5 reasons to write a (nearly) daily blog

I recently participated in an online discussion on how frequently a blogger should post to their blog.  There were a lot of very intelligent and insightful answers as to the optimal timing of posting blogs.  Some people in the discussion has theories as to which days of the week and what time of day a blogger should post in order to optimize readership, rankings, etc.

It got me thinking about whether I was right to try to post to my blog so often.  I realized that I had a whole different framework for why I post to my blog as frequently as I do.  Here are 5 reasons I try to post to my blog daily.

1. It focuses the mind.  Trying to come up with something to write that is relevant to the topic of your blog on a frequent basis focuses your thinking on that topic.  After a short while, you will be surprised where you get the inspiration for post ideas!  I have gotten inspiration for blog posts from conversations, newspaper articles, books, other blogs and a tea bag.
2. It is great writing practice.  Writing every day is a great way to improve your writing.  Writing every day with the knowledge that someone might actually be reading what you post is a great way to improve your editing.
3. It forces you to read on your blog topic.  I found that one of the greatest challenges in trying to write a somewhat intelligent blog about marketing is that I wanted, from time to time, to be able to cite some authoritative sources.  I also needed to come up with daily topics.  This has me becoming a more diligent reader of marketing articles, books and blogs.  It also has me reading non-marketing materials and finding the marketing perspective.  
4. You discover new ideas.  Partially because you are reading (or scanning) more, you are exposed to more opinions and thoughts.  Sometimes those new opinions and thoughts are your own. 
5. It gets easier the more you do it.  Really.  It doesn't get easy, but it does get easier.  Like any sort of exercise, after a while, you find your stride. You find your writing voice.

None of my reasons for doing this blog frequently have anything to do with search engine optimization or maximizing "likes."  I am writing this blog because I enjoy it.  I work hard at writing something that is enjoyable to read and occasionally insightful or inspiring.  

If you want to stretch your wings in an area of interest, I would recommend writing a daily blog.  Do it for reasons that are important to you.  If you do, you find many benefits.  And if you stick with it you will find your audience too.  

Managing Expectations: Under Promise and Over Deliver

I recently wrote a post about problems I had with my phone line.  What I didn't write about was the result of that call for help to the phone company.

Things didn't start out well.  I called on Saturday afternoon and was told that the soonest they could send someone out was "Tuesday morning between 8 and noon."  Less than thrilled to be without phone, and especially Internet service, for so long, I accepted my fate and made arrangements to take Tuesday morning off of work to be here when the phone company arrived.  Trips to the library and to local restaurants that offer free WiFi allowed my wife and I to check email and take care of some work we had to do.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I got a call Monday afternoon from the phone company repair guy who said he was on they way to our house and wanted to talk about the problems we were having.  My delight was doubled when he told me that the problem was most likely on the outside and that I didn't need to meet him at the house.  In a final example of excellent customer service, this gentleman had the courtesy to call me back, tell me what he had done (most of which I didn't understand) and tell me that everything should be working again.  This was a classic case of someone exceeding my expectations.

I think over promising has to be one of the most common mistakes made by marketers.  More and more companies, in order to make a better first impression, are making claims and promises that are closer and closer to the best possible outcomes their consumers should expect for their products and services.  While that might be effective in garnering more first tries, when the average customer experience falls below the marketing assertions, the majority of your first tries will also be last tries.

The company that under promises and over delivers is taking a long term marketing path toward building a strong customer base.  While a company taking this approach might engage fewer customers early on, many more of their customers who do try their product or service, will continue to be customers if their expectations are exceeded.

If the phone company had told me the repairman was going to be there Monday, I would have gotten the exact same service, but my expectations would have been different.  I would have been less thrilled with the outcome. 

An Inside Job: The Importance of Internal Marketing

A friend of mine recently spent a lot of time and money developing a very good marketing campaign. He was very excited about the project and had seemingly done everything by the numbers.  He even tested the campaign before launching it, scoring very well with the test audience.

A few weeks after the launch he was dismayed.  The beautiful (and expensive) campaign had not yielded the results he had hoped.  Sales hadn't really increased.  Testing showed that even his reputation and similar scores weren't changing.

It wasn't until a customer cornered him and told him about the negative things that she had heard an employee saying about the company that my friend realized that he HAD NOT done everything by the numbers.  He had forgotten to market to his internal customers.  While he was sending out positive, marketing-focused messages out the front door, his staff (or at least some of them) were sending out negative complaint-focused messages out the back.  Any marketing who has been working in this field for 30 minutes can tell you that negative word-of-mouth trumps positive word-of-mouth almost every time.

My friend tinkered with his campaign to make it appropriate for his internal audience and shared it with his staff.  Slowly but surely, as his staff understood and bought into his campaign, sales started to improve.

In my blog It's All About Relationships, I talk about the value of developing good relationships with your customers.  The same holds true with your employees.  You not only have to treat them well as a "boss," but you need to keep them informed and up-to-date as potential spokespeople.  An informed employee is an extension of your marketing efforts.  A misinformed or uninformed employee is the worst enemy to your marketing efforts, often unintentionally.

Readers, please share any stories or tips you have on marketing to the internal audience!  Thanks!

Honesty, Integrity and Car Repair

I have a habit of not liking car payments, so I tend to keep cars as long as possible.  While it is nice not having to write the monthly check to the car company, a result of this strategy is that I spend more time than I would like in the repair shop.  Having become a bit of an involuntary expert, I have noticed that there is a wide range in the quality of service that you receive at such an establishment.

I have recently found a place that has figured out how to focus on the important things.  They DON'T have Starbucks coffee and donuts in their waiting room.  Actually, they barely have a waiting room.  What they do have is great record-keeping.  They know the cars like a doctor should know her patients.  What they do have is great service.  Even if you just come in for an oil change they will do a free engine evaluation for you.  But most importantly, what they do have is trustworthy, believable personnel.  I have had them recommend against doing a repair.  I have had them tell me to wait to get something fixed, or to go somewhere else where a service would be cheaper.  Because of that, when the DO recommend something, I tend to believe them more. I also come back when I need service.

Honesty, integrity and service always have been and always will be the best marketing strategy there is!

Horizons

Good marketing is the building and nurturing of relationships.

Relationships are not built in one day or over one campaign or really on one issue.

A good marketer, therefore, should always keep an eye on the horizon, even while tackling the work of the day.