If you are like most people out here in La-La-Land you want to know more about a product or service before you purchases it. For business people who are hiring, they want to know more about who it is they are hiring. For Suppliers they want to know more about who they are getting or selling materials to.
How do you check all of this out?
To get this information everyone is going to the internet to find Blogs written by a real person on a product, service, another person or materials they are interested in know more about. The information that is in a Blog become very powerful when it comes time for the consumer decide on what action to take.
If you are in business and do not have a Blog you are going to be at a tremendous disadvantage in gaining a foot hold in the market. More than likely your services or products will be overlooked by consumers if they cannot find information on who you.
Blogging has changed in the last year. Writing a blog not only allows the author to be open and exhibit their style of communication to the world, but it also provides an insight in how the author thinks. This could be a two edged sword if the blog, as a whole, is not focused in a direction. Thus is why many bloggers will have several different blog sites each focused on one aspect of their personal or professional interest. These gateways into a person’s true self offer consumers a look at the person behind the business.
There are many different styles of blogs. Each have their ups or downs. If you are just now setting up your blog, or if you find the direction of your blog is going nowhere, setting up a blog for each of your personal or professional interest would help keep the focus.
Upside/Downside
Many niche bloggers (people who are experts in a very small portion of a profession or field of expertise) will set up a stand alone blog and blog only on issues surrounding that niche. This is good for people looking for others in that niche or information on the subject. The downside is most people who move into the niche do not provide enough consistent content to keep the interest of any viewers or they blog hourly on the same subject. This is the biggest turn off for viewers.
If you are going to blog on a niche, blog on it at least twice a week and provide a different angle to an issue if the issue is your niche. This will keep viewers interested and checking out who you are and what you do.
Open bloggers (people who have no specific subject or real purpose in what they are writing) generally lean to showing people their diversity in all the things they enjoy or dislike. The upside is it does show a broader picture of that individual. The downside is it may show a side that does not need to be shown especially if the blogger’s primary interest is promoting a business, product or looking for a job.
If you want to illustrate your sense of humor and tell people you like fly fishing while your primary interest is finding a job I don’t think I would be advisable to be posting any controversial comedy videos or boring people to dead with a 1000 posts on you fly fishing. Touch on the things you like or enjoy and maybe tie in a story on how you solved a problem. Provide ‘How To’s’ on your expertise or hobbies. These go well for people marketing themselves for their business or for job searches.
The One Track Bloggers, the companies or public relations people, who have a very, very, very ,very narrow focus to their blog. They stay only focused on their misguided marketing technique. They only want people to see and hear them and have no care what so ever in who is reading the blog or have interest in encouraging discussion. These are the Billboards and manikins of the internet. They do nothing but get in the way of what the consumer came to the internet to find out about..which was..Who is the person behind these products or services.
What Readers Think
In my travels around the country playing Business Golf with clients I generally talk about the internet during the round. Since the internet is a general topic it can be a short discussion or carry on for the entire round. However, what I have found from these people I talked to is they see blogs as resumes. If the blog provides information they need then they are interested. If the blog shows diversity in topics then it appeases a general interest. If it is blasting advertising they are clicking to another blog. Pretty simple.
The day of TV style advertising is over..especially on the internet.
Trust factor is what the consumer is looking for today in blogs. Who can they trust to provide them with a product they REALLY need to survive this failed economy and who will provide a product that will do what they say it will do…if it is going to make the person $4000 in five minutes then it should have a stop watch connected to a bank deposit slip.
The more trust a consumer has with the blogger the more likely they will look pass what the blogger is writing to learn more about the person and what they have to offer the market. The Trust Factor is what consumers are looking for today. Once that first gate of personal trust has been entered then marketing a product is easy.
People ask me what blogging does most for the blogger and I tell them it develops trust. You can either trust that the person blogging is the real deal or trust that the product that is blaring you in the face will not be purchased. Trust building is the power of the blog and I suggest that every business owner, executive, employee or retiree have a blog. It would help the economy grow if more people would establish their trust within the market.
So, if you re looking to start blogging, pick a style and a subject and get ready to experience the power of the blog.
