Marketing Authority Comes With Science

Are you reaching your market with a voice of authority or are you at the mercy of a market that is not what you hoped for?

I find that many companies fail to bring a sense of authority to their marketing. It is time to improve that right now. Let us consider where marketing authority comes from, and why so many businesses are lacking it.

This world is made up of people … flawed people … every last one of them. Businesses are made up of one or more of these flawed people, so can you really expect perfection to come from that? Of course not, and those flaws often come through in the same ways in business as they do in the flawed people’s personal psychology. This makes perfect sense, right?

Lack of authority is a weakness for many people and it comes with insecurity, which often comes from lack of proper information. Fear is a strong emotion, and one that can wreck your hopes of bringing authority to your marketing. With all of the right facts and figures to draw from, it starts to look like science, and that makes it harder to deny. It also makes it much easier to have confidence and to market with authority!

How do we begin to repair that lack of authority and reach your market with confidence? I want to offer you some ideas.

Define Your Authority

If you are marketing pizza, and people tell you it is the best pizza, they offer you authority. Take it and use it! Stop being afraid. If enough people say that your pizza is the best in town, all of the sudden, guess what … it is! Testimony is a hugely important factor in court trials … even the court trials that get people hanged by the neck until dead. Shouldn’t your customers’ testimony be enough to give you authority, too?

Sales Volume Does Not Equal Authority

It is really easy for companies (flawed people) to perceive their authority to be diminished when sales are slumping. It begins a downward spiral. I will stick with pizza for this example. If you are marketing pizza and a Pizza Hut or other chain moves in and captures a piece of your market, does that mean your pizza is not still as good as it was? Sometimes this is the case, but as an after-effect, and not as the cause.

If you have good pizza to market, be sure to market it with the same authority that it deserves, and not based on the mood you awakened to on a given day. It is really easy to get this wrong, but a common and very inappropriate response to the marketplace. Remember that only because Pizza Hut sells a lot more pizza than you do it does not mean they take authority away from your brand.

Uphold your Authority

If you convey authority, there is an inherent responsibility to uphold that authority. I believe it is easy for people to forget all of the things that give them authority in their marketplace. This is especially true when their authority is questioned. Tragically, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when it is questioned from the inside.

You can see this all around you, if you look for it. Just consider how many companies you can find that beg for business instead of taking the time and effort to become an authority, and project that authority in their marketing.

I see this problem more often in smaller companies, but weak efforts and asking to be right are problems of companies in all sizes. It seems that it often comes with an uncertainty of how others perceive a business, rather than having a rock solid position that the company is better than the competition, and knowing why.

Are You an Authority?

Maybe you are already an authority in your field but you just don’t know why, or how to prove it. If you are not an authority, maybe it is your time to get there. The odds are pretty good that you are an authority at something. Come on … there has to be something. Start with that “something” and grow it! Lastly, don’t neglect to push your marketing “Go” button!

aWebGuy.com Grade 99.6

I want to address the concern that a lot of bloggers have and carry with them like a big monkey on their back. The monkey I refer to is blog comments or a lack thereof, and it is time to look at some additional metrics. Of course, blog comments can have huge benefits such as bringing together other points of view and growing a sense of community, so don’t get me wrong. What I have to tell you, though, may ease some of that pressure and give you some encouragement.

I kind of like the way Seth Godin stated it in his massively read, respected, and circulated blog. In a blog post titled “Why I Don’t Have Comments“, Seth Godin said “… it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.”

Blogging is Concentrated Social Media

Blogging is social media at perhaps the most focused and personal level. A blog post provides the opportunity for discussion of a narrowly focused topic, and it is personalized by the originating author who often wants to hear from readers. The great news is that sometimes fewer but more meaningful comments can be a really good thing. This blog is focused on social media and SEO, so I do not expect a lot of input from bean farmers and rock and roll bands. They may come here to read and gather new ideas, but they are far less likely to add commentary than a know it all SEO or social media practitioner. This can be a good thing, because I have a lot of readers who do not know it all, but want to.

In any case, many blog owners are frantic about the curse of non-commenting readers. It gets them all stirred up and concerned that nobody is paying attention, that they have lost their readers’ interest, or that their blog has a lower perceived value. Buck up my friends, and consider another point of view.

Is There Something Wrong With My Blog?

One of the first things you may imagine when comments are sparse is that something is wrong with your comment system. So you check it by responding to a post. No, that is not it … commenting is working fine. So it must be that the quality is suffering, right? No, that is not it … you have written some of your best work. Has something else changed? Here are a couple questions I asked myself recently when considering the topic. I have included my conclusions as well. Perhaps these are also useful considerations for your blogging efforts.

Is it your reader-base? No. I still have thousands of the same regular readers as before. The server logs and statistics reporting from FeedBurner, Google Analytics, and Clicky do not lie. These are the same people who left hundreds of comments on previous posts.

Are your articles actually being read? Yes. The average time on page is way up, and the bounce rate is way down, meaning that readers spend more time on each article and also visit more pages of my blog.

Is your writing quality or public interest of chosen topics suffering? No. My statistics logs show that they receive more attention than ever. Although some recent posts are longer than usual, readers’ time on page is up … way up.

Have you asked for readers to add their opinions, and are you really asking questions in your material? Yes. I always ask a question for readers to address with their opinion and to start a dialogue. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know this to be true. I practically reach out and smack you silly to hear your comments.

Are your readers disengaged? No, but this was actually my biggest concern. I receive many comments on my work at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and by telephone … actually more than ever. So people are engaged and reading, but just not commenting where everybody else can benefit. This brings up an important consideration of how people are using the Internet.

Have people changed and their usage patterns changed? Yes! Ding ding ding … we have a winner! This is true here at aWebGuy.com and I have found it to be true in many other blogs as well.

Blog Comments Are Down While Readership is Up

It can seem strange that although blog readership is up that commenting could be down. How could it be that more people are spending more time on a blog, yet fewer of them are taking the interest or care to add their comments? It is a sign of the times? Yes, Internet users are behaving differently, and that is fine. The results are different for everybody, and it requires a closer look at some other important measurements.

Important Measurements of Blog Quality

Instead of beating yourself up (the way I sometimes do), consider these other metrics of the success in your blog’s reach and impact.

1.) Are people still linking to your blog in social bookmarking sites, from other blogs, and other social media venues? For this, you may want to see my recent article titled “SEO Backlinks: Why Most SEO Fail at Link Building” to clarify the matter of linking. I pretty well kick some butt in link-building, so you may want to settle in and read this one.

2.) Are your readers still spending the same or more time on each article? A look at your statistics will tell you the answer to this question.

3.) Are people still responding in other social media or other desired calls to action including offline methods of response?

4.) Are you still producing content that has a clear and obvious public appeal by meeting a need of your readers?

If you answered yes to these questions, the answer is likely that you are simply so damn correct in your materials that others feel no means to criticize your work, no perceived means to accentuate your work, and the conclusion may just be that no comment sometimes means you’re right!

I am sure you are just dying to comment on this, but if you got this far and have nothing whatsoever to say, it just means I am right and I have given you something of value. You’re welcome to it, and I thank you for reading!

You have given me the means to accumulate a whole lot of nice little badges like the one below showing what is what on this Internet. I thank each of my bean farmer, rock and roll band, and SEO/social media know-it-all friends for being a part of this blog. Even if you are a bit coy from time to time.

Blog Tools for Non-bloggers and Bloggers

Whether you have a blog of your own or just read blogs, these are tools to help you to become more efficient and have a better look at the information that is important to you.

The tools I will outline here are for both non-bloggers as well as bloggers. I say non-bloggers, but only to suit the people who have this mysterious idea that because they only read and comment on blogs that they are not still a blogger. If you participate in blogs, I hate to break it to you, but you are a blogger! Blogs are made up of an originating author, and all of those other authors who come to share their view and create the dialogue of a blog.

Whichever you are, or even if you are just a casual reader, I want to give you some really useful pieces of information to help you receive more benefit from blogs and to make the information more manageable. These will not take a lot of time to implement, and it will be worth the time you spend. Do not just drop this information off in your bookmarks and wait until you forget it. If you use these tools as described, my guess is that you will start being more efficient right away.

Some of these are very basic and you may know them, and some may be unfamiliar to you. I will start with a couple essentials that most bloggers know, but yet their readers may not. If you are a blog author, you also will want your readers to know this information in order to receive greater value and usability from your blog. In any case, whether you have your own blog or you are a reader and commenter, these are very useful and provide benefit to any blogging efforts.

Blogging Tool One: Gravitar

Gravitar.com - This is very basic, but many people still ask how to have their picture show up when they comment on a blog. The answer is a Gravitar. Gravitar is free, and very simple to set up. All you need is a picture and an email address. Gravitar is a globally recognized avatar that is recognized by the email address you use when you submit a comment.

Blogging Tool Two: BackType

BackType.com - What are people talking about? Are they talking about you, your industry, or other interests? BackType will help to keep you informed about things people are saying in blog comments and social media venues. For example, here is a BackType search for “Murnahan” … my last name. I like to know if something shows up there!

BackType provides other beneficial functions too! BackType aggregates a user’s comments across many blogs and social networks and puts them in one place. It is a great tool for finding discussions about topics or people you want to keep up with. You can track specific people, and also track your own comments. BackType uses the Web address you enter when you comment on a blog to aggregate the data. If you sign up, you simply enter the Web addresses you use when you make comments on blogs in order to claim your comments. Then it allows you to determine whether it is a legitimate comment or somebody claiming to be you. An example is if you take a look at my BackType profile, you can see comments I have made on many blogs, and also follow a link to join in the discussion.

BackType is free and it can be very useful without signing up. However, if you want to claim your comments across the Internet, you can sign up for BackType here. Since BackType is not all-inclusive, I will share a couple more comment aggregation services.

Blogging Tool Three: Disqus

Disqus.com - Pronounced “discuss”, it is as it sounds … it is about discussions. Disqus does more than many users will realize, and I want to clarify a couple things to help you understand it. You do not need to have a Disqus account to comment on blogs that use Disqus and you do not need to have a blog to use Disqus, either! Note that Disqus just works just like any common blog comment system if you do not log in.

Disqus has a couple of very different purposes. One function of Disqus is that it works as a commenting platform and is used by some really popular blogs such as Mashable.com, and of course aWebGuy.com.

It seems that Disqus gives some users the impression that they must log in using an account to comment. This is not the case at all, but it does allow users to log in and comment using other social media profiles if they choose. It can also optionally share your comments on social networks so your friends can see what you have to say. There is no need to log in! That is just an option, and even if you are logged in, you decide whether to share the comment on your chosen networks.

Another great function of Disqus is that it works as a comment aggregation and threading platform. As an example, here is my Disqus public profile. Notice that you can reply to blog comments, view the context of blog comments, and follow a link to the blog where the comments were made. That is just downright cool, don’t you think? Imagine how much easier it is to keep up with the conversations you participate in with tools like Disqus on your side. Of course, Disqus is not used on every blog, so I have more cool tools for you!

Blogging Tool Four: Intense Debate

IntenseDebate.com - This is a service similar in some ways to Disqus, but also different in many ways. I use it to keep up with a handful of other writers’ comments, and I also use it for sharing comments. You can see what my Intense Debate profile looks like to get an understanding of the service. An example of the use of Intense Debate as a commenting system in a blog is found at this tech blog where I also write. Intense Debate can help you keep up with more conversations … this is a good thing!

Blogging Tool Five: Google Reader

It may shock many bloggers to realize how few people are using feed readers efficiently, or using them at all. Sure, some bloggers and active users of blogs are totally prepared and see every piece of information they wish to consume. The truth is that a lot of people are still clueless about what that little RSS icon means. REF:

If you are not clear on this, I will simply explain that RSS is used in about everything from cat food to stock quotes. An example I put together to make this point is in an aggregation of feeds from some of my various blogs and other social networks. I call it the Murnahan Online Activity RSS Aggregator. Beware that it may load a bit slowly due to the many feeds it pulls from, but it makes a good point for how RSS (really simple syndication) works.

If you want to put all of the data that is important to your work or other interests in an easy to manage place that you can absorb, you need a good feed reader. Google  Reader is the reader of choice for the masses, and with good reasons. There are many RSS feed readers available, and many that work just great. I use a few of them, and for different purposes, but most of my RSS feeds reach me using Google Reader. If you are not using Google  Reader or another good feed reader to keep up with what your industry is doing, you are missing a lot!

Spend some time and get familiar with Google  Reader. Use it and click every button until you feel comfortable with how it works. I could write a book on this, but in the interest of helping you today, I suggest starting by opening your eyes and taking some time to improve your efforts with this little jewel.

Blogging Tool Six: FeedBurner

How many people do you think a blog turns away each day because when somebody unfamiliar with RSS clicks on the RSS feed and finds either a bunch of XML code or a styled-down version of the blog and does not know what to do with it? The answer is “a lot of them!” For example, if you use Google Chrome, which is quickly growing in popularity, a standard feed just comes across as XML code.

FeedBurner by Google clears that all up and offers users a simple link to subscribe in whatever reader they like, or to subscribe by email. FeedBurner is simple for a blog owner to implement, and simple for the reader to use.

More Blogging Tools

There is a big world out there, and I cannot list everything in one blog post. I hope that these few tools will help you or somebody you know to be more efficient and prepared to deal with the massive information of the Internet.

I would like it very much if you will provide your comments about these blogging tools or add additional suggestions that others may find useful.

Blogging Improves Intelligence

It may sound obvious to you that blogging improves intelligence. After all, if you are using your brain more, it will get stronger. What is not so obvious are the many ways it can make you smarter. Blogging can increase your business intelligence, expand your creativity, provide you with a better perspective on the intelligence around you, and more. Much relies on how you use it, and I am here to help you get smarter, so stop scanning and start reading!

Blog Reading and Commenting is Blogging Too!

When I say blogging, I do not just mean sitting down at your computer to face the arduous task of writing something enlightening for a bunch of imaginary readers each day. I do not mean chugging coffee from early morning until the sun revolves around the earth another time. I do not mean the kind of brain exercise that burns you out after a week, or the huge expenditure of time that full-time writers invest. Get that out of your brain right now, because I want to put some more useful thoughts in there.

When you use blogging the way I will describe it here to boost your intelligence, you will have more creativity to share. Creativity and knowledge are not finite resources. When you use them more, you have more to use.

Community Intelligence Benefits of Blogging

Maybe you have heard the term “blogging community”, but do you really see it as a community? If you do not see blogging as a community, you may not be approaching it right. There are a lot of little blogging communities, and they make up the “blogging world”. There are many great connections to make in that blogging world, and it is best to recognize this fact.

Where are these blogging communities? There are established blogging communities, and then there are less formal blogging communities of people who just seem to read the same blogs and get to know each other with blog commenting and expanding on topics in conversations. Examples of established formal blogging communities include Blog Catalog and Technorati. These communities also stretch into the deepest reaches of that long list of social networks that I have placed on the left side of my blog.

Less Formal Blogging Communities

I am far more engaged in the less formal blogging communities which I have come to know by responding to authors and other blog commenters. Even if I do not communicate with them each day, week, or even month, these are people that have become familiar to me and people with whom I have become familiar. It is a loose community of bloggers that I have come to know and enjoy. Some, but not all of them have their own blogs. When I get to know them by reading and responding to their comments on a blog, I often come to read their blog and find out more of their opinions. The same thing works in reverse, too. If people are interested in what you have to say, they will often want to know a bit more about you.

Notice that most blogs have a place to include your website address when you add a comment, thus creating a link to you show who you are. If you are making useful contributions and provide good input on a topic in the blog’s comments, people use those links! It is a fantastic way to meet others and build relationships, whether for personal or business purposes. It is also an extremely useful way for people to come to know you!

I have found that when I blindly venture out to find new blogs, I discover a lot more horrible writing than I find intelligence. Conversely, when I look to my communities, I find people with viewpoints and writing that interests me and stimulates my thoughts.

As you discover and step into a community of blogging, you can grow your confidence with a greater sense of security that what you are reading will benefit you. These are the blogs where you will learn at the best pace, because they make you think about something of interest to you. When you are stimulated by the content, the rest starts to come much easier.

Are you feeling smarter yet? Keep reading and get those brain cells pumping some iron. I will get to the proof that it makes you more intelligent, be patient.

Blogging Doesn’t Just Mean Writing Blog Posts

It should be obvious by now that a person does not have to master a language to be a blog writer. It offers a very low barrier of entry for writing, so there are a lot of novice writers. They are still learning, and with a lot of dedication they may get really good at it. Jumping into writing frequent blog posts can be intimidating, time consuming, and it can hold some hard lessons. There must be an easier way for non-writers to improve their skills and get their brains in shape for producing better content.

Most people are not born as great writers. In fact, many people with advanced college degrees are still terrible writers. It seems that many people dread writing, so it should be no surprise that they never became good at it. It horrifies some people to imagine coming up with something to write about and then putting it into a proper structure for public consumption. Do not worry about it … blogging does not mean you have to do a lot of writing! However, it is best to do some writing in order to receive the best benefits and expand your talents.

Reading and commenting on blogs is often a great way to find out just how right or wrong your thinking is before you apply it to your own brilliant literary works. I should note that I spend a lot more time reading and commenting on other blogs than I spend writing my own blogs. It makes me stronger as a writer and it gets the hamsters in my brain jumping.

Very Few Bloggers Are Brilliant 100 Percent of the Time!

Don’t worry; you do not always have to be brilliant. I think it is a huge fear for a lot of people that if they don’t have something brilliant to say that they don’t say anything. Fortunately for you, there is a burning desire to become more intelligent. This brings me to the point about proving that blogging makes a person more intelligent.

Maybe I stimulated your thoughts on how to engage in blogging as a community, or how discovering thought provoking friends can be a benefit. In any event, you read this and you are now aware of another viewpoint … my viewpoint. With that viewpoint and the others expressed in the comments to this article, you will have just a little more understanding of the world around you and how people think.

Most importantly, you can surely see the enormous benefits to using blogging as a communications tool, and how two-way communications can be far more beneficial to learning than only one. Now if you want the best proof of how blogging improves intelligence, add your comments and learn about other reader’s viewpoints. That is where the real proof comes in. Just watch what happens when all of my brilliant readers get to communicating!

• 10 Really Good Reasons to Blog
• 5 Common Reasons Blogs Fail
• Where Does Marketing Talent Come From?

Push Your Marketing Go Button!

I often feel like a police officer listening to peoples’ excuses for speeding. I mean, I should write another book just filled with the awful excuses I have heard from businesses over the years for how and why they messed everything up. By the time it gets to the “judge”, all of those excuses only embarrass the “speeder”. Now put all excuses aside and tell me if you can relate to this. I’ll bet it will sound kind of familiar. You may get a laugh, or you may get a fright.

Let’s first get one thing straight: If your business was simple, everybody would be doing it, and you would be out of a job. Business has its challenges, but there are huge rewards for doing the things others are unwilling or afraid to do.

Money Can Stop Business in Its Tracks!

One thing that seems to stop most businesses in their tracks is money. Actually, the lack of money, or fears surrounding money is what kills them. I have found that money is one of the greatest concerns to most business people. Imagine that! This one basic requisite of business is the same thing stopping them from having more of this one basic thing. It is like a loop … without more money, they don’t have more money. With more money, they get more money. It is crazy how that works, don’t you think?

I have found that with enough money, even a pretty bad business person can at least begin to solve most business issues. Money cannot fix it all, but more money can certainly help to solve the most common business problems. Money can buy better attorneys, it can buy better accountants, and it can buy better talent in most every area of a business. Let’s not lie … at least not to yourself. Sure, lie to me if you must, but really, just think about how much more you can do with a business if you have more money. I know this and you know this, so let’s not beat around that bush.

REMEMBER THIS: In business, the bottom line starts with a dollar sign.

When it comes down to it, money is the biggest reason people make bad decisions in their business, or worse yet, make no decisions at all. It paralyzes people and it clouds their judgment. So the big concern is how to bring a business beyond that hurdle of money.

How do you get your hands on more money? Do you beg a bank for more money? Do you rob a bank, a train, or a liquor store? How about this for an idea? Do more of the things that your business does to generate revenue. In many businesses, this means finding more people to buy a product or service, but in nearly every case it means finding more people … or them finding you!

A Look at Your Marketing Funnel

Let us look at your marketing funnel. I will use the basic idea of a marketing funnel to explain my point. At the top, where the funnel is the widest, you have the people who are aware of your offering. As the funnel narrows, you have people who are thinking about you and may become a customer someday. Closer to the bottom where the money gushes out, you have those hot prospects urgently grabbing their credit cards or check books to do business with you. This is just a basic introduction to the marketing funnel, but you get the point, right? Now let’s look at a couple ways people hurt their business waiting on the marketing funnel.

Waiting for Slower Times

Something I see very troubling in many businesses is that they hold off on their marketing until that biggest bulk of their current sales funnel comes through before they think it is time to get busy marketing. Instead of keeping the funnel full and adding more to it, they wait and see how things come through the funnel before they take action and push the “go” button.

This happens for a couple reasons. One excuse I sometimes hear is that the business is so busy they don’t have time to look forward to the next big rush of customers coming through the funnel. When they are not too busy, they cannot afford to market the business properly. So they go through these violent changes in business … up one day, down the next. The business is like a roller coaster ride.

Being “too busy” is as bad as the lie a teenage boy tells his girlfriend in the back seat of the car … at night … at a scenic overlook. Yeah, lie to a girlfriend, but don’t lie to me. I already heard this one.

Everybody has the same 24 hours in a day, and successful business people make time to be sure their business will still survive after the funnel slows down again. When I hear people say they are too busy to care for their future, I often find that they are simply not marketing in a way that is sustainable. They are the same kind who run a big special when they need more business, and they will have to do it again in a few months or weeks. They often waste a ton of money by marketing in this way, and die early from all of the stress it causes.

A better answer is to create a steady flow of business and make the peaks and valleys smoother. Scheduling is easier, accounting is easier, and production is easier. Everything becomes much more profitable and enjoyable with a sustained marketing plan instead of acting from urgency.

NOTE: This kind of business person commonly lies about their business health. They say they are busy, but it is often because they are busy trying to pay back all of the debt they created the last time the funnel went dry. This is sadly a very common approach taken by small business owners.

Waiting for Better Times

I am often reminded of something my mother told me many years ago. She said “Mark, if you wait until you are ready to have kids, you will never be a father.” I am glad I heard her advice, because today I have three children that bring huge amounts of joy to my life, and the lives of many others.

I think of this as the person who is just waiting for a big windfall to come. They have it all mixed up by believing they will be ready to market their business after they gain enough business to afford a marketing plan. They have placed the money cart in front of the marketing horse. It is a very hopeful person who really believes in their business, but just not quite enough to take the necessary risks to make it successful.

I usually find these people to be very energetic and hopeful. They are refreshing, because they come with the positivity of a child. They also often come with the budget of a child, but if you talk to them in six months or a year, all of that will be miraculously sorted out and they will be ready to push the go button then.

The harshest reality for this person is how much time and money they wasted by doing what they thought would minimize their risk. The worst risk for them of all was inaction. Not doing what they should have done has cost them dearly, both in actual loss and in opportunity loss.

I will hear from this person again, in their next venture. They will be ready to get their marketing plan started in another six months or a year.

Assumptions and Fears About Marketing

I watch a lot of people make assumptions about marketing, and they bolster those assumptions with fear. Call it fear, apprehension, diligence, or whatever you like. Waiting around and thinking about it until it paralyzes your business is not the answer. Taking action and being brave in your decisions is in order.

I have heard a lot of stories, and one I have heard a lot is “Oh, but you must be so expensive.” Here is something to think about: The expensive thing about marketing is trying to make more money without it. Thomas Jefferson said it well with this statement: “The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.” The reality is that marketing is what keeps your funnel full and makes businesses more money … not less.

I guess I could consider it kind of flattering when somebody looks at my experience and my marketing talent and makes the assumption that I must be extremely expensive. Wow, if I can make myself seem that valuable, don’t you wonder what happens to the value of your products or services when you push the go button?

I Gave You a Go Button!

I could go on a long time about the mistakes businesses make in their marketing considerations. The worst and most costly of all is to do nothing and wait on that marketing funnel to start pouring out the results without action on your part.

You have my permission to be successful in your business. In fact, you have my encouragement. There really is no better time, and things will not just better on their own. Go ahead and push the go button … Do it NOW!

SEO and Potato Chip Vertical Marketing

Don’t get confused just yet if you are not in the fields of sales or marketing. This should help to get your thoughts in the right place, too.

Sales and Marketing Are Not The Same!

I want to get this point clear first. Sales and marketing are so often intertwined that some people just look at them as the same thing. Please pay close attention. Sales and Marketing are not the same thing!

People in the fields of sales and marketing often realize this, but even they will get this mixed up a lot of times. Sure, the two disciplines of selling and marketing both have the similar focus of driving more dollars into your pocket with super-fantastic return on investment (you know, ROI). If you seek the definitions in many places, you may even find these two terms to be very similar. The truth is that they are different … they are vertical, but not the same. I can tell you that many salespeople know a similar amount about marketing analytics as their marketing counterpart knows about being bitten by that dog that answered the door on the last sales call.

Some people have called me a great salesman. They clearly missed something, because I actually kind of stink as a salesman in some ways. I give them the proof they want, but I am not about to grovel to the lowest bidder … that is just not my style. If I have to ask somebody to buy what I do, I consider it a failure in my marketing. This is because if the marketing is done right, the sale should be nothing but the fun part. Really, if somebody wants a big sales pitch, I just tell them to get a pen handy so I can have them call some of my customers … or even better, read more of my blog.

So argue if you must (that is why I allow your comments), but let us look at this as Internet sales being when somebody clicks your “buy” button or rings your phone, while marketing involves the sequence of events that led up to that wonderful (huge beam of light coming from the sky and angels singing) click that made your cash register ding.

Vertical Market? Guard your Wallet!

I do not like those industry terms people toss around just to sound smart or to throw the customer off long enough to grab their wallet. I have made fun of this in the past, because it is often designed to obscure the message just enough to distract a smart and hard working person who just doesn’t have a reason to know everything about cytology, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, or how to bring more customers to their business.

If you are not a marketing person, you may not understand a vertical market compared to a horizontal market, or a skazmodic market. OK, I made that last one (skazmodic) up just for fun. You are not expected to know everything about marketing. Seriously, nobody knows everything about marketing, and the majority of the world’s population has another discipline to focus on. Should a dentist know as much about marketing as a marketer knows about dentistry? Not at all, but I can tell you that either of them is just as important in whether you eat or not. Without good marketing, most of what you know in this world would look a whole lot different.

So you may ask, what is a vertical market? Let me break the term “vertical market” down for you. If you are selling fishing lures, it is a vertical of fishing supplies, which is a vertical of outdoor sports. Other vertical markets are camping supplies, and hunting, but fishing lures will probably never be a part of aircraft repair (and if so, please choose a different airline).

Wikipedia includes the description of a vertical market as follows:

“The activities of participants within any given vertical market are typically similar in that they aim at solving the same or similar problems. These markets are typically competitive, due to the overlapping focuses of the products and services that are provided to the customers.”

Love Your Vertical Market … I Do!

In the SEO profession or in any market, I suggest falling in love with your vertical market. Get to know this market and it will not take very long to realize that your vertical market is chock full of mutually-beneficial assets. With this considered I use SEO as my example. Surely you can see how SEO is a vertical of website design, web development, web hosting, technology, marketing, advertising, and more. These are markets for the SEO professional to consider as their friends. Yes, vertical markets are your friends! Do not mistake this, because if you do it will hurt your bottom line whether you sell SEO / Internet marketing, fishing lures, or potato chips.

Any marketer worth the water they are made of should be highly aware of the vertical markets of their clients. Sadly for marketers, as so many marketers seem to be fighting for the same dollars, they forget about their own vertical market. For example, I am a search engine optimizer (SEO), but if you think that means I do not work very closely with other SEO, you must think I am totally stupid. These folks are my closest allies, and often my best clients. That is because as with any industry, we each have specific skills and when we put those skills together, we get a whole lot more accomplished. Digg.com is really not a huge piece of my own personal work, but you can bet that I know a whole bunch of people to who leverage it massively. On the other hand, I have somewhat of a whacky way of producing content with massive appeal. I mean, I produce really great results with things I come up with after a gallon of coffee and a pack of cigarettes. I do all of the things an SEO does. I create content, I am a programmer of about every known language, I have wicked skills with incoming link production, I am highly active in a squillion social media venues, I write for a good handful of blogs, and so many other things. So am I out to grab up the whole market by myself? Heck no! Not at all, because the more meat on the bone for those friendly competitors, the more food is on my table, too.

This, my friends, is vertical marketing at its best. Never think you are so amazing that you should try to do it all by yourself. The best SEO people know where their marketing talent lies, just the way the heart surgeon knows that he doesn’t want to perform vasectomies.

Horizontal Market … Oh, Beautiful Sunrise!

If the sun rises with your horizontal market, there are still some pretty huge things to consider. If you are trying to sell your product or service to anybody and everybody, you do so at your own demise. Trust me … no wait … I hate that term, because it implies that I have been lying to you all along. Don’t trust me … just go find out for yourself how miserably you will fail at trying to reach the hundreds of millions of people who desperately need what you offer if you can just tell them all about it. Let me know how that went after you spend hundreds of squillions of dollars on that campaign. Just be sure you set a couple squillion aside for when you are ready to do it the right way.

Consider the massive potential customer base of a potato chip company. They must have a really easy marketing plan. All they have to do is tell everybody who eats potato chips how good their product is, right? Wrong! If this was the case, you would probably never see a potato chip company advertising that their product is fat-free, in earth-friendly packaging, cheesier than the rest, low salt, in a nice can so the chips don’t get broken, or any of the other things that segment their market based on targeted desires.

To the SEO / Internet marketing people reading this:
Let’s think about that vertical market and start working together.

To the rest of you:
Call me right now so I can get my vertical market to talking about targeted reasons that your potato chips taste so amazing.

Wow, did you see that coming? I have something that anybody with something to market needs, but I am calling my vertical market to action. It is fancy how that works, isn’t it?

Google Knows The Dubeshag

Polarizing an audience does not mean that you are telling them to go away or that you do not appreciate them. When you polarize your audience, you set yourself apart from the crowd and you often gain respect. If somebody does not respect you for who you are, you probably did not need that respect anyway.

I am first going to explain what I mean by polarizing an audience, and then give you my recent example that happened with an article I wrote titled “Era of The Social Media Dubeshag”.

Stop Trying to Make Everybody Happy!

Sure, you are in business, and you want to be certain that anybody and everybody will want to buy your products or service. You want everybody to love you, I get it. Have you ever considered the downsides? Yes, the downsides can be that your biggest fans are indifferent. They are not the kind who will drag their friends, family, and complete strangers kicking and screaming to buy your brand.

Looking around the business world, you can see many very successful instances of polarizing an audience. A good example may be in Apple Computer’s decision to not support Adobe Flash Player in their iPhone and iPad products. Other examples are available in the soft drink market with Coke and Pepsi, and extreme examples occur in politics. Who wants a wishy-washy politician, anyway?

Do Facebook and Google Polarize Their Audience?

Once you know your brand, stand strong to it. I don’t mean going around and intentionally making people mad at you, but don’t be a chicken either. Just look to Facebook for an example. Facebook is not at all afraid to polarize their audience. They are in the news for it every time they make a big change, but you don’t hear them apologize for how they run their business, or the culture of their brand. Does it work for Facebook? Consider this: If Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest in the world with over 400,000,000 (yes, four hundred million) users.

Google battles against whole countries, like China and recently Italy. I don’t think I need to go into a lengthy argument of how Google polarizes their audience. They are famously polarizing, just as most massively successful brands are.

Sure, you can say that Facebook and Google do not have any real competition, but they do, and in huge order. Many people just don’t look at them as having competition because they are so extremely large and tower over their competitors. In any case, consider who you hear more polarizing stories from … Google or Dogpile?

Pleasing Everybody Satisfies Nobody

I have said it many times that “I do not try to please everybody, and that pleases some people very much.” I strongly believe in this statement and it is with me at all times. What it means to me is that I will not waiver from who I am just to make people like me. It seems that if they do not like me, they dislike me with emphasis. Conversely, if they like me, they like me very much and they are brand-loyal. I try to leave very little room for indifference.

So What About This Dubeshag Article?

I created a new word for our chubby or less-than-Clark-Gable friends in the social media world. I called them “dubeshags”. The genesis of the word was in good humor, and there is what some would call a very funny back-story. You can read the article and judge for yourself.

It polarized an audience in a pretty big way. I was accused of all kinds of crimes of social media for writing it, such as using popular names to build popularity. I explained my reason for writing it in an addendum to the article and it included the statement as follows:

If you think I wrote it for attention, I would have left it as a draft if I didn’t want people to read it. Sure, I want it to be read. Maybe you just blog for the entertainment of your cats, but I do it for public consumption.

The moral of the story is this: Whether people loved it or hated it, the word “dubeshag” is no longer a secret. In roughly 36 hours, dubeshag went from zero listings in Google and no recognition at all to over 500 listings in Google; over 120 Digg.com diggs; a handful of votes on Mixx.com, Reddit.com, and StumbleUpon.com; was re-blogged on many blogs; has been tweeted to hundreds of thousands of Twitter users; created an interview on Social Blade; and has flattered a few of the dubeshags who were mentioned.

Who cares if it made a few people pout? Certainly not this author.

It is funny that since I wrote this and was away for an event at my son’s school for a couple hours, the number of listings for dubeshag on Google keeps going up. I am presently seeing it at 633 listings. That means hundreds of pages talking about dubeshag, and linking to the article. So it should kind of make a person wonder what happens when you do that several times per day? What happens if you do it for six months, a year, or longer?

It amazes me how some people still wonder if this whole SEO and social media thing is really worth looking into or not. To those in doubt, I hope I have given you some food for thought, and I hope you will investigate further. Stick around and read some more. You may find that there is a lot more to it than you think.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a lovely little tourist destination … blah blah FAIL!

Do they wonder why people make fun of Arkansas, or do they even hear it? Maybe they just figure people make fun of every state that way. You know, like the way people make fun of all those barefoot inbred hillbillies playing the banjo and smoking corn cob pipes over in Colorado’s tourist destinations.

Sure, for all the jokes, there is charm in Eureka Springs. Sometimes it is the kind of charm of looking at an ugly baby. You get a good laugh after the parents are out of earshot and wonder how you held it together without spewing your drink out of your nose. There is still charm to that ugly baby.

Enough Eureka Springs Jokes, This is Business

Seriously though, there really is some charm to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and I am not just saying that to avoid being buried out by the woodshed or cut up for catfish bait. I said I would stop joking, so here you have it … the real deal.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas has been a nice little tourist destination, and perhaps still even has much of its original charm … for now. Sadly, it seems that they slipped behind the eight ball as other communities have embraced their would-be tourists and are poised to take Eureka Springs right off the map given time. It appears as if this little town has elected to roll over and die instead of taking steps to regain their reputation as a tourist destination that wants visitors. It is a case of survival of the fittest, and this tired old animal seems to have given up.

To show how serious their problem is, just have a look at this Eureka Springs social media analytics report. If this was funny it would be a great submission to Fail Blog. Instead, it is a sad fact of utter social media failure and business failure. It is something I see often, and worth a good strong warning to anybody who thinks an empty Facebook Page or following a bunch of people on Twitter without any interaction is how to see benefit from social media. It is also a warning to anybody who still doubts social media’s importance to a business or to a community.

It really does matter, and it really does drive real business. Otherwise, why in the heck did Pepsi spend $20,000,000 (yes, twenty million dollars) in social media outreach instead of Super Bowl commercials? Sure, you can say that is crazy, but it was a huge success for Pepsi. Read “Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right“.

How Eureka Springs, Arkansas Tourism Failed

Is it really a failure? Yes! When you lose market share you fail, and when social media barely even knows you exist, it is a pretty good picture of your business health. This is especially true of a geographically-bound institution such as a city. They cannot just move to a better location, so instead, they count on people to come to them. This does not mean waiting for people to search Google for things to do in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It means telling people about its charm and cultivating a market of potential visitors. It means creating an awareness of the community instead of just rolling over to die. It means having the highest waving arm and saying “pick me” when somebody is looking for a nice day trip or a romantic getaway. It means generating a fan base of people who will tell all their friends how incredible the place is and that everything from the food, the people, the scenery, the shopping, and even the bed sheets at the bed and breakfast were amazing. Yes, it is just like old fashioned word of mouth, except that it spreads further, farther, faster, and with much greater longevity than the blurb from somebody at the water cooler of days past.

Here is a video I was presented with that illustrates a very troubling fact that some people seem to believe just putting something on the Internet will make people come begging to do business. It is worth a laugh.

Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism

I will tell you how Eureka Springs was recently brought to my attention. What prompted me to write this was not a recent trip or a good experience. It was a message on Facebook about a blog post. The blog addressed Eureka Springs’ failure to make people aware of an upcoming event that is important to the community. Ironically, it is the “Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism“. Yes, seriously … Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism is coming, and if left to the Internet to discover it, you might think it would be hosted by their new Governor Bill Clinton.

Do you see how nicely that spreads? A friend told some friends, who told some friends … and the story goes on. This is how social media works. This is the power of people communicating with people. This is what Eureka Springs and a sad too many hard luck stories out there wondering why all the customers disappeared should know.

I think it is both funny and sad that a word I made up only yesterday on another blog where I write has more presence in social media than an entire town that relies on tourism to pay the bills. It is sad indeed! I think Eureka Springs may need a “social media dubeshag“.

SEO is Like Planting a Seedling

Here are answers to some of the most pressing questions about SEO that are asked of SEO professionals. I am not ranking these questions in the order of urgency or frequency, but these are some of the most common things I hear when people call me, search the Internet and find me, or meet me and ask what I do.

SEO Question One: What is SEO?

Answer: I suppose I should start with answering the big question of “What is SEO?”

SEO is both a noun and a verb, kind of like Google. It can mean search engine optimization or search engine optimizer. You can usually tell the difference based on the usage.

It involves many aspects of improving a site’s ranking in search engines, and thus increasing the site’s exposure. However, it goes a lot deeper than that. Being listed at the top of search results does not always mean a visitor to your website, especially if you are not listed for the right search terms. Finding the right search terms (keyword phrases) is very important, and often involves many lateral keywords.

SEO has a lot to do with converting more searches into clicks, but clicks alone do not always mean profit. So it also has a whole lot to do with converting those clicks into an action, such as a purchase or a new business lead.

SEO Question Two: How Much Does SEO Cost, and Why?

Answer: I get this question more than perhaps any other, and it comes in many variations. I get it in person, on the phone, and I get it in searches for “SEO hourly rates“. If you Google that term or a number of others like it, you will understand why I know this is a common question. You will find this article I wrote a while back titled “SEO and Web Development Hourly Rates” The funny part is that really great SEO is not done based on an hourly rate.

I know it is a scary thing to imagine waving goodbye to money. If a person can look at this without the hair on the back of their neck standing up and consider it for a moment, the better question is actually how much will a lack of SEO cost? Sure, that just sounds like a guy trying to sell you stuff, but I am serious. What happens when you do it wrong? Doing SEO wrong or not doing it at all is what becomes really costly.

I realize that the real question people want to know about SEO is how much they will have to invest in order to get the results they want. The problem is that at the same time, they often do not really have a finger on what results they are after. “More business” is not a good answer to the question. It requires planning, and planning means having better questions with better answers.

If you just want three more sales, it will probably not require a large upfront investment. On the other hand, if you are selling custom purple pajamas for botfly larvae, all the SEO in the world may not help you much. Either of these is not a plan, and if you start without a plan, you will end without a plan.

What is needed and how much you should spend are issues for each individual business. The answer that will provide the best results will usually be uncomfortable. My short answer is usually “bring your lunch money” because if the SEO is done well, every additional dollar you invest will produce a greater return.

Does it cost, really? I thought it was supposed to pay money, not cost money. I wonder what the cost is if you don’t do it? My really super smart-ass answer to the number one most important factor in your business success (your marketing) would be “how well do you want the job done?”

In answer to the last part of the question (why), I would like to refer you to an article I wrote only yesterday titled “Where Does Marketing Talent Come From?”

SEO Question Three: Can You Reduce the Upfront Cost?

Answer: Yes, there are ways to minimize the upfront cost of SEO, and the best one is with a contingency SEOcontract which allows the provider to earn money based on performance. Be mindful that there is generally still an upfront cost involved. After all, there is often a lot of risk mitigation for the SEO in making sure your company and your products are market-ready and something they want to partner with.

When you contact a good SEO, you should be ready to afford the cost. Again, this is an investment in your business and you are seeking a professional service to build your business. If you ever wonder why a good SEO’s phone keeps breaking up and the call drops, consider this: If you are asking them to deliver you the moon but to do it “cheap”, this could very well be the reason.

SEO Question Four: Can SEO Help a Small Local Company?

Answer: Yes, and it can also help a small local company stop being small and local if they choose. Can it help a small and broke company? Well, I like to remember a term I learned in grammar school: survival of the fittest. If your company is already too broke to sustain the basic essentials of marketing, it may be too late. I said it may be too late. I think it is still better to go down fighting than to just roll over. SEO is likely the best chance you have.

SEO Question Five: How Long Does SEO Take?

Answer: This is another one of those sticky questions with a whole lot of answers. I generally expect to see results the moment I click “publish”. Once you have a site that is worthwhile to users, a squillion good incoming links, and a good reputation with Google, things can happen very quickly. A better answer may be how long it will take you to make the decision to take action. It is like planting a tree. If you want shade, it is best that you did it a long time ago. In lieu of that, I will let you answer the best time to plant it.

SEO Question Six: How Long Does SEO Last?

Answer: I have written articles for competitive keyword phrases that are still at the top of searches since nearly a decade ago. Things change, but the search listing aspects of SEO are generally designed to last. Other areas of SEO work are also designed with longevity, such as an emphasized call to action and other matters of Website usability. A pay-per-click campaign will last until you stop paying for it.

SEO Question Seven: How Can I Measure SEO Success?

Answer: The short and sweet answer should be “in your wallet” but it is a bit more than that. You can measure success of specific traffic results and user actions very easily with statistics from tools like Google Analytics and Clicky Web Analytics. If you can get over the big task planting the seedling of good SEO, the results can mean a whole lot more than just how much more money you have. It can mean that your business is on a path to a sustainable marketing platform where every time you have something to say, your content will rank much more easily in search engines. So your measurement should extend beyond today alone, but also include a longer term look at where your business will be down the road.

SEO Question Eight: Isn’t SEO Mostly Just Title Tags, H1 Tags, and Meta Tags?

Answer: I want to be nice about this one, because I know that the SEO industry has talked a lot about these things and it may seem there is a lot of emphasis on these items. I will touch on each item individually, but just for a moment. Then I will explain how little they do in the big picture.

Title tags are very important to SEO, because they are the number one on-page item to tell a search engine what the page is about. If the content matches the title, and all other things are perfect, you may have a win. There are clearly a lot of other factors. Otherwise, some of those pages titled “Home” (and sadly there are millions titled just “Home”) would show up somewhere. Instead, I searched and found “The Home Depot”, followed by “Lowe’s Home Improvement: Buy Kitchen Cabinets, Paint, Appliances and Flooring”, followed by iGoogle.

H1 tags hold importance due to the proper structure of a page. They are like a headline on a newspaper and they are the starting point of an article. The H1 tag tells the overall subject of the page, and ideally the rest of the page matches the subject. There are a lot of SEO who will argue until they are blue in the face about the subject of H1, and sometimes rightfully so, but if you want to know more just Google it. You will find an article I wrote years ago right on top. Here is my article titled “H1 Tags Improve Search Engine Placement” and here is the Google Search for H1 tags. You be the judge, but please do not assume it is there just because I used the H1 tag.

Meta tags? Don’t even get me started. This is like a joke that spread widely back in the 1990’s to make SEO sound smart. Kidding! Actually, they once had some bearing on SEO, but many search engines do not look at meta tags as a factor any more than the haircut of your pet chihuahua.

The Big Picture: If these simple items of title tags, H1 tags and meta tags did the trick, don’t you think the Internet would get pretty messed up with totally irrelevant things in the way every time you search for something? It takes a whole lot more. I mean, wouldn’t you rank yourself a lot higher for “2010 Olympics” or “Brittany Spears” if that was the case?

SEO Question Nine: Are There Any Guarantees to SEO?

Answer: Yes, there are a few guarantees with SEO, and they are not all lies, either. First, I can guarantee you that if you do nothing, you will get nothing. Some SEO will provide outrageous guarantees, and I hope you do not fall for it. One type of reasonable guarantee is based on additional work until a set objective is met. The most reasonable SEO guarantee is one that the professional you hired will work hard and work smart to meet your objectives. If you ask for guarantees, you will usually pay for guarantees. In many cases the customers pay for them the hard way … by believing something that is not true.

SEO Question Ten: Can’t I Just Do My Own Google Adwords?

Answer: Yes, absolutely! You can do it all yourself. Just be aware that you have another job to do … running your business. If you think you can do the job as well as the professional who makes it their career, I just hope you don’t make the same kind of decision about professional football or dentistry. You are likely to get hurt.

SEO Question Eleven: Can’t I Just Read Your Blog and Do It Myself?

Answer: Sure. Subscribe here. If you need more help, don’t be too proud to ask.

Is there such a thing as natural ability in marketing? Some talents seem to come from birth, but like developing any talent, it takes time and hard work. Talent comes with a cost.

Marketing Talent Comes With a Cost

There is a hidden cost to marketing talent that is often difficult to realize. Whether you are hiring it out or trying to develop marketing talent for yourself, it has a cost … often a huge cost. So, where does marketing talent really come from, what is the cost to get it, and why are marketing talents not all equal? Allow me to explain.

Talent is Better with Practice

I have been fascinated recently with the 2010 Winter Olympics. The athletes are amazing, and their talent often seems humanly impossible. What makes it possible is a whole lot of passion, determination, and practice. Passion leads to determination and determination leads to practice. Passion and determination do nothing without the follow through of relentless practice. Apolo Ohno even crashed a few times before he went on to become the most decorated USA medalist in Winter Olympic history, but he kept practicing.

Maybe you have a talent that you are passionate about. Think about that talent you developed through passion. Maybe you went to school a long time for it, and maybe you practiced it long enough to get really good at it … best of all is practice. Can somebody else do it as well as you? If they can, they probably practiced more.

Marketing Talent Takes Risk

It was when I heard Bob Costas and the other announcers talking about Olympic athletes having similar DNA to race car drivers and other risk-takers that my ears perked up. I started thinking about the risks people take, how they calculate risks, and really how little most people are willing to risk. With minimal risk, there is minimal reward. Come on, we all know this, and it is true of everything from leaning in for the first kiss to becoming a huge success at something.

Here is a way I can relate to risk. I race cars. In fact, I race cars very well. Driving is something I am passionate about. It is a talent that I have worked on for years, spent thousands of hours practicing, and hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to master. I also teach drivers what they need to know about driving. Imagine that. I get in a car with another driver and teach him or her how to go faster … fast enough to kill us both in an instant! Yes, I’ve got balls courage. I have courage the size of an aircraft carrier, but I have something else. I’ve got talent. The kind of talent that only comes from a whole lot of practice. That practice makes me just a little more immune to risk with each lap.

A common saying at a race track is that there is no such thing as natural ability. Oh, there may be some natural propensity (like good eyes and good reflexes), but the talent comes with practice. Really amazing talent comes with thousands of hours of practice. This goes for Olympic athletes, race car drivers, and yes, even marketers.

Good Marketing Talent Minimizes Your Risk

While knowing that each practice increases immunity to risk, I think about how much risk most people are willing to take in their business. Most businesses try to reduce their exposure to risk at every opportunity. They mop up the Vaseline spill in the doorway, they remove the balloon filled with broken glass hanging high above the atrium, and they buy insurance in case it all goes wrong. Doesn’t it beg the question of how they could logically reduce the risk of failure in their marketing efforts? Yes, I think that makes sense, too.

When you look for marketing talent and you wonder what you are paying for, remember this: Good Marketers Already Took the Risks. That means they already know what does not work, and they have the experience to know how to help you avoid doing the same. Not only that, really good marketing talent comes from the people who not only had a strong propensity to good marketing and passion for the work, but they have put in the countless hours of hard work, research, and practice … like the Olympic athlete or the race car driver.

Expensive Marketing Choices

When you consider developing marketing talent, consider your passion, time, and willingness to take risks. If you are passionate about your marketing but lack the time it takes to learn to skate like Apolo Ohno, drive like Emerson Fittipaldi, or market creatively like Pablo Picasso. Stop and consider the risks you could mitigate by sitting in the stands while the real marketing talent rounds the track for you. Be aware that you are paying them for the talent they developed with passion, determination and practice. You pay them for the risks they took that were a bit too ballsy courageous for your liking or your budget.

Do you want to go fast? You must decide carefully which risks to take, and it can be a lot less risky to hire somebody with marketing talent than to develop your own. After all, are you more likely to hop in a race car to create the show for everybody else or stay home and watch it from the safety of your sofa? Either will have a cost, but one takes a whole lot of time.

P.S. Here is what it looks like when I drive. I will leave out the failures it took to get there.

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Backlink search on Yahoo! for awebguy.com

Backlinks are massively important to SEO because they reflect a consensus that your Website is either great, or it is not. Most people know that it is important to have a lot of links pointing back to their site, and some even know why … but few really understand how. I will draw this out for you and explain just why most SEO really stink at backlinks. Unless you settle in for a good read, right now, you will miss a huge lesson in SEO that you should know before you spend another cent. Get comfortable, because this is information that will benefit your business.

Most SEO Are Clueless About Backlinks

Most SEO fail at link building, and there are a few good reasons. Yes, I said most, and I mean it. Most SEO are failing at this one singular most measurable task that will make the difference in everything from customers finding your Website, to your Website conversion. The troubling thing to note is that they will often not tell you about it, and worse yet, they don’t even have a clue why they are so awful at it.

First, I will explain the couple of terms I use here and how they work for you, since I know everybody is not totally into SEO the way I am. SEO stands for search engine optimization (interchangeable with search engine optimizer, like me).

SEO is a whole lot more than just making sure you are at the top of the list when people search for what you offer. It goes much deeper, and it has a whole lot to do with another important and misunderstood term. Conversion! Oh, you’ve heard the term, right? In my most simple way of explaining conversion, it means converting searchers into clickers, clickers into buyers, and buyers into raving fans who will take your business to a totally different playing field. Conversion does not mean you conned another sucker into buying your stuff! Conversion could be said to mean that you are converting your business from an “also-ran” to the lead in the race.

Link building, as I am discussing it here, does not mean asking your cousin Sally to add a link to your site about insurance from her site about landscaping. When I say link building, I mean valuable, sustainable proof that you are serious about your business and that other people recognize this fact.

SEO Often Lie About Backlinks!

Now for backlinks; a backlink is what you have when somebody links to your site. It seems simple, right? Every joker who sends you an email offering to sell you backlinks for $49 knows that term. It means a squillion people will come flocking to your Website and enter their credit card number to snatch up your massively important stuff before you change your mind and raise the price. Yeah? Well … NO! This is the way a lot of SEO will explain it, but then, people lie … even on the Internet. By the way, why are they emailing, and why do their Websites never have more than a couple backlinks? I actually think it is not always just a mean-spirited lie, but more because they see this huge market and they are desperate to grab their piece but not willing to learn before they sell it to you. They are trying to earn as they learn, and the customer is often a victim.

Build Backlinks With Talent and Trust

When you have quality backlinks it tells Google and other search engines that others place a trust in you and they like your site. It is a democratic process. It is often faked, just like any other democratic process, but what sets you apart is that you are up for re-election today, tomorrow, and every day. Your business cannot afford to mess this up, and a bad fake in this democratic process can get you banned from search engines and waste a whole lot of your money. The biggest portion of the cost is the money you didn’t earn because you were wasting time with what did not work and your competition got the business.

If you take a creative and well-considered approach to your business and your Website, backlinks are simple. I never asked anybody to link to this site … not even once. I did not have to. I provide information that people want and can use to their benefit. People link here because they trust the content and they believe that others can benefit from it, too. This is the mentality it takes to build backlinks that matter. This is the kind of backlink that is relevant to those people looking for you, and a whole lot more likely to give you that conversion you are seeking. It is the kind of backlink that the SEO who sees you as a meal ticket will never create, because their mind simply does not work that way.

Trust and familiarity can build a whole lot of backlinks. Branding takes time and it takes purpose. When you do it right, you build great relationships. Here is an article that explains the difference that trusting relationships make in SEO and social media marketing: “How the Big Dogs Get Paid”. Have a little faith. I would not link to it if I didn’t think it would benefit you.

How SEO Sucker People: A Simple Explanation!

How does this happen that SEO sucker people out of their money? It is another blog post all together, but it is too commonly because the nature of need, greed, and fear tells people that they should seek the lowest cost in their business. They are out to make money without spending money. They want what sounds great, but for the lowest upfront expenditure. The first SEO to claim that they can do all that those other guys do for a fraction of the cost gets the money. What you should consider is that old saying that you get what you pay for. I would add that sometimes you don’t even get that.

If you are needy, greedy, and scared, do not cry to me or the other SEO who take the job of marketing your business seriously. Until you can get over the anxiety for grabbing fast money from the Internet, you are probably not ready for SEO performed correctly. If you take your business seriously and consider the importance of doing it right, the backlinks will come effortlessly.

Summary of SEO Backlinks

This little observation of backlinks explains a lot of reasons that when somebody asks me (as they often do) “What is your hourly rate for SEO?” I explain that they are asking the wrong question. The cost of SEO does not boil down to hourly rates for SEO or even how much money you wave goodbye to upfront. It comes down to how you look at your business and whether you only plan for tomorrow or plan to take your business to the head of the race. If you want to know my hourly rates, just Google it. If you want some free SEO lessons, go ahead and Google SEO lessons and find out if those backlinks I write about really matter.

If you want it done well, stop and think about these things and bring your lunch money. Doing SEO well does not mean doing it cheap. Real SEO means that you are in business and that you can swim with the sharks, and not that you are just willing to test the water.

A man locked in a steel box for 30 days with cameras showing his every move to the Internet public will give away 30k GBP / 50k USD if you can find him. He does not even know where he is, but he is given periodic clues to help you determine his location.

The appeal seems massive so far. Viral, even! What do you think? Is it total madness or is it creative social media marketing genius?

A part of me wants to say that he is totally nuts, but that is coming from the guy who Webcasted a live stream crossing 6,000 miles in nine days during the 25th Cannonball One Lap of America from the confines of a Corvette with huge stickers that said CopMagnet.com all over it.

I say “Bravo!” to the Man in Box. I hope he survives the 30 days with his mind intact.

View the live video stream below. Just click the play button to see what he is up to now.

Man in Box Website

For more information, visit the Man in Box Website.

Is This Transparency?

A lot of people talk about transparency in business these days. It is a really fantastic thing, but it can also backfire. I don’t just mean “backfire” like clients finding pictures of the CEO passed out with a couple of strippers. It can be a lot more subtle at times. Transparency and decorum in business does not just have to do with hiding things you want to hide and letting fly with things you want people to see about you. Transparency and business decorum meet when you present the person or company you really are, while also actually being what people expect and deserve of you.

Transparency and Business Decorum

So what about transparency? Some people think that transparency is the latest and greatest new invention, but some of us have always known the importance. Making transparency and decorum play nicely together is even more important.

When you walk into a doctor’s office, you expect to see people in scrubs and suits, behaving “properly”, but if you go to Hooters, you expect to see people wearing tight shirts and helping people get drunk. The same people can be found in either place, but there is an accelerating shift in the sense of what is proper.

I am clearly not the only person who has noticed changes in our world. What defines decorum today is not what defined it in times past. We see examples of business decorum changing all around us. Some of it we like, and some of it we despise. I like wearing blue jeans, and I don’t give a damn what my clients or peers wear. You see, there goes my decorum in a big wreck, but it matches who I am and also my readers’ expectation, which shows transparency. I am a creative geek who thinks stuff up. I am not the guy greeting people at a grand ball.

Business Decorum and Attire Are Not the Same Thing!

Business decorum and attire are not entirely the same thing, although attire is a part of decorum. Since it is an easy way to visualize, I’ll go with it. I am reminded of a funny thing I saw while I was speaking to a group of marketers a couple months ago. It was a great event, with over twenty speakers on different marketing topics. At the speaker’s reception afterward, I visited with Jamie Turner of Bennett Kuhn Varner, Inc.

Jamie gave a great talk about marketing. While we bellied up to the bar and prepared to answer questions about our respective talks, I joked with him that it looked like we were at a coroner’s convention. Everybody was wearing a dark suit, while Jaime and I were the only guys with enough good reasons to come in blue jeans and sport coats. We were the best dressed guys in the whole place by a long shot! Everybody else looked like the guy you saw when your sweet aunt Crystal passed away. Did our blue jeans and more relaxed attire make us less desirable to clients? If so, I suspect either of us would thumb our nose at a pretentious client without ability or sense to read into the numbers anyway. The real mystery is in who could see the market, and who grasped the shift in expected decorum. My bet is that if you walked into the same group of people in another city, you would see a different outfit on both attendees and speakers. We were on the front of the shift for Midwest USA.

That same night, I also saw attendees doing things that were so entirely opposite of the propriety their business suits suggest that I went back to my room and called my wife to remind her how much I love her. OK, here goes my decorum flying off the hook again when I say “Who is proper now, bitches?”

Decorum Guidelines Are Blurry Lines

I work in a very diverse group, in many cultures, and with many varying expectations. So, in my case, my clients know that I can be as prepared in marketing a medical supply manufacturer to hospitals as I am marketing burritos and beer bongs. That is just me. I am a quintessential marketing guy. I do what is best for my clients, while maintaining their transparency and business decorum at the same time. It is like magic how it all comes together, and I love this about my job. I am expected to be a little quirky and occasionally pop off with something unexpected and sound like I suffer from Tourette syndrome (shit). Yes, I am expected to be unexpected, but for many people and companies I would suggest: “Do not follow my example!”

Something I find astonishing is how often a client will be just as quirky and unexpected as me and do something totally stupid in their marketing. I can do it … I am supposed to! Unrestrained expectations of what works for one company automatically working for your company is like testing cyanide to see if it works. It is best to send it to a lab.

In reality, we are all collectively the ones who make decorum exactly what it is. It is a social standard that is bestowed upon us by those around us, and carried on by each of us. When there is a great disparity between your sense of decorum and that which people expect of you in business, you have the making of a marketing failure … or success. Knowing which way to go is where the lines are very blurry, and if you are not up to proper research, you could end up on the wrong side of the cyanide test.

Business Decorum Changes Over Time

Standards change, as they always have over time. It may happen too slowly to notice the change until you see extreme instances. The video below gives examples from a supreme court nomination floundering for smoking marijuana, President Clinton being teased, and then the rush for politicians to talk about their marijuana use. Today USA has a president who spoke to a group of high school kids about getting high and doing blow. That is change! It should also speak to the importance of transparency and decorum working together. Transparency for transparency alone can be very off-putting to many people.

The standards of decorum for one person may be completely repulsive to another. With enough exposure to a change of standards, the repulsion weakens, and we take a “since we can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach. Considering this from a business standpoint, it can take a whole lot of branding to overcome and win people over. Sometimes this works, but sometimes you are better off to stop trying to beat your market and join them. First, you should know who you are, who they are, and what is proper in your instance.

Tell me what you think about the marriage of transparency and business decorum. That is why my blog has a comments form.

In a recent release by the Washington D.C. Centers for Unemployment Research, a study of unemployed Web developers revealed that over 68 percent were able to directly attribute their job loss to the widespread use of Internet Explorer. It concluded that adoption of Internet Explorer factors heavily in job loss within other industries outside of only technology during the years from 2007 through 2009, but particularly hard-hit was the ecommerce programming sector with up to 73 percent. Further, the study revealed that in nearly each instance, they had also failed to flog, berate, and publicly out their friends and family members who were known to use Internet Explorer.

In a more extensive study, the recently released Institute of Computer User Studies, United Kingdom Report (ICUSUKR) showed that the cost of Internet Explorer usage to business has reached an all-time high. The ICUSUKR concluded that even if you spell it out carefully, Internet Explorer users were up to 78 percent less likely to grasp basic computing concepts, including the “Any” key and other Internet-related tasks.

Does Internet Explorer Really Cause Job Loss?

Well, maybe, but I made that all that stuff up. It is a joke, but let us just look at this Internet Explorer for a moment. Internet Explorer creates such an excessive burden to the Internet public in areas of security, functionality, and design that if Toyota was to launch the next Internet Explorer, it would likely take all the heat off for their stuck throttle cables. I think General Motors and Bank of America should have rolled with something like this ages ago.

If you doubt me on the importance that you stop using Internet Explorer, please see the article on BBC News: “German government warns against using MS Explorer”. Seriously, watch the video on that article!

In any case, you probably wonder how Internet Explorer could contribute to unemployment. After all, that is why you clicked, right? I will break a couple things down for you. Let us first examine these geeky factors of cost to business. Yes, business … the ones you count on to put food on your table, and the ones you buy your stuff from. They all suffer from this Internet ailment.

We all understand that the Internet is where marketing and business takes place, right? If you deny that, get off my blog straight away. You do not belong here. Did you see what I write about?

Excessive Cost of Internet Explorer to Business

Programming Cost of Internet Explorer - When you hire a programmer to handle all of those tedious tasks of making your Website work just how you like, programmers and designers have this little calculator in their head counting all of the episodes of 24 they will have backed up on their DVR because they are busy making your site work with complete cross-platform compatibility. In simple terms, they have to count up how much extra time it will take them to fix all of the little buggy stuff Internet Explorer will do to their Web-Standards-Perfect masterpiece. Maybe you thought we use Microsoft Word to make Websites, but if you just click here, you can see what programming code it takes to make just this one measly page you are looking at. A few screwups there and you have yourself a broken Website that will not perform in Google, or get you those massive orders you were hoping for. Internet Explorer makes it a huge pain in our asses, and guess who pays for that? Yeah, companies. Companies that are already stretching every dime to put bloated junk code out there instead of doing things right … the way companies should strive to do business.

SPAM Cost of Internet Explorer - In comes the SPAM. Yep, SPAM! Since you did not flog, berate, and publicly out your friends and family members for using IE, they picked up a little something for you. They sent it in their email. It was the cutest thing, and you just had to pass it along.

You just sent your Website programmer and designer (along with all of your pals) 84 pieces of email about getting a diploma without going to school, 127 pieces of email offering cheap luxury watch replicas, and 363 offers for Viagra and Cialis. This is because when your friend’s computer was hacked, it spread like a virus. Exactly like a virus!

Yep, viral marketing at its best! You didn’t even have to participate, really. They had your email address in their infected computer and that was enough to make you even more popular. Just not in the “panties on your head singing the school fight song” way you used to seek popularity. All the same, you are popular now … be happy!

I know you may still be sore about all the time it took you to download that last AOL update, but please take the time to download a more secure and faster browser that uses Web Standards such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

That probably sounds shocking, right? Let me explain what I mean by this title.

I know that it may sound a little “churchly”, but it certainly is not. I do not mean that I am looking for people to kiss snakes, sacrifice animals, or participate in some strange cult rituals. A disciple is defined by Princeton University as “someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another”, and who wouldn’t want that? After all, don’t we all want to associate with others who think like we think and are willing to spread a message? There is really only one way to gather disciples, and that is to provide something useful and interesting. I am up to it, and I will do my best.

Maybe you have seen this and maybe you have not, but there is a lot of hubbub about “followers” out there on the Internet. If you look on the left side of my blog, you can see that I am a member of about a squillion social networks, video sites, and bookmarking sites. Many of them show off how many followers each user has.

Why are they following? I sometimes wonder why the heck people “follow” me. I have some pretty good ideas for a lot of them, but many are just “followers” and not really following or paying attention. What does that get anybody? Add it to a $5 bill and it will probably buy you a cup of coffee.

Well, I say “Shove the followers, I want disciples!” That’s right! I want disciples, but what makes this acceptable is that I am willing to work really hard for them by sharing good ideas and giving them something they can use. This is what sorts the wheat from the chaff … wheat being those willing to provide something of value and chaff being those who beg for more attention without something to offer in return.

We certainly should not be limited to those who agree, because that is how people get stupid. If you do not listen to others’ ideas, you stop learning. However, when it comes to “followers”, I will trade them 1000 to one for disciples who care what I have to say and see value in what I offer.

Work Hard for Your Disciples!

If you want disciples, you have to work for them, and pay attention to them. Just like friends … in fact, exactly like friends! When I say “work”, I don’t mean digging ditches. I just mean making an effort.

Friends make the best disciples of all. Sure, I want disciples, but the best of all are the people I can have a friendly relationship with. Just yesterday I responded to a comment on my blog and thought I would take it a step further. I did not have his telephone number, so I looked at the domain he used in the comment and went to my trusty WHOIS lookup to get it. When I called, he was surprised and delighted to visit. We talked for quite a while and I found out that this guy reads a lot of my stuff. He really flattered me with his opinion of my blog content. He said he liked that I do not sugar coat things and I tell my experience instead of just what people want to hear.

Something he said to me is that he seems to see me everywhere, commenting on blogs and interacting with others. Yep, that is what I do. I love to get to know people and I love to listen and share.

Why did I call him? I called because I really respect the comments he has made here on my blog, other blogs, and articles on his own blog. After visiting for a while, I discovered even clearer than ever how creative and brilliant Jeff Gibbard is.

Will I talk to Jeff again? Yes, and probably very soon. Is he a disciple? You bet he is, and I am to him as well. What does it require? It does not take a lot of hard work, and I did not even have to get my hands dirty in order to enhance our relationship with a simple call. I cannot call everybody and chat, but I do it often. Is it work? No, it is not work and it is not done with consideration of my return on investment or how I will benefit. It just happens that way when you take the extra steps of earning your disciples. You make friends in the process.

I consider the thousands who “follow” me on Twitter and the ridiculous numbers of followers on all of the dozens of social media groups I belong to as just great. Maybe they will hear me and maybe they will not. The ones who matter the very most are right here, commenting on my blog and sharing ideas with others. They may even pick up the phone and ring me, or I may ring them.

Should social media be renamed to “friendship media” or does that kill the business?

There is something really bitchy about social media. People tell people how to “do it right” and then a bunch of people hash it out and poke fun at the ones who “screw it up”. It is all just so confusing. Am I supposed to be social or not? What is social? Does social equal personal? Is business anti-personal? Get your thoughts moving and join this discussion of social media.

Here are three important questions to consider about business and personal interactions as they relate to social media.

• Are you less likely to buy from somebody who is too personal? If this is the case, then why do so many businesses using social media keep believing it when others insist that social media is strictly friendship media?
• Are you less likely to buy from somebody who is too “business”? If this is the case, then why do people feel awkward about doing business with friends?
• What is the tipping point, and how do you view the balance?

Social Does Not Mean Anti-Business!

I hear a lot of people talk about social media as if “social” means that it should not include anything relating to business. That is quite laughable, really. If it has to do with how you achieve your food supply, I would say that it is pretty downright personal. Perhaps a few too many people do not understand the fact that social, although it applies in many ways, is not the opposite of business. Social means “relating to human society and its members” and that includes many things. That does not mean it is all a party and that we do it just for friendship. Yes, it even includes business. So how do we relate this?

Having something to offer in exchange for something is not a horrible thing. Kids in a lunchroom learn bartering early by trading a cookie for pudding or a ham sandwich for peanut butter and jelly. Sure, there may be conflict from time to time, but just because it includes items does not mean the interaction is less personal.

I witnessed an example of this in my own home just moments ago. We had a guest overnight. It was my son’s lifelong friend, Jacob. Our families are friends. At about 10:30 this morning when his mother was picking him up, she told my wife that she needs a birthday cake for Jacob’s brother, Caleb. Caleb is turning four. He wants a Star Wars cake.

What is the Relationship and Where Are the Boundaries?

My wife is a fantastic baker. I mean, her cakes are really something special, and I would put her up against any pastry chef for the best tasting and beautiful cakes. Our friends have known her talent for a long time, and always loved it when she brings a dish to the party.

When Rebecca asked her to make a cake for Caleb’s birthday party, does it seem odd that Peggy quoted her forty dollars? Does that seem impersonal? Does the tone change when I tell you that my wife and I own a cakes and confections company. Did something change here? Are we any less personal? Are we still friends, or did we just switch hats and become all-business?

Do We Change Hats to Do Business?

I guess for some people it can seem uncomfortable to do business with friends. The strange flip side of this is the fact people want to do business with people they like and trust. Where are the boundaries and how cynical is it to believe that we should not be friends because we do business or do business because we are friends?

Some people would see it that Rebecca should have gone to the grocery store for a cake. After all, if Peggy screws up the Star Wars cake, Rebecca will probably hate her forever. Strangely, Rebecca would probably not hate the grocery store for screwing up the cake, but with a friend, there is a different expectation.

Maybe she only came to Peggy because she feels obligated. Maybe not. Maybe she would have asked Peggy to do it even if she was not in the business.

The Relationship of Friends and Business

This is a question and not a dissertation. What do you believe about the boundaries of friendship and business? You want to know, like, and trust the people you do business with, right? Is there a level of closeness of the relationship that takes you out of the market for that person’s services?

Consider the three questions I posed earlier and tell me what you think.

Who isn’t tired of the “Johnny Come Lately” type of Internet marketers who put hype over substance? These are the creeps who give Internet marketing a bad name. Sadly, many people who encounter the “Johnny Come Lately” Internet marketer come to believe that Internet marketing just doesn’t work.

If Johnny is convincing, he will take enough of his victim’s money that they often become too cynical or cannot afford to fix what Johnny broke. Worse yet, Johnny may hurt their reputation and get their Websites penalized in Google and other search engines.

When you think Internet marketing comes with a high price tag, just consider what happens when you go with Johnny Come Lately.

Johnny Come Lately is back with a remix. I am just having a little fun at the expense of those who pee in my industry pool. I hope you enjoy the video!

Have You Met Johnny?

Please share your thoughts or any encounters you have had with Johnny Come Lately Internet marketers. I appreciate your comments!

I recently wrote an article titled “10 Really Good Reasons to Blog” and if the reasons blogs fail caught your eye, you should really read the one on good reasons to blog.

I got to thinking about how there is another side to the coin. There are some common reasons blogs fail. This is the short list. I am not going to keep you long. Read it, think about it for just a moment, and do what you will with it.

1. The author gets “too busy” and realizes that they do not have the same amount of time every other successful blogger has. They were robbed at birth by a debilitating disorder called “busy” and their day only has 23 hours.
2. The author is greedy, and since this Internet thing isn’t paying out like they were so sure it would, they are taking their remaining money and heading to the casino.
3. The author writes poorly and had no business trying to author a blog in the first place.
4. Nobody is interested in the subject matter (I saw this once, but then even the blog about Strawberry Shortcake and the Flying Green Monkeys had a few readers).
5. The readers, although plentiful, did not take the time to participate in the discussion.

5 Solutions to These 5 Common Reasons Blogs Fail

You hate spam, I hate spam … we all hate spam. Right?

I spend a lot of time reading, researching, and finding out about stuff. I like knowing things. While I am reading, learning, and soaking in the glory of this Information Superhighway we have all built together, I encounter a lot of spam. Don’t we all?

We all want it to feel like a global community and we all want to know more about people, things, places and more. We find out how different we are, and we find out how similar we are. We find out what others like, and we find out things they don’t like. Sometimes we mix it up and forget that while we are so vigilant about not hearing the stuff we don’t want to hear (spam), we may miss a few things we do want to hear.

People love to talk about themselves. People with kids love to talk about their kids. People who love food love to talk about the great cuisine they just enjoyed. People with something to sell love to talk about their goods.

We each have a lot to say, and when we can connect it all with a worldwide crowd, it validates us. It makes us feel less alone. It makes us HUMAN!

I have always been careful to discourage a bunch of spam on my blog comments. I want real comments that people will find useful and will build a conversation. At the same time, I have to question what I may be missing.

I wrote a post once upon a time asking for people to share their Twitter usernames. It was titled “Twitter Username Selection: What’s in a Name?” It turned out that even with over 160 comments, it was not entirely a spamfest, but also allowed people to share who they are. It allowed people to talk about themselves. It also allowed and encouraged people to connect.

That is what I am offering now, but in a different way. I want to ask each of you … yes, YOU, to share a little about yourself. What do you like? What are you all about? What do you do for a living? Do you have something to sell? Share it with people here, because you never know whom you may connect with.

Hey, what can be the worst outcome? We have to sort through a little bit of junk to find the prize? They do that at diamond mines, too.

This is my call for spam. Place your spam here. When I say spam, in this case I mean to not be afraid to talk about yourself … I don’t mean to offer your free diplomas or cheap Rolex watches. I mean, connect, share, and don’t be afraid to drop a link or sell us some stuff. As long as it is in good taste, let it fly. This is a mixer, so by all means, MIX!

NOTE: If you are wondering how or if I will moderate this … Yes, I will probably have to shut the comments off at some point or begin some manual moderation. Big deal, I can handle it. As long as it sounds genuine and is not illegal, go ahead and share it with the rest of us!

By the way … aren’t you curious what people will say when they are actually requested to talk about themselves? Be sure to subscribe to the comments!

UPDATE: Take a look at the things we may miss when we become too cynical. There are some really talented and amazing people in this world, and right here in the blog comments! Let us all be sure that we each stop and smell the flowers.

“Why are you reading this?” This is perhaps the most important question a blogger can ask. This is not only for bloggers, but it also goes for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media users. You do not have to ask your readers directly, but it is the question that should be considered whenever you sit down to write.

You have probably heard how important it is to know your customer. I still find a lot of people who do not know how to answer me when I ask specific questions about who their customers are … or who they think their customers are. Sometimes this question of “why are you reading this” will be as simple as “because the author is just so damn interesting”, but that is seldom the case. I like to think it is because I am good looking and people just like to come back and see my picture … but I doubt even that is the case. Well, probably for some?

What’s in it for them?

Let’s be realistic for a moment. I don’t like being realistic, but I will give it a whirl, just for you. People read what you have to say for a number of reasons. These reasons can include entertainment, industry facts, product facts, respect for your opinion, and a whole lot of other things. The one common factor is that there is something in it for them! Knowing your readers reason and knowing what is in it for them is imperative to your success. Digging deeper, you can look at a whole lot of data to key in on who they are and why they read what you have to say, but just looking at the surface can get you started.

It may seem tricky to find what they want at first, but there is something on the surface to tell you what they are after … there always is. Much can be discovered if you simply ask yourself why you write what you write. I will share my example and hopefully it can help jump start some thinking about how it may apply to you. Maybe you can draw some useful parallels.

In my case, I write about things I know well. My inspiration very often comes from something that happened. If somebody asks me a question and I had a good answer or additional thoughts on the topic, I blog about it. I mostly write about my industry … the Internet. I am a search engine optimization guy, social media guy, a programmer guy, a Web hosting guy, an ecommerce guy … pretty much your overall “Web Guy” (hence my blog aWebGuy.com). I have been in my job since the mid 1990’s, and I have a lot of experience … so I share it.

So why do people read it? People want to know about my industry. For some people it is totally alien, and others just want another opinion to draw ideas from. I try to break it down and make it easier to understand, and I try to help people make it more useful. I try to help people with good ideas about marketing. I give them something. There is something in it for them. There is a value proposition. I try to fill a need.

What’s in it for you (me)?

Since we asked the first question of what’s in it for them, naturally there should be a mutual value. There should be something in it for both parties. Otherwise, one of the parties is getting stiffed. The important part is that you make the “what’s in it for you” (me) the secondary focus. If you focus first on giving and second on receiving, you will receive a whole lot more!

I could never do all of the writing I do without some remuneration (getting paid). Well, maybe I could, but it would not be as good. I would probably let you down, and we don’t want that. In my case, I let people know that they can reach me for help, and if they really want to get serious in their marketing, that is what I am paid for. That is just a very small piece of my readership. Most will never become a client … ever. This fact actually helps me, because I am not trying to sell you a bunch of stuff. Plus, I am also the CEO of YourNew.com, Inc., so that is really my bread and butter … not my blog. That means I can focus better on what’s in it for you … err, “them”.

Your Core Readership

By knowing and trying to understand your core readership, you will be better equipped to serve them. It is this core readership that I would consider to be your “translators” and your “promoters”. If you are giving them value and making sure that there is something in it for them the translation and promotion can look like this:

Translation: When I say translate, it can mean that they hear a need from somebody else and they translate it as that person’s need for what you wrote. Another type of translation can happen when they comment on your blog with their interpretation of your message. It can be good for them, and it can be good for you … you learn together.

Promotion: If your core readers know somebody who should be reading your writing, they will pass it along, and often with their translation as well … or even an excuse for you. For example, you may pass this along to somebody and say “hey, you need more business and I know a guy who can help … but he is kind of unconventional, so just forgive him if he drops cigarette ashes or spills coffee on your rug.”

Your core readership will get to know you and your personal brand. It is normally best if you keep it human. Maybe even a bit funny and quirky and entertaining now and then. People are people … they like people stuff.

Translate This!

OK, now it is your turn, my core readership. Go ahead and translate this for others. That is what blog comments are for. Also, please be sure to answer the original question: Why are you reading this?