I have been studying this stuff pretty closely for a few years now and I’ve come to this conclusion:
“It’s all about your blog.”
If you plan to do any business at all on the internet, your blog needs to be your business’s front door. In fact, I’m pretty convinced that almost ANY business needs to blog. I’m in the process of making changes on this humble space this week, I’ll be changing the Affluent Artist’s Blog address slightly to Affluentartist.com. Why? Because about 1,200 of you a week are reading this space and that number keeps growing! So my speaking business and my book business want to be somewhere you can find them!
So, here’s few of the ideas I’m having about blogs:
* Your blog is where people get to know you and people would rather do business with people they know. Social networking is, after all, about being social. A year or so ago we were really worried about people becoming too isolated, the explosion of FB and Twitter have made that much less of a problem, people are more than willing to begin new relationships on line. They are less than thrilled to get hit with sales pitches every time they see you, just as they are in real life, so give them something to come back for and let your new friends get to know you.
* Be generous. I have a few friends at the National Speakers Conference in Scottsdale this week and I wish I was there. The spirit of generosity and the willingness to help fellow speakers is reviving my friends’ energy. Give your best stuff away, people will appreciate authenticity and a generous spirit. Your blog should be a place people love to hang out and to gain something whenever they log in. You’ll get paid in the long run.
* I’m switching from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, the new template allows me to use this WordPress format on my own website, a pretty neat little trick. It seems, quite by accident, that I have become a semi-famous “blogger”, so it will be less cumbersome to have everything on one website. I have what a lot of businesses wish they had, new people coming by all the time. Does that mean my new site will be full of “sales” stuff? No, it will look a lot like this page actually. MY big bet is this, web pages, at least as sales tools, are dead. They are “so 2008″. You have to have a web page but you must have more.
*We’ve been talking about Web 2.0 in this space lately and, as newspapers and magazines go away, people are looking for content that interests and informs them. Our creative renaissance depends on being able to find people who want to hear your message. Your blog is the best way to get your work out there. Twitter, I believe, is the best way to find and create a list of people who are your audience.
*A blog helps you specialize, If you are a realtor in your town, blog about Little League games, bake sales and local restaurants. Your newspapers probably going out of business, take it’s place! If you are the local hardware store, you should have articles that combine local events with your “how to” tips. (Like how to use a chainsaw, right after the hurricanes come through).
*Video: Get it up there! There are a whole lot of people who’d rather not read. If they can play you on their IPOD, that’s what they are going to do. I plan to begin doing that next week, you’ll see more video of me on blogs.
With any luck, we’ll be in new digs by the end of this week, I’ll keep you posted. And, I hope you’ll give blogging some serious thought, it’s time!
5 Comments
July 20, 2009 at 3:49 pm
The switch is relatively painless and one I’ve done recently.. that is the switch from .wordpress sites to self hosted. You get TON’s more fun plug in’s to play with, more free theme choices and as you say a more “memorable” address than the one that’s hosted at wordpress or blogspot. Welcome to the club!
July 20, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Thanks Chrissy, I like being in clubs!
July 21, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Thanks! I have been stuck on the direction of my blog. Your new insight has me looking at in a different way. Its not about being perfect in content but that you share and from that one will grow. I would love feedback from others here is my blog: http://myoozarts.blogspot.com/
July 21, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Great Stuff here Rick,
I agree 100%, and this post is pushing me forward in the switch over to wordpress.org as well. Thank you for all your energy and content!
July 24, 2009 at 12:06 am
My blog definitely has been my front door to my business, in fact my first customers came from visitors who admired some of my ’show and tell’ pieces and asked to buy them. I about fell out of my chair at the prospect that maybe, just maybe, I could enter into the art scene through sharing my work and my processes on my blog. That was the beginning of many great things that have happened over the last couple of years.
I find my blog continually evolving and loving have all the new people stop by that may never have found me otherwise. Of course I’m eternally grateful for all the good ‘friends’ and fans I’ve made over the last few years as well. My blog readers have really lit my fire (artistically) and have kept it burning in many ways! It’s also fun to see how my work has grown and evolved as my blog grows!