Blogging: what do I write about?!

Today, people care more about your content than about your credentials. Having an MBA or roster of large clients is less important, for instance, than being a subject matter expert.

Most of us blog or have at least thought about doing it. But, we’re plagued with: what do I write about?

10 tips for content creation:

1. Develop a library of keywords, topics and angles your customers want to know more about. Think of this as the subject matter you want to be known for, like “gluten free diet” for a nutritionist , “DUI” for a criminal defense attorney or “taglines” for a copywriter. Create this list and reference it often for guidance on what to write.
2. Look at frequently or recently asked questions from your clients. Look at your outgoing email for ideas. You’ve already taken the time to craft a reply. Turn this into a useful blog post.
3. Look for something topical and in the news right now. Set up Google News Alerts to get email notification of all relevant news and blog posts. This will keep you constantly informed and will stimulate ideas. Share your take on the topic or introduce it in a unique way and then link to the news article or blog post.
4. Share your expert opinion on something controversial. Your unique perspective reinforces your role as a subject matter expert and will likely generate discussion and re-posts.
5. Use seasonal events and observances as a hook. There’s a day or month for everything! One of my clients just created a very clever video using Abe Lincoln’s birthday as her anchor. A great use of a bank holiday.
6. Interview other people, especially if their expertise dovetails nicely with yours
7. Did you just read a great book that relates to your business? Do a quick book review.
8. Do a customer profile, highlighting how you’ve helped them
9. Do a brief how-to on something, laying out simple, yet specific, steps your readers can act on right away
10. Provide tips on something like “10 tips for creating effective blog content”

Start with a plan! Think about what your customers want that you’re particularly good at providing. Think about what subject matter you want to dominate. Create this list, as described in Tip #1 above, and use it to develop a plan for what you’ll write and when. Your posts don’t need to be long. They just need to be interesting, informative and/or entertaining in a way that moves your business forward.

To Facebook or not to Facebook?

Are you thinking about a Facebook page for your business? Or may be you set one up because you thought you had to. But now you don’t really know what to do with it.

How do you know if a Facebook page is a good idea for your business?

Facebook makes sense if any of the following are true:

B2C: You market primarily to consumers (vs. businesses). While you can use a Facebook business page to market to other businesses, it’s not a very targeted way to reach your audience.

Network: You feel comfortable and capable of building a strong, relevant following on Facebook ­– people who will either become your customers or who will influence others to become your customers. If you currently use Facebook for personal use and have a solid network already, then you’re more likely to be successful building one for your business. If you hate Facebook or do very little to build your personal network on Facebook, then think twice about using it for business.

Content: You have interesting things to say that would be relevant to your customers, and you feel comfortable posting these as updates on your Facebook page. Blog posts, articles, links to interesting videos, etc. are all great updates. If you want a Facebook business page to work, you have to keep it fresh and interesting.

Specials: You hold regular events, special promotions, sales, etc. that are easier to announce and promote on Facebook than they are on your website. This is where Facebook becomes a great tool – allowing you to spread the word through your network and in turn, through theirs. It’s the perfect environment for going viral. But, if you don’t do regular events and promotions, then Facebook may not be worthwhile.

Community: You want your customers and prospective customers to interact. Facebook makes posting content and updates really easy. And it encourages your fans to comment. This is a unique feature that your website does not offer (other than perhaps on your blog page). So if you want to create this kind of community, Facebook is great for it. But, it does require work on your part to post interesting, thought-provoking updates and to reply to comments.

I’m all about using social media to promote your business. But I used this assessment for my own consulting practice and decided that a Facebook business page does not make sense for me. See if it makes sense for you.

Scheduling meetings can be a real time-sink

If you run a small business, are you your own admin support? I sure am! Even when I was in the corporate world, I did much of this work myself, especially coordinating and scheduling meetings and conference calls.

Once you have more than three people to gather for a call or meeting, email is no longer an efficient tool. Instead of saving time, you’re wasting time – your own and that of everybody else. If you send email to poll your group on possible dates and times, you end up sending and receiving an endless string of messages. Ugh!

Thank the admin gods for a nifty (and free!) online app from the folks at Doodle. Go to www.doodle.com and follow the simple instructions for polling your group for good days/times to meet. The set up is super fast and easy. Once you’ve done that, you receive two emails from Doodle.

One message includes the link for the poll. Simply insert that into an email to your group. It will lead them to the online poll where they check the days/times that work for them.

The second message includes a link for you, the administrator. This allows you to see, in real time, the responses. Once you know which days/times have the best response, you can easily schedule the meeting and send a note to your group.

That’s it! One email to poll the group. A second to inform them of the meeting date and time. So simple.

Running a successful small business requires you to make the most efficient use of your time. This free application does just that. Now go! Schedule your next big meeting. And prosper!

What are your clients really buying?

“I need a marketing consultant.” “I need someone to manage my calendar.” “I need a new car.”

This is what our clients say, but is it really what they’re buying? Nope. Not really.

We think that the sales process is about uncovering needs. But that’s just the beginning. If you stop there, you could easily lose business, and worse, charge far less than you could if you really understood what you’re selling.

“Huh?!”

Let’s use an example.

Sarah is a professional organizer. An attorney wants to hire her to manage his calendar. Sarah knows that under every need is a desire to fix or prevent some discomfort or pain. So she asks him a couple of questions to find out why he needs help with his calendar. He tells her that and he’s mismanaged his own calendar and is worried he’s going to miss important meetings and court dates. Sarah could stop there, knowing now that her job is to help prevent this from happening.

But Sarah’s wiser than that. She knows that there’s more below the surface. Perhaps even something that keeps him up at night. Why else would he consider hiring someone for something he could easily do himself? So, our smart organizer asks “What would happen if you missed appointments and court dates?” to which our disorganized attorney replies “I could be sued for malpractice and lose my license. I’m terrified of that happening.”

Aha!! Sarah’s uncovered the real reason he wants to hire her – to prevent the painful and costly prospect of losing his livelihood and reputation. That’s a far cry from “manage my calendar.” One’s an administrative task that can only demand a limited fee. The other, preventing a malpractice suit and loss of his license, is invaluable. What do you think our attorney will pay Sarah now that he’s identified her true value?

What would your clients pay when you help them to see what they’re really buying?

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Oh My!

If only it were lions and tigers and bears. We know how to handle those.

With so many social media choices for marketing our businesses – where does the taming begin?

Let’s start with a few strategic questions:

1. Who do you need to reach: consumers (B2C) or business people (B2B)?

2. What kind of interaction and information will they find useful and compelling?

3. Are you able to produce regular, engaging connections and expertise?

4. What are your goals and will this type of engagement move you toward them?

#1 Audience
The first question helps you narrow your focus so you’re reaching the right audience. While many businesses now use Facebook pages, I believe it’s only useful for B2C, and only if you build a Facebook network that reflects your audience profile. LinkedIn is the largest social media site for B2B and as its membership has gained critical mass, it’s an effective tool for making connections to grow your business. Twitter can be used for both B2C or B2B. But unless you can build a relevant following and feed it the tasty bits it craves, you’re wasting your time.

#2 Content
This question helps you figure out what to say and how to say it. Social media is largely about sharing your expertise and establishing a good reputation for you and your business. But you can only do this with outstanding content. This requires a plan and flawless execution. Which brings me to the third question…

#3 Capability
Unless you’re ready to post, connect and tweet on a regular basis – which can range from multiple times a day to several times a week – think carefully about the use of these tools. This is particularly true of Facebook and Twitter. If they’re not kept up-to-date with your latest bits of wisdom and wit, then they could do you more harm than good.

#4 Objectives
Every marketing decision should be driven by your business objectives. Social media’s no different. In fact, because it’s so time consuming and steps removed from closing a sale, it’s particularly important that you decide to do only what will move your business forward.

I decided that I would blog and write business articles, all on topics my small business clients and prospective clients would find useful. By doing so, I share advice they can use right away. And if they need to go further, there’s an opportunity for us to work together.

To work the social media network, I publish my articles and blog posts on LinkedIn and other social media sites for small business owners. This puts my expertise out there and draws more to my site, my business and to me.

If it feels like a scary walk through the forest, shoot me a note and I’ll help you find your way.