My name is Brian McKay and I'm the VP of Sales at Compendium Blogware.
Win your name on search. Win your company name on search. Win every keyword that you can that is material to you or your business. That is what I'm talking about here. Time is too precious to invest in marketing activities that fail to deliver measurable results.
Expect more out of your marketing by meeting customers at the moment they are seeking out your products and services. You have the power to do this right now, and I'm excited to show you how.
Join me in becoming a social media business evangelist. Let your words drive traffic and let that traffic drive revenue.
So is email, the Internet, and rap music. As a professional in the marketing software industry it's important to look beyond definitions to the underlieing value of a product, service, or medium.
Blog marketing and business blogging are two definitions that are worth your time, attention, and investment. I would recommend teeing up this conversation with your team or yourself if you are a business owner in the following manner:
1. How can we better reach prospective customers that need our services? (rather than, why should we blog?)
2. With our collective experience and success in this industry do we have relevant and valuable things to say? (rather than, what are we going to blog about?)
3. Do we have a handful of customers that we love and love us that would step up and say a few words about the work we've done for them? (rather than, what would people want to hear from us?)In the end your best customers are your best stories, greatest assets (outside your team), and strongest opportunity to influence people just like them to give your company an opportunity to earn their business.
"Wow! What do I do with all these people that want to do business with me?!"
A little stretch? Maybe, but if you've ever completed the exercise to look at how many people are actually in the hunt for businesses that provide your products and services may change your mind. This is a fundamental element of search marketing, and also a great example of the principle of abundance.
The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a great start. Click through and type in a few keywords relevant to the problems that your product or service solves. Then, look at the volume of actual people that are searching for that type of solution on a month to month basis.
Everytime we complete a similiar exercise with our clients they leave with a feeling of abundance. It's a doorway to new opportunity, especially for busineses that have yet to harness the power of search marketing to reach potential customers. Blog marketing is a vehicle to take that keyword knowledge, and turn it into business. Realizing the abundance is a great first step for anyone curious about how the internet can work for them.
This is a very important question for any business, online or traditional brick and mortar. Yahoo! is set up as a portal. It strives to be a destination that you start at, read their news, engage in commerce through their front door. Google, however, is a network. It's strength is in all the number of doors it has to get to independent content that a searcher is looking for. Yahoo! wins when you stay, Google wins when you leave as fast as possible.
Which is your busin
ess? When it comes to search marketing this is the million dollar question you should be asking your marketing, lead generation, or SEO crew. Put aside revamping a website, a portal, and consider building a network. Regardless of your wares, your business can operate using a network, where there exist thousands of doors to reach you. Each door built specifically for a group of searchers to find you.
To consider becoming a network online rather than a portal, you have to reach agreement on one thing first. The website is not the end. It is simply a means. The end is to make money, engage in a transaction. This can be small B2C or large and long term B2B. Business Blog Software is a great place to start when it comes to creating an entire network devoted to the prospects that are looking for you in hundreds of thousands of ways.
You can have the most elaborate and attractive front door in all of business, but it remains a single door.
As you consider your next marketing move, do you want to be Yahoo! or Google?
Sometimes I feel that the "E" in SEO stands for ego.
"I need to be number 1 in Google!"
"Guarantee me number 1 in Google SEO expert!"
"I'm already number 1 in Google."
Searching marketing is less about number 1, and more about quality and quantity of organic search traffic. Blog marketing operates under the same context. Leverage your content to win thousands of keywords, not just a handful. Win a volume of traffic that can be measured, scaled, and monetized.
When you are working to develop a search strategy that has teeth, avoid the ego, and focus on the end result: A critical mass of qualified traffic with a favorable ROI should be closer to the end we're looking for.
A recent article by Robert Lee Hotz in the
Wall Street Journal uncovered research about the breakthrough moments occurring during daydreaming. Archimedes discovered how to calculate density and volume while taking a bath, Sir Isaac Newton was walking in an orchard when he was hit with his law of universal gravitation, and Einstein was imaging trains and lightening when the special theory of relativity was born.
Apply these findings to a typical consumer when they are searching for something online. This is the crux of search marketing and blog marketing. Writing content in nearly the exact way a consumer/prospect will search for it.
“Solving a problem with insight is fundamentally different from solving a problem analytically.” -- Dr. John Kounios of Drexel University. What does this tell us about what is going on when a consumer decides to take that problem solving online using a search engine? Actually, a lot!
Most internet marketing minds lean toward analytical or technical skill sets. Understanding the nuances of coding and working tirelessly to think and act in a way that is most favorable to Google and major search engines. The problem with this is, the people who are actually searching are operating on an entirely different plain.
The consumer has a need, want, or problem. They type their problem in the shortest manner possible that can accurately describe that want. Then they hit “Go.” Here is where the world of Google (who is working tirelessly to think like the searcher) and the world of web developers, SEO’s, and Internet marketers (who work tirelessly to think like Google) collide.
Who ultimately win’s in this tug of war is not as important as who often times loses… You and me. When I search for something in the best way I can describe it, why do the results usually fall short of what I wanted. How many times am I forced to search multiple variations of my problem to get a workable web site?
The moral of the story is take a minute to daydream before SEOing or writing content for your site. Write what your gut tells you’re your prospects are going to actually type into the search engine. More amazing developments in the history of the world have come by that manner, than by opting for the analytical.
Trust your gut.
BtoB Magazine just released a study by Sam Sebastian, Director-local and b to b markets at Google, that reveals that C level executives are leveraging search and social media far more than most think. This has been great news to btob companies leveraging blogs to win search.
This is the quote that hit me the most:“They’re not delegating,” he said. “They prefer to do a lot of this stuff on their own.” Among the findings from the research, which will be formally released in the coming weeks include: 64% of C-level execs conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information. (Read entire article)64% of C-level execs conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information! There is a case for leveraging online tools to drive C-level leads inbound to your company. This is what we've been discussing when it comes to meeting qualified prospects at the moment they are searching to solve a problem or accomplish a goal.
For those that blog for SEO and leverage a blog to generate meaningful humanized content to earn search traffic, this becomes additional support for the time and effort you've invested in organic search marketing.
If you are a marketer looking to reach a C-level prospect, you can use corporate blogging software to accomplish that goal.
According to BtoB Magazine Social Media Marketing is being leveraged by 70% of companies:
More than 70% of companies are currently using social networks for branding and collaboration purposes, with many viewing it as a key voice-of-the-customer tool, according to a new survey by the Direct Marketing Association. Read More from the SourceBranding and collaboration are valuable, but what if you could take social media to the next level? The next level being measurable bottomline impact through lead generation and customer acquisition online. That would be even better, right?
As you continue to research more effective and efficient means to generate sales ready leads, make social media live up to the same litmus test as other marketing and lead generation channels in your arsenal.
1. Is this marketing channel relevant to our target audience?
2. Can I measure the impact of this marketing channel against my set goals and objectives?
3. How much will this channel cost me in time, resources, and cash over the life of the campaign?Be demanding when it comes to social media, and don't stop at effective brand awareness as an end game for your efforts. I hope the BtoB article helps you make the case at your company, not just for branding, but for more efficient means to generate qualified sales ready leads.
As we continue to explore Blogging Best Practices it's important to keep Blogging intrinsically tied to lead generation. Effort in on the part of employees blogging should deliver a tangible result for the time invested. What better reward than new business or at minimum a lead generated.
A great example of this in action is our client
Children International. They have a powerful mission to fulfill and an amazing message to deliver. A lead generated for Children International means a child will be fed. Those a high stakes. Their blog:
blog.children.org/blog/help-starving-children
Tells the story of the power their organization has to save lives, and put charitable donations to work. They are also leveraging their blog to reach the right people with the right message. This is lead generation 101. If I know you are looking for me, but can't find me, whose responsibility is it to change that?
It's our responsibility as business owners to ensure that our message is actually reaching the audience it was intended for.
In the
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, he is born old and then ages younger. Gaining more vitality, strength, and wisdom every day. Most of us has been there, "If I only knew then what I know now." On the Internet, each of our websites can be equated to
Benjamin Button. Every day age builds up, and the search engine spiders/bots, are taking inventory of what content we've created, the keyword density, relevancy, and volume of that content, and age.
Age matters. Not just age, but intelligent use of age to optimize your website. If you didn't already know, action you are taking now under your domain name are going to impact you five years or more down the road.
This is one of the major cases for Blogging as a tool for SEO. On a website, or more specifically a landing page, you have limited real estate to deliver content to users. On a blog page, your real estate is endless. The canvas on which you are able to deliver content of all varieties is not restricted.
As you continue to explore, and hopefully embrace, starting a business blog, remember
Benjamin Button. Make wise decisions as you thoughtfully and strategically age your business online, and take action to leverage blogging today.
Leveraging blogging as a tool for SEO can be compared to hosting a college house party. Come on, you remember these parties from your college days. The first time you set up your rented place for a BIG party, only 6 of your closest friends show up. The next 3 or 4 parties you attempt to host only draw a meager crowd. You and your roommates ask yourselves, "what are we doing wrong here?"
Then, miraculously, on the 5th attempt at hosting a world class house party, the doors are busting at the seams with people from Econ 101, the football team, and a lot of people that you never knew went to your school. You're party rocked the campus, and you are now on everyone's "must attend" list on Friday nights.
Now, how is this related to blogging best practices? Here we go. You start your business blog and begin putting up posts, and then you wait for traffic. Only a few business collegues and family show up. A few weeks past, a handful of posts are created, and still only a meager showing of friends and family. Alright, it's been a month, you've generated 30 posts, where is the traffic?
Again, miraculously, after the first month, with a business blog that has all of the content topically organized under a critical mass of targeted keywords, the traffic arrives. And, it doesn't stop coming.
Qualified prospects are now being funneled in by the case load from Google, Yahoo, and MSN search engines. Congratulations, you have successfully executed a Blogging for SEO strategy. Now, keep the quality content coming to fuel the machine.
Now, when setting your Blogging goals you can think about how you earned your first successful house party in college. The second part of this equation is maybe more difficult. "What to do with all these people when they get here?"
As you continue your research into Blogging Best Practices or Blogging for SEO, it all comes down to the keywords that you choose to target on the major search engines. You tell me, "I need to run this by my SEO consultant, or I need to do more keyword research before I start a business blog." Wrong. Here is the secret that SEO's and consultant throughout the world do not want you to know... All in 2 seconds:
YOU ARE ALREADY AN EXPERT
Thank you, I'll send my bill in the mail... You're not impressed? You're dissappointed? What?!
That's right, you are already a keyword expert in what matters: YOUR BUSINESS. Who know's more than you do about your profession, your company, your career? The answer is, no one.
If you run a paint store, run an eCommerce portal, sell picture frames, run an advertising agency, manage a pet store, train horses, etc. etc. etc... you know how to determine if someone is in need (or more importantly) in want of your services. Right?
Over the years you have become a keyword expert beyond any consultant, in understanding your customer, and profiling those who SHOULD already be customers, but don't know it yet. Unfortunately, as you head to Google to punch in those valuable questions and phrases that your customers have come to ask, your company does not show up. Anywhere. That is the golden opportunity that you are missing, with the weak excuse of not knowing your keywords. Well, thanks to this blog post, you can now move forward and start getting in front of prospects that already need your services and have the money to spend on those services RIGHT NOW.
If you are ever interested in testing me on this,
call Compendium Blogware and ask for the VP of Sales.
What does it take to win? What does winning even mean?
As we continue the conversation about blogging best practices, and leveraging SEO to drive qualified leads to your business, we have to take a step back and ask, how this will help me win?
1. Know What a Win Is
It's important to know what winning means to you. Is winning a target revenue number, number of clients, number of cases solved? Or is winning a lifestyle, consistency, or freedom? When we set out to accomplish something, it's important to know when we've got there.
The SEO opportunity here, is to know if the goal you've set is achievable with the budget you've allocated and the manpower you've planned to invest. When you are defining what a "Win" is, know that it can be reached.
2. Leverage Weakness
We've all heard some variation of this before, but when you find weakness in an industry, or in a competitor, leverage it within the value of your own products and services. I'm not promoting a smear campaign, what I am promoting is if a competitor has proven ineffective in a retaining clients, you can tout that you have an extraordinarily high client retention rate and use customer testimonials to add depth and credibility to your message.
Blog about it, and be proud of the areas that you've paid attention to and can leverage as a serious point of difference.
3. Pick a Fight with the Bully
Very few times have ambitious companies been worse off for stepping up to the plate against a seemingly indestructable opponent. Why? Because this isn't Sparta; your life is not on the line. In the business world significant lessons can be learned from competing a few levels above your wieght class. The next time you compete at the traditional level of competition you will have the confidence that you and your team are capable of much more.
No place is this more true than on the Internet. Where perception, often times, is reality. Think big, and never underestimate yourself or your team.
4. Generate More Content
By generating more content you gain a huge opportunity to win. This is not only relevant to Blogging for SEO, but to sales calls, conferences, and any other place where content is created. What is content? It is any messaging that comes from the keyboard of an employee at your company or from their mouth in a sales call, speaking event, or conference. How you choose to leverage that content creation becomes the opportunity to win. (secret: most company are aweful at it)
5. Don't Fear what you Don't Know
This is the biggest opportunity when it comes to SEO and earning a the win online. The illusion that you don't know enough to make a play in search, Internet marketing, and driving real business through the web. This is not rocket science, regardless of what the "experts" say. The same rules of business apply to the web, and it presents a relatively level playing field for a small company with a big idea to dominate.
To win in search is to understand what your core audience (or customer base) is looking for: Keywords. Keywords are currency, and knowing who you serve and how you serve them makes you a keyword expert in your industry.
Those are McKay's 5 Opportunities to Win in Search. Right now you have the power to leverage the Internet to drive revenue for your business. Take the next step by contact us at Compendium for a free Blogging consultation.
It's a blast to work for Compendium Blogware, and too see the results we are able to deliver for clients of all sizes with our corporate blogging software. Recently we were listed as one of
America's Most Promising Start-ups by Business Week. It's an honor to be recognized by a resource like
Business Week, and also a great lesson about why Blogging is not only sexy, but incredibly effective at driving leads that generate revenue. If you have a serious business, understand how to deliver on your promises, blogging is the vehicle to deliver that message.
Credibility is earned, so are valuable rankings in search engines and the qualified traffic that is driven through those rankings. If you've done the hard work of building your company, perfecting your craft, and employing talented professionals. Give Corporate Blogging a serious look to introduce yourself to an audience that may not even know you are the company they are looking for.
If you are seeking a new channel for customer acquisition and lead generation for your business, consider SEO and organic search.
By maximizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) you are grooming you business to be recognized by searchers on Google and major search engines. When executed appropriately it can mean significantly more qualified traffic driven to your business.
Blogging is the ultimate SEO tool in that content on a blog has serious stay power, and allows novice writers to amass a great deal of keyword rich content. A post written today will aide in winning search traffic for your business 5 years from now.
The fact is that qualified customers are searching for your products/services right now online, and only one of two things is happening. They are finding you, or they are finding your competition. In your hunt for the best blogging solution, please reach out to us at Compendium for a free blogging consultation today.
When positioning corporate Blogging software for your company, it's vital to marry this strategy to ROI. Not only that, but do so in a way that can be wieghted and measured against competing marketing & advertising channels within your company.
Starting off a Blogging for SEO conversation, with the word "Blog," is your first mistake. The word "Blog" carries with it connotations of widgets, social media, community, groups, and other product related ideals. All of those areas have their place within a strategy, but the core value proposition is lead generation and customer acquisition through organic search. That core value proposition must be realized by your company as a priority.
If you are going to make the case for Blogging, do so by first making the case for lead generation through organic search. The latter value proposition is the rock on which you build your justification for a robust and scalable strategy to implement corporate blogging software.
Blogging for Search put's you in a game where only one of two things can happen. When a searcher enters their desired keywords:
1. They will find you
2. They will find your competitor
The above statement is taken from the foreward of the book The Truth About Search Engine Optimization, by Rebecca Lieb.
Search is not a peice of the pie, it is the pie. This is why business blogging is not a fringe strategy, but a scalable, measurable, and affordable way to gain relevance. If you haven't already done so, do the exercise of searching keyword phrases relevant to your business, and count how many times your company shows up. Remember, never use your brand name, a potential prospect doesn't necessarily know you are the answer to their problem.
Dissappointed? Don't worry, most are. The stakes are very high with search, and blogging is the perfect tool to play a hand in this game. At Compendium, this is why we are in business, and it is how we are measured every single day.
Reach out for a conversation today about how to be option 1, and avoid option 2. Remember there are only TWO POSSIBLE OUTCOMES.
How often in life do your get something for nothing? When you do get something for nothing, how satisfying is it? How about quality? When you Blog to earn customers, the same rules apply. If you want to set it and forget it put your money into the less than 5% of search that PPC captures.
If you make the decision to Blog for search, you are entering the market when 95% of search traffic actually clicks through. This is the marketplace where your conversion rates can go through the roof if you do it right. If you don't already know why Blogs are the ultimate search marketing tool, click one of the calls to action on this page and download. If you already understand their power, let's talk about luck.
Winning traffic from Organic search is a pure mixture of strategy and execution. Of planning and doing to the work necessary to produce results. In organic search you need to be flooding the market with relevant content that will drive the "right" traffic to you. Relevant content uses words that your key prospects are using when they type into Google what they want.
Luck happens when you put work behind a pure organic search and customer acquisition strategy. If you put the W.O.R.K. behind a robust Blog network, you are going to be suprised by how Lucky you will get.
Why Blog if you are not earning eyeballs? Going through the trouble of creating content without a strategy to win traffic is a flawed one at best.
Argueing about the viability of the online marketplace for your business is becoming a mute point. I would also challenge you to go through an entire day and not hear or see the word, "Blog." It will be difficult, if not impossible.
Opportunity is all around us, and putting your business in front of it is getting easier and easier. It's all a matter of perspective. If you believe the traditional lead generation and customer acquisition channels are going to continue to deliver, your bias will limit your ability to buy into Blogging for a purpose.
If you are constantly looking to make your operation leaner, meaner, and earn more revenue from less, then emerging technology focused on search is a fast track to meeting your potential customers where they are searching.
You don't have to Blog. That is a fallacy, just like you don't have to have an all star sales team to make ends meet. However, if you do employ a Blog network to drive leads, and you do empower your company with an all star sales team, your likelyhood of massive success increases substantially.
If you are exploring how to maximize your revenue from organic search, Google, or the Internet in general please take a few minutes to read our Whitepaper about how Blogging will be a game changer for your customer acquisition strategy.
Local Search and Blogging Whitepaper Download
