What can a blog coach do to help your business?
There is no one definition of a “blog coach” and no solitary reason for which a business owner would seek blogging support. That being the case, I wanted to outline what I do as a blog coach and the types of clients with whom I work. Additionally, I’ve provided some suggestions as to the crucial questions to ask before you hire your own blog coach.
What I can do as your blog coach
- Translate technical jargon and more sophisticated features of blogging into simple, easy-to-understand concepts. Rather than getting stalled out because you don’t understand what an RSS feed, trackback, or blogroll is, I help my clients build enough general knowledge to become self-sufficient bloggers.
- Help you determine what design and organizational layout will best support your business objectives and your company brand. Many new bloggers don’t realize the flexibility that’s available in a blog design and therefore merely settle for the “standard layout.” I help you strategically think about what you want to emphasize on your blog and how to organize it to work best for you.
- Build a beautiful blog in WordPress that will strengthen your image, build your credibility, and support your key goals. Instead of just using a standard template that doesn’t fit your business or the goals you want to reach, I customize a blog design specifically for you and your business.
- Assist you in creating a marketing plan with a strong blogging component. Instead of relying on blogging as your “magic pill,” I can help you determine what group of activities and tools will best serve your marketing needs.
Clients I work with as a blog coach
- Coaches, consultants, service professionals. These people don’t have much technical expertise, yet want to be competent at maintaining their site. They want to use their blog to give people a “taste” or them/their style/their process and potentially sell products from their site.
- Professionals with outdated, ugly, or poor-performing websites. These people want to change and want the switch to be easy, cost-effective, and effective. Generally they don’t have the skills or time to do the work themselves.
- Business owners whose web designers no little or nothing about blogs. These people want a blog that coordinates with their existing site and they want to know how to use it effectively as a marketing and communications tool.
- Professionals with no existing website who are ready to claim their own piece of online real estate. Some of these individuals intend to take full advantage of the blog’s capability while others simply choose to have a fairly static site created using the WordPress blogging system.
What to learn before you hire your own blog coach
- What is it like to work with this coach? Read their testimonials and ask for references. Though you might not have the same needs or wants as their other clients, talking with these people will help give you a feel for the blog coach’s strengths, weaknesses, and work style.
- What specific skills or experience does the coach have? Are they a graphic designer with a blog specialization or are they a marketing professional with web design skills? Learn what expertise they can bring to bear for you.
- What is the estimated cost and timeline for the work? Know ahead of time, what the coach’s services will cost, how they do their billing (e.g., deposits, payment methods, going beyond the estimate, etc.), and how long the work is estimated to take.
- What are your responsibilities? Find out what the coach needs from or expects of you. This could be anything from access to your web hosting account and finished graphics files or regular feedback on the design in progress and the ability to upload your own plugins.
- What’s the end result? Though this might seem obvious, make sure that your vision of the end result is the same as the one held by the coach. For instance, they might think they’re simply creating a custom blog design that you will put up on your site yourself, add plugins, and maintain the blog yourself. Your vision might be that once they’ve created the design they’ll install it, test for any problems, and get all your desired plugins ready to use. Better to clear this up upfront than to have a misunderstanding to work through later.
- What blog system will you be using? Learn what system your coach recommends and why. Then make sure you think it’s a system you’ll be happy using over the long-haul. I use WordPress exclusively for customized blog designs, though I have provided some generic education for clients using Blogger. Other folks you might consider if you’re looking for help on a TypePad blog are Mike Sansone and Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff (The Blog Squad).
Of course you don’t have to hire a blog coach. You may have the skills, time, and interest in learning the ropes for yourself. However, if you are like many of the people with whom I’ve worked, knowing you have a partner (at least temporarily) in the blog creation process may help you navigate these waters more quickly, more effectively, and with more joy.
Related posts which may interest you
The Coaches’ Blog Book — use a blog to market your coaching practice
If you want to attract new clients, provide value to your current clients, and build new business relationships, blogging is a
great tool to use. Using a blog as part of your marketing strategy isn’t necessarily straight-forward, however, so it’s good to have a helping hand on your blogging journey. To make it easy for every coach to learn how to use a blog as a marketing and communications tool, I’ve written The Coaches’ Blog Book: The 8 Building Blocks for Blogging Success.
Written in non-technical language that’s easy to understand, you’ll discover how you can use a blog to:
- Reach more potential clients
- Share your knowledge and wisdom
- Create greater cash flow
- Promote your products and services
The Coaches’ Blog Book is a workbook that you use to find the right answers for your practice (it’s not a cookie cutter process). View a PDF preview of the book or visit my publisher to purchase your own copy today.
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Blogging for coaches — an economical, effective marketing tool
Last week I was at the International Coach Federation International Conference in Long Beach, California giving a presentation to coaches about “geek-free” ways to use technology to attract clients with ease. (Download the notes/handout from Geek Free Ways to Use Technology to Attract Clients.) Like many people who are relatively unfamiliar with business blogging, some of the coaches in attendance weren’t sure why a blog would be a good option for them to use to create their online presence.
Why blogs are a great choice for coaches
- Blogs generally cost less to create and maintain than traditional websites. All my blog customization clients use WordPress which is free, so the only costs they pay are for a domain name and hosting (same as what they’d pay for a traditional site) and my customization fees (customarily under $1,000).
- Blogs are easier for a non-technically-skilled person to maintain. No more waiting for your “web gal” or your designer to make those changes for you. You can update your blog yourself.
- Blogs are more attractive to search engines. If you want to attract new clients, you first need to get in front of them and the search engines (SE) will do that. . .if you’re where the SEs can find you.
- Blogs can do anything a traditional site can do and more. Want to sell products? You can with a blog. Want to add audio or video to your site? You can with a blog. Want to have static pages and regularly updated pages? You can with a blog.
- Blogs can simply serve as a static web presence. If you don’t really want to use the article-writing capability of the blog system, you can still use it to create your coaching practice’s static website. While you won’t get as much value from using a blog system in this way, it can still be a great option.
Still wondering if a blog is the right choice for your business (whether or not you’re a coach)? Contact me for a complimentary consultation.
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How high a priority should blogging be?
As a business owner, you know that marketing is an activity that needs to be done frequently and regularly to keep the funnel filling with potential clients/customers. There are hundreds of marketing strategies you can use, just one of which is blogging. So, where does blogging fall on the list of prioritized “to do” items AND how do you make that choice? I’ll share my recent experience and then open it up to your ideas, experience, and wisdom.
When blogging wasn’t even on the back burner for me
In November 2007 I’ll be one of the featured presenters at the International Coach Federation Annual Conference. I’m co-leading a session titled, “Geek-free ways to use technology to attract clients with ease” where I’ll be speaking about blogs, podcasts, and other online ways to promote your company. I wanted to provide a resource for coaches in attendance to continue their learning about blogs after the conference, knowing that 90 minutes is insufficient for covering the topic except in a broad, overarching way. As an author of two books, I decided that a workbook would be the best way to offer this post-conference value, so I set about the task of turning my ideas and advice into a book.
Given my timeline, the book rocketed it’s way into #1 professional priority. Other “to do” items would be tucked aside until the book was finished. It was simply the only way for me to complete the book AND still enjoy a quality of life at the same time. Of course, it’s strange to be a blogging coach who doesn’t blog, yet it’s important to me to show people that even if blogging is a good thing, it’s not everything. Yes, it’s important to blog on a regular basis. Yes, it’s important to provide your readers with value. Yes, it’s important to create sustainable blogging habits. And just as important is our ability to know when, despite these other truths, blogging needs to take a backseat to other important things in your life.
I welcome stories of your own experience, your advice, and your tips for appropriately prioritizing blogging as one of your business marketing strategies.
Related posts which may interest you
- Best reasons to have your own blog — part 5
- Isn’t a business website the same as a business blog?
- Three simple steps to planning your blog
- The Coaches’ Blog Book — use a blog to market your coaching practice
- Blogging for coaches — an economical, effective marketing tool
- Blogs work for every business, including yours
Custom blog design — a must have for business blogs
There are three main options to choose from when creating your blog design. Though a business can use any of these options, I heartily discourage you from choosing option #1 for a professional blog. This is for the same reason that I don’t advise people to have hotmail accounts for business — the message is that you don’t invest in your business and you don’t care about creating a professional image.
Options to getting the look and feel you want in your blog’s design
- Use free blogging systems and select one of the preformatted templates/themes = your blog looks like many other blogs out there.
- Use a blogging system that allows modifications then thoroughly customize the look (more than just changing a couple of colors) = a fairly unique look that can complement your business brand and make the aesthetic statement you desire. This blog customization is what I do for many of my clients.
- Use a blogging system that allows modifications and hire a very-experienced designer to create a theme just for you = you’ll have a blog built entirely to your specifications.
Reasons to customize the look of your business blog
You’ll stand out from the crowd- You’ll convey professionalism for your business
- You’ll have a consistent, visual brand for your company
- You’ll be more likely to blog (that’s what my clients tell me)
- You’ll have a blog (or blogsite) that you proudly promote
- All these factors combined will help you attract visitors, retain them, and draw them into your circle of satisfied clients!
“If you are using one of those themes [widely available free themes], when new visitors stumble across your blog they are likely to note they have already seen it several times before. The fact that you haven’t taken the time to visually differentiate your blog might well leave your visitors thinking that if your blog design isn’t unique, then what you have to say probably isn’t either.”
~ Unique Blog Designs
Related posts which may interest you
Blog statistics for business — What to monitor and why
If you’re blogging for business, monitoring and analyzing your blog stats must become part of your blogging routine. Personally I use three primary tools to measure the effectiveness of my blog. I monitor my blog traffic with Google Analytics, review the least utilized, most promising keywords with HitTail, and use FeedBurner Pro to analyze my blog’s feed.
Why blog statistics are important for business bloggers
There are numerous reasons that one of your regular blog-related activities should be reviewing your blog statistics. Here are four of the most important.
- Your blog statistics keep you focused. Unlike personal blogging, knowing your blogging goals and whether or not you’re reaching them is vital to your success. Looking at your statistics, you will know if you have achieved your goals, are making progress, or are off-track.
- Blog statistics help you plan effectively. By knowing how people are coming to your site, what they’re reading, and what actions they’re taking, you can make more thoughtful choices about such things as where to advertise, with whom you want to collaborate or exchange links, and which posts to highlight.
- Statistics can help you earn money (and save it too). By knowing your number of visitors and feed subscribers, you can ask to be compensated fairly for advertising you run on your site or feed. If you know you’re already drawing a lot of traffic from search engines for certain keywords then you can skip or eliminate the pay-per-click advertising.
- Blog stats can wake you up. Whether you’ve underestimated the value of your blog or have gotten complacent about adding value, knowing your statistics will give you a snapshot of reality.
Which blog statistics matter most?
As with almost any blog-related discussion, my answer to this question is “It depends.” Here are a few pieces of advice I can offer.
- Your blogging goals should determine which statistics you track/monitor. For example, if one of your goals is to turn one-time visitors into regular readers, you’ll want to look at your “% new visits” statistics in Google Analytics or your “subscribers” totals in FeedBurner.
- You might monitor the same stats all the time or you might analyze certain stats only for specific purposes. For instance, when I was preparing for a redesign of MyBlogCoach, I looked at what Google Analytics could tell me about what browser use and screen resolutions were most common among my visitors. I then optimized my site for those people, knowing that they made up the majority of my traffic.
- Make certain that you use whatever statistics you track. Though plugins and simple javascript can make tracking statistics a simple process, if you’re not going to use the stats don’t waste your time setting them up. Make the process as simple as possible even if that means you track only one thing. Just track and analyze it consistently.
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts - for support rather than for illumination.”
~ Andrew Lang
Want to learn WordPress and create your own business blog the easy, cost-effective way? Check out the sizzling summer special of my Simple, Successful Blogging Audio Course. Just $47 for 12-hours of audio lessons and PDF workbook. Buy your copy today!
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Blogs work for every business, including yours
A blog is a great choice for any business wanting to have a web presence. In fact, I recommend that businesses think blog before traditional website for one main reason: blogs outperform traditional sites because they deliver on things that matter to most business owners–being economical, effective at delivering results, flexible to the organization’s needs, and easy to work with and maintain. Plus, blogs offer all the benefits of a traditional website so there’s no “downside” to using a blog system. Here are four ways that blogs work better for business than traditional websites.
- Blogs are easy to use and maintain because they don’t require special technical skills and you can blog from any internet accessible computer or even via email.
- Blogs are a cost-effective way to put your business online since the “system” is already created and all you need to do is customize the design, layout, and additional features.
- Blogs give your business increased visibility over traditional websites because of the way the blogging system works with search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
- Blogs enable you to build relationships with potential customers/clients and help you maintain relationships with the customers/clients you already have.
“If your customers are looking for products that you make, or services that you provide, you want to be the first thing to show up in the search results. And if you want search engines to consider your site to be the most relevant result to your industry, blogging is the best way to accomplish it.”
~ Teresa Valdez Klein
The four points I listed above can apply to all companies. To take full advantage of the capabilities of a blog system, however, means that an organization will have to go beyond thinking of their web presence as a static online brochure that they only change on an annual basis. So, while any business can use a blog in place of a traditional website, it requires a certain type of person and company to reap the full that blogging offers.
What you and your business must have to enjoy the full benefits of blogging
- Message – You must have something to say that others (your customers) want to hear. Drawing people to your blog (or your feed) on a repeated basis means you need to provide them with something that they value.
- Writing – You must be able to communicate in an articulate and compelling way via writing (or have an editor to make your own writing clear and cogent). Additionally, I say you must enjoy writing (or providing whatever form of content you choose), because if you don’t, you will reach a point where you’ll stop doing it and then you’re back to a plain ol’ static site.
- Computer savvy – You must be comfortable with technology because blogging is a tech-baby through and through. Remember, you can have experts help you set up your blog and fix problems you encounter. Being willing to both experiment and learn, however, will help make you a more proficient, effective blogger and your confidence will help make the whole process a lot more fun.
- Time – You must be willing to devote time to blogging, otherwise you’ll have that boring static site. You don’t need to make it your full-time profession or even do it daily to be effective. Just know that to reap the benefits of blogging you’ll need to commit time to the process.
- Passion – You must find a way to enjoy blogging otherwise you’ll run three risks. You’ll be spending time doing something that you don’t enjoy. You’ll add stress to your life because you think that you “should” blog. You’ll produce boring content because your heart’s not in it.
Wondering if your business is blog-worthy? Tell me about your company (Via my contact page or in the comments area below) and I’ll tell you how blogging could work for you.
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Why blogging isn’t as easy as some say (but it can be easier)
“Create a blog in 3 easy steps: 1. Create an account, 2. Name your blog, 3. Choose a template.”~ Blogger Instructions
“It’s [a blog] easy to start and maintain. You don’t need an IT staff or a degree in computer science to start a TypePad blog. Designing your blog is point-and-click, and updating your blog is simpler than sending an email. You can be up and running in minutes.”
~ TypePad Instructions
There is no dishonesty in the two statements above; however they are misleading.
Key blogging distinctions
- Creating a blog and blogging are two entirely different things.
- Using a cookie-cutter template and having a customized blog are two more entirely different things.
- Personal blogging and blogging for business are entirely different.
- Having a blog and using a blog effectively are entirely different.
- Having an easy-to-use blog system and having a strategic blogging plan are entirely different too.
These distinctions aren’t what the people at Blogger and TypePad tell you. Why? It’s not a conspiracy to inflate your expectations and then let you down. Most of the “free” hosted systems (Blogger, TypePad, wordpress.com) are catering to personal bloggers for whom design, flexibility, and the overall process aren’t that important. For this kind of blogger, the distinctions above don’t matter that much. As a person using a blog for business, however, everything about your blog matters.
Key components of the business blogging process
All of these items are covered in detail during my Simple, Successful Blogging Program, a 10-week group blogging course designed to help business owners plan and launch a blog for their company and customers.
- Know the purpose behind your blog.
- Know who you’re blogging for and what’s important to them.
- Know what will sustain your passion for blogging once the newness has faded.
- Develop specific goals and know how to evaluate your progress.
- Organize your blog in a way that best helps you achieve your goals.
- Have a plan for promoting your blog online and offline.
- Develop a blogging practice that you can maintain easily over time.
In addition to developing the components listed above, as a Simple, Successful Blogging participant, you will:
- install WordPress on your own web host — this step gives you the blogging system from which you’ll do all your amazing work
- add the key plugins (added features) — this step ensures that your blog is user-friendly and highly functional for both you and your readers
- learn how to use most of the functions of WordPress — this step helps you learn your way around WordPress so your time blogging can be as fruitful as possible
By the time you complete the program, you will have learned what you need to be a successful business blogger.
So the bad news is that blogging is NOT easy, despite what you’ve read/heard. The good news is that business blogging can be easier, more effective, and more enjoyable if you take part in my Simple, Successful Blogging Program. Early bird pricing is in effect until August 16, 2007. Space is limited.
