Does Blogging Get You More Sales?
Does Blogging Get You More Sales?
Remember when they said that? Not that long ago either.
Look at us now. People can and do buy anything and everything from the web. The fear, really a fear of change has gone.
They said TV would destroy the cinema. That did not happen. The movies are a completely different form to TV but we did not realise at the time. TV and cinema both survived and now both feed off each other.
In hindsight we all see what was perfectly obvious.
Now they say Blogs, or weblogs, podcasts and video blogs are taking over the Internet.
A blog is effectively an online journal where you, or a group, can record your innermost thoughts and make comments about a topic. Anyone has access to read your journal entry (known as a
post) and can comment on it.
For much more detailed information about blogging look at the
entry in wikipedia for "Blogging."
You get over 474 million search results if you enter blog as the search term into Google.
Part of the reason for the blogs attraction is its ease of use. After all it takes only a few minutes to begin blogging.
First you sign up with a blog server, like Blogger (Google), TypePadblog (SixApart) or Wordpress (Wordpress).
You choose a page template you like. There are a number of very good ones available completely free. Then post your first entry.
The final step is to let a blog directory know each time you create a new post (this is called pinging). Services such as Pingoat and Pingomatic are sites that can ping a number
of other directories on your behalf.
People search these directories using blog search engines and browse the blogs in a similar way to web sites.
... Do Companies Really Use Blogs? ...
Company executives use blogs. For example Bob Lutz, Vice President of General Motors has his own blog. Other people from GM contribute to it as well. IBM Vice President Bob Sutor and
Vice President of Marketing for Boeing Randy Baseler write their own blogs too.
Employees from corporates like Microsoft, Google and Hewlett Packard blog.
Using blogging in a positive way shows your customers and prospects your corporate personality and helps build rapport.
... What Are The Blog Downsides? ...
The company CEO should not blog. Because there may be pressure to flag future events. Or worse, if they drop a clanger it can be spread world-wide very quickly.
A further potential blogging downside is that you have no influence over what others put in their own blogs about what you write.
Look at some of the comments that General Motors got on the Bob Lutz blog when they started a discussion on seatbelts to see how heated things can get.
Companies may be concerned that employees will spend too much time blogging or reading blogs. That means a blogging policy should be in place to prevent such abuse.
... What Is The Advantage Of A Blog? ...
A blog can position someone, or a company, as an expert. But people can easily pass work from other people as their own. So it really is a case of buyer beware when reading blogs.
So are blogs going to be a "slam dunk" for attracting and retaining customers?
The short answer is it depends, and the reasons are:
1) As another marketing communication channel it can be used or
abused. Rather like PR is used.
2) For some companies it is just too public
3) It is completely without editoral control
4) It requires commitment to update regularly and to check and
respond to comments
It has been said that consultancies and other organisations that deal in knowledge and intellectual property benefit most from blogging. Because they can demonstrate their ability and
expertise to their market in a different way from other marketing tactics.
But really why should it stop there? The General Motors blog is useful for communicating new model launches and answering customer feedback.
In fact there really is no practical limit to who can use blogging to communicate with customers and prospects.
But in the end is blogging a dead-end?
Dell certainly don't think so as they plunged into blogging in July 2006 with a massive effect on the blogosphere (made up of all the current blogs).
The business blog is definitely an important communication tool that every company should seriously consider as part of their marketing arsenal. But it must be looked at as another business
tool whose ultimate measurement is: does it get more sales or reduce company costs?
If it is unable to deliver at least one of those measures business blogging deserves to fail.
I have been blogging for well over a year now and have had thousands of hits. I am writing mini articles that eventually will be used as a basis for my next book.
So in the final analysis blogs are another communication channel.
Companies have the ability to take theirs and make it do the PR,word of mouth, viral and Internet marketing for them.
Internet advertising has grown into big business. Expect blogging in all its forms to do the same.
Does Blogging Get You More Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Symcox's Website.
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"Everyone is too scared to use the Internet to buy things."
Remember when they said that? Not that long ago either.
Look at us now. People can and do buy anything and everything from the web. The fear, really a fear of change has gone.
They said TV would destroy the cinema. That did not happen. The movies are a completely different form to TV but we did not realise at the time. TV and cinema both survived and now both feed off each other.
In hindsight we all see what was perfectly obvious.
Now they say Blogs, or weblogs, podcasts and video blogs are taking over the Internet.
A blog is effectively an online journal where you, or a group, can record your innermost thoughts and make comments about a topic. Anyone has access to read your journal entry (known as a
post) and can comment on it.
For much more detailed information about blogging look at the
entry in wikipedia for "Blogging."
You get over 474 million search results if you enter blog as the search term into Google.
Part of the reason for the blogs attraction is its ease of use. After all it takes only a few minutes to begin blogging.
First you sign up with a blog server, like Blogger (Google), TypePadblog (SixApart) or Wordpress (Wordpress).
You choose a page template you like. There are a number of very good ones available completely free. Then post your first entry.
The final step is to let a blog directory know each time you create a new post (this is called pinging). Services such as Pingoat and Pingomatic are sites that can ping a number
of other directories on your behalf.
People search these directories using blog search engines and browse the blogs in a similar way to web sites.
... Do Companies Really Use Blogs? ...
Company executives use blogs. For example Bob Lutz, Vice President of General Motors has his own blog. Other people from GM contribute to it as well. IBM Vice President Bob Sutor and
Vice President of Marketing for Boeing Randy Baseler write their own blogs too.
Employees from corporates like Microsoft, Google and Hewlett Packard blog.
Using blogging in a positive way shows your customers and prospects your corporate personality and helps build rapport.
... What Are The Blog Downsides? ...
The company CEO should not blog. Because there may be pressure to flag future events. Or worse, if they drop a clanger it can be spread world-wide very quickly.
A further potential blogging downside is that you have no influence over what others put in their own blogs about what you write.
Look at some of the comments that General Motors got on the Bob Lutz blog when they started a discussion on seatbelts to see how heated things can get.
Companies may be concerned that employees will spend too much time blogging or reading blogs. That means a blogging policy should be in place to prevent such abuse.
... What Is The Advantage Of A Blog? ...
A blog can position someone, or a company, as an expert. But people can easily pass work from other people as their own. So it really is a case of buyer beware when reading blogs.
So are blogs going to be a "slam dunk" for attracting and retaining customers?
The short answer is it depends, and the reasons are:
1) As another marketing communication channel it can be used or
abused. Rather like PR is used.
2) For some companies it is just too public
3) It is completely without editoral control
4) It requires commitment to update regularly and to check and
respond to comments
It has been said that consultancies and other organisations that deal in knowledge and intellectual property benefit most from blogging. Because they can demonstrate their ability and
expertise to their market in a different way from other marketing tactics.
But really why should it stop there? The General Motors blog is useful for communicating new model launches and answering customer feedback.
In fact there really is no practical limit to who can use blogging to communicate with customers and prospects.
But in the end is blogging a dead-end?
Dell certainly don't think so as they plunged into blogging in July 2006 with a massive effect on the blogosphere (made up of all the current blogs).
The business blog is definitely an important communication tool that every company should seriously consider as part of their marketing arsenal. But it must be looked at as another business
tool whose ultimate measurement is: does it get more sales or reduce company costs?
If it is unable to deliver at least one of those measures business blogging deserves to fail.
I have been blogging for well over a year now and have had thousands of hits. I am writing mini articles that eventually will be used as a basis for my next book.
So in the final analysis blogs are another communication channel.
Companies have the ability to take theirs and make it do the PR,word of mouth, viral and Internet marketing for them.
Internet advertising has grown into big business. Expect blogging in all its forms to do the same.
Does Blogging Get You More Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Symcox's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals. Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nations Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firms clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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