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Business Blogging - What Are Your Experiences?Premium Member
Posted By: ASVP/ChrisB on 9/21/2006 11:17 PM (CST) 250 Points
I'm thinking of abandoning the traditional e-mail newsletter marketing approach in favour of a shorter, more frequently updated, business blog.

I feel that writing and sending e-mail newsletters into a business segment is tough, the e-mails often get stopped by corporate firewall policies even if my address is well-known to the recipient, and the timing of e-mails has to be extremely fortuitous for it to hit a chord with the recipient. With an open rate around the 40% mark it's been doing OK, but the level of business arising from it is, well, insufficient to justify the effort.

So I'm thinking about blogging as a means of staying in contact with prospects. The idea is to raise a contemporary issue and deal with it in a way that encourages conversation with prospective clients.

What do KHE experts see as the potential risks in doing this?

When implementing a blog, what's the best way to go? add it into my website? Or use one of the outsourced blog providers like Blogspot?

What are your experiences? Have you found blogging to be a better business-building tool than sending e-mail newsletters?

Look forward to your views...

Chris

Posted by: walterny Accepted Answer
9/21/2006 11:53 PM (CST)
This may help:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/4/parker1.asp
 
Posted by: KathySmithFilms* Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 1:14 AM (CST)
Hi Chris,

Personally, I have generated more income from e-mails than my blog but this form of marketing is new to me and I truly haven't taken time to track my surveys other than I have certainty e mail works so I will continue that form even after I become an expert on blogs.

I subscribe to the following opinion leaders on blogging


http://www.copyblogger.com/
http://www.boxofchocolates.ca/archives/2006/05/03/ten-smart-moves-to-improv...

This site (marketingprofs.com) is good to become a member of as it IS the best of all.

Popular blog logos to help in your research

http://web2logo.com/ I like these but I really like the fact that the right one links to your blog on your website as a distribution flow line for getting known.

GOOD SEARCHING,

Kathy



 
Posted by: darcy.moen Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 1:40 AM (CST)
Multi-media baby!

Email marketing brings the message out to your people. Sure, it gets caught in spam filters, it may not be read, etc, etc, etc.

As for a Blog, it sits there....waiting....and perhaps some folks find it. Blogging the field of dreams...if you build it, will they come? Next question is: if they come once, will they come back?

Now, combine the two media and put them to work. Send an email message driving people to your blog. Use the blog to build focused email lists. Who says you can;t have a Widget list, a blue widget list, and a few snarflebong lists?

When traffic to the blog slows down, you use the lists to build traffic back up. People forget, they get bored, you lode touch, they lose thier book marks....send a reminder!

Its about two way traffic. There is no reason why a web site or blog has to sit there waiting...DRIVE IT!

My two cents.

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Author Response
9/22/2006 1:56 AM (CST)
Hmm, so I should do both? OK.

How does a blog differ from my existing website? The idea was to use e-mail marketing to drive traffic to the web to drive enquiry etc etc...

Isn't the blog just a fifth wheel in that process?

Who's using e-mail, website and blogs to their advantage?

 
Posted by: KSA Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 5:28 AM (CST)
G'Day Chris,

For what it's worth, here's how I think about the issue.

My website is the thing really intended to generate leads. It's the place where there are calls to action and contact forms to complete.

My e-mail newsletter is a relationship manager. I don't expect to be able to track lead generation from the newsletter because it's just a tool I use to stay in touch with folks during those times when they don't need my services.

Keep in mind that the stats you get from any newsletter mailing are only part of the story. There are a number of technology reasons why it's impossible to capture all the activity related to the newsletter. Your newsletters may be getting a higher than 40% open rate, it's just not possible to track it.

The approach I take with newsletters is to provide a relatively short newsletter, then provide links to additional information if the reader is interested. I use a combination of links to my website or blog if I have something significant to say, along with outside sources. I think that balances the newsletter to provide more valuable information to the readers.

I also post the newsletters on my website, which helps build my site's original content, and provides access to back issues.

I use a blog to increase the stickiness factor of my website, and to provide an opportunity to quickly communicate information without having to update the website. My blog hasn't generated a lot of visitor comments. I think it's because I tend to use it more to inform - haven't gotten the hang of putting things on there that would generate a lot of discussion, I guess. But, the blog also helps with SEO because blogs tend to rank so well. The page rank for the first page of my blog is higher than the website's home page.

If you're gong to create a blog, I'd suggest incorporating it into your website as opposed to using a separate vendor. I think it looks more professional, but more importantly, it's better for SEO.

Hope this long-winded response is of some assistance. And, hope things are well down under!

Kathleen
 
Posted by: darcy.moen Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 8:58 AM (CST)
For some folks, a blog IS their web site. See: www.gapingvoid.com

For some corporations, a blog is PART of their web site, as in when an executive is blogging views about an industry.

Email allows you to send your message out, but where does all your writing accumulate? On your reader's hard drive and in box...where as with a blog, your archives are out for the world to see. Visitors can go back through your posts and read your words and 'get to know you'.

I see a web site as a more formal sales process. Its a place where potential clients go and see what is on offer. Blogging is more informal and relaxed, and is the place where potential clients go to learn more about your opinions, mindset, attitude, and realy get inside your head to see if they connect with you on a morals and personality level. Email is a tool to convey information and can also be used to 'reach out' to people who are not coming to your blog or web site.

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network
 
Posted by: Amy Madsen* Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 10:38 AM (CST)
Do both - and together. I manage a monthly newsletter and multiple blogs for writers from the same company.

You want to create a blog page (below I share which tool I use) and post your content there and then create links with descriptive copy elsewhere – like the front page of your website and your newsletter. Content is what fuels a newsletter – compelling content. I am assuming your blog will be an exciting new element to your newsletter.

With a newsletter, you make it easier for people, by sending your constituents the blog and reminding them to come visit you. Let your blog be the highlight, or anchor, of your newsletter - like the big department store at the mall. If you are blogging more regularly than your newsletter frequency, than you have a number of content elements to highlight in your monthly newsletter – even better. A blog may be compelling, but your newsletter is the right way to get people to your website and reading your blog. (I'm not convinced if you add a blog to your website, people will flock - unless you're a well-known published author like Tom Peter (tompeters.com)).

With that being said, with blogs, you can set up a subscription. If people sign-up for it, they will get your blogs when they are published. I have not found this to be wildly popular, even with popular bloggers who get a lot of traffic to their blog pages.

Anecdotally, I know an author who has a monthly blog. He sends it out in a newsletter. While I love this blogs, I would never go to his site to read them on a regular basis - I'd be too busy or forget. His newsletter includes his latest blog, and if I want to link over to his site, it's easy enough to do. At first, I didn't even realize he had a blog, as I was receiving the content by email.

So, long story short, assuming you have compelling news already in your newsletter, the blog will add to it, and perhaps increase your readership.

On a side note, the third party blog tool we use is typepad.com. (I did not evaluate others as it was selected prior to me assisting with endeavors. While there's a learning curve like most online tools, it's a pretty good tool. And their customer support is excellent – if you ever have questions, you get a response – and a good one – within 24 hours.).


Regards,
Amy
 
Posted by: Amy Madsen* Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 10:46 AM (CST)
I saw above that one person said the she doesn't track lead generation from the newsletter. With a good newsletter tool, you can see the number of clicks for each link in your newsletter - add links so you can tell what's popular. You can also click on the links to see who is clicking. If you are driving people to a webinar, for example, you can see who has clicked over from your newsletter to your webinar. You can also see who is clicked from your newsletter over to your blog. I don't know how else you can see who is clicking on your links without this newsletter feature. The newsletter tool I have used is ConstantContact.
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Author Response
9/22/2006 7:50 PM (CST)
Amy

Yes, I too use ConstantContact for e-mail newsletters, the stats are very useful indeed. It's a great system.

Chris
 
Posted by: ozeworks Accepted Answer
9/22/2006 10:36 PM (CST)
It's about Push and Pull.

With Newsletters, you are pushing information to your subscriber base. With Blog, you are trying to pull them to your site to come get it.

With both techniques you rely in customer interaction to initiate either. They have to come to your site and subscribe to the newsletter and/or read your blog.

The advantage after that first step is that Newsletters then push and pull. Blogs don't push.

Both have their merits and both can be used effectively in tandem so it does not have to be one versus another.

By the way, if a "blog" is in a newsletter then it is not a blog. It is an article in a newsletter. Blogs, by definition (web_log), are online, diaristic (as in personal opinion as opposed to company opinion) and, usually, allow for comment by readers. Without that comment by readers then I personally feel they are impotent.

But blogs are problematic. Because they are expected to be more personal/more individual. And anything personal can get personal. Many a blog has gone awry due to emotion.
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Author Response
9/24/2006 1:10 AM (CST)
KHE-ers

This is all valuable and interesting stuff. Thank you all so much for your opinions and ideas.

I get that the blog is an online record of opinions and puts my values on display for the world to see, and I'm comfortable with that.

And maybe blog items can seed the newsletter and avoid the writer's block cuased by a blank screen.

Plus, I get that both newsletter and blog can provide a platform to get people to my website.

So what are examples of good business blogs that work well for their users?

ChrisB
 
Posted by: KSA Accepted Answer
9/24/2006 4:57 AM (CST)
Chris,

Just to clear up one point - I do monitor the stats for my newsletters very carefully to determine what topics are most popular, which publish days are most effective, who opened what, etc. I agree that newsletter usage stats are important.

But, I stopped trying to determine if the newsletter directly produces clients. Most of the time, new clients have no idea where they found my site to fill out a form. It would be nice if they could tell me exactly how they found it, but it doesn't seem to be the nature of the beast!

I have two traffic stat packages that I use to monitor my site. Unfortunately, they never agree on anything. One set of stats indicates that there are just slightly more people who enter the site via the blog versus the home page. It would take a lot of analysis to determine what percentage each represents, because the stats don't total things up.

The second set of stats indicates that about 30% of my visitors enter from the blog, and 15% enter via the site's home page.

Either way, I consider the blog to be an important part of my Internet marketing strategy. You can see the blog at www.buildrealestateresults.com/blog and of course, the home page of the site is www.buildrealestateresults.com

Another interesting thing you will notice is that the blog's home page carries a PR5, while the site's home page carries a PR4. Not that Page Rank is the most important indicator of a page's success, but it's an interesting phenomenon.

Contact me directly if you have questions.

Kathleen
 
Posted by: Amy Madsen* Accepted Answer
9/25/2006 1:58 PM (CST)
Here are some examples of business blogs - many of these sites are in the business of selling information or are writers, but not all:

Gartner Group
http://weblog.gartner.com/weblog/weblogIndex.php

SAP Executive Blogs
http://www.sap.com/community/pub/blogs.epx

TomPeters!
http://www.tompeters.com/

RightReality
http://www.rightreality.com/
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Author Response
9/26/2006 12:35 AM (CST)
Kathleen, Amy, Darcy, and everyone

Many thanks - this has been an excellent thread which has helped and enlightened me no end.

When I have blogged I shall come back and get your opinions!

(That sounds weird)

Cheers

ChrisB
 


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