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Talk Back to Me! Getting People to Respond to Your Blog

Yoo hoo!  Anyone out there?  That’s a common feeling among new bloggers, who wonder if anyone in the digital universe even knows they exist.

Keep in mind that building a following for your blog is a long-term process.  As much as we want it to, it can’t be rushed.  But you can do a few things to encourage people to read your posts.

1. Recognize that you may have readers, but not responders.  Many a lurker may religiously read your blog posts, but never make a comment.  Liz Strauss gives some excellent tips on why this may happen and what you can do about it in her article, “10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments.”

2. Does your post invite conversation?  We can write a post so definitively that we forget to ask for comments. Has that ever happened to you?

3. Comment on other people’s blogs.  Invest some time reading the blogs of others who are interesting and relevant to you, and yes, add thoughtful input.  The more you do this, the more those bloggers will notice you and begin to respond to your posts.  The blogging community can be very supportive, but it is interactive, and you can’t just expect the comment train to go one way.

4. Invite opinions.  Add your newest post to your LinkedIn groups and ask them what they think.  Do the same with your Facebook business page, your personal FB page, Twitter and any other outlet you can think of.

5. Make it easy for people to comment.  Do readers have to jump through hoops (i.e. come up with a user name and password) in order to respond?  Is it likely that a first-time reader would go to that much trouble?  Yes, you may have spam to content with, but as you’re building your blog following, it’s better for you to be the one who does the screening than your reader.

6. Respond quickly to comments.  Once you get that wonderful comment, respond immediately, and try to keep the conversation going.

Keep writing, keep participating and keep responding and soon, you’ll build your audience.

What tactics have helped you get more readers?

(Don’t prove me wrong now; be sure to comment!)

Write That Blog Already– 5 Tips to Get You Started

Maybe it was one of your New Year’s resolutions.  Maybe you’ve been told over and over that a blog on your website would increase traffic and enhance your rankings.  Maybe you have personal ruminations that you want to share. In any case, with the fresh new year, you’re ready to start writing.

To make the most of your scribe time, here are five tips to make you a happy blogger.

1. Know why you’re blogging.  Frankly, just because it’s good for business isn’t good enough.  What is it you really have to offer that people would want to read (and that you would want to write)?  It could be related to your industry or your products, but understanding why your readers would find it interesting is a critical first step.

2. Know what you’re blogging about.  Even the most prolific writers can reach a dry spell once in a while, but having a plan that highlights the different areas you’ll cover will help you find new material.  One great way to get started defining the subjects of your blog is with a bubble map (See? You can still use them after 7th grade!)  The bubble map below has one main subject in the center, with other bubbles that describe the main subject.  Those other bubbles can open up entirely new topics as well.  With a well thought out bubble map, you will have plenty of material.

3. Amass a wealth of material. Once you’ve established the parameters of your blog topics, you’re ready to start writing.  But if you want to make sure you’re up to date on any new information that comes up, set up a few Google Alerts with keywords pertaining to your blog’s subject.  Whenever an article or blog goes online regarding that subject, you’ll be one of the first to know.  Whip out a new post discussing the new trend, technology or legislation you just read about, and you become the instant expert.

4. Commit to your blog.  Just like resolutions, many blogs fail when life gets in the way.  Establish a blogging schedule, whether it is once a week or more, and know that it is a long-term commitment.

5. Get your blog out there.  Now you’ve written your prose, you want people to read it, don’t you?  If it’s a business blog, make sure it’s on your company’s website and business Facebook page.  Send excerpts of it out on Twitter.  Post it to your groups on LinkedIn.  Invite your Facebook and real live friends to read it. Add a link to your blog on your email signature.

A blog is the start of a conversation.  Next, we’ll talk about how to get people to talk back to you.

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Why You Should Add Apples, Bananas, Cheese and Chicken to Your Website

Think of your local grocery store. Sure, it has some shelf staples—shelves of canned goods, packages of dried beans. But what gets customers coming back most frequently? Fresh produce, dairy and meats.

Your website is like a grocery store—full of information, products and services. Many areas may be fairly stable—like your canned goods. But to get customers returning to your site often, you must offer something of value that is new and fresh.

Articles and blogs provide current information to drive readers to you. Articles are often newsy and provide insights to industry, company and product information. Blogs have a less formal approach and may offer thought provoking opinions that invite conversation with the readers.

Who appreciates fresh content?

• Your readers—many people come to websites searching for information long before they make a purchasing decision. By providing sharing your knowledge through articles, you become a trusted resource—one which customers are more likely to buy from.

• Search engines—even though search engines are reconfigured on a regular basis, one aspect stays true: search engines love new, useful content. By providing this type of information on a regular basis, your business is more likely to be more visible on the Internet, which means you can get found more easily and more often.

• Your marketing and sales teams—when you have a steady supply of new articles and blogs, you provide your employees with more persuasive material to work with. And, as more people link to and read the articles and blogs, it can make the sales pitch a done deal.

Oh—who doesn’t appreciate fresh content on your website?

Your competition.

Your References, Please?

On almost every job application, in almost every interview, the question is inevitably asked: do you have references?

Employers know that during the interview process, candidates want to sell themselves in order to be offered the job. Candidates will highlight strengths and omit weaknesses. Their resume may exaggerated] the amount of their experience or degree of their results. When the only data about a candidate’s skills and experience comes from one source—the candidate, an employer may not know how much of a candidate’s information is trustworthy.

That’s where references come in. References, typically from previous employers, often present an accurate view of the employee’s work, giving a potential employer another view of the candidate’s capabilities. If the candidate says he created a new system that resulted in major savings for the company, and the previous boss provides a reference that says the same thing, a potential employer is more likely to feel confident in making a hiring decision, and therefore may make it more quickly.

When making a purchasing decision in business, just like in the hiring process, hiring managers customers– want references. They want to know that a company that promises them the world has actually delivered that world to previous customers.

References or customer success stories, give potential customers that “previous employer” viewpoint without being a sales job. Because of that, customers are more likely to trust an authentic reference and feel more confident in making a buying decision, therefore shortening the sales cycle.

With a well-planned customer reference program containing effective customer success stories, you can increase the likelihood that potential customers will indeed “hire” your business.

Need help with creating your customer success stories? Contact me today so we can get started.

Goodbye, The Writing Genie: Hello, B2B Storytelling

After nearly four years working as The Writing Genie, I have changed the name of my freelance writing business to B2B Storytelling. While writing is still the magical process I envisioned when I first began freelancing, the heart of what I do is tell a story, whether it is a case study, a press release, an article or someone’s About Us page on a website.

Not only does everyone have a story, but most people enjoy hearing one. They subconsciously let down their guard and take in the details of the story without always assuming that they’re getting a sales pitch. A good story, whether it’s a novel or a business article should engage and connect with the reader and open up opportunities that may not have been considered before.

Won’t you join me in this new chapter for B2B Storytelling?

Customer Success Stories on Campus: Let the Student Be Your Guide

A few weeks ago, we took my son on a college visit.  Sure, we’d first visited the school’s website and got all of the data on hand to entice upcoming freshmen that this was the place for them.  We could see the picturesque photos of the campus and the happy, smiling faces of the students.  It was this initial, online research that convinced us to go for an in-person visit.

But we knew, although my reluctant son did not, that pictures and websites can’t and don’t tell the whole story. My son, who, bless his heart, has little patience for structured activities, did not want to sign up for a tour.  ”Why can’t we just look around ourselves?” he asked.  But I knew why.  Because although the tours are organized by the admissions office, generally, the tours themselves are conducted by the students.  And that’s where prospective students often get the best, most honest information.

Sara, our tour guide, gave us the standard spiel as we walked around the campus, but in between, we got to ask a lot of questions.  Questions the admissions office might give the politically correct answer to, but that a student might give a more straightforward answer to.

And because Sara is a student, the prospective students didn’t see her so much as blindly representing the university, so the insights she shared immediately had credibility– and therefore, a positive recommendation from her had even more impact in deciding to apply to this school.

In business, prospective customers feel the same  sense of trust when they get insights from current, satisfied customers through testimonials and success stories, which can help decrease the decision-making time and increase the satisfaction with the final purchase.

Are you encouraging your current customers to be tour guides to draw in prospective customers?