Monday Musings - Questions about Blogging
The Virtual Assistant community has been discussing many bloggy matters in recent days.
For those who are on the fence about the present and future value of blogging, I invite you to join the discussion. Some of the questions we’ve been exploring are:
1. Does your business have to have a blog?
2. You may have a blogging niche, but have you ever tested it by asking visitors what their first impression is?
3. Advertising on blogs - good or terrible idea?
4. How often do you have to post to make a go of it?
Share your wisdom or resources with us, would you?
Meanwhile, BlogHer 2008 is right around the corner: April 3 & 4 in New York City.
I am nowhere near there, but would love to hear from anyone who is going or who DID go, afterward.
Comment // March 24th, 2008 // 11:23 am
This is a great subject! I believe that as an online service provider (e.g., virtual assistant), one of the best ways to increase sales is to become THE expert on a particular topic or in a certain field. After all, you can be the smartest person on the planet about transcription, let’s say, but if you never get out there and speak or write about the subject, your expertise will largely go unnoticed.
Today, blogging and other social media tools are available in abundance and should be taken advantage of. The time of the e-zine/newsletter is giving way to more interactive media outlets. And blogging is a fine example of that.
In addition, search engines love blogs. So creating one and keeping it current with fresh content is a terrific way to drive sales right to your virtual door.
Again, thanks for putting this subject in the spotlight. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of great responses and comments.
Melanie O’Kane
President, MAD Typing and Consulting
Host of MODCOM Radio
Comment // March 24th, 2008 // 11:52 am
Hi Melanie,
You make some excellent points.
One of the questions I left off that list relates to overcoming reader’s hesitancy to leave comments, whether on blogs or forums. (I am gnashing my teeth that I left it off!).
For some people I know it doesn’t matter to them if people are commenting or not as long as they see traffic.
And, I have read that many blog readers are very clear that they don’t comment just to comment, if they have nothing new to add.
To me, I think comments are the means by which we extend our conversation, beyond the pages of our own blog or discussion forum. So, I’m very interested in what other people believe is the answer to motivating readers to stop lurking and start talking.