Jennifer Martin is a coach, author, and marketing strategist who works primarily with influencers, real estate agents & brokers, doctors & medical providers, sports, & entertainment professionals, attorneys & law firms, and many other small and medium-sized businesses. Her expertise is strategizing with her clients to create a strategic approach to meet goals and objectives while dominating online.
Bloggers always agonize over the lack of comments. But the problem is not that people don’t read the blog or don’t want to comment, but the blogger hasn’t allowed readers to comment.
It happens so often it’s almost like clockwork. Business blogs are started with high hopes, and then disillusion sets in when the results aren’t what they hoped for. A lot of it has to do with these simple but common mistakes.
Bloggers always agonize over the lack of comments. But the problem is not that people don’t read the blog or don’t want to comment, but the blogger hasn’t allowed readers to comment. Like asking people to order a product, you’ve got to coax people to spend their 3 or 4 precious minutes commenting on your blog. Ask for opinions. People love giving it. Ask for the reader’s experiences, input, or help accomplish something. Ask people to suggest something to you, e.g., and You’re getting incorporated, ask people for suggestions, tips, and recommendations. Asking also tells people you’re open to suggestions and alternative views, further improving the image people may have of you.
Not Hosting On Their Domain
Give thought to your blog. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon. You need to figure out where it’s taking you before you hop on for the ride. Think of your blog as a long-term marketing communication channel like any website you may build. A Blogspot or Typepad URL is not only unprofessional, but you also don’t own it. There is nothing against these blogging services; they’re excellent tools, but for long-term marketing purposes, go for your domain.
This way, you control where you want to publish the blog too. Tomorrow, if you outgrow these services, you can easily export your blog to another tool, another host, without losing too much-established traffic. A domain is also more accessible for people to remember and easier for you to publicize.
Not Maximizing Their Blog Content
Many businesses quit blogging because they feel it’s too much work. True, like everything else, you have to work on a blog, but you don’t have to break your back over it. Sometimes you may have a paragraph here and there about a topic that isn’t big enough for an article. You know what? You will have many more of these impromptu thoughts and ideas – publish them on your blog. Later, you can come back and gather these paragraphs and compile them into a complete article or even a book.
Have you written articles in the past? How about e-courses, audio transcripts, or books that aren’t in publication anymore? Recycle. Break them up and post them on your blog. In fact, if you have lots of this type of content, you can even get your assistant to post them for you. That’s only one way of maximizing your work.
Publishing Too Often
I know what you’re thinking. This sounds completely the opposite of everything you’ve ever learned about blogging. The truth is, the blogging world changes. What works yesterday may not today. There are countless blogs already jostling with you for your reader’s time. More are being started by the day. This is one of them.
Who has the time to read so many blogs? It’s come to a point people are forced to cherry-pick the blogs they read. Even when they do read yours, you’re not safe yet. If they can’t keep up with your blogging pace, they’ll drop you no matter how good your information is. Keep a balance. Feed information to your readers, not dump a truckload on them. Every market is different. Some can tolerate a higher number of posts a week, and some can’t. You should know your market and test accordingly.
Falling For Short Term Methods
Ah, this is my favorite. Suppose you can have a favorite pet peeve, that is. Every week, you hear about people dishing out the newest, most excellent blogging tactic, the best blogging tool to skyrocket your business to success or bulldoze your way to the top search engine listings. Consider how any offer will help you advance your business two, five, or tens years from now. Is it really in line with your marketing direction? If it isn’t, drop it. It also helps a lot if you can have a reliable source to consult and help put things into perspective for you. One of the most powerful qualities of a blog has nothing to do with search engines, tagging, or pinging. These things do have a place, but they aren’t as powerful as the relationship opportunities between you and your customers.
These suggestions are born out of my trial and error, and they’ve worked out nicely. Although these mistakes are common, they are also very easily rectified and don’t cost much money. Try it yourself.