Ines and I held our first Project Blogger coaching session this afternoon. We spent about an hour on the phone discussing our strategy and approach.
Our jumping off place was what I refer to as 10 Things to Consider Before You Blog. (It's Appendix A in the book btw). The blog in question is a new one she's going to develop, and it will be where we hang our hat so far as the contest is concerned. The 10 Things serve as guidelines any business blogger should reference in getting started using blogs as a marketing tool, and I've asked her to use it to create a blog "business proposal" in a manner of speaking.
Here are the 10 Things we discussed:
DETERMINE WHY YOU WANT TO USE A BLOG
Have some sense of your specific purpose. For example, are you using the blog as a marketing channel, or will it be more for company news and updates? Do not do it because it is the latest Internet trend (notice that we did not say fad) or just because everyone else is doing it. We have outlined 10 specific benefits to using blogs. Before engaging in the practice of blogging, we strongly recommend assessing which of those would be applicable to you.
CONSIDER YOUR BLOG’S CORE MESSAGE AND TONE
What are you going to write about? What topics will be covered? What “tone” will you give the blog? Should it be warm and humorous or more straightforward and informational? Your approach will be determined largely by the audience you are attempting to target. Obviously, when writing any blog, your primary consideration needs to be your readers (at least the readers you hope to attract).
IDENTIFY WHO IS GOING TO WRITE THE BLOG
Blogs take time and forethought. They need someone who understands how to write “blog style.” Invariably, the blogger will inject his or her personality. If this is you, be prepared to spend some time finding your “blog voice.” If the blog is your company blog, it is incumbent upon you to find a writer who understands what makes your company tick and can reflect its persona accurately.
DETERMINE WHETHER THIS PERSON IS PREPARED TO ENGAGE THE CONVERSATION WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL THE COMMUNICATION
The blogosphere is a no-holds-barred, free-for-all means of communicating. It is often a two-way street. Readers can respond to what you have written using the “comments” option built into most blog platforms. Their responses may not always be kind. Not every organization is prepared for such raw, unedited content to show up on its public Web site (blog).
Several options are available. You can choose to leave the comments feature turned off. However, this is not the best course of action to take. The beauty of blogs is that they are designed for interaction. Blogs are all about conversations between the blogger and readers. To turn comments off is to say to readers, “We don’t value your input.”
A second option is to prevent negative comments from reaching the public blog. However, that is less than optimal as well. Not only does it smack of controlling the communication, but it also is an attempt to sanitize your blog, purging it of what might prove to be valuable commentary. It will not take readers long to catch on to this and view it as a feigned public relations ploy, the result being that they do not come back.
The best way to approach this issue is to take each comment at face value. If it’s obvious the commenter is just trying to “flame” you (unwarranted criticism), then moderate the comment and prevent it from reaching the blog site. However, if the comment is salient and addresses a real issue, it is in your best interest to respond accordingly, giving the commenter the benefit of the doubt.
If you do not wish to do so on the blog itself, respond to the commenter via e-mail and tell him or her that you value the feedback. (Most blog platforms will send you a copy of the comment in an e-mail along with the person’s e-mail address to which you can hit the “Reply” button and respond easily.) Open a dialogue. If you are successful, you will turn an enemy into a friend. Then go to your blog and talk about how you worked with the person to turn things around. Maybe even include a quote from that person. The message such action sends to readers is invaluable. It tells them that you have a sincere, genuine desire to serve their needs. Your willingness to be transparent about your interactions provides public relations value to which no dollar figure could ever be assigned!
ESTABLISH A COMPANY BLOGGING POLICY WITH POSTING GUIDELINES
Susannah Gardner’s book, Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies, contains an entire section on this subject, including such specific guidelines as
- I will be accurate. When I make a mistake, I will correct it as quickly as possible.
- I will post only on the following topics: [list your topics].
- I will respond to comments and e-mails quickly.
MONITOR WHAT IS BEING SAID ABOUT YOUR COMPANY AND YOUR INDUSTRY
There are a number of reasons to do this, with the most obvious one being to find out how people view your company. You may find that no one is talking about you at all or that what is being said has negative or positive connotations. If you are not being talked about, even to a small degree, a blog can help to change that. If you company is being viewed negatively, you can use a blog to challenge misperceptions.
In addition, monitoring your industry helps you to know what is being said about your competitors. Observing industry trends might help you to find a niche worth exploiting or a marketing avenue others are overlooking. Many online tools have been created to assist you, such as BlogPulse, Bloglines Citations, Technorati, PubSub, and IceRocket, just to name a few. Google searches for your name and/or your company name also can help you to track this information.
DECIDE ON A BLOG PLATFORM
This is not difficult because many good platforms are available.
IDENTIFY WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BLOG
If the blog has marketing ramifications, getting the attention of search engines is vital. There are a variety of ways to do this, including submitting the blog to a number of search engines and blog directories.
DEVELOP A PLAN TO TRACK STATISTICS
This is an area where bloggers traditionally have not paid much attention. However, when using blogs for marketing purposes, it is vital to know the effect they are having on your bottom line. Blogs are just like any other Web site in that their effect should be tracked in terms of unique visitors, page views, and conversion rates.
BE SURE TO KNOW YOUR KEYWORDS
Blogs can help customers find your business when they are searching on Google or other sites. Therefore, it is important to know what words customers use most often to find you via the search engines and what words show up in competitor or industry blogs on a regular basis that help to place them high in Google’s index.
Knowing which words to drop into your posts on a regular basis will help to boost your search rankings. Writing frequent, keyword-optimized, themed entries can help to boost search standings, which goes a long way for a business owner on a tight marketing budget. Do not overdo it, though. Readers will see right through any obvious attempts at self-promotion, and search engines will penalize you for what they refer to as keyword stuffing.
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