Blog Education

Being an old hand at blogging now, having done it since February 11 of '06, I thought I'd write down a few things I've learned so far.  OK, so maybe I’m not an old hand.  Would you believed seasoned veteran?  Experienced journeyman?  Young punk?  (Sorry, I’ve been watching “Get Smart” reruns.)

If you keep in mind that these are the notes of a novice to himself and not the pompous ramblings of an upstart who thinks he's a pro, the pedantic tone that follows might not bother you so much.  

Most of it is blindingly obvious, but I need to write it.  Sometimes I feel the need to write down what I've learned; probably the same way a snake feels the need to shed it's skin.  Sloughing off a layer so that a new one may grow.  With similar results.  Once you see this, you'll probably want to turn over the rock I hide under and beat me to death with a stick.  But I digress.

Much of what I've done so far has been a series of experiments to drive traffic and links.  I've found that one can cause momentary peaks by posting links in comments and by doing trackbacks.  However, this only causes momentary peaks.  Unless there is something of value in the blog, there will be no repeat business.  

Good marketing is the act of building lasting relationships between yourself and your customers.  You have to show respect for your blog visitors.  Each visit is a conscious act by an individual to spend an irreplaceable resource of their own, a moment of their lives, to see what you had to say.  I haven’t done a great job of that.  I thought I could write stream-of-consciousness posts that would suffice, but in retrospect, they’ve been poorly formed and inconsistent even within themselves.

I wanted the blog to have an authentic voice and philosophy.  I’m still thrashing around with that.  I wanted to do humor centered on the animals in my house, but I’ve found that political commentary has been too seductive to avoid.

I’m also learning that the same techniques I find successful in marketing in business work in blogging.  Friendship and kindness sell.  If you keep in mind that you seek lasting relationships with your customers, you’re less likely to try and exploit them for short-term gain.  

I have recently begun to experience the greatest success of my 20-year career in marketing because I helped someone who was failing succeed.  They had invested a great deal in a business proposal, but they lacked key knowledge that our organization possessed.  We stepped in and bailed them out, asking for nothing in return.  I have not yet seen any financial return on my investment of time and care, but I have had opportunities and relationships willingly opened up to me that I could never have dreamed of.

This post is starting to get longer than I wanted, so I think I’ll leave the rest of my shedding for later.  But I do want to thank Laurence Simon, Mog and Angel for the unlooked for kindness they have shown me.