Why do you blog? It is a question that many pose and the answers while they vary, they all lead to one thing; to make money. This could be to drive people to a product or your services through the content but it is ultimately to make money. Sure, there are some that are recreational bloggers and do it as a hobby but most of the bloggers are here to gain awareness to drive people to do something and that something is to buy. Customers, clients, brand loyalists, brand evangelists, referral agents, etc. it is all contained within why so many blog. It is pretty simple really but yet it gets real complicated when we start adding the layers of defining the purpose of the blog deeper than the making money aspect.
What is the Purpose of Your Blog?
Yes, the underlying purpose is to make money however it is deeper than that. The purpose of each article is to have your audience do something. That something is where people get all flustered and are unable to define the purpose of their blog. This blog, is a small business marketing resource. Ok, great and … You see this is where we get stuck. It begs the question of how. How is it a small business marketing resource? What makes it so great that small business owners need to come each day, read, digest and then act? Here is where the real thinking comes in as defining the purpose is more than making money as it is the prove it and make us believe that your company is above the rest and this blog is a small business marketing resource.
What Makes You So Great?
What makes you stand high above the crowd? The marketplace is busting at the seams with consultants, self titled social media experts, gurus, ninjas, established advertising and small business social media agencies. So what makes you different? What makes you rise above and have people read your blog, subscribe, and do what you wish of them which is hire you? We see people who stand out in certain industries and when we think of that industry, we think of them. DJ Waldow of Blue Sky Factory is email marketing. No question there. Gary Vaynerchuk is wine but also a force in the social media agencies for large businesses. Mari Smith is Facebook. Jason Falls is a public relations/journalist/social media consultant (who incidentally throws the best party at BlogWorld and if you have not fallen victim to “The Falls,” you have not experienced BlogWorld), Lisa Barone is Outspoken … Media that is and writes upwards of 30 blog posts a week when live blogging. Chris Brogan is well Chris Brogan and despite my son confusing him with Chris Berman (for which is the one thing that Chris does not have his hand in … yet) he is a multitude of great. This is what they have told and proven to us that they are great at. They are the go to people as we have grown to trust and rely upon them has they have proven time and time again to be great.
When you are developing the purpose of your blog, the what makes you so great comes into play if you are looking to be successful. It is defining how you will make the money as if you do not stand out, you are just another face in the crowd. It is more that working harder than everyone else, it is working smarter to define that one thing that you are great at and ensuring that people know, listen, adopt, believe, trust and share with you.
How do You Determine What Makes You So Great?
Simple answer is what do people look to you for? What are people asking of you? What do you think is your one thing that you excel at? What you are passionate about is not always what you are great at. I am passionate about small business marketing which encompasses their advertising and social media but does that translate into the one thing that I am great at? No, not really. It is broad and quite frankly no different that the other Las Vegas social media marketing agencies or for that matter any other adverting and marketing agency that caters to small businesses. There is not that one thing. That one association when people think Suzanne Vara of Kherize5 and (dead air) is lacking. Hard truth but the truth nonetheless.
Determining what makes you so great is what people associate you with. Not sure? Ask. People will tell you. It may shock you but it is a building block to evaluate what makes you so great. Apple did not sell a million Iphones, Ipads and Kinetics in shorter intervals without defining what makes each product so great. Professional athletes did not focus on one sport without first determining which one they were so great at.
Then there is commitment. What are you committed to and really committed to providing to your audience, customers and clients? Mitch Joel has laid out his commitment, have you?
Establishing the greatness, creates the want.
Thoughts? What are you great at? Don’t be shy as if you do not tell we cannot create the want.