readers and showcase your expertise. Encourage them to comment and when they do, interact with them. Don’t be afraid to be transparent with your readers, they will be glad you did.
5. Blogging helps you gain recognition.
When you blog consistently you will gain a following in your area of expertise. You can connect with your readers one-on-one in your own comfort and style. No one knows this better than Andy Wibbels. In 2005 he was approached by Portfolio Hardcover to write Go Blog Wild: A Guide for Small Business Blogging based specifically on the knowledge he shared on his blog. Talk about recognition!
I would love for you to share some of your blogging tips with me. Comment below and I will be sure to respond.
Are You Looking for a Time Tested Business Strategy?
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Sophronia Scott is my personal friend and I’m honored to be a part of her “Doing Business By the Book” book launch. She is one of those author’s who truly understands how to connect with her audience.
In 2004, Sophronia released her highly acclaimed novel “All I Need to Get By”, which was endorsed by Harvard University, People Magazine and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.
In this economic climate, you go with what works. Becoming a published author is just such a tactic. With “Doing Business By the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible” by Sophfronia Scott you will learn how to write the right book for your business. You’ll find ideas for powerful lead generation strategies as well as the basic nuts and bolts on choosing and assembling just the right stories to tell in your book.
In “Doing Business By the Book” Sophronia will take you on a journey from beginning to end to help you find your voice for you book and organizing your thoughts. Throughout the book she offers writing tips, PR ideas and even where and how to sell your new book.
“Doing Business By the Book” is the right book at the right time. If writing books works for the likes of T. Harv Eker, Robert Kiyosaki and Jack Canfield, it can work for you!
Plus, if you pick up “Doing Business By the Book” before Midnight, Eastern time (New York USA) TODAY (February 26th), you’ll also receive an exclusive bonus package called “The Savvy Entrepreneur’s Toolkit” assembled by some of the savviest business experts working today (myself included). I urge you to look at this important offer now!
Go to http://www.DoingBusinessBytheBookToday.com to take advantage of this onetime special offer.
The Client Attraction System® Teleclass
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On Wednesday, March 4th I will be hosting a teleclass for Practice Pay Solutions with Fabienne Fredrickson developer of The Client Attraction System®.
Fabienne says that many people are very good at what they do but lack the real-life marketing skills that bring in a constant stream of new clients. So she developed The Client Attraction System® to teach others exactly how to use marketing to their advantage and start making more money in their business much faster than they would on their own.
In this 60 minute teleclass, you will learn how to:
- Break down the marketing process into easy-to-implement steps
- Use the secrets of PULL marketing to get clients effortlessly
- Determine which target market will yield more revenue quickly
- Get clients who will pay you what you’re worth
- Learn to close the sale virtually every time, without feeling sales-y
- Create your own simple marketing action plan to start seeing results fast
- Put all of your marketing efforts on auto-pilot to create results quickly- all while having fun!
Sign up for this call today at Practice Pay Solutions. Just go to Practice Pay Solutions, click on Support, then Business Development. The sign up button for Fabienne’s class is towards the bottom of the page.
About Janet Slack
Janet Slack is the National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions and the principal of Life Adventure Coaching. She is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Janet is the author of Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right and Biz Tips: The Book.
About Fabienne Fredrickson
Fabienne Fredrickson is the founder of http://www.clientattraction.com/ and creator of The Client Attraction System® and the Inner Game of Abundance SystemTM. She is a widely respected expert on marketing and mindset for solo-entrepreneurs, known for combining a unique blend of innovative, no-fluff marketing with the proven mindset strategies that work.
Where Do We Go Now?
Posted by: | CommentsOn Monday I wrote about the first of these articles from Harvard Business Review (HBR) and today, have included the second.
The second article from HBR that is titled “What Can Coaches Do for You?” is centered on the direction of coaching in business.
While the article is short it says a lot about the lack of unity of direction in the coaching industry. There is no clear measure of the effectiveness of coaching, of which credentials are paramount to finding an effective coach or of what is an appropriate fee. It goes on to suggest that coaching, in general, rides a fine line coming close and often entering the “counseling” arena (see previous post) and also overlapping into the field of consulting.
The authors, Diane Coutu and Carol Kauffman, do include the results of a survey that was done and provide some informative graphical representations of a few of the results. I found the graph called “Is Coaching Personal” very interesting in that when coaches are hired in a business or executive setting, 97% said that they were not hired to handle personal issues, however, 78% said that they do handle personal issues.
In light of this information, I tend to believe that it is not just coaches who need to understand what coaching really is. But, we must also educate the public at large the differences between coaching, counseling and consulting. Otherwise, many people will not receive proper instruction and it could wind up harming the coaching industry as a whole.
