Compelling Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Blog

If your website does not already have a blog, it really should. With the availability of free and paid platforms you can start blogging in literally minutes. The benefits are significant and is why more companies are beginning to include it into their marketing budgets.

The following are reasons why.

1. It increases traffic

More traffic means more conversions for your business. Search engines index content and return the results if it is deemed relevant to a query. Writing quality content is one of the best search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to increase traffic.

2. It builds credibility

Blogging is more than just about posting your opinions. It’s also a perfect opportunity to connect with your audience by providing useful content. Doing this builds credibility and increases your chances of reaching the right people.

3. Readers tells you what they want

It’s impossible to predict what customers want. Readers are more than happy to share this information by commenting on your blog content. This feedback is invaluable as it can be used to create more products and provider better customer service.

4. Connect with influencers

Your blog is the most important asset to your business. You can leverage it by connecting with influencers in your field by guest posting on highly trafficked websites with links back to your website. Doing so builds your own authority and increases your traffic.

Your Mother Doesn’t Pitch Here Anymore

If you’re still operating on the misguided notion that social media is not here to stay, or even worse, that it is not a viable option for PR pitching, then step away from this chapter and by all means go back to playing with your mint condition Atari Pong Game.

If however, you do understand that social media is vibrant, ever-increasing and valuable then keep reading!

Today’s lesson is about pitching and social media. What follows are some tips for you to employ if you really want to find the best possible places to pitch yourself, your products or your brand online.

1. Don’t pitch on social media platforms where you don’t have a presence. Set up your Facebook Fan page, your blog, your Twitter account and shine up your LinkedIn.com profile as well.

2. Don’t push out generic pitches to anyone and everyone on these accounts.

3. Do your research and don’t mass pitch lists of folks. This is really a no-no on social media platforms.

4. Don’t write your pitches with you in mind, write them with the producer, blogger or journalist in mind.

5. Practice makes perfect. There is something incredibly valuable about learning to pitch a brand or product in less than 140 characters.

6. Don’t pitch a journalist or a blogger more than three times if you’ve not yet had a response from them.

7. If they ask you to stop pitching them – really do.

8. Don’t twitter-stalk journalists or bloggers.

9. If you cannot fit your pitch into 140 characters or less, rework it until you can.

10. Always follow-up with a thank you if a blogger or twitterer shares your news with their readership.

The Media Should Know What You Know

If you’re an author, whether you are working with a publicist or without a publicist, it’s very important to keep in mind that part of your success is being able to answer the who, what, why, when and how for the media and its listener base.

We’re all curious about the latest trend, breaking news, new innovations, interesting and unique people or products, and the media is exactly the same way. Imagine if you can help create a new trend with your book or ideas. Imagine giving the media a brand new angle for coverage of a saturated topic.

Creativity is key to providing the unique news-hook for your book or your platform so that the media wants to feature you. Authors must think about how their book applies to the hot issues of the day – it’s a constant and ever-changing focus. One of the basic questions to ask is, “Is my story relatable? Does my story tap into something that people are worried about or an issue that might be controversial?”

For instance, some very prevalent issues as I write this column are the environment, the economy, the oil spill, the family crisis in terms of parenting and stresses on family, diets and healthful living. Each day a new opportunity presents itself to pitch your story forward in a meaningful and news-hook fashion.

Think how you can be part of the news discussion almost in real-time, as it is happening. Don’t discount your opinion and how it might be valuable to many other associated topic interviews beyond your book.

Whether it’s hard-hitting news interviews or feature pieces, the key for you is to be able to successfully tie-in these larger issues to your book or your platform, and speak effectively on those when you are tapped by the media.

Reporters and media need credible sources, and you are the best possible source for them as long as you’re well-versed in your topic area and you are armed with verifiable facts.

The media is counting on you to be the expert, to elevate the discussion and help everyone progress to a deeper understanding of the topic or subject manner. If you think of several different angles for the story, this will help you in creating something unique from your expert perspective. Asking questions is key to this practice.

Who is important in this story? How will my interview impact the listeners, and why should they absolutely be listening? How can I effect change in their lives through this interview?

The media aims to establish significance of any story for their listener base, and they rely on their guests to help them do that. The more a news story applies to current events and topics, or is relevant to the listener community at large, the more opportunity and success you’ll have to be a featured expert.

Book Lovers Abound Online – Use these Resources

The Web is an incredible tool for authors and PR people to use in finding new book lovers to pitch books too. While one can spend thousands of hours searching for new book blogs and book reviewers – there are also free tools that are available to you and that we encourage all our authors to utilize. It’s very important that authors stay empowered in working collaboratively with their PR firm so that no opportunities are missed.

When it comes to Twitter, if you’re an author and you’re just starting out, one of the ways to find people to follow is to use the Wefollow tool. If you hit this link, you can see the Wefollow books list – http://wefollow.com/twitter/books . These are Twitter book reviewers, publishers, and media people who write about books or work in the book industry. This is a free tool that you can use anytime to find some more book folks to follow.

If you want to find more libraries on the Web a great resource to use is GalleyCat’s listings at this link – http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/best-library-people-on-twitter_b11945 .

The other important thing to remember as an author on Twitter is that you use your tweets to provide strong visibility for your book. Too often authors are letting others tweet on behalf of them or focus too much on sales jargon instead of tweeting about the book and why readers would want to identify with it.

Another tip we give authors during their book signing tours is to make sure they highlight and follow the bookstores that they’re appearing at on their Twitter feed. This is a great reciprocal way to acknowledge and support the independent brick and mortar stores that are supporting authors in incredible ways.

To find bookstores who are twittering – see this link on Wefollow – http://wefollow.com/twitter/bookstore .

If you do a book signing at a brick and mortar store – take a picture and post it out across all your social networks as part of your support of the store as well as your book. And make sure that you tweet out your date and time for signing prior to the event. Thank the bookstore via Twitter as well.

Make sure your PR agency is also keeping up with the latest tools online and offline so that you’ll have the competitive advantage! Ask them if they are open to you sending them blogs that you want them to reach out to. Ask them if they pitch to Twitter book reviewers and online blogs/sites. Ask them how often and how many and see if you can see samples of links and posts they’ve garnered on behalf of their authors.

Above all, use the best of online and offline tools to make sure your book comes out on top!

Kiss Your Publicist Goodbye and Blog Your Way To Media Coverage

Stop waiting for your PR firm to make news for you. Use your blog and do it yourself. Here are three ways you can use your blog to get the media to pick up the content. (Caution: PR spoilers included in this post!!!)

1. Write news-worthy blog posts that link to major media stories and give your take on the story. Share your expertise in brief bullet-style sentences in regard to a specific media topic or story and then link that to a breaking news story. (I mean really link it, hyperlink the news story in your blog post!)

2. Put Google alerts on the blogs of the publications you most want to be covered in and make sure that at least once a week you’re posting a comment to a breaking story on their blog as well. Post authentic, honest comments that are not self-serving but add to the discussion.

3. Put Google alerts on the top two competitors/thought-leaders in your vertical and start compiling a list of publications and journalists that interview them. These are the same journalists and publications you want to make sure you’re reaching out to via social media and your blog.

BONUS! – I posted these links on my Twitter account but just in case you don’t have them. If you want to get a great free list of the media on Twitter (that takes just a bit of work to compile), you can go to the site Mediaite.com and hit their PowerGrid link and get the Twitter addresses of each person they list. (Oy vey, does it take some time? Yes! But will it save you some PR retainer fees and move you one step closer to the media? Yes!)

The new media person I’m following on Twitter is Willie Geist – http://twitter.com/williegeist1 , because I love Morning Joe and he and Mika both inspire me. Joe does too!

Now go and find the media masses!

Real-Time Marketing and PR Release

If there is only one book you read this year to prepare you for handling next year’s news and winning the competitive landscape then it has to be David Meerman Scott’s – Real Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now.

It’s officially released today and is a MUST READ.

While you’re waiting for the book to arrive, you should also check out the free e-book that vividly details David’s scoop on how Fortune 100 companies respond to news queries, how real-time marketing and PR should work and what you can do to capitalize in this 24/7 environment.

To quote David, “In my research, I contacted the communications departments of the Fortune 100 companies and found that only 28 percent engaged with me in real-time. Many of those 28 companies have comprehensive real-time communications programs in place, which I describe in the ebook.”

Check out David’s post announcing the book here.

Support Blog Action Day

I hope you’ll support Blog Action Day for clean water. One of the things that all of us should have a right to is clean water and unfortunately there are many nations and children who do not have accessible safe water. Please support the call for action and sign the petition so that everyone can have sustainable water.

As a contributing author to the Age of Conversation, I also want to note that one of our official charities is charity: water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

Amazingly, just $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years. An average water project costs $5,000 and can serve 250 people with clean, safe water.

If you’ve not read Age of Conversation yet, I’ll hope you’ll do that too and it will in turn benefit the charity:water program.

Bloglightenment

Enlightenment is defined as education that results in understanding and the spread of knowledge. In Buddhism, enlightenment (orthodoxy Bodhi in Sanskrit) refers to a unique experience which wholly transforms the individual from their previous state in samsara.

Let’s now look at the term bloglightenment, whichI define in this way – using your blog to enrich understanding and the spread of knowledge about your expertise, your book, your product or your market.

What it doesn’t mean is using your blog as a one way marketing conversation. I think it’s incredibly important to start defining why we’re all using the social media tools we’re using and how WE truly want to use them.

As the hype for social media usage continues to rise, so does the misuse and misapplication of these tools.

I believe you should blog the change you want to see in the world. This is the harder path to take, but ultimately it’s the more valuable one to your community and to the world.

This is not as hard as you might think it is. What bloglightenment requires is your commitment to blogging with the full intention of sharing your insight freely and openly so others can benefit from it.

Stop thinking of your blog as strictly a marketing or lead generation tool. Start using your blog to affect change in the way people relate, do business together and lift one another up.

Having been on the Web since 1996, this is the most exciting time I’ve seen because of all these tools and the very real power they bring to communicating truly on a worldwide scale.

Don’t waste one more day of your blogging content on insignificant or bait and switch marketing information. Don’t waste your community’s time by snarky blog posts. Elevate your writing and you will elevate the lives of all those who read your blog.

Take a look at your blog today and see how you can apply blog-ightenment to the content mix. Make your blog personal, meaningful and actionable.

Here are some great examples for you to look at: (Note, some include past or current client blogs that I think are extraordinary!)

Let these bloggers inspire you to bloglightenment! I can’t wait to read your insight!

Free Teleclass Tuesday Sept 28 – 12CST – Highspot Inc and ME!

Promote Your Book With Social Media

Teleclass :: September 28, 2010 red_teleclass_icon

Teleclass Guest: Nettie Hartsock, The Hartsock Agency

As an author, you know you could be using social media to promote your book. But which tools do you use? How often do you use them? What exactly is the best way to get noticed? Join us as we chat with PR strategist Nettie Hartsock about using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging to attract media attention.

Register now! The first 10 people to register will receive a free hard copy edition of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman.

Format

1-hour teleclass
Sep 28, 2010 :: 1 – 2pm ET

Price

FREE

Existo huc jam

Yep, it’s Latin. I’ll tell you at the end what it means, but here’s a clue: If you can’t wait for me to tell you and you’re already busy Googling the words, then you’re definitely not following the phrase’s direction!

So wait till the end and I’ll let you know.

I’m listening this morning to K.C. and the Sunshine Band on my iTunes and I just finished walking a mile around our neighborhood. In the mornings, where I live, there are deer, snakes, frogs and rabbits meandering about. Often when I go out in my front yard I see the same sleeping beautiful doe with two brand new baby deer sleeping beside her.

At about the same time, my over- abundantly gorgeous pug Willie starts barking and wakes up the poor doe as we make our way out the door.

She wakes up her babies and off they run.

I don’t think about email, blogging, tweeting, or linked-ing-ing while I’m walking. I think about BEING. I think about how more of us need to think about BEING, and less about DOING.

While all these tools in social media: blogging, tweeting, facebooking give us incredible new ways to communicate, it doesn’t mean we have to DO it all the time. Spending too much time on social media or doing TOO much on social media does not guarantee that you’ll have that time returned to you in dollars, customers, or new speaking gigs.

Don’t be caught in the hype cycle of these tools and give up your BEING to them.

Use your time efficiently – don’t panic, don’t sweat it if you aren’t able to blog more than twice a week and for gosh sakes stop comparing Ashton Kutcher’s number of followers to yours.

Just BE.

Find the best narrative for your social media content and tell your story one post, one tweet and one facebook update at a time. Don’t overload folks with inane chatter just to show you’re on the platforms. Don’t let social media folks talk you into spreading yourself too thin over all these channels so that all you really have is watered down messaging and communities that are fragmented over the different tools.

You can make the same strides without the frenzy and you’ll enjoy it a lot more. Don’t blog without a reason, don’t tweet endlessly and don’t Facebook your 8th grade history teacher to death with updates of how smart you turned out to be. (Sorry, Mr. Wilbanks! I’ll try to work on this.)

Aim for a good meditative balance for all you’re doing online and offline and aim for your work tobenefit others first and your bottom line second.

What’s the translation for the title of this post?

BE HERE NOW.

Nettie Hartsock Agency

Helping Experts Shine Online