So, I was tagged in a Facebook discussion the other day and the topic came up. It comes up from time to time. From what I can tell, there were a few social media professionals and content creators doing the commenting. It’s like a bad case of poison oak – it just keeps coming back. Someone somewhere decries
“The BLOG is Dead!”
And then, we all have to go through the same justifications all over again.
Since the posts were “PUBLIC” I don’t mind sharing them with you.
The original topic was a simple question
Here’s the actual post I was tagged in on FB:
That morphed into a lively conversation that I can whittle down to “Is it worth the time and energy to blog and send out newsletters?” With a side note of “or what else would be more effective?”
Here’s your answer, and I’ll keep it short and sweet.
It doesn’t matter if you write massively long blog posts, short little opinion styled posts like this, video blogging, podcasting or any other form of content creation. It all boils down to your wanting that content to be read. You want that message to get out. Once that message is out you want people to take action based on that message – agreed?
- Google values new content (highly). If you want better SEO about “your keyword” you simply need to be blogging about “your keyword”.
- Blogging creates a library of wonderful content that you can point your potential clients to. Then you can do that “That’s a great question, I wrote about that in this blog post” kind of thing.
- Before they even become a potential client, blogging introduces the reader to you and your way of thinking. We work with people we like, blogging allows people to “like” you way before you even know they exist.
- Blogging on your website drives people to your Home Base. That’s the only place you have total control over and the only place you have lead capture.
Finally, you agreed that you want people to read your stuff and somehow they read a single post. How did they get there? That could have been from social media, it could have been from SEO or any of the other funnels you have – but how do you expect them to come back a second time? That’s the power of the newsletter. The newsletter goes to wherever they are and delivers the content to them on whatever device they are using. The newsletter is invaluable in that it is what is called “Permission Based Marketing” and as a fan of Seth Godin – that’s a powerful thing to have permission for.
Here’s a funny fact. My newsletter is going to feature this post and hope all of you read it. That said, I don’t care too much if you don’t. It’s a reminder that Mike Mueller builds fabulous WordPress websites and when you are ready for one, my name will be “Top of Mind” and then – and only then will you take my Call To Action. When you are ready, I’ll be ready. Until then, I’ll continue to blog.
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and now,a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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