Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. Voltaire

See http://del.icio.us/howardpr/25-29.09.2006  for the list of sites I've found interesting over this past week. 

5. Blogs allow you to show your passion and wit as a thought leader in

your field.

Your blog will extend your network with leading-edge thinkers in your field—

the type of people who are drawn to blogging. It will develop your writing

skills and provide a means for you to build material for longer pieces. You’ll in

fact be publishing an online magazine. Think about it: you get full editorial

control!

You don’t have to deal with being listed along with competitors in a summary

article—or getting negative press. You can highlight your success to

prospective employees, vendors, customers, and your industry; enhance your

corporate brand, customer loyalty, and partnerships; promote a particular

product or service; and test new ideas.

Blogging can be a critical part of your marketing mix, a highly effective way

to significantly raise your visibility and connect with folks on a regular basis.

So go to it!

Send me an email (holiver@whatifwhatnext.com) if you would like to have a PDF of  the complete article.

4. Blogs are a very inexpensive medium—and they’re becoming increasingly popular.

Not everyone wants to be a publisher. Your effort and great writing will set you apart in a medium that is measurement-focused. The blog itself costs a few dollars a month—no more.

Blogging makes front-page news–regularly. And new technologies like blogs, wikis, social networking, and Real Simple Syndication (RSS) are changing the media and marketing landscape. Web2.0 is one step in the evolution of the Internet that is shaping our society and your industry. You have to know about this emerging field to remain competitive and grow.

Keeping your content dynamic will keep your customers coming back. Also, search engines like Google are “friendly” to sites that have fresh content. The path is opened to you through blog mining or RSS.

The more people comment, and the more key words you enter, the faster search engines react to the phenomenon that something’s up at your web site and the greater the visibility they give you in search results. That only attracts more visitors, and the virtuous cycle builds.

Some statistics: Technorati, a blog aggregator, listed 50 billion blogs as of July 2006. Of the respondents to a recent web poll, 59 per cent said they get business and technology information from blogs. Leading bloggers are receiving for $8.00 per 1,000 impressions as compared to Google AdWords ads that charges between $0.50-$2.00.

Blogs are a two-way medium—unlike most web sites. From Jason Fry of the Wall Street Journal, February, 2006:

Blog posts show up in search-engine results, get emailed and IM'ed around, and wind up in Google News and news aggregators…. Business will use them for updates and conversations with their own employees or customers.... But blogging will no longer be a phenomenon. When people talk about it, they'll often be referring to tools for putting up simple Web sites easily, or a certain style of Web publishing: brightly written, frequently updated and inviting reader conversation.

3. Face it, we all can do a better job at getting out there and telling our story.

Blogging allows you to publish, and not perish. It’s a way for you to get your voice out there above all the traditional publications. You blog will also generate traffic to your corporate site and increase your search engine rankings.

More broadly, as a blogger you’ll be part of something hot—something that sets you apart from the pack.

2. Blogging beats cold calling.

Maintain sales momentum: invest one to two hours a day in your blog for the first month of its life. (You can scale back afterward. What would you be doing otherwise that compares to this for reaching large numbers of people?) You’ll find blogging is habit-forming and brings you into contact with potential customers.

It’s a fun way to fill your sales funnel and shorten sales cycles. Your blog will get you meetings, speaking appearances and a loyal audience. You can also use your blog to handle objections and close business with major accounts.

Blogs can serve as digital business cards, resumes, personality profiles, sample portfolios, and more. They don't have to be limited to being "plogs" (personal diaries). For consultants and knowledge workers, blogs are an opportunity to share their expertise and knowledge with a larger audience.

1. Look, blogs are becoming a legitimate part of corporate communications.

Blogging is easier, faster and more conversational than traditional web publishing.

Your blog becomes part of an emerging interactive tools kit that some people call WEB2.0. Do some searching on this topic—your efforts will be rewarded.

You’ll discover statistics like these: blog readers visit nearly twice as many web pages as the average Internet user, and they’re more likely to shop online. Write consistently interesting material for your blog, and this highly Internet-savvy readership will keep coming back daily to see what you have to say.

Blogs present a valued human face and voice to your (growing) public. They create a new informal communications channel to your board and investors. They’re a form of strategic PR that raises your brand’s or your company’s relevancy. And they allow you to take the valued role of the evangelist—a great position to hold.

As a “thought leader journalist”, you’ll be considered a peer by the professional press—and you’ll get broader ink. Interesting blogs that focus on specific topics get noticed and build loyal audiences!

You can sell product directly on your blog, if it’s got e-commerce capabilities.

Moreover, blog entries are short. They’re easy for you to write—and for your customers to read.

A "thought leader" is a person who is recognized among his or her peers for innovative ideas—and who demonstrates the confidence to promote those ideas. A distinguishing characteristic of a thought leader is the recognition from the outside world that the company he or she leads deeply understands its business, the needs of its customers, and the broader marketplace in which it operates.

Assuming the mantle of "thought leader" enhances your value—period, and blogging is the core tool to broadcast your status in this role. At What If What Next™, we’ve devised a proprietary ROI tool for our WIWNlog™ offering (see the left-hand column of this blog for details) to justify blog investment as a legitimate component of a marketing communications budget. Ask us about it.

Over the next week, I’ll be presenting my five reasons for blogging. Stay tuned!

Ambrose Bierce

See http://del.icio.us/howardpr/18-22.09.2006  for the list of sites I've found interesting over this past week. This will become a weekly feature. 

Also, I've built a very detailed mind map on the business case for Blogging. If you would like a copy, contact me at: holiver@whatifwhatnext.com or 416-638-8582. 

I will be a guest speaker at an Innovation Café sponsored by McMaster University and the Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network this Wednesday Sept. 27, 2006, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at McMaster University. Here is what we will be discussing.

Blogging as a tool in the Biotechnology Industry

The practice of blogging has been around since the mid 1990s mostly in computer savvy groups that used a variety of early chat mediums to communicate. It has only been recently, in the past 3 years that the practice has become mainstream and highly popular. Most blogging activity has been in the political forum and the electronic print media. They are also generally non-commercial entities. The blog has now evolved into having utility beyond its original application. Blogging is emerging as a technique for high technology companies to grow and make an impact in their sector. Questions for discussion include:

• Why should one consider a blog?

• Is it a public relations tool, marketing tool, sales vehicle?

• Is blogging considered a business practice?

• Who should use it and why?

• Are there rules to follow?

• What are some of the best practices?

See the attached brochure for more details.

Howard's contribution to our 3rd Annual Media Relations Course was extraordinary, and attendee reviews reflected great interest in the 'fascinating new approach' embodied in his Master Class technique.

Here is a correspondence that I had with Bob Clareborough who wrote a great article in The Space Review. Bob - thanks for ...   more »

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Mark Twain

See http://del.icio.us/howardpr/11-15.09.2006  for the list of sites I've found interesting over this past week. This will become a weekly feature. 

Also, I've built a very detailed mind map on the business case for Blogging. If you would like a copy, contact me at: holiver@whatifwhatnext.com or 416-638-8582. 

George Bernard Shaw

I'm exploring idea of intuition, incubation and advanced learning for the Master Class. Join me and read some of the links at: http://del.icio.us/HowardPR/learning

Albert Einstein

We've been invited to give a motivational sales presentation at a client’s annual sales meeting, when an important new product is being launched. Cool gig! It's part of an integrated PR, digital publishing and business development campaign we'll be conducting for them over the fall. We know our work will bring the company a 10X return from the media coverage and leads that will be generated, and the sales momentum created by their motivated sales force.  

Here's the plan--you might consider something similar for your next meeting!

First, we'll create a blog for the company posting a base of information including a business case, an online media kit, interviews and multiple blog entries on the company and its products. We'll also optimize the blog to make sure there are great Google rankings. We'll interview the CEO and product manager heading up the product launch, first customers and early customers already using the product and key sales reps who have identified themselves as product champions. We'll also do audio interviews and mount them as podcasts.

Second, at the event itself, we'll do the keynote and officially launch the blog with some fanfare, talking about the great things customers have said about the product, the great team that brought it to market, the digital publishing tools and other marketing techniques the company has invested in to ensure its success. We'll also give a sales training session on how each sales person can use the blog in his or her territory. That presentation should be a lot of fun--"Blog to Build Your Territory".  We'll also be “blogging the event”, interviewing senior managers and sales people, getting their opinion on the product and the market to capture in writing and audio the energy of the event.

Third, to follow up--following up is always the most important point of a meeting--and to get measurable results, we'll run an integrated PR campaign leading up to a big trade show that takes place three months after the sales meeting. A press release will be issued on the product launch itself. A media list has been built. The release and a pitch letter will be sent to attract coverage from the trade and business press. We already have commitments from two trade journals to do a new product announcement and in-depth article. We anticipate three subsequent releases to be issued before the show announcing a new alliance and product sales. The blog will have up to three blog entries per week. A contest on the blog will attract hits and leads.  Most importantly, we'll be working with interested sales people to have them add their own entries onto the blog. They'll be able to send e-mails to their contacts via the blog’s micro-publishing system to advance sales cycles and energize prospects and customers. From our experience, e-mails from blogs get a 40 per cent response as compared to standard marketing e-mails, which get only a few percentage points.

Fourth, at the end we'll sit down with management and measure the results.

Don't miss your opportunity to put these exciting new marketing tools to work for your company! Contact Howard Oliver at 416-638-8582 or holiver@whatifwhatnext.com before your next sales meeting or product launch.

Flickr
del.icio.us
Local.Live.com
GMail
Google Calendar
Google Spreadsheets
Digg
YouTube
Yelp
Blinklist
Bloglines
Basecamp
Writely
Dimewise
Kayak
Spurl
LibraryThing
Last.fm
NetVibes

William Faulkner

..........The ultimate, cosmic answer to all sales problems:

This week:

- Make 10 cold calls a day.

- Attend one networking event and pick up five business cards.

- Call five customers for referrals.

- Schedule four meetings.

- Call 10 existing customers with up-sell/service ideas.

............. that is it ...... really.........

Howard