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Blogging and Business: Lessons From SobCon08
SobCon08 was pitched as a Biz School For Bloggers, and although there were many people there who were not looking at their blog in business terms (perhaps blogging as part of education, or personal growth, or to promote an idea) many of the key learning points had wider applicability.
Questions like:
- Focus: getting clear on the purpose of your blog
- Authenticity: importance of transparency, being clear about hidden motives, value based writing
- Productivity: time management, putting effort and attention into the right things
were of wider benefit, whether or not people were blogging for or as part of a business strategy.
The input was focused around authority blogging - blogging to promote a name, establish credibility, build trust, develop trust, engage in conversations. There are other blogging models (eg income from advertising streams) but those weren’t the focus of the event.
I’ve highlighted below the key learning points that emerged for me in relation to business and blogging. I’ve attributed the learning points to speakers or participants, but they’re not (in the main) direct quotes. Comments in italics are my reflections and learning points.
The material’s condensed into bite-sized chunks but I hope will give you a gist of the key points. If you’re interested in more have a look around the net for items tagged ’sobcon08′ - you’re sure to find a bundle of ideas and resources.
Keeping Things In Perspective
Blogging will not make you money*. Blogging is not your business model. (Brian Clark)
Blogging is a means to another end. That’s not to say blogging isn’t good for business: it is. In particular links, SEO (search engine optimisation), credibility, authority. But don’t mistake that for direct income.
* Of course there are other models around - like the work of Problogger
Three Phases Of Development
Attention (getting it, getting the right sort), Authority (credibility, trust, social proof), Acceleration (building, off your blog, on the name and site you’ve established) (Brian Clark)
Many of the ideas and learning points that follow are about delivering on the different phases identified by Brian - depending on where your blog is currently at.
Focus
Get clear on what your blog’s about. Focus on the benefits for readers. Describe it in clear, simple, jargon free terms. Sell it in 10 words or less. (Lorelle Van Fossen)
Lots of people recognising that they don’t have a sharp enough focus. Very easy to drift into ‘things you’re interested in’, though there’s some room for that to allow for authentic voice & conversational style
Learn copywriting skills - it’ll help you identify benefits to your readers, audience, customers (Brian Clark)
Attention
Write to get attention. Use tools and techniques at your disposal, including copywriting techniques (headlines and hooks) (Brian Clark)
Lots of resources to help you do this at the Copyblogger site
Get clear on what kind of attention you want. Quantity (high traffic) isn’t necessarily what you want. Be clear on the difference between audience, readers and customers. (Various speakers: Liz Strauss, David Bullock, Brian Clark)
Productivity
Be aware of the potential drains on time and energy. Use a schedule to work out what you’re going to post and when. (Chris Garrett)
Think about what you’re writing, networking or analyzing *for* - in relation to the different objectives listed here. Easy to obsess about traffic for example, but high numbers might not be the kind of readers or business contacts that you want
More ideas and tips on productivity in the round up of blog writing tips (to follow).
Credibility
Take responsibility for checking your sources; be transparent about your motives (Anita Bruzzese)
Add value - don’t just repeat what others are saying; build authority and expertise (Chris Garrett)
Remember trust and credibility can be blown at any moment; take responsibility for and ownership of your work; build trust over time
Authority
Flows from an authentic, powerful voice and creation of valuable content (various speakers)
Established over time, and reflects opinions of others - social proof (Brian Clark)
Community
Your readers, audience, supporters are not the people who are going to buy from you. Distinguish between community and marketplace. Don’t try and sell (directly) to your community. Recognise the diferent benefits your community brings you: help, ideas, collaboration, support. Social capital. (Chris Brogan)
Accelerate
Recognise the business value of what you have (skills in communicating, connecting, conversation, community). Repackage your content into something more sellable. Maximise interface between online and offline markets. (David Bullock)
Don’t sell to your community; sell somewhere else. Your community is not your market place (Chris Brogan)
Create products and services and sell on the back of your authority. When you have trust (and social proof) you *will* sell. But don’t sell through your blog: create back end pages and spin off sites. Explore new models like membership sites, teaching sites that allow you to step back and work less (Brian Clark)
This was probably the part that most of us were most interested in. What do you do once you’ve got attention and established authority? How do you move to more of a business focus without alienating your community or losing the approach and the skills that established your authority and credibility in the first place?
Conclusions: Head and Heart
I don’t think there are easy answers here. Most bloggers are by their nature a mix of head and heart, a focus on both business and community. We have the skills to build strong networks but maybe hold back back from capitalising on what we’ve established or the skills we’ve developed. There’s a different kind of outlook and focus to sell more effectively, and that requires some adaptation of mindset - without losing the authenticity and passion which gives great bloggers their power.
Approaches like:
- selling somewhere else (so you lose fear of alienating readers)
- learning new skills from business leaders who value what blogs / bloggers have to offer
- partnering up with others for support and a wider mix of skills
might be the route to accelerating the business benefits from the authority blog you’ve established.
If you want to talk through how to apply these and other principles and learning points you can book an hour of my coaching time - find out more here, including how to book.
Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count
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