Why a Un-Marketers Guide and is Un-Marketer a real word?
Great questions so I’ll explain.
First I am writing this guide a how to for people who just want to blog for fun and profit. This means you simply want to get on with the business of learning how to make you blog work for you.
That is what I’m about. I love blogs and how they work for people is so many ways. I recognize there are people who want just the facts about succeeding with a blog and without secret systems and complicated processes for marketing their blog.
So I wrote this for you. I am not a marketer but I do recognize marketing is an important component of doing business online. Plus I practice what I preach. I publish two blogs and publish nearly everyday. I publish my blogs individually on an every other day schedule so the off day for one blog is the on the day for the other.
I’m interested in learning what works, why it works and how to get it to work for me in simple terms and without overblown promises.
Is Un-Marketer a real term? Well yes and no. Un- is a prefix which means not, no or non. So while the prefix is real and the marketer is a real word, un-marketer is a fun way for me to say this is an not a full blown marketing document. Rather is a How To Blog guide to help you get traffic and develop your outreach for readers and relationships.
I promise to inform you of what works, why it works and how to get it to work for you plain and simple.
Blogs and RSS are fascinating, fun and powerful. Blogs have exploded onto the business scene as a significant communications tools for business.
The Year That Would Blogs
2004 was certainly the year of blogs and bloggers. Since 2004 was a political year of presidential races and elections in the United States, the power and influence of blogs were really felt as mainstream media was in fact overshadowed and outpaced by political blogs publishing and breaking factual news items related to the heavy politics of 2004 faster than mainstream media could.
The year 2004 proved that blogs matter and blogs matter is a BIG way. Blogs represent the voice of the citizen and individual consumer. Blogs now deliver information faster than mainstream media, in a more personal manner than other web communications and can be more influential because they tend to be trusted sources of authoritative content and the voice of one’s peers.
The New Net
Technorati (http://www.technorati.com) is a blog search directory that monitors and indexes the growth of what they defined as the World Live Web. The World Live Web represents the new way in which the web works.
Blogs and RSS have introduced to the Internet the idea that publishing information is easy, instant and in real time. Never before have web sites become so important and never before have we seen such an effective means to communicate ideas and information since the advent of e-mail.
Blogs allow you to publish information in real time, instantly! Search engines have responded by seeing blogs as sources of newsworthy content that should be crawled frequently and so they crawl blogs frequently looking for great news and information to deliver in their search results.
Blogs provide the public with an alternative yet increasingly trusted way of getting news and information that is free from the influence and filter of self-serving marketing messages and big media influences.
Blogs are social tools where communication is personal, two-way, open and easy to use. Unlike standard web sites, blogs provide live updates, interactive and more personal communication and transmit information instantly.
Millions of citizens are creating blogs and using them to communicate with others about what matters most to them. What this means for businesses going online is that your markets are organizing themselves into digital conversations that you must engage in order to deliver an effective marketing message.
Consumers are in control more than ever before and they are controlling the messaging medium on the internet. Blatant advertising and marketing messages are under scrutiny and are met with skepticism. Consumers want a more personal business experience where they can ask questions, offer feedback and have more facts before purchasing.
Blogs are the tools of the time to meet this demand. They allow your business to become more personal and self-disclosing without exposing weakness and with the benefit of connecting with customers and prospects in a significantly more powerful way.
Blogs allow you to build relationships around your brand, your business, your products and services.
It's About Social Marketing
Relationship is the key.
The rules of engagement have changed. Your markets are faster, smarter and more organized.
This is the new world of Internet publishing and communication. This is the world that online business must consider and contend with.
Blog are powerful drivers of Internet traffic because they delivery content that is fresh, timely, and frequently updated around focused topics and themes. All of these characteristics make them first rate content sources with the search engines and makes blogs top tools for search engine rankings.
When it comes to online marketing, content is king and search results are the main thing. Getting your site content into the search engines for keywords that will deliver customers and prospects to you is the number one priority for marketing a product and service with a blog. If you don’t get visibility within the search engine results pages (SERPs) then you will have challenges introducing your business services or growing your current business offerings online. You have to get clicks to your site if you ever hope to get exposure for your message.
With this growing interest in blogs as marketing tools and drivers of search engine traffic there is also a great interest in how to promote a blog properly and use it to build traffic and increase readership. And there is very good reason for this this growing interest.
Blogs work and they work well at getting your high rankings and good traffic.
Blogs Have Natural Promotion Properties
I believe that blog are by design natural promoters of themselves. Everything about how blogs are designed and work in the blogosphere results in promotion and traffic when used naturally and use consistently. Bloggers promote great content to others. Blogs allow you to publish great content instantly, blogs are natural link magnets and search engine magnets who viral linking and sharing capabilities allows ideas to be shared quickly and broadly.
You only need to understand how to consistently work with the natural promotion characteristics of blogs and blogosphere for successful blog promotion. With a few tweaks here and there you can learn to create a blog that literally promotes itself. This is the un-marketers way of blog promotion.
This is your guide to learning how to do just that.
Getting Started With Blog Promotion
Planning For Blog Promotion Success
Blogs are not the holy grail of Internet success nor are they a guarantee of online marketing success. Your blog will only be as good as the quality of your mission, your message, and your momentum.
Your Mission
What is your mission for your blog? What is your intent? You must have a clearly defined intent for your blog so that you can know what your returns are going to be for measuring success.
Now say this with me please, "blogs are NOT a direct sales marketing tool". "Blogs are not a direct sales marketing tool". Please understand this. If you get this wrong then nothing else will go right with your blog.
Now say this with me please, "blogs are a relationship tool". "Blogs are a relationship tool".
I do not state this lightly. No matter what intent you decide for your blog it must account for the dynamics of the medium and that means understanding the tolerances of blogs.
Let me explain. When deciding intent you should consider the following questions:
Do I want to rank high in the search engines?
Do I want to reach out to current customers?
Do I want to establish my expertise?
Do I want to improve public relations for my business?
Do I want to do perform lead generation for a product or service?
Do I want to repurpose my e-mail newsletter?
...and any additional questions that you can generate regarding your intentions for blogging.
Simple Blog Promotion Principle #1
No matter what your intent, your mission must always come back to a message that fosters relationship in your market, with your market.
Your Message
Your message will be the type of content you deliver with your blog and how it is associated with your blog. What will your content say about you? What will your content say to your market? When you develop your message it needs to be delivered in a personal voice.
Blogs are a relationship medium and your personality must come through in a way that allows your audience to connect with you and identify with you. This is extremely beneficial for businesses that have many employees. Blogs make business more personal.
Message is where your mission lives. Remember it’s about relationship so deliver a personal and informative message. Your message must do 3 things to make your blog successful.
Your message must deliver information that is useful.
Your message must build reputation that can be trusted.
Your message must deliver communication that others can connect with.
Information, reputation and communication are foundation success principles for successful blog promotion.
If your information isn’t relevant then you won’t pull and attract the right traffic. Your reputation cannot mature if your blog has a hard time being a source of quality information and lastly, you cannot communication and connect with an audience that doesn’t appear because of a lack of information and reputation.
When your message delivers information that others are looking for it will bring the traffic to your blog. Blogs are very, very good that this. The SEO aspects of blogs are so powerful and yet highly understated. You can be certain that your competition is not telling about the results they are experiencing.
As your content delivers good information and the blog space begins to pass your message along to others your reputation as a good information sources begins to build. This increases traffic because as your reputation will precede you as others think of you for certain topics or great posts you made. They will link to you and your traffic grows.
You communication when clearly defined and personally connecting with your audience will result in repeat visits. You will be a fully trusted source of information worth visiting again and again.
Remember this:
Simple Blog Promotion Principle #2
Great information brings traffic
Reputation increases traffic
Communication returns traffic
Your Momentum
Your momentum makes all the different and is the final success principle for getting started with successful blog promotion.
Blogs are a commitment. When you blog you are committing to your market. You are committing to developing a dialog that keeps your marketing interesting in you and what your business has to offer.
As a social tool you must nurture your relationships and that means keeping a continuously active dialogue going in your markets. You have to continually reach out to them and you must continually be responsive to their needs.
Failing to do means you risk the credibility of your presence and the integrity of your intent. Developing partnerships, friendships and relationships take time and are investment of yours. Beware of this expectation before venturing in.
Simple Blog Promotion Principle #3
If you cannot keep it up then you may as well pack it up before you ever start.
...
UPDATED! January 13, 2005
This is a no-nonsense 47 page guide to promoting your blog successfully and naturally!
Here is the list of topics from the guide:
Planning For Blog Promotion Success 7
Your Mission 7
Your Message 8
Your Momentum 9
Myths And Misnomers 9
The Basics Of Getting It Going 10
High Ranking Content (Content) 11
Know Your Niche 11
Know Your Keywords 12
Write To Inform 14
Watch Your Stats 16
Reaching Broader Audiences (Communication) 17
Relating More Personally (Conversation) 18
Time To Get It Going! 19
Pings The Thing, The Blog Ecosystem 19
Front Office Factors 19
Back Ofice Factors 21
How To Guarantee Blog Promotion Success 29
Understand The Natural Promotion Characteristics Of Blogs And The Blogosphere. 29
Understanding The Organic Search Properties Of Blogs = Natural Traffic Pull 30
Establishing Your Commitment And Setting Expectations 31
How To Measure Your Blog Roi 32
How To Create Blog Success And How To Measure Your Blog Roi 32
How To Measure Your Blog Return On Investment (Roi). 35
1. Traffic 35
2. Search Engines 36
3. Comments 37
4. Word Of Mouth Index (Inbound Links) 38
5. Other Measuring Tools. 38
Bonus Section: How I Exploded My Blog Traffic Nearly 6-Fold In 30 Days And Turned My Blog Into A Traffic Magnet! 40
I believe that blog are by design natural promoters of themselves. Everything about how blogs are designed and work in the blogosphere results in promotion and traffic when used naturally and use consistently. Bloggers promote great content to others. Blogs allow you to publish great content instantly, blogs are natural link magnets and search engine magnets whose viral linking and sharing capabilities allows ideas to be shared quickly and broadly.
You only need to understand how to consistently work with the natural promotion characteristics of blogs and the blogosphere for successful blog promotion. With a few tweaks here and there you can learn to create a blog that literally promotes itself. This is the un-marketers way of blog promotion.
This is your guide to learning how to do just that.
Downloads[UPDATE 01.25.2005 - NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
