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Do You Have a Blog Content Strategy?

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Michael Martine offered to help me out while I was in Austin. He actually sent more than one idea for a high-value guest post. This one on content strategy appeals to the editor in me and also to the business strategist.

Do You Have a Blog Content Strategy?

by Michael Martine

A content strategy is a plan for how you will create content for your blog. Having a content strategy and following it will accelerate your blog’s growth. In this article, I’m going to explain how to develop and use a blog content strategy so you can get the best results. This is something that I have done with demonstrable success, so you can, too.

Over the past few years, as blogs have become more popular, a few best practices have evolved, and we see them repeated endlessly in all the metablogs out there: be passionate, create compelling content, and know your audience. But somewhere between reading that, nodding our heads sagely, and hitting publish, we lost our way.

Now, I can’t help you with passion. Either you have it or you don’t, and if you don’t, you are simply doing the wrong thing. Seriously, do yourself and everyone a favor and just quit blogging. But as far as the other two go, well, that’s where a blog content strategy comes in. A blog content strategy helps you channel your passion so that you get the results you want without first burning up all the fuel in your fire. Following a blog content strategy helps you accomplish what other bloggers have trouble with, like coming up with topics to blog about, and getting more traffic, comments, and subscribers.

A blog content strategy is not complicated. It only has two parts:

  1. Knowing the purpose of the blog, and making sure everything about the blog fulfills that purpose

  2. Knowing the needs of your audience, and creating content that meets those needs while fulfilling the blog’s purpose

Know the purpose of your blog

If I asked you right now point blank: what is the purpose of your blog, could you answer me right away? Most can’t. Your blog needs to have a purpose. It needs to have “true north” on its compass. The purpose of your blog is what you want to accomplish with it from the perspective of meeting your needs. I can use my own blog as an example: the purpose of Remarkablogger is to acquire new clients for my blog consulting and coaching business. Now, if you’re thinking that sounds a little selfish, hold on, because we haven’t discussed the second part of a blog content strategy, yet. One way to get to the purpose of your blog if you’re not sure is to ask yourself why you started the blog in the first place.

One problem with strategies and plans is that people keep them only in their heads. You think you understand it and know it, but it’s probably all foggy and vague. That’s why when asked point blank, you stammer. The solution is to write it down. The act of writing forces us to be clear in our own thinking because we have to make it clear for others. This is invaluable. Write it down and keep rewriting it until it’s clear.

Make sure the blog fulfills its purpose

This is part design strategy as well as content strategy (nothing is ever in its own little box in blogging!). Just like when you wrote papers in school and your professor said that everything in the paper should support the thesis statement, otherwise get rid of it, so it is with your blog. Whatever doesn’t serve the purpose goes buh-bye. Again, using my own blog as an example, I clearly and unmistakably display that I offer services and am for hire. My content is often about the work I do for clients that has brought them success.

Know the needs of your audience

The biggest mistake you’re probably making is that you think your audience is like you. If you are running a hobby blog or an internet marketing blog, they may be. But if you are running a business, they are not. This creates a huge blind spot for us. Here’s the secret: you define your audience by the content you create. This means you will get exactly the people you want. If you’re running a business (freelancing or small company or whatever) then you want qualified potential customers and existing customers reading your blog. By writing material that only appeals to that group and no other, you are guaranteed to get them. It may take a while, but eventually it will happen (especially through search).

Put yourself in the mind of a person who is looking for you, but doesn’t know it, yet. 😉 What is your dream? What is your biggest fear? What words are you going to type into that little box on Google? Write posts that create beautiful visions of those dreams. Write posts that speak to their fears, and that present you as the solution. Stuff that you like or that you find interesting, your audience may not identify with at all. If this means you have to change what you’re blogging about, and you’re afraid you’re going to lose part of your audience, well, you’re right. You will. But they were the wrong audience anyway, so it is no loss. They will be replaced by more qualified people.

Just as you wrote down the purpose of your blog, write down the hopes, fears, and needs of the audience you want to have. Refer to this list when writing posts (especially if you feel blocked: just pick something and start freewriting).

Meet audience needs while fulfilling your blog’s purpose

By meeting the real needs of your audience with your blog’s purpose in mind, you will fulfill your blog’s purpose. So, even though it seemed selfish earlier when I said to determine purpose from your perspective, you now can see how it works out in the end. By meshing your audience’s needs with your purpose, you have a blog that can grow and, if you’re in business, help you make more money, too. Speaking for myself, ever since I started pursuing this content strategy, I have had non-stop freelance blog consulting work. Having a content strategy and following it is a win-win situation for both the blogger and the audience. It needs to be for any real success to happen.

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Successful and outstanding blogs need a content strategy that consists of two parts: knowing your purpose and knowing your audience. Make sure everything on your blog fulfills the purpose. Put yourself in the place of your audience and write content that meets their needs while helping you fulfill the purpose of the blog.

About the author:
Michael Martine is an official SOB and has been blogging since the year 2000. He is a blog consultant and coach. He blogs at Remarkablogger and Gateway Blogging.

Thanks, Michael!
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Reviewing Your Face to Face Networking Techniques

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Liz Goes, Lorelle Guest Posts, Lorraine Gets Control

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When we’ve got a lot to do, we rely on friends to help us out and over the mound of work that we’re facing. I was delighted when my dear friend, Lorelle, jumped in to help me by writing a guest post for the time I’ll be gone to SxSW.

But as relationships work, sometimes our friends come with their own circle of relationships. A few months ago, Lorelle and I invented an alter ego of hers named Lorraine, who keeps popping up when Lorelle writes certain kinds of blog posts.

Well, Lorraine caught a thought that Lorelle was writing about networking for me and you. Lorraine’s fabulous street-wise, huge-size ego could not allow Lorelle to write that post on her own. Next thing we knew, Lorraine had taken over . . .

Lorelle and I want you to know that we hope you’re in no way offended by Lorraine’s take on the subject. She’s . . . um, er . . . direct and sometimes a little colorful. Enjoy!

Reviewing Your Face to Face Networking Techniques

by Lorraine, alterego of THE famous Lorelle VanFossen

Who are you more willing to come to aid of? A complete stranger or someone you’ve met?

Okay, so we know the answer. People are typically more willing to help those they know than total strangers. So it helps to know as many people as you can so you will get help if you need it, right?

Attending a business conference is about turning strangers into acquaintances into friends. You want to work with your friends, people you trust, people who trust you, and the ones you know can get the job done as well as help you get your job done. Right?

You want the experts and you want to get to know the experts.

Oh, wait. At a business conference, especially one on blogging, you are also the expert. People want to know you. You are the one they are waiting for to come to their aid. This is your chance. Are you ready? Are you trained? Are you prepared for the moment when the moment to perform arrives?

The Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) is the place where experts come to rub shoulders with other experts – no matter what your expertise.

Are you ready to share your expertise and meet the experts at SOBCon in May?

Let’s review your preparation techniques.

  • What to Wear:
    Yes, clothes make the first impression, so what should you wear to be your best at such a powerful business of blogging conference? The first impression is your best networking tool so you want to look your best. At SOBCon though, we’re a bunch of bloggers. We are people who dress for success for the public and work in our underwear. Choose something in between that represents you and your blog while dressing for warm temperatures and hotel air conditioning. Chicago is warm in May. Informal, clean, with a spot on the left shoulder for a name badge.

    Wear something that says, “Hi, I’m a blogger but I’m a successful and outstanding blogger.”

  • Practice Your Smile and Handshake:
    I know you are used to virtual meetings and social networking, so you probably haven’t practiced your smile and handshake in a while. Take some time to rehearse in the mirror and practice on a family member or pet. You want the smile to not look like you have the hemorrhoids that come with blogging. Make it natural, fun, coy, and endearing. Like on television when the sick and dying child looks up and smiles to let you know that it will be okay, don’t worry, mommy and daddy. Make the handshake strong and firm without ripping off their arm. And wipe those sweaty palms.

    Be a professional networker now.

  • Practice Your Babble:
    Repeat after me: Hi, my name is [your name] and I blog about [your blog purpose and goals]. Wait, how many words does it take to define you and your blog? Can you do it in less than 200 words? If you can, work harder. Prune it down to 10 words or less and you have a powerful tagline to kick off a conversation with. Get your blog goals and purpose on paper and rehearse it. Practice introducing yourself and giving your spiel. You are going to get asked, so be ready for the moment.

    You’re there to get known, so if you can’t tell them what you do, who wants to know you?

  • Pry Open Your Brain:
    Crack open your virtual skull and get ready for new input. You’ve come here as an expert to learn from the experts. Get your head ready to fill with exciting thoughts, ideas, business techniques, tips, and the tools you need to ratchet your blog up 10 notches.

    The inspiration can’t get in unless the brain is open. Pack your can opener in your suitcase so you’re ready.

  • Remove Brain Filters:
    Yeah, yeah, heard it, read it, bought the book and the t-shirt. Stop that thinking right now. Clean out all the filters on your brain that thinks there is only one way to do this blogging thing. Get ready for new tips and techniques to drive themselves into your gray matter and come out with clearer blogging, networking, and marketing skills.

    Remove preconceived notions and cobwebs and get ready for new input to strain through the sifters in your skull.

  • Remember What It Means to Make Friends – Real Friends:
    Living online, we often forget the nuances that turns acquaintances into great friends. Remember how a look could fill say a paragraph of meaning and intent with your friends in the real world? I know the skills are rusty, but you can do it. Practice clever witticisms and comebacks. Work on that sly grin. Be ready to poke a little fun – appropriate fun – in the moment that will turn a chance meeting into a life-long relationship of working and playing together.

    It’s these little things that you do that change a stranger into a friend.

  • Did Someone Say Networking Means Business?
    You’re not just there to meet and greet. You attend these things to make money. You can make money by meeting the people who have money to share, or learn from those earning it hand over fist. It’s not just about the money. It’s about the money-making connections. What skills do you not have that you wish you did? Find someone who does and maybe you may have the skills they don’t have. SWAP! Pushing into the consultancy business? Then you better have a vast list of resource folks to help fill in the missing parts of your business services. Start collecting business cards and getting to know those missing parts people. NETWORKING!

    The more people you know with the right skills and resources, the more likely you are to sing in harmony to “Blogs Will Keep Us Together.”

  • Spread Yourself on Everyone:
    Become like jam. Be prepared to spread yourself everywhere during the conference. You want to be in all the pictures, podcasts, live blogging, and videos. You want to be the one who stands up and asks the brilliant question that gets everyone talking about you, you smarty pants, not the speaker. You want to be mentioned in every report from the conference as the witty, wise, and wondrous person who stole everyone’s heart with your dazzling brilliance and networking skills. After all, it’s who you know not what you know that can make all the difference in your blogging career.

    Start spreading your who around.

  • Be Thinking Blogging Every Moment:
    You know by now that anything can be a blog post, so keep your note pad near you at all times and jot down every blog post moment you can think of to blog about the event and the lessons you learned when you get back to your blog. You’re an expert now. You know that the networking doesn’t end with the face to face handshake and smile. It’s back to the blog salt mines where the real networking begins.

    Start your linking!

The power of online social networking is amazing. You meet people you would never run across in your daily life. You rub virtual shoulders with the whose who of the web. It’s a never ending network of connections as you find new sources of information daily, and others find you as their source.

However, the potential in these networking possibilities only show up when you show up. Show up.

—
Lorelle VanFossen writes for Lorelle on WordPress,
Blog Herald – Taking Your Camera on the Road where you’ll also find
Lorelle’s Family History Blog. Order Her Book Now! Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

Lorraine is usually locked away where she cannot cause harm.

Thanks, Lorelle!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz to get over your networking phobia!!

Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

A Personal Model for Business Life: Who Gets How Much for Free?

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What I Already Do

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Sometimes I’m fast, and sometimes I’m so slow. Sometimes the answer is sitting right next to me.

I got to wondering why I could negotiate contracts for companies and clients, but didn’t seem to be doing the same for me. It was just the kind of problem my head doesn’t let go of. I knew it had to do with my way of looking at things.

I had too many friends and not enough customers.

Fairly soon, I saw that I needed a set of rules defining who got my work for free. I walked around trying to find where to draw the line. Then it hit me like a brick on my head!

I set limits naturally in my personal life. they’re the ones I need.

I tested the theory.

The Model to Decide Whether I’ll Do Work for Free

If I’m making a rule or model for my work life. It needs to be something that reflects me. What I realized is that in my personal life I already draw lines around circles of who I can do things for. Bet you do something like it too.

So here’s how I extended my personal groups into business groups. Now I know who gets how much for free.

  1. Some people are casual friends and acquaintances. When they come to town or when I go to theirs, I make an effort to meet with them. I’ll point these folks to where they can find the information they need.

  2. Some people are friends. When they come to town or I go to theirs I do my best to meet with them. I’ll help these folks when I can, especially when it’s something I can do easily.

  3. Some people are close friends. When they come to town or I go to theirs, I make time for them. These people will get my help and my time unless pressing projects must be a priority.

  4. Some people are lifelong friends and family. When they have a need I’ll fly to them anywhere on the planet. They’re most likely to get my help and my time for free. We value each other deeply.

Now that I see I already have a working system, it’s easy to decide who gets how much for free. When people I hardly know asks me to do their homework now, I simply say, “I can tell you where you’ll find what you need. If they push for me to help them, I say, “If you’d like me to do that for you, we’ll need a more formal arrangement to cover my time. I charge $XXX/hour for that sort of work.”

I can’t believe the difference it’s made. How silly of me that I didn’t make this connection before. I wouldn’t fly around the world for just anyone. So what made me think I should give everyone my work for free?

–Me “Liz” Strauss

Related
How Too Much Thinking Used to Screw Me Up
Self Promotion: Telling Stories for the Painfully Shy
Self-Promotion: How I Learned to Stop Shooting Myself in the Foot
Self Promotion: A Winning Answer Every Time — Why is That?
Shameless Self-Promotion: What Makes It Shameless?

Teaching Sells . . . Perfect Timing

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Page Rank Slams

Teaching Sells

If your blog or your business in any way depends on Google traffic, then you couldn’t have missed what happened yesterday.

A discussion of the page rank drop and a list of affected blogs was offered by Daniel at Daily Blogging Tips:

Here is a list that I gathered with big blogs that supposedly lost PR . . .

In a second list, Daniel goes on to mention several mainstream media sites also hit, including the Washington Post, Forbes, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kind of makes us all stop to wonder how Google dependent we are.

Teaching Sells Opens the Doors

On the same day, Teaching Sells opened its doors.

You might remember me mentioning a free report about Teaching Sells, a study done and now, a full curriculum for online business offered by Brian Clark and Tony D. Clark.

Here’s what Brian says:

The Teaching Sells training program is a comprehensive and detailed step-by-step guide to creating successful multimedia membership sites. It’s a complete methodology for choosing profitable topics, developing dazzling content, attracting paid members and building air-tight websites.

Charter members will get a 12-week , plus forum access to instructors. Here are the course titles:

  • How to Create Content That Sells
  • How to Effectively Market Interactive Learning Environments
  • How to Create Killer Multimedia Content with Quick and Easy Tools
  • Seven Profitable Business Models for Interactive Content Developers
  • Your Blueprint for Building Membership Sites with Open Source and Low-Cost

    • Software

Check out the courses in detail and enroll here.

I’m a part of this venture and proud to be, particularly because of the high-value offer that’s in effect until October 31.

Google seems to have done Brian and Tony a favor. Check out how this program can do your business an even bigger one.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Thanks to Week 94 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank every one of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Hope Seth Doesn’t Mind if I Go Even Further

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If You Can’t Keep a Secret . . .

Finding Ideas Outside of the Box
I hadn’t really thought about the Harry Potter leaked ending, except to shake my head at the industry that used to be my home. To spend $20M on a secret that couldn’t be kept seemed such a waste . . . How I remember the thoght process that gets companies to do that sort of thing.

Then this morning Ann Michael and I were discussing Seth’s insight on publishing and the Internet. He pointed out what I would have never thought.

Five hundred year old technology (books) is just too slow for the Net. The act of printing, storing and shipping millions of books takes too long for a secret to ever be in a book again.

He suggests that, well, read Seth’s post for his brilliant solution. He advocates using the Internet to control the secret. I sure hope Seth doesn’t mind if I use my publishing experience to take his idea just a little further.

Fact: As Seth said, the secret was in always in jeopardy — from the moment the manuscript was written. The company should have seen that $20million, $40million to protect the secret was playing to a weakness.

One thing I’ve learned from Seth is that every weakness can be a strength. Here’s what I would have proposed, had someone asked my opinion. . . . Don’t worry, they didn’t.

How to Release the Harry Potter Secret OR How Choosing for the Customer Is Choosing for the Company

The problem wasn’t having the secret where people could get to it. The problem was the company thought of the secret as a problem rather than an opportunity,

Strategy always begins with the customer. In this case, the customers are kids (of every age) who grew up with the series. $20million of security was choosing for the company not the customers.

If I think about the kids, here’s where I end up.

Ready?

  • I would ask J.K.Rowling to reveal the ending to me as soon as she was able. I would spend a fraction of that $20million building a cool online video game with seven levels to match the seven questions of the Harry Potter Campaign. I’d spend the security there. Fewer people involved, much more control.
  • I’d release the game that reveals the end of the story, three weeks before any pre-launch copy.
  • To register to play the game, I would ask that each player sign in with a name, and a parental permission with verifiable email address (if the player is under 13).
  • The game would be as difficult as any game on the market. It would also have cheat codes and book with hints as salable products. It would take hours– whatever is the industry average — to complete successfuly.
  • When a player made it through the last level, he or she would reach a Howart’s Honor Code screen. The screen would announce the success and point out how difficult it was to achieve it. The Honor Code would leave the question to winner to hold or pass on the answer as they honor their own work. They earned it. People value what they earn.

It’s as Seth said, no one can keep it a secret — but we can control how it gets out. The company could have made finding the answer part of the Hogwart’s World. It could have been an experience. It could have been fun. Besides, I’m not sure that if I worked 10-20 hours to find out an answer that I’d give it away, . . . well, maybe secretly.

Who knows? I might play the game again and again — even after I read the book.

If I knew what I was talking about I’d still be working in that industry . . . right? I’m probably just confused. That comes from thinking like a kid.

–ME “Liz” Strauss