How do you position yourself as an expert in your market? How do you build a relationship with key customers and partners? What would it be worth to your business to become recognized as a market leader? Today, I share one of my favorite marketing tools, the business blog!
Today, people are overwhelmed by marketing messages. People are exposed to thousands of messages every day. How do you build awareness for your products and services when you don’t have the marketing budget of an IBM, Apple, or GEICO insurance?
I believe the blog is the most underutilized tool in your marketing toolkit. I have seen many successful entrepreneurs use blogs to create stronger relationships and better engagement with key customers, clients, and partners.
Done correctly, a blog can give you an amazing edge in your markets. I find many entrepreneurs fail with their blogs because they don’t have a system to create blogs on a regular basis. There is always something more important than creating their blogs. I know the power of a well-written blog.
In my own case, my blog has helped me grow a global following for my services. My blog is read by over 100,000 leaders worldwide every month. They are the platform that have shared my message over the past 8 plus years. They have allowed me to compete against many household names for many key projects.
When my parents were terminally ill, my blogs kept me front and center with my clients and partners. When I left my corporate job, I use my blog to educate and share the projects I am working on a regular basis. They are an invaluable tool to keep me in front of my new potential clients in a cost-effective way.
When I returned to my corporate roles, my blog help me show my potential employer a body of work that allowed me to get a significant raise from what I was earning in my pre-blog days. As I return to the corporate job market, all my potential employers have read my blog and guest blogs I write for partner organizations. I’ve gotten calls from all over the world from executive recruiters who found me through my blog. I would conservatively say my blogs have generated millions of dollars in sales for my clients for the past several years. Not a bad investment for several hours of work per week. Plus, I enjoy how to blogs position my specialty practice for growth in new emerging technology markets. I also enjoy the people I meet because of the common-sense implementable tips I share here.
Now you know why I think you should have a blog. To blog or not to blog, that is the question. I can hear several of you thinking “Hey, this is great for you, but I don’t have time to write a blog.” Would you invest several hours a month to add significant value and revenue to your organization? Why don’t I give you specific numbers? The number varies by industry and market, but I’ve seen clients add an increase in revenue of 29% on the high end and 10% at the low end. This can impact the dynamics of your business in so many positive ways. I bet I can help you find a system that could help you blog on a regular basis.
Over the next several months, we will share a system that can help you blog on a more regular basis. I’ve asked my friend, and soon to be your blogging partner, Randy Clark, to share his ideas from his new business book called How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever.
The reason I asked Randy Clark to share his ideas is that he is the most practical person I’ve met dealing with the management and business of blogging. Randy is a modern renaissance man. He doesn’t only tell you how to do it. He does it himself every week. Here’s the good news for you, Randy is lazy. Wait, let me try that again, Randy will share proven ways to write and stay ahead of your business blog forever. Randy does more writing in a week than many of us do in a month. I will be sharing Randy’s ideas and content over the coming months.
Randy will share his ideas over the next several weeks as I travel to clients around the country. I think you’re going to love what Randy shares with you. I know I do. You can find several examples of his writing below.
As for a brief intro to our newest guest blogger: Randy Clark is the Director of Communications at TKO Graphix, where he blogs for TKO Graphix Brandwire. Randy is passionate about social media, leadership development, and flower gardening.
He’s a beer geek and on weekends he can be found fronting the Rock & Roll band Under the Radar. He’s the proud father of two educators; he has four amazing grandchildren, and a wife who dedicates her time to helping others. Randy is the author of How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever and The New Manager’s Workbook: A Crash Course in Effective Management . He can be found on Twitter @randyclarktko, Facebook Randy Clarktko, and LinkedIn Randy Clark.
Next week, I’ll share Randy’s first blog on how far behind you are on your blog. I know you’ll love his writing style and, more importantly, the results you get applying his process to your blog. See you next week.
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