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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

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Is Your Blog Turning Readers Off?

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Jenn Whinnem is a regular here, and she brings a perspective I love with relish (dill, not sweet). She’s back in betwixt her recent gig at the Connecticut Health Foundation where she’s the muse for social media innovation. See what you make of Jenn’s view as she re-visits our neighborhood.

Jenn Whinnem Says:

Fellow bloggers, I want to know: who are you blogging for? Can you tell me right now who you’re writing for and what they can get out of your most recent post? What if your writing is turning readers off?

It’s something that’s been on my mind ever since I’ve been running around like a mad woman with my kicking new job. I’m a lot less active in the part of the blogosphere I previously called home. In fact, I’d say I’ve moved.

When I visit the old neighborhood, though, I get kind of confused. When I saw these blogs every day I didn’t question a lot. But now I see these blogs less often and I really notice what’s going on, kinda like the friends you only see every couple of months. And, I have to say, every time I dip back into my Twitter stream and read the posts that are being shared, I have a huh? moment.

See, lately blogs are making me flash back to pre-2009, when blogs felt like this to me (Lyle not Teodor). Honestly, who cared what I or you or anyone else was thinking about? The navel-gazing flat out didn’t interest me.

Then in 2009 I woke up and realized blogs had shifted into providing real business value, and I got into it. There was an exchange of information, not just opinions. Cool.

But recently some blogs are feeling, well, pretty self-indulgent. As a reader I’m not getting much out of it.  I’d like to pose this question — what are bloggers getting out of it? In my defense I’ll say I’m trying to avoid the echo chamber just like the rest of you. I definitely read new bloggers who have moved in, and I’m getting a similar feeling. Are they getting business out of it? If not…what’s the point?

So let’s talk about this. Do you know who you’re blogging for? What have you written for them lately, and is it something they want to hear? Or, am I completely out of whack? Wouldn’t be the first time!

 

Big Blogger, Little Blogger Conundrum

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The Kiplinger Letter inspired this post. Its headline story this week is about two recession tracks — one for big firms and one for little firms.

The little guys are struggling without financing, downsizings, and trying to keep doors open; the big guys are happy as clams with tons ‘o money just waiting for the ripe acquisition to roll into the net, holding baited breath for more tax breaks to create more jobs, and offshoring everything from call centers to profits.

I’ve heard scuttle on the streets about the rich Americans insulated from the recession while the less privileged live check to check and still aren’t making it.

What’s going on? The blurry lines are becoming more crystalline creating a clean categorization of top dogs and bottom feeders. In a way, this conundrum seems to fit big bloggers and little bloggers, too.

I’ve met some big bloggers IRL…in the flesh/in real life. They have amazing communities, fabulous content, bells and whistles on their blogs when you arrive to visit, and analytics knowledge to boot. There are guest authors galore, hundreds of comments pour in on average, and RTs are off the charts. These big bloggers’ celebrity is high on the pedestal along with their influence and Klout scores.

We little bloggers often wanna be like Mike (he was on an old Life cereal commercial). We want that fame, glory, community, and status on the Ad Age Power 150, don’t we?

But, should we? I’m offering food for thought, and I hope you eat.

Anyone who aspires to be a big blogger needs to be ready for that responsibility. Look at Gini…she puts in 40 hours a week on Spin Sucks to drive her Spin Sucks Pro offering. She has 13 people working for her at Arment Dietrich, and she’s listed 38 on the Ad Age Power 150. I met her IRL last week in Chicago; this woman is amazing — off the charts with a serious commitment to her company and staff, her community, her blogs, her family, and her biking. She makes the time, has the drive, the ambition, and the support to enable over-the-top hours to keep herself growing and thriving.

Do I wanna be like Gini? Sure, and in my own way, I am. Every big blogger began as a little blogger; every big company began as a little company. The rate of your growth as a blogger has everything to do with your business goals and your strategy.

If you aspire to be a big blogger, you can and will make it at your pace, on your timeline, and when you’re ready. You will set goals and attain them; you will draft content that resonates, and your community will grow with you.

Here’s dessert — it’s OK not to be a big blogger. More to come from me on this topic; what’s your food?

 

 

 

 

Brand Your Blog Or Name?

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Read this headline from a recent Ad Age — The Big Winners at Cannes: Emerging Markets and Not Just for Bagging Lions.

Two words in that headline, Cannes and Lions, conjured two brands for me, John Falchetto and Marcus Sheridan. John writes Expat Life Coach and lives in France ( thus the Cannes assimilation), and Marcus writes The Sales Lion. Obviously, you can understand how I thought  of Marcus.

Neither of them know me well, but each of us appears in one another’s houses on occasion to contribute to comments. The fact is I lurk on their blogs more than I comment; their brands are significant in my opinion, and I glean from content other perspectives than mine.

Which leads me to my point. Are you a brand or is your blog?

In the case of the two gents I referenced above, both have branded the name of their blogs well. When Reading Cannes in the Ad Age headline, I thought of John first who lives in France and then segued to the name of his blog and his recent video interview with a PR professional in Costa Rica. All of this happened within seconds of course, but the thought patterns were definitely real and in sequence.

As for The Sales Lion, this blog shares content about family, a small business, customer stories, social media, and marketing. Powerful stuff with a community to boot. Marcus does a fab job with it. The fact that a word, lions, prompted my recollection of the name of Marcus’s blog is exactly what he wants that word to connote. As for Marcus’s business, he’s in the swimming pool business. I don’t get the correlation between lions and swimming pools, but it obviously works for him and his customers.

Here’s a great example to build on what I’m talking about…John tweets using his name and Marcus tweets using TheSalesLion (both Twitter links are above). My brand recall for John and Marcus is John’s name (not his blog title) and the title of Marcus’s blog rather than his name.

How have you branded your blog? Is it your name or a key-word rich title that draws people in to learn more?

 

 

 

 

Q&A With Daddy Blogger JackB

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Here’s a Q&A with a newish member in my community, TheJackB. And, dang if I could find Jack’s last name to properly introduce his content below. I looked high and low on his blog and elsewhere on his pages; to no avail. So, you can call him The Jack (because apparently there was another Jack B, and this Jack B wanted to be THE, as in HRH Jack B. Uh-huh, you get my drift.

This piece below from THE Jack B stemmed from his comment on my post this week about Mommy Bloggers versus Mompreneurs. Jack wrote about his work as a Daddy Blogger and the work he’s gotten from some major brands. So, I spouted off a few questions, and here’s what Jack has to say. Neat experience; impressive. Thanks for playing, Jack!

Soulati: How did you get involved in parent blogging?

I would almost call it serendipity. I began my blogging career in 2004 on a whim. In the midst of my foray into posts that were generally foolish and insignificant my father had a major heart attack and ended up on life support.

It was a very scary time for me. I had a young son and a pregnant wife and was suddenly responsible for taking care of three grandparents. I felt like I had to be strong for everyone so the blog became my confidant. It was where I let my guard down and shared my fear.

In the midst of this I thought that it might be interesting to chronicle some of the things that my son did and the discussions we had.  I don’t think that I began to call myself a dad blogger until several years later. I was just a blogger who wrote his kids and parenting.

The ads on blogs have been around for as long as I can remember but the reviews/giveaways probably didn’t start until around 2006. Or at least that is about the time that I first remember hearing/seeing them.

Soulati: How’s the barrier to entry for dads?

There is a very low barrier to entry for bloggers in general. All you need is a computer and an internet connection and you can start blogging. It is part of the reason why the blogosphere is saturated with blogs, most of which die within 90 days.

Soulati: Do you have someone represent you to find opportunities?

No. I don’t have anyone whose job it is to do so. All of the work that I have done is either through referrals or because the brand/agency contacted me. For a long time I intentionally avoided getting involved in all of this.

Eventually I decided that since I love to write it might be worth trying to figure out how to monetize my blog so I opened myself up to the possibilities.

Soulati: Tell me about your experiences with PR people working on blogger outreach.

It is mixed. I have received a lot of pitches addressed to Dear Webmaster or Dear Mommy Blogger that I sort of roll my eyes at as it usually indicates that I got copied on a mass email.

I don’t automatically discard those emails the way that some bloggers do because if you don’t read the pitch you don’t know what sort of opportunity is being pitched. What bothers me is when I receive something that isn’t appropriate for my readers and doesn’t offer appropriate compensation for the work they are asking me to do.

Overall I would say that my experience is positive. Most people are pleasant to deal with and responsive to my questions. It is like anything else, sometimes you run into jerks.

Soulati: You’ve mentioned you’ve seen some pretty negative situations. What is the solution, Jack? What must happen for a cohesive working relationship from PR to blogger? From corporate marketing to blogger? From blogger to corporate marketing?

I suspect that many of the negative situations stem from misunderstandings between the two sides. Let’s start with the bloggers.

Many bloggers have unrealistic view of what their blog is worth and consequently are irritated when they aren’t offered appropriate compensation.

They would be well served to learn more about PR and advertising. If they had a better understanding about what the agency/brands are trying to accomplish it would help them. It is not hard to create a basic media kit, an ‘about me’ page, disclosure policy etc.

Another issue that has been created is the saturation of the blogosphere and the number of bloggers who negotiate and I use that term loosely ‘bad deals.’ Why would you work for 15 hours for the chance to give away a $10 gift card to company XYZ.

I suppose that you argue that the agency isn’t culpable and bears no responsibility for this happening but I think that is short sighted. Even though it is an inexpensive way to try and promote your client you are not building a good relationship with the blogger. It is just cheap labor that you are going to burn out.

Savvier blogger and agency reps will work together to build programs that add value for both parties. If you create more of a partnership between the two sides I think you will see better results.

Maybe I am the oddball here, I don’t know. But I spent a lot of years selling space, most of it for online publications so I always want to know details about the campaigns. I want to know if they are building awareness or engaging in lead generation.

That experience also taught me how much money the brands have to spend on their marketing/PR efforts. But even if it hadn’t all you have to do is look around and see what the brands are doing and it is hard not to want to try and grab a bigger piece of that.

I am not the only blogger who is cognizant of this which is why so many are pushing for compensation in dollars instead of just products/services.

On the brand/agency side they need to understand that it is not an unreasonable request. There are times when it is makes sense to pay bloggers in the aforementioned goods and services but it shouldn’t be the only way.

One of my pet peeves is being told that they’ll also provide a link back to my blog. Let me qualify that, if that link has real value and I believe that it will provide good exposure than there is merit in using it.

But if I ask you for demographics about the link I think that I am entitled to them. It really boils down to treating establishing a professional relationship between the two parties.

 

Do You Give Good Link Love?

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There’s an aspect of blogging rarely spoken about, and it’s a pretty influential component. It’s link love. You can have a blog, but when your links to other sites, sources, and blogs fall short, the content may be sub par in the eyes of a few.

One person stands out in my book as being tops. She shares link love all the time, and moreover, she hunts for the best complementary content to push her message. It’s guaranteed that her fastidiousness will produce extra citations you’ve likely never seen before. Davina Brewer at 3 Hats Communications, is about whom I speak. Check out her blog here, here, and here.

Neicole Crepeau recently launched Friday Fives; a series during which she interviews people on a topic, and they offer five tips. The link love is high-end for all involved, and Neicole is ensured of more traffic to her blog.

To be consistent with links, it takes time. I know I’m guilty when I’m strapped and sometimes will just put the main domain name of a site rather than dive into a blog. That’s just my laziness, too. Or, I’ll easily ad the Twitter ID because I don’t have to go and hunt.

I’ve noticed, however, that when I do take the time to seek out other sites to enhance my message, then people who comment often acknowledge with a “thanks for all the back links.”

My friend John Akerson is good for that; I know when he’s reading he’s all about what’s behind those links. Ray Andrews challenges me, too, when I’m writing, and my readers are always creeping around in my mind when I produce an article.

Earning that recognition for your content (when it’s linked to from others’ blogs) takes time, consistency, cadence, voice, relevance, and confidence.

Have you ever considered how cool it is when someone takes time to search your blog looking for just the right content to add to theirs? It makes me beam, and I vow to do more of that for you.

(Now, how long did that take me? 90 minutes to add all the links and 20 minutes to write the post.)