|
Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
|
Business blogging has its own rules
Marketing with business blogs is not the same as blogging for a profit. When you're the owner of a small business or a physician running a practice, your goal should be different from that of many "for profit" bloggers.
There are dozens of differences between business and professional blogging, but here is the primary one: Blogging for your business does not mean you personally have to create content.
The definition of a business is a structured entity that can run profitably without the owner being present for extended periods of time.
Professional bloggers are often great writers themselves. They write fluently, frequently typing away with their own busy little fingers. They search the Internet for some news story or other bloggers' content on which to comment.
However, they have not created a business. They have created a job for themselves. This requires them to personally show up at their keyboard each and every day.
That's not the case with real business blogging. When you're blogging for your business, you do not have to be the one personally doing the blogging. The person creating content for you doesn't even have to be your employee. You can hire somebody to create written posts along with audio or video podcasts.
I can't help but recall the words of my earliest business mentor. As a 15-year old, I was frustrated with all the conflicting advice I was getting from well-meaning individuals on how to handle a new business. When I talked to my mentor about it, he shared with me a principle that will serve you well in this and other situations.
He said, "Always look at where the person giving advice is at in their life. If their lifestyle and achievements are what you'd like to aspire to, then take their advice into consideration. If not, then ignore it."
As a business owner, who cares if somebody says that outsourcing or delegating your content creation is not "authentic" blogging? All you need to care about is providing valuable content and building relationships with your clients and prospects.
That is all that the people in your target audience care about, too. They don't care who generated the helpful information or whether it broke some arbitrary rule set by some early blogging adopters. They just appreciate being educated, entertained or energized by what they find on your business blog.
When you hear advice being handed out, especially when it comes to who maintains your blog and how that is done, -look at who the advice is coming from. If it's coming from someone chained to their keyboard personally obligated to create content, then you know that advice should be heavily filtered or totally ignored.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.