Now the true work begins as I  build and audience and serve them to the best of my ability.

As I mentioned in the last few posts, thank you again to all of you who supported this site. It will still exist, but it will be more of a hub for my books and potentially my writing and editing (though that may move over).

If you’re ready to check things out go to www.thenonfictionzone.com

Hope to see you there! If not, blessings and best of luck to you in the new year and always.

Cheryl

Feel free to connect with me on Facebook or Twitter though and you’ll be one of the first to know when all is ready!

I’m excited to be able to create and serve my new community! Talk again soon!

That’s where I find myself at the moment, it the curve of a U, sort of heading back in a direction I’ve traveled before.

Photo by Mickou via Flickr.com

Where I’m Headed

Some of you know that my background for much of my and entrepreneur life has been spent as a freelance writer, author and editor.  The writing part has continued since 1999.  Most of the author/editor part occurred in 2007  until about 2010.  By that point, the publishing world was really starting to experience change and upheaval and I didn’t feel I had a place beyond authoring my own books.

So I did a shift, using my skills more in the blogging and small business marketing arenas. And that was okay. But I’m definitely sensing that it’s time to go back.

Back to books and publishing, both my own stuff and to helping others.

So that’s where I’m headed.

Not Exactly the Same

There will be a difference this time though- like the new level on the spiral.

Last time, my site was called Publishing Answers and I helped writers of all kinds. This time, my focus will be on Non-Fiction only.  No offense to my fiction writing friends (I may even do a bit myself), but I know I can best serve experts, professionals and others who have a message to share or something to teach.

Will You Be Joining Me?

Even though I invite all of you to come with me on this new adventure, I know that this old/new topic isn’t going to serve everyone on this list. But for those of you who are interested, I look forward to the new things we will accomplish together.

As you may have noticed, I have updated my services a bit on this site, so if you or anyone  you know needs editing or consulting in this area, feel free to get in touch.  This site will be a hub for my books and services. I am planning another one though so stay in touch here or on Facebook or Linked in for the details as they happen. Hopefully, at least the basics will be up in the next few weeks so we can get things rolling.

Last, but not least, I want to thank all of you who have been a part of this space, who have shared thoughts, asked questions and supported both me and everyone else. I wish you blessings and much success.

The Spiral

Business coach Catherine   explains this growth process with a unique analogy of a spiral, like a spiral staircase (note-while I like a lot of her advice she does use a fair amount of coarse language).  One of the points she makes is that you may land in a similar place more than once. It’s somewhat different though because it’s on a different point of the spiral. Using the staircase idea, you experience something at the ground floor and then again on the third. It’s not exactly the same though because  your experiences in between and the new perspective make it new and different enough to move you along your path.

These experiences may be a good thing that gets better, or a struggle that keeps coming back to be dealt with again. Either way, I like this analogy because few business owners follow a direct linear path to wherever they end up, successful or otherwise.

Photo via Flickr.com by Matt Ritchie

Figuring Out the Step I’m On

Long story short, over the past few weeks, I’ve been seriously considering what my business is and is not, what I want it to be, and what has to happen to make it so.  Pretty sure I’m on one of those re-visiting points of my staircase. Still moving up (I think), but there are things I need to stop and take notice of and  consider for the next part of the climb.

Why am I telling you this? Because I may be making a change to what I offer and who I offer it to. I may be back at a place I was before with a new perspective. We’ll see.

My plan is to work things out very soon. So please stay tuned and we’ll see where we all go from here.

Your Turn: What do you think of the spiral? Do you think you are on it/have been on it? Care to share  your experiences & what you’ve  learned?

The short answer-it depends. Really, it does. There isn’t a one size fits all answer here. And really, that’s true of almost any marketing tactic. How you use it depends on your business, your circumstances, your skills and personality.  But even though there isn’t one answer, there is an answer that’s going to be good for you. So let’s work on figuring out what that is okay?

Photo via Flickr.com by Julesxt

What Are the Options?

A) There are two big schools of thought when it comes to blogging frequency. One says you should stick to a regular schedule. Generally this means that you either post a few times each week reliably, or on the same day each week kind of thing.  The idea is that your readers will first come to expect and then anticipate seeing your updates in their inbox. I read many blogs who have followed this path, and this is the strategy I use for this blog and one I had previously. I’ve blogged just about once a week  or so for at least a couple of years now.

B) As you might guess, the other major school of thought is that it’s okay to post on a not so regular  basis but rather when you feel you have something to say. Maybe you’ll do one post this week, skip a week and then post twice.

Within this line of thinking, there are also those who teach that you should only blog when you have something exceptionally well written to deliver.  If it’s only so-so, or good enough, it needs more work until it is a powerful or as poignant as you can possibly make it, even if that means hours of work on a few hundred or a thousand words.

Pros and Cons

As I mentioned before, there is no overall “right” answer to this question even though there are plenty who will insist that whichever it is they do is absolutely the only way to go. In reality there are pros and cons to both methods.

For example, writing regularly can turn you into a disciplined writer and marketer. It can  also burn you out. And for some, that  burnout comes really quickly. In some cases, it can also overwhelm your audience. While some audiences will try hard to read 4 or even 5 posts a week because they don’t want to miss it, others will find it too much of a good thing and unsubscribe.

On the other side, writing either only when you feel like it, or when you believe you have something exceptional to say may end up turning into an excuse not to blog at all. Perfectionist types could easily fall into that trap. But that is not the intent at all.  The idea is not meant to be a reason not to write, but rather motivation to excel at it.

On the audience side, some say it’s good not to have a set schedule because it mixes things up and keeps things fresher. But again, it’s important to know what your customer or clients will respond to. Do they like the security of regularity, or are they more high spirited creative types that thrive on change and creativity?

How Often Should You Post on Your Blog?

These aren’t the only factors to consider, but hopefully, you can start to see the answer that applies to you and your business.  Work through these choices,  see which one seems to fit at this moment and start there. You can always adjust later as needed.

Your Turn: If you’ve been wondering about this and have now worked toward an answer, where did you end up? Would love to hear about the process and/or where you landed!

The Story Begins

I am currently a marketing assistant for a sprinkler company. I work in person in their office a few hours a week doing this and some other stuff as well depending on the day.

When I got the position earlier this spring, they were interested in expanding their online marketing. Like many small businesses, the owners personally don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to it, nor do they really want to handle it themselves. Unlike many small businesses,  they are in a position to bring in some help-which would be me.

Everything Started Out Okay

One of the first things I suggested was that the company should have a blog to help establish our expertise and stand out from the competition. Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

I checked things out and found that we could indeed add a WP module. It’s not quite as good as being on a WP platform as a whole, but better than having it one of the free blog sites.

Long story short, one of my bosses was able to add the module. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working quite right.

Expecting Good Things

My area of expertise is in creating content and online marketing essentials. I also know enough about WordPress to do most of the basics like posting, adding pages and categories. If a problem gets beyond that though into something that involves programing or coding, that’s where I have to ask for help.

Since the problems were beyond the DIY stage, I got ahold of the company that provides our hosting as they also offer sites and some support services.

On the Way Down Hill

Let me start this section by saying, though I would prefer to name names, because I am not speaking on behalf of my own business, I won’t at this time. What I will say however is that the whole experience of getting help through our hosting company has not only been sad, it’s  bordering on nightmare.

We were assigned a “concierge” who was, according to sales, supposed to be able to help us with the list of fixes we needed to make and more.  In our first conversation however, it was explained to me that his specialty was less in the tech stuff, but more in helping businesses make their websites work for them, to help them accomplish goals. After hearing my list of needs though, he was pretty sure he could help. So combining that with his other expertise sounded like an okay deal.

After working on my to do list for a day or two, I got an email back detailing a little of what he had found/what he’d done so far to help fix the blog. According to him, our blog was set up in such a way that people would have to click on something to see the posts.  I actually have no idea what he’s talking about as our posts appear when someone goes to the blog tab.

One of the Worst Pieces of Advice I’ve Ever Read

After pointing that out, this was the advice he gave me:

I would suggest something on the home page or a static section that explains how the blog works.

I honestly could not believe what I was reading! This was coming from someone who’s strength was not tech support, but rather marketing support.

My biggest problem with this? Explain how the blog works

Why? On a website, you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention and you then must work very hard to keep it.  If you have to explain how something works, you need to fix it. Plain and simple, reading anything on a website should not require an explanation. Few people, if any, will stick around or continue reading if something is that complicated.

Bonus Bad Advice

If that wasn’t enough, there was more. He also brought up our share buttons. The ones that allow people to click to share to Facebook etc. that appear somewhere on most blogs these days for obvious reasons. Or at least obvious to a lot of people-just not to our concierge.

He said they were kind of big and cluttery looking, maybe we should remove them. Other customers had.

Remove the share buttons on a blog? Make them smaller, I can totally understand (and I’ve already done it myself), but remove them? Now granted, our topic will likely not cause wild viral sharing like crazy cat videos do, but someone may still want to share on occasion so why not make it easy?

Moving Forward

Needless to say, I was a bit beside myself both with disbelief and frustration by the end of the email and phone call we’d had. One of the few things that did allow me to stay somewhat calm though was my confidence that I knew better.  I knew from years of study and practice that this guy was  wrong and I could keep the company on the right track.

We aren’t done with all of the “fixes” that they are supposed to help us with, so who knows, maybe I’ll be able to do a follow up and things will improve. But I’m not holding my breath.

Your Turn: Have you ever gotten some marketing advice from another teacher/expert that you knew was just awful and wrong?

How do I know? Because I can’t count the number I’ve run across in the last few years. They are clearly a popular way to present information. But are they good for you &your business? Let’s see.

Blueprints & Formulas Aren’t All Bad

First, let me start by saying clearly the world does need blueprints and formulas. After all, they do help us build homes and skyscrapers, find cures for disease and create delectable food concoctions.  They also provide a way for ideas, concepts and forms to be shared and duplicated.  In many circumstances, they’re absolutely necessary of course.

Photo via Flickr by Lucido Studios

 Where the Problems Start

So if blueprints and formulas and such are so helpful and useful, where’s the problem when it comes to marketing?

The problem is when people buy a blueprint, they expect to be able to build the house and that’s not really how marketing works most of the time.

Let me explain

Blueprints & formulas produce an intended result when the person following them follows them exactly. If you are using a blueprint to build a tree house for example, and you decide that you want to fudge on a measurement here or there, the structure you end up with won’t be exactly like what you would get if you follow the plans  exactly. In fact, depending on what changes you make, it could actually be downright dangerous.

With blueprints, people expect to be able to build the exact house the plan shows.

Same thing with formulas. If I combine the exact ingredients in Pepsi’s  recipe formula, I expect to get pop (or soda for you non-Midwesterners) that tastes exactly like Pepsi, not Dr. Pepper.

Are you with me so far?

Now let’s turn to marketing. As I mentioned, a lot of people sell formulas and blueprints. But here’s the problem,  you can’t get blueprint type results in marketing because no two businesses are exactly alike. The results from following any blueprint, formula or plan will rarely, if ever, be exactly duplicate of the original.

Why? Consider just a few of the possible variables:

The owner’s work style is different
They’re in a different part of the country or the world
They deal with different people as customers & clients
They deliver their service/product in a slightly or drastically different way

The list goes on and on as you might imagine.  When you market a service or product, it is a very different process than going to the lumber/hardware store to get the exact count of  nuts, bolts, screws and specific cuts of wood.

So Should You Buy Marketing Blueprints or Formula Type Products?

Contrary to what you might be thinking right now,  my answer is actually, yes. The big key to success and satisfaction however  is to use them in a smarter way.

1.  Do not go in expecting your results to line up like Christmas cookies on a baking sheet compared to  the coach/teacher/consultant who is selling the product.

2. Use the book/class etc. in partnership with the knowledge of your unique circumstances. In other words, tweak it to fit.  In this case, it is likely going to do you much more good than harm other than like in our tree house example.

3. Understand and be okay with the fact  that if at least parts of it work well for you  (assuming you did give it an honest effort and worked smart) the investment was worthwhile.

Is there a formula for success in marketing? Maybe. But I can guarantee that mine is not exactly the same as yours.

Your turn: Have you ever bought a blueprint or formula type marketing product? What did you think about the results you got? Do you sell them? Do you encourage people to tweak them?

What Do I Mean By “Connect”

More often than not, when someone wants to buy something, they have more choices than they can possibly want.  Just stop for a minute to consider the last one or two things you purchased.

How many options did  you have? A couple? A couple dozen? More than that?

When someone is considering your product or service, the same thing is happening. What ultimately persuades them to choose  yours over something else is- connection.

While there are those situations where price is the primary decision factor, in many other situations, there’s something else going on. They are relating to the product or even the sales person differently than to another product or sales person. They believe that the product is just right for them, or maybe that the sales person “gets them”, or understands where they’re coming from.

A common marketing term for this is the “Know Like and Trust” factor.

How Do You Get There as a Marketer/Seller?

One way is by changing something that’s probably tripping you up on your way to making that connection. That one thing is how you think about what goes into your marketing materials.

Photo by Andrew Eick via Flickr.com

As you write  the text for your website or think of ideas for blog posts and articles, if you’re mainly thinking about what you want to say, that’s a problem. It’s a problem because your potential customer may be thinking about your service or product in a slightly different way, to very differently.

If the goal is for that person to connect with what you’re saying, you need to discuss things that they want to know or understand. If you don’t it’s much less likely you will get, let alone keep, their attention. This is particularly true online. If you aren’t discussing/presenting the topics people are searching for, it will be difficult for your information to be found, shared or read in the first place.

An Example

Let’s say you sell sprinklers and one of the things someone can get is a remote control to turn the system on and off. While you know that having a remote is useful, if people aren’t asking about it very often during the quote process or you can’t find questions about them online, chances are it’s not a topic that’s of big concern to your customers.

Can you talk about the benefits of having one? Sure, but you will want to make sure you address the burning questions your customers are actually asking more frequently first.

It doesn’t matter what the product or service is. If you want to create the kinds of connections that sales are built on, you need to think not like the owner/expert all the time, and put yourself in your customer’s frame of mind.

Does this mean you only answer questions?

No, not at all. You’ll often need to educate potential clients because they don’t know what to ask, where they lack information.  Even when you do that though, you’ll want to frame the discussion so that it still focuses on their ultimate agenda, not yours as often as possible.

Again, whether you are writing product/service descriptions, blog posts or a newsletter, before you hit send or publish, pause a moment and simply  ask:

Does my customer/client want to know about this? How does it address their needs?

If you can say yes to the first one, or you have solid answers to the second part, chances are, you’re on the right path.

You all wear a lot of hats. I do too. You’re the chief cook and bottle washer as the old saying goes. You’re the sales person, the accountant, clean up crew and designer or buyer.

Photo by David Spender via Flickr.com

 How do you find the time for marketing?

I know you have a ton to do. However, when it comes to creating time for marketing, here is a quote that I think sums things up well. I heard it from one of my mentors, Danny Iny (not sure if it’s original by him).

If you don’t make time for marketing, eventually, you will have plenty of time for marketing.

What this means is that unless you are one of the lucky few that has plenty of incoming business, if you don’t make time to market, eventually, you will have plenty of extra time because  you won’t have much business.

And we don’t want that now do we?

Even though marketing does take time, whether online or offline, there are ways to make it efficient, effective and maybe even enjoyable.

I’m planning more content on this subject so please stay tuned! I also hope  you are enjoying your summer (if you’re not down under, in that case stay warm ).

]]> http://cherylpickett.com/one-way-or-another-there-will-be-time-for-marketing/feed/ 2 http://cherylpickett.com/online-marketing-is-changing-and-why-thats-likely-good-news-for-you/ http://cherylpickett.com/online-marketing-is-changing-and-why-thats-likely-good-news-for-you/#comments Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:40:08 +0000 cpickett http://cherylpickett.com/?p=1498 If you are newer to the whole strategy of marketing your business using online strategies, you might be saying to yourself, “Changing? I haven’t even figured out what’s going on now”. Trust me, I totally get that. Stick with me though.

In all reality, marketing, whether online or off, has always been in a constant state of change, reinvention, updating and shifting. However, one thing that is different now, the speed at which things change is unprecedented.

Not Your Father’s Marketing

Think about it like this: For a quite a long time  we’ve had printed leaflets/flyers,  ads in print media like newspapers, ads on radio and TV, ads on stationary signs like billboards, and of course, the yellow pages.  Each one of these mediums came on the scene and basically has remained the same or similar for decades.

Photo via Flickr.com by jbcurio

Then came the Internet and all kinds of things changed. Everything from how we get information, to how we interact with people, to how we shop and of course, how we promote our businesses.

Unlike the other media I just mentioned though, what we do online today looks very different from what we did even two or three years ago, let alone ten years ago.  Remember the world B.F. -before Facebook?

The Early Days

Don’t worry, this is not going to be a long drawn out history lesson (not my thing). But there are 3 key points that are important to note.

1. In the early stages, approx 1o years ago give or take, you could pretty much put up a website, be found or drive traffic to it and get people’s attention. There were less sites and for the general public, it was something new, so those who were at least somewhat interested, often wanted to participate further.

2. Eventually,  people basically figured out keywords and how the search engines use them to give results to people like you and me who were looking stuff up whether it was low fat recipes or how to change a tire.

During this phase, the strategy was to fill your site with keywords to make it more search engine friendly. Some of the less scrupulous types also figured out that if you overloaded a site with keywords, it would help the page come up high in results. Unfortunately, what the searcher often got was a page of keywords and nothing helpful at all.

3. Google decided that wasn’t good for searchers and they began working hard to tweak the results formulas to look for sites that were relevant based on keywords, but also actually helpful to the searcher.  Creating good content on blogs and other parts of a site became the recommended strategy.

That’s pretty much where we’ve been for about 4 or 5 years, with things tightening up with regard to what is quality content over the  past year or so. The biggest thing about this strategy is is means writing or otherwise creating lots of content. Which is great if  you like to write or do video and have time to do it as well. What’s not so great is if you don’t have the desire or time. What’s also not great is that the average person is often in a state of overwhelm whenever they go online. I’m sure if you think of your own experience, it won’t be hard to come up with plenty of examples.

Where We’re Headed

If the current/most recent trend could be summed up as “more is better” what I’ve been reading about future trends lately may be labeled “less is more”.

Simplicity may be where we’re headed (or where we’re returning to) and for most of you, I’m betting that’s good news.  People still want and expect good and useful information, we just may not need to churn out quite so much.  I believe this is partly due to the unfortunate decline of attention spans, but it’s probably also due to that constant state of overwhelm I mentioned earlier. No one likes to feel that way so, it makes sense to me that those websites that  provide clear, useful, engaging content and navigation, should be at the front of the pack.

Will that happen because of search engine results or people driven results or both? Too early to know. But if it’s a choice between simplicity or overwhelm, I don’t think too many people will struggle with the options.