The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

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Why Blogging Can Make Or Break Your Business

When the blogging first came into our everyday jargon, it was hard to believe that the concept would become something substantial.

Now, while most of us have accepted that blogging is here to stay (at least for a little while longer), it seems almost impossible for businesses to accept that the simple act of blogging may be the factor that generates the most traction for their business.

The reason behind the reluctancy isn’t rocket science. To most businesses, blogging seems more like a waste of time than a money-generator. It takes the focus of your business away from your business. Right? Well, sure. If you spend more time blogging than researching in the lab, or prepping for court, or reviewing patient histories–that might not be the best alley for your business.

But then, why are you spending more than 20 minutes to an hour doing that? Or better yet, why haven’t you hired out?

ALLOW ME TO MAKE MY CASE

Just to throw in the three letters that most people dread these days when it comes to their websites, social media and more–let’s talk about SEO. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is what most people will tell you that your website and blog posts need to adhere to in order for you to see results with blogging. Those people are…relatively right.

Sure, when you blog you want Google and Bing to register your post and list it first. That way, when people google “Realtor, South Florida,” your beautiful three-page website pops up first on the list. But see, with a sea as big as the real estate industry in South Florida–what’s a three page website chock-full of SEO keywords going to do for you?

Now, when you blog, each post gains a new page. Each new page expands your site. With each content-rich post (notice the key word there), you can exponentially increase your reach.

With over 434% more indexed pages on a site with a regular business blog versus a site of a business who neglects to blog, the 80% of consumers who find businesses via the internet will find you first. And to top that off, they will have a wealth of information that solidifies your role as a source of information and expertise in the field.

CROWDED SOAPBOX

Many people and clients have come up to me asking why they should blog given the fact that there is already so much noise in the internet realm. What’s one more useless blog, right?

Wrong.

Yes, there is a great deal of useless chatter and by joining the fray you will be competing for consumer attention, but when did a little competition stop you before? Whether it is running your own business, providing your own service or selling your own product–all of which, I guarantee you, come with a competitor trying to offer the same service and usually at a lower price.

The deciding factor is content. You remember the age-old saying, “Content is King.” Clichéd, perhaps. But the phrase didn’t stick around this long because it was inaccurate.

Regularly creating and delivering content-rich posts will not only set your business apart from competitors and raise you a foot above the slough, it will generate more leads and drive more follow-through business to your company.

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Generating Leads With Marketing

After launching our Marketing Agency in Miami, we noticed the importance that language has on generating leads with marketing. It should be pretty obvious that the right verbiage can define the difference between a simple page hit and a serious lead; the opportunity that well-written copy can present for your business is not something that should be taken lightly.

But what we’ve seen is that business owners often gloss over their content and just see it as filler.

Despite what people may think in regards to new digital tools and their ability to generate leads with marketing, words and language are even more prominent than ever. We present ourselves first and foremost not on how we dress but on how we dress our websites. Is your page aesthetically pleasing? Engaging? Yes, but is it well-written?

It’s almost shocking how many professionals and businesses today have not taken the time even to simply proofread the materials they put forth that represent who they are as a business.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

As businesses, we all go through the motions of creating documents and presentations that will help set us apart from our competition. We value our product and/or services and usually we can rely on that as a strong marketing platform. Good product begets more clientele.

That being said, we all know competitors with inferior products but are still able to generate leads with marketing. So we try and showcase the difference — creating content that sets us apart — and portray how our product is top-of-the-line.

But blandly stating that you offer quality services and products will get you nowhere. The average consumer, or audience member, reads hundreds of marketing pitches (be it websites, social media pitches, advertisements, marketing presentations, etc) a day, that makes thousands a week and millions a year. If you want to generate leads with your marketing, you have some stiff competition.

A simple restructuring of your word choice, putting forth more of your business’s personality, can garner more returns and generate more leads for your business than a full email-blast campaign of a 100,000 subscribers. Changing a simple sentence from, “We are the best IT service provider in town,” to “Here in town, we offer a unique blend of quality service with unparalleled IT and computer repair offerings,” can make a world of difference.

DEAL-BREAKERS

Now, to quote the great Liz Lemon–some things are just deal-breakers. If on a professional level, you don’t take the time to proofread your work and a potential customer reads a sentence that says, “When it comes to photography, their is no better studio in town to handle the special moments of your life,” what do you think is going to happen? Well, that potential client is now someone else’s actual client. Writing like that produces a stop-gap. It’s hard on the eyes and it’s even harder.

Let’s channel some more of Ms. Lemon:

  • Professionals, if you misuse “their, there and they’re”–that’s a deal-breaker.
  • Professionals, if you tweet that you are the best new “higher” for a company–that’s a deal-breaker. (ahem, it’s “hire”).
  • Professionals, if you switch “it’s and its” and “where and wear” throughout a document–that’s a deal-breaker.
  • Professionals, if you are trying to announce that you’re the best in your field and you misspell or misuse industry key terms–that’s a deal-breaker.
  • Professionals, if you dumb down your copy to appeal to your potential clients–that’s a deal-breaker.

I could go on, but you get the gist.

GENERATING LEADS WITH MARKETING

A recession is what you make of it. So is your business. Why sit in a mire blaming the economy for your business’s slow year or lack of growth? There is still money to be made out there. Look at the Kardashians–they’re doing just fine.

If you could guarantee more leads, more follow-through business and a higher overall interest in your brand–would you consider the avenue that would get you there?

Yeah, we thought so too.

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Marketing To The Masses

Great marketing promotions stick with you. No matter the product, or its quality, a great promotion or advertisement is what catches our attention. So why is it that when it comes to marketing strategy and promoting books–we’re still in the dark ages?

Some publishers have hitched their trailers (literally) onto the Hollywood bandwagon–creating 60 second filmed previews to lock in an audience. Some publishers push social media onto their authors as if it is the end-all-be-all of obtaining market sales. Some stick to radio interviews, book tours and author readings.

None of this is wrong, bad or ineffectual. It’s just all mundane.

STUCK IN THE MUD

Marketing has always been an innovative industry. If it weren’t, how would our attentions continuously be caught for the same products over and over again?

The fact is publishers, authors, and readers alike are all adhering to the incorrect thought process that books are now a difficult sell. Reading is a daunting task. Reading takes effort and brain power and is just more trying on a person than simply watching an episode of Bones.

Instead of building a marketing strategy around the many worlds into which readers will be transported with simply one page of writing, we’re trying to sell the new HBO series inspired by a book. It’s gotten to be rather pathetic.

I went to Barnes and Noble the other day, killing time before a meeting, and just perusing the fiction section I saw more books with “Now a Major Motion Picture” seal or revamped with a new cover with Orlando Bloom, Robert DeNiro or Sean Bean staring back out at me than ever before.

Is this the best we can do? Is this actually the marketing strategy businesses are paying for?

PUSHING BOUNDARIES

There’s only been one marketing push for a book that has caught my attention in recent years. That was for Jay-Z’s autobiography, “Decoded.” Granted, there were a ton of marketing dollars behind the project–but its innovation was key. The publishers placed a page of the book in cities around the world where something pivotal in Jay-Z’s life took place. Readers were encouraged to seek out the pages (you could do so online as well as in person), and they could start reading the book and “decoding” messages in order to read the book prior to release, win a trip to see Jay-Z live, etc. My one word summary? Genius.

Money did play a large role in that marketing push, certainly, but even bigger was the thought process behind it. Why aren’t more publishers and self-published authors for that matter, looking to more unique forms of getting the word out there about their book? This can be done in smaller scales and even with unknown authors. The point is to break out of the mold, to not simply follow the leader. Doing so will get your book nowhere but perhaps on the shelves with thousands of other books and no way to differentiate itself from the masses.

Build a Better Marketing Strategy

It’s high time writers and publishers invest some thought and creativity into their marketing. Why not? They’ve already put so much time into the book already, why not make it worth it?