Posts tagged blogging best practices
How to turn blog readers into brand advocates
Mar 7th
By Srinivas Rao, Contributing {grow} Columnist
If you have been blogging for more than a few months than you have super fans whether you know it or not. You just have to keep an eye out for them. Fortunately there some key indicators.
- They comment regularly
- They send you personalized emails
- They share EVERYTHING you write
But simply knowing who they are is not enough. The same way you water seeds for a plant, you must cultivate your super fans.
Approachability
One of the things that will immediately set you apart from other bloggers is how approachable you are. As people become more well known online they seem to become less approachable. Approachability may not scale, but it doesn’t have to since it leads to raving fans. My two rising stars who are extremely approachable are Leo Widrich and Marcus Sheridan.
- Leo’s startup Buffer has been wildly successful in the last several months. It was recognized by the Wall Street journal as twitter app of the the year. I’m a huge fan of the Buffer team because they are some of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Success hasn’t gone to their head.
- If you read GROW, then there’s a good chance you know Marcus Sheridan. In the last year Marcus has really made a name for himself and his career is taking off. If you go to The Sales Lion, you’ll see that he responds to every single comment and he’s extremely down to earth. Despite starting to become “famous” online he’s still very approachable.
Vulnerability
In the book Click Ori Braffman analyzes the factors that lead to instant connections between people. One of those factors is vulnerability. When you allow yourself to be vulnerable with your content, you become human. You put yourself on the same level as your audience. You end up talking to them instead of at them.
A few weeks ago I thought about emailing Mark and giving up my contributor position here at {grow} because I couldn’t meet his quality standards — I was having trouble coming up with anything original to say. I thought most of what I had been writing lately was garbage. When I told him this, he said I should write about the fact I have nothing to write about! Looking back I realize that anytime I’ve been stuck, Mark encourages me to be vulnerable because people are able to relate to it. Chances are, other people are having this problem too.
It’s easy to create this picture of success online. But when you let your guard down, and expose your imperfections, people click with you and start to become super fans. Vulnerability makes you human.
Go far down the social media rabbit hole
When somebody comments on your blog or tweets one of your posts, if all you do is respond in those mediums, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to cultivate a super fan. When somebody you’ve never heard of shares your content or mentions your name on twitter for the first time, make it to point to check out who they are.
- Find out what their real name is
- Visit their blog
- Add them as a friend on Facebook or other social network
- Get a more in-depth view into who that person is beyond their twitter handle
You never know who you’re talking to.
Setup a Circle, List, or Group of Super Fans
In Tribes Seth Godin talks about the importance of enabling the members of your Tribe to communicate with each other, but usually the communication ends up being limited from member to leader in the form of comments. I think a fantastic example of somebody who has managed to cause communication between the members of her Tribe is Gini Dietrich. If you look at the comments on her blog that becomes immediately obvious.
You’ve probably also heard before that it’s easier to sell something to people who are already your customers than it is to sell to new ones. Anytime somebody buys something for you or is extremely supportive of your work, you should create a list, group or circle specifically for them. These are the people who will cause your tribe to reach 1000 true fans. Treat them accordingly.
One on One Conversations
In his book Little Bets, Peter Sims highlights the work of Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank. Yunus was actually a professor of economics, but what resulted in the idea for the Grameen Bank, was going out into the trenches and talking to people. Yunus won a nobel prize for his work on the Grameen Bank.
You’ll learn more from 20 minutes of talking to one of your readers or customers on Skype then you ever will from surveys and market research. If somebody sends you an email raving about your work, setup a conversation with them. These lose informal conversations allow for a much deeper and more rapid diffusion of valuable information.
Create Content Specifically For Them
One of the greatest things about the technology that we have at our disposal is an ability to customize somebody’s experience with our content or business. Once you’ve identified a group of super fans, one of the best ways to ensure that they will stay super fans is to create content specifically for them. Here are a few ways to do that
- Ask them to send in Questions and record a podcast/video in which you answer all there questions
- Write an report or free e-book specifically for your super fans
Highlight Them in Your Content
One of the nice things about creating content specifically for your super fans is that it naturally results in you highlighting them in your content. When you mention one of your fans, they automatically feel a stronger connection to you. You can do this in a few different ways
- If you have a blog, link bank to something they wrote
- If you have a podcast, mention them in an episode
- If you’re doing video, mention their name on camera
Cultivating super fans really comes down to one thing: listening to your audience. If you look back at everything above you’ll notice that all of these ideas are about becoming a better listener.
Srinivas Rao writes about the things you should have learned in school, but never did and his the host-co founder of BlogcastFM. You can follow him on twitter @skooloflife
My five biggest blogging mistakes
Mar 4th
I am creeping up on 1,000 blog posts — I’ve probably blogged “a bible!” So I’ve been reflecting on what I would have done differently if I had to start all over. Here are some mistakes I’ve made, and sadly, in some cases, continue to make …
1) Pre-occupation with numbers. It takes time, patience and hard work to find your voice and build a successful blog. I am not good at the patience part. I thought I was writing some good stuff and was frustrated that nobody was reading it. I became pre-occupied with adding my blog to directories and other schemes to drive “traffic.” What a waste of time. There are no shortcuts. If you really want to build community, you have to do it one reader at a time. Give people a good reason to be there and then love them for it.
2) Trying to copy success. When I arrived on the blogging scene I looked around and found a few people “doing it right.” Basically, all paths lead to Chris Brogan, right? So I tried to be Chris, who was posting like 3-4 times a day. I nearly killed myself. trying to be somebody else. It was a rookie mistake. You have to find your own path, your own voice, your own wisdom and path. Trying to be somebody else is precisely the wrong way to be original!
3) Being a marketer instead of a blogger. I grew up in traditional big American companies. Marketing was about developing a “message” to the “target.” And that’s the way I started to blog. I was trying to fashion a “message” for an “audience.” This bored me and the blog was going nowhere. So I started to relax and write about things that interested me, to show a little more of my personality, and to take risks creatively and intellectually. Something magical happened. Instead of me finding my audience, my audience found me. And that’s a big difference.
4) The posts that don’t work. Here are the characteristics of posts that really work: short, direct, timely, useful, with an element of humor or entertainment. After much trial and error, the posts that don’t do as well are cerebral, long (over 1,500 words), and video posts. I’m not saying that I’m going to discontinue doing cerebral posts or video blogs, but they seem to fall flat compared to my usual blog posts.
5) Not being active on the blogging scene. I love blogs and bloggers. I love the fun, exchange of ideas, debate, and friendships that form. And really, that is how I built my blog in the first place — by being active in this global blog community. Regrettably, I have been largely absent for the past nine months. The new book was an ambitious project because it covers an entirely new subject — social influence as a commodity — and it took a lot of research.
The result is, I have basically had two full-time jobs for the past year. One of the casualties has been my blog reader, which is now swollen with untapped wisdom. I know this has made a difference because many of the {grow} community regulars don’t come by my blog like they used to … because I don’t visit them. These lively blog community debates are happening without me and I miss being part of it.
The other contributing factor is that my social media presence has just kind of gone whacko. Blog readership grew 400% between 2009 to 2010 and another 300% from 2010 to the end of 2011. How do I give personal attention to all of these readers and their blogs?
The cruel irony is that the more successful you become on the social web, the less social you can be. All the best practices that bring success in the first place go out the window. I am fortunate to have you as a reader and I never take that for granted. I just can’t repay the favor like I used to. Arrrgh.
Any way, those are some of my lessons learned. What mistakes have you made, or what would you have done differently? Please share your contribution to the discussion in the comment section!
The evolution of a blogger
Feb 8th
By Srinivas Rao, Contributing {grow} Columnist
As I’ve observed bloggers from all walks of life, writing about every subject imaginable, and as I’ve taken the journey myself, I’ve found that there is an evolution that takes place. In each phase of the evolution we develop essential skills, but without the courage to stay the course and go through all the phases of the evolution, we’re unlikely to unleash the creative genius within all of us. While it’s tempting to see ourselves as marketers, what we’re really doing is creating art. Through our digital footprints we’re attempting to create our personal masterpieces and leave a mark on humanity.
The Novice
As a novice you look to experts, mentors, and those who have come before you for advice. You follow that advice, almost to the letter and it actually works. You also bring to your work a naiveté and a much needed fresh perspective that comes with a lack of experience.
The Mechanic
As a mechanic you’ve mastered the basics. You can do things with a certain precision and you’re sold on the notion that repetition is the mother of skill. So, rinse, wash and repeat is the formula you follow. And this formula works to a certain degree, until you realize that being a mechanic isn’t particularly unique and you’re just part of the echo chamber. The response to your work is either lukewarm or positive. It’s not long before the formula that allowed you to make the transition from novice to mechanic stops working and you’re forced to evolve into the next phase.
The Artist
As an artist you start to find a voice. You stop looking to the mentors, experts and people who came before you. You realize that to be seen as an artist you must become one of those people. You realize that following formulas and prescriptions designed to create a similar result for every person who uses them is a recipe for mediocrity. The linear process which you have followed to the letter falls apart and you finally come to terms with the fact that creativity is not a linear process. You take bigger risks with your content and the response is polarizing. People either love you or they hate you.
The Entrepreneur
The entrepreneurial evolution takes place when you realize that simply being an artist isn’t going to pay the bills or turn your blog into a business. Everything that came before was necessary to get to this point, and now you embrace experimentation because it’s at the core of growth. You detach from outcomes, focus on process and let the chips fall where they may. You find it inside yourself to watch everything fall apart, pick up the pieces and start all over again, now as, part novice, part-mechanic, part-artist, all of which combined turn you into an entrepreneur.
So, now I have a question for you? Which one are you and what are you going to do to make it to the next phase in your evolution?
Srinivas Rao writes about the things you should have learned in school, but never did and his the host-co founder of BlogcastFM. You can follow him on twitter @skooloflife
Did this blog make a difference?
Jan 1st
At this time each year I reflect on what has happened on {grow}. After 274 posts, did this blog and its community make a difference? Did it move ahead?
Here are some the aspects of {grow} that I hope had the biggest impact this year. You can be the judge if it made a difference in your life, your outlook, and your business.
Innovations
I pushed the blog in four new directions in an effort to create diverse, compelling and entertaining content.
1) Paid contributing columnists. I put my money where my mouth is and took a stand by ending this practice of bloggers building their businesses on the backs of others by expecting free content. I’m sure you’ll agree Neicole Crepeau, Stanford Smith, Srivanos Rao, Robert Dempsey and Steve Goldner consistently knocked it out of the park with their superb content. Neicole’s post “Are We Killing Our Customers With Engagement” was one of the most-viewed post of the year!
2) {growtoons} On May 6, the first of the weekly social media cartoons was introduced with Joey Strawn‘s Desperate Measures. A few months later, Kacy Maxwell joined the team. This innovation adds an element of fun and unique social media commentary. After all, how else could you poke fun at Chris Brogan’s sycophantic fans and get away with it?
3) New perspectives. I’m passionate about showcasing fresh, deserving voices on {grow}. I featured 40 different guest contributors this year, including some that I flat-out disagreed with! Probably my favorite contribution was Jon Buscall’s wonderful case study, How 20 High School Students Ignited a Social Media Success. Celebrating others is the most rewarding part of blogging.
4) Video. In 2011 I had twice as many video blogs as all previous years combined. It’s still not my preferred medium but it gave me the opportunity to shine the light on some incredible people I met throughout the year, including Helen Brown, who provided an interesting view of The Google Filter Bubble.
Darkness on the Edge of Town
In many ways, 2011 was a very disturbing year. I unwittingly hosted a ghost post scandal. My {grow} friends Steven Parker and Imad Naffa died. SEO tricksters continued to push past digital marketing ethical boundaries. Social media privacy problems made me wonder where all this is heading. A friend had her career destroyed by social media. And I am still struggling with the suicide death of my friend Trey Pennington. All of this was getting me down and it was coming through in the tone of the blog. And then something amazing happened. Hope showed up in a most unexpected place!
Breakthrough content
As an educator, I try to use this forum to get people to think about social media and its context in new ways. Ten posts that turned the thinking around included:
The World’s Best Company Blogs- The World’s Best Non-Profit Blogs
- Why the Economics of Blogging are Broken
- Turning PowerPoint slides into Social Media Gold
- How Social Media is Transforming Government
- Finding the Balance Between Personal and Professional on Twitter
- Marketing, Journalism and Truth as Competitive Advantage
- The Business Case for Facebook, In One Sentence
- A Process to Connect Social Media, Content Marketing and Sales
- Why Klout Matters. A Lot.
Five Big Favorites
As I scanned through the year’s work here on {grow}, I came across a few special posts that made me smile and think, “Yes, that was a good one.” This year, I received nearly 10,000 comments on {grow} and many of them were generated by these five favorite posts:
Why the Social Media Elite Are Ignoring Us? — It started out as a simple question but 2,000 tweets and more than 200 comments later it stands out as a blog post that helped put social media success in a rational context.
The Making of a Social Media Slut — Sometimes blog posts come from the most unexpected sources. I had lunch with a friend who was looking for a job and in a moment of weakness suggested she should watch her Klout score. In less than 15 minutes I had written a post and ignited a debate!
For Google, the Party is Over Before It Starts — I went against the grain and predicted that Google+ would not be the Facebook killer all the social media geeks predicted. This is the only blog post I have written that received more comments than tweets. Earlier in the year I also went against convention by stating that Quora (and the Quor-gasm!) was not the salvation everybody was saying it was and that QR Codes are doomed. Time will tell … but I still think I’m right in all three cases!
How Blogging Changed a Life — This was a difficult post. I like it because it represents the biggest personal risk of the year. Through my posts and speeches I challenge others to push themselves. In this one, I am taking my own medicine.
On Twitter No One Can Hear You Scream – This is my favorite post of 2011 because it combined all five elements of a perfect blog post: snappy headline, entertaining content, original thinking, crisp writing, and a personal perspective. Plus I thought the illustration was funny!
So there you have it. A retrospective of 2011. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations and thank you … you are a true {grow} fan!!
As always, I would cherish your thoughts and observations on this community and how I can help push it forward in 2012. Thank you!
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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