A successful business blog is a great marketing and communications asset. It's no surprise then, that so many business owners start blogging. However, many of them stop blogging after a few months, because they have not seen the kind of results they had hoped for. It's like a farmer planting her crops and then trying to ...
One of the great things about being in business today, is that we can get an idea, write it down, click a mouse button and get it in front of thousands of people in seconds. Better still, we can reach all these people for little more than the cost of our time. However, instant communications ...
Some people have asked me, why I place so much emphasis on building a community rather than a following. Yesterday, within a 30 minute period, I received 2 emails from people enquiring about my services. I believe the way these emails begin, (see excerpt below), demonstrates the marketing value of community. Email 1: "Dear Jim, You don't know ...
I recently took the plunge and started using Google Buzz. My initial thoughts are that it has a lot of potential, which is why I wanted to mention it here. Google Buzz: So, what does it do? VERY briefly, Google Buzz is a micro blogging application, which comes as ...
Facebook Privacy - Feedback request I'm in the process of writing a post about the concerns many people have expressed, regarding the way Facebook handles it's user's privacy. This is becoming a very big issue right now and I would like to know what you think. If you have any feedback you would like to share with ...
How well do you handle criticism? If you use blogging, newsletters and/or social media sites as a way to market your services, you will receive varying levels of criticism. Paradoxically, the more successful you become, the more criticism you will receive, because ...
I just fell back in love with Twitter! As some of you might remember, I was once one of the world's top 40 most followed people on Twitter. Then, in January 2009, after being swamped daily with hundreds ...
How many Internet users have the same name as you? For most of us, the answer will be in the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or more. Right now, this represents a challenge for a growing number of consultants, entrepreneurs, trainers and authors etc, who trade or work in their own names. That's because ...
I switched my computer on this morning and was amazed with what I saw!
Last night, while I was sleeping, there were interesting conversations going on here; across 4 different posts and with dozens of comments. That kind of feedback or interaction, is one of the things I value most about blogging and yet another reason why I believe blogs have a bright future, as a marketing tool.
Here’s why you should include a blog in your marketing mix…
I have already had several books sent to me this year for review, written by social media experts or gurus. One thing all of them have in common, is that they contain a version of the following advice, which is, in my opinion totally incorrect: Build a following and market to that following.
Here’s what I have found to be better advice: Don’t build a following. Build a community instead!
FOLLOWERS are like the audience at a rock concert. They are set apart from the rock star on stage. They see the rock star as distant. They are part of the event, but a very small part. The rock star might get the crowd to sing the occasional verse, but we all know they are REALLY just broadcasting THEIR VOICE to the crowd! I really don’t see a lot of value in positioning yourself as a rock star, if you actually want to get involved with people. Ironically, the people I see using this approach all the time, are social media experts!
COMMUNITY members are like…
I wrote recently about copycat marketing. That’s where someone copies the marketing of someone else, hoping that it will work.
After writing that post, I received a lot of email and comments, from people who had personal experience of copycat marketing going wrong.
Here’s one email, which I would like to share with you and hear your thoughts on….
Successful marketing is all about people.
It’s not about; brands, venues, websites, companies or social media tools – Marketing is all about people. You see, without people, none of those things matter.
I met with a friend of mine this morning, who owns a large and very successful nightclub. We had our meeting this time, in the nightclub itself, rather than his office, and the sensation was amazing. I have only previously been there, when it’s been packed with hundreds of people, having a great time and enjoying the music. This morning, you could have heard a pin drop, as we sat, drinking coffee and talking about his marketing.
You see, it’s not the building, fixtures or fittings that makes his nightclub a success; it’s the people who work there and party there. Without people, the place means nothing. The value is in the people…
How do you feel about people, who criticise you or your work negatively? Well, if you are thinking of using a blog as a part of your marketing mix, (and you should), you will need to figure out how to deal with ...
If you checked out the social media activity of 100 businesspeople, do you think you would find many leaders? Leaders lead: They have the courage to offer their own unique opinions and views. They act like leaders, from the front. Followers follow: They copy what others do ...
Here's a question for you: Why do millions of people own exercise machines, which they used for a week and then packed away somewhere, never to be used again? The answer is simple, yet it contains a valuable lesson. The reason people bought those machines, is because the 'perfect' people in the ...
As someone who has worked in marketing almost all my adult life, I am a keen student of human behaviour. You know what? After 23 years in the business, I am still often amazed at what I see. Take yesterday for instance Following the sad death of Jim Rohn at the ...
One of the first rules of business is not to rely too heavily on any 1 client or customer, for the majority of your income. If you do, and that customer goes broke or takes their business elsewhere, you're in BIG trouble! Even if that customer just decides to ...
One of the marketing challenges that all businesses face, is how to leverage their time and money for the best possible return on investment (or ROI). There are so many things we all could be doing, yet these are not of equal value to us. For example, there's an interesting debate along these lines over ...
I'm sure you have heard it said many times before; "people think in pictures." In written marketing, the words we use have a massive impact on the kind of mental pictures we paint in the minds of ...
I'm a marketing man, not a social media expert. However, because some social media tools are excellent for helping small businesses market their services, I've spent years studying the marketing potential of social media. Here's an important observation I would like to share with you. Don't copy your social media guru It's all about why ...
