Is Your Blog on a Roll?
Last Friday I had the opportunity to give a 15 minute presentation concerning Google 2.0 (and Web 2.0) changes to a group of Action Coach clients. The talk, to say the least, was well received. We even had a good time, if you can believe it.
One of the topics that came up was the need for websites to create “community.” Yes, even if you’re a local liquor store, setting up a blog and building community can really benefit you. And your bottom line.
Though I won’t go into all the details of that talk (you can register for our upcoming Seminar on October 16th to learn more), I thought it would be helpful for folks to have a sort of “blog post” checklist to help them before they add new content to their websites.
The checklist breaks down into 4 main categories: formatting, keywords, length/style and objective. Is it important to hit all of these points? Well, yes. But even if you haven’t done so in the past, remember one important point. You can always edit!
Formatting
- Use of headers/subheads
- Do you have your tags in place?
- SEO tool properly filled out?
- Google Analytics code plugged in & installed
- Comments & Pingbacks turned ON
- Use of contextual links in post
Keywords
- Selected keywords from keyword groups
- Keyword rich blog title
- Keyword rich header & subheads
- Keyword rich content (1st 200 characters)
- Tags that match targeted keywords
Length/Style
- Post length between 400 and 700 words
- Can post be made into parts of series?
- Does post point to more content elsewhere?
- Have solid links to offsite content
Objective
- What’s the goal of this particular post?
- Are you selling, pre-selling, educating or “pointing”?
Even if you haven’t hit on all these points, remember one important point. Building a solid web-presence takes initiative, effort, and most importantly persistence.
For those of you who missed out on our talk, and who can’t make it to the upcoming seminar, we are planning on scheduling other in-person seminars/networking events, as well as hosting a monthly tele-seminar series.
Next Steps…
Any questions? Comments? Did we hit a nerve?
Drop us a line by leaving a comment. We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able. And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.
To receive monthly emails with summaries of all our latest content, sign up for our “Monthly Web Tips” above. Does that sound fair enough to you?
To discover how our web marketing firm can help you with your online presence, traffic, leads and sales, kindly follow the link. You can also review our web marketing services to better understand how we work with clients just like you.
Is Your Marketing Message Relying on the Kindness of Strangers?
Sometimes a theme just sort of presents itself over and over again. And this week’s article is no exception. What am I driving at?
Well, there are really two issues here that we can cover. The first involves lead generation for your business. The second is broader in scope, and covers the message you “send out” to the marketplace. For this article, I’m going to focus on…
Lead Generation
In the past two weeks, I’ve been invited to join three different local BNI (Business Networking International) chapters. The people extending the invite are nice enough, don’t get me wrong. But my answer in each instance was “no thank you.”
Now, I’ll ask this question to you: why do you think I turned down each invitation? I’ll give you hint, and it’s only partially based on prior experience.
We’re talking about major philosophical differences here…
Just think about this article headline.
The basis of any “leads group” (think chamber of commerce) or “lead exchange” service (BNI) involves the basic premise that folks in the group get to know you, your service, and then are able to refer business to you. Sounds simple enough right? And in theory, it’s a good idea.
Look, we all know that a solid referral is the easiest source of new business, because the folks who get your name and number are “presold” on you and your service. That’s the idea, anyway. For example, Bill refers you to Sally Sue, talks you up, says how awesome you are, yada yada. And then Bill says “hey Mike, give Sally Sue a call.” And you do.
And nine times out of ten it’s a homerun for you.
But here’s the basic problem with BNI, and just about any “leads group.” The person referring you has to KNOW your business. They have to understand who your target customer/client/patient is. Quite frankly, they have to give a damn about you and your service. That’s the hidden premise behind “givers gain.”
But what’s the reality? That’s the issue at hand…
The Truth About Most Lead Groups
For starters, BNI (and most lead groups) are more about appearance than reality. You either have to bring “leads” on a regular basis to maintain “membership,” or you feel compelled to bring “leads” in order to receive leads in return. So where’s the focus? I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s NOT on you and your business.
Go ask around. I dare you to…
Here’s what you’ll find, more often than not. Crappy leads. Leads that aren’t “leads” at all. One step (barely removed) from a cold call. Leads that aren’t properly targeted to benefit you. Or your business.
Now, the word on the street is, every week when you give your 30 second or 60 second “elevator speech” you’re supposed to give a good overview of what you want, the type of referrals you’re looking for, that sort of thing. Each and every week you meet to build relationship and to “educate” your “sales team.” That’s the idea.
Here’s the reality. Most folks don’t listen to what you’re saying. What you need. Who you’re looking to meet to build your business.
One time, we actually went around the room and had to give the 60 second intro of other folks in the room. You know, instead of giving your own talk, giving Billy’s or Sally Sue’s intro.
Know how folks in my group did? Can you guess? Try one out of ten got it right. What does that tell you?
So here’s the point. You can either rely on scattered and sketchy referrals to build your business, or take the marketing “bull by the horns” and actually OWN your marketing message, channel, and lead flow.
I’ll leave the choice up to you.
Next Steps…
Any questions? Comments? Did we hit a nerve?
Drop us a line by leaving a comment. We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able. And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.
To receive monthly emails with summaries of all our latest content, sign up for our “Monthly Web Tips” above. Does that sound fair enough to you?
To discover how our web marketing firm can help you with your online presence, traffic, leads and sales, kindly follow the link. You can also review our web marketing services to better understand how we work with clients just like you.
Is Your Business a Victim of "Copy-Cat" Marketing?
This post is “inspired” by two separate (but related) factors. The first involves an email from a prospective client who had a few questions about our services. The second involves a comment by Dan Kennedy in one of his books (repeated at the seminar I attended in New York a month ago).
First, the email we received from a potential client. I won’t quote the entire message here, for obvious reasons…
I have to admit I was a little surprised by the monthly fee and ran it by a woman I know who does this same type of work and she said that your prices were “too high.”
Well, for starters, one of the presuppositions of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) states that the meaning of communication is the response you get. Clearly, I did not communicate the key points of differentiation between our service and those of web developers.
Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
But here’s the deeper issue, as it relates to most businesses. Beyond articulating your USP – (a must according to many, including top copywriter John Carlton) – there is NO need (or logical reason) to market your business like your competitors. And yes, price is a function of marketing, not of “materials & time.” Yet, that is what many folks do.
See, your USP is supposed to differentiate you from other businesses like yours. That’s the point. And it’s function is not simply to help you get a new client or customer. It’s also about positioning. And that is related to how much you’re able to charge for your services.
For example, why would I want to price my services like my competitors? What’s the reason? To copy them? How did “they” arrive at their price? By copying other folks like themselves? What’s the point of that!
Price vs. Value
Dan Kennedy makes a very good point (backed by statistics) that price is NOT the chief reason someone buys, unless you give them no other reason for making a decision. If you fail to create value for your clients and leave them with “nothing else” but price… well, welcome to Walmart.
Price is never the issue, unless you have failed to communicate value. As I pointed out in my reply to the potential customer cited above, here’s why we’re different (in no particular order)…
- Build or optimize a site designed to maximize web conversion
- Tailor a social networking campaign to drive “organic” traffic and create a larger online “footprint”
- Help with info-product development, including product splintering
- Market discovery of niche to optimize online web-business results.
Not what your typical “web developer” does. Anyhow…
Here’s the chief point.
You shouldn’t “copy” your competitors with regards to pricing. In fact, why not charge more? As long as you can deliver the goods, that is.
For example, in another business (outsourced billing service for attorneys) the very first client that we signed up, when it came to discussing price, never even blinked when he heard the quote. It was beyond reasonable.
Do you want to know what my first thought was? To be honest, I was kicking myself because clearly “I should be charging more for this service.” And that’s because the value provided far exceeded the cost for the service.
You do NOT want to work in a “zero-resistance” mode, because all that means is that your price is too low to even be considered an issue. OUCH!
Secondly, you should not copy the marketing efforts of your competitors, unless what they’re doing is WORKING. More often than not, however, what they ARE doing is not working. And more often than not, the results are never even considered when someone goes into “copy cat” mode.
They are simply following the herd because no other reason was given to think and act differently.
Post Script. Just to let you know, the above referenced person above, after a face to face meeting, had this to say:
“Thank you so much for meeting with me today. It was extremely helpful. I also thought of another service I may be able to market via the web. Lots to do and talk about. I am very excited to be working with you. How do we proceed from here?”
That, in my book, is not too bad.
Next Steps…
Any questions? Comments? Did we hit a nerve?
Drop us a line by leaving a comment. We will reply (here, and by email if you’d like) as soon as we’re able. And if there’s a topic you want us to discuss, let us know.
To receive monthly emails with summaries of all our latest content, sign up for our “Monthly Web Tips” above. Does that sound fair enough to you?
To discover how our web marketing firm can help you with your online presence, traffic, leads and sales, kindly follow the link. You can also review our web marketing services to better understand how we work with clients just like you.
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