(Note this is the second post in a multi-post series. The first post is: Beginning Blogging: What is a blog?)

There are three main types of blogs; personal, professional, and business.

Personal blogs

Personal blogs are kept by people to inform family and friends about the things that are going on in their busy lives.Personal blogs are a great way for families who live far away from each other to share photos, cute stories, and other information. Personal blogs are also a great way for hobbyists to share with each other. (In case you are wondering, blogs can be made private by requiring all users to register and be approved by an administrator. This can create a very exclusive crowd if desired.)

Professional blogs

Professional blogs are blogs that make money from the blog itself. They have advertising and affiliate programs which are sold right on the site. Probably the best known professional blog is Problogger, which is a great place to network with people if you want to make money from your blog.

Business blogs

Business blogs are blogs that have a business purpose, such as selling a service or product, or posting updates for customers on solutions to problems. These are the kinds of blogs that I help people create. These are also the kinds of blogs that I will be discussing in the future.

Whichever type of blog you have, a blog is a great place to connect with others who have similar interests. The discussions that ensue because of blog posts are enlightening, bonding, and fun.
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You mean you don’t know what blogging is? That’s okay. All the time I am asked the question, “What’s a blog, anyway, and how does it differ from a regular website?”

A blog is a website

The word blog is short for web log, which is a type of website. A blog differs from a traditional website in two ways: First, a blog is not static. Second, blog entries usually provide a place for readers to leave comments. A blog is about the easiest way to have a website.

A blog contains articles called posts.

A blog is really an internet publishing platform that is very easy to use and update. Entries in a blog are called articles or blog posts. Blog posts are in reverse chronological order. This means that when someone lands on a blog page, they see the most current and relevant information first. New information is usually added to a blog from several times a day to once a week or so. A website, on the other hand, is usually only changed when needed. The information on a static website may be months, or even years, old. A blog is usually full of fresh information that is updated frequently.

Blog readers can leave comments

Blog Comments can be left by readers and the blog author can respond to these comments. This encourages a dialog between the person who owns the blog and the readers. Readers can also respond to other readers. This fosters discussions, which are fun and informative.

(Note: I’m often asked how to leave a comment on a blog when the comment box isn’t visible. Just click on the post title -not the title of the blog- but the title of the article. It will bring up the whole article and the comment section. This is a simple thing that many beginning bloggers don’t realize.)

Posts are kept in a database.

The fact that posts are in a database makes accessing them super easy. Most blogs classify the posts into categories and archives. This makes finding things simple because you can search by a topic or by a date. Categories are the way posts are organized by topic and archives are organized by date, usually grouped into months. An example is this post you are reading right now. It is in the category blogging tips and the archive December 2009.

Blogs have tags.

An element of blogs that is particularly confusing to people is tags. Blog tags are like micro-categories. They are like adding an index for a specific post. So when entering a tag, you don’t need to repeat the category you put the post in. People can search for a tag and all posts with the same tag will be linked.
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When I talk to my clients about marketing, many of them tell me they hate it. They say things such as, “I don’t know what to say.” Or, “I don’t want to be too pushy.” My advice to them is not to sell. I hate selling as well. So how does someone who hates selling let people know about their products and services without being pushy?

Permission Marketing.

Permission Marketing, is turning strangers into friends and friends into customers.

The best way to get permission marketing to work for you is to give. Give advice, samples, freebies, trials, and other such goodies related to what you do in your business. Don’t expect anything in return for these goodies. (That defeats the purpose of giving.)

When you give something for free, it creates good feelings between you and the person you gave the gift to. They might not need your product or services right now, but when they do need your services or products, they will think of you first because of your gift. They will also readily refer people to you.

An example of this is when someone learns that I am a copywriter. I get lots of requests to look over promotional items that someone has written. I don’t charge for this (unless it’s very long). I spend a few minutes going over the item, and then I give the person my impressions. Most of the time I will find many good things about what they’ve created. Usually I’ll also find one or two things that need improvement, or something that could be changed or added. This doesn’t take a long time and has given me tons of business.

Even if the person decides to change the flier herself, she will remember that I offered advice for free. She will think of me the next time someone mentions that they need a brochure or flier, or something else.
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“One good letter from a satisfied customer may be all you need to convince the customer that he or she is safe in buying from you,” claims Brian Tracy in his book Be a Sales Superstar. He adds, “They [testimonials] are incredibly powerful in building mega-credibility.”

There are so many choices today for consumers that it takes mega-credibility to get sales. Credibility is an appeal to quality and service. Mega-credibility is more than that. It is increased trust in your company – trust that puts you above what your competitors are offering.

The reason over 80% of qualified consumers don’t buy something is because they don’t want to make a mistake. Developing mega-credibility in your product or service helps customers overcome this fear. One way to do this is with case studies and customer testimonials.

Case studies show satisfied clients using your product or service to solve a problem. This develops trust in your company as prospects see others like themselves happy with their purchase. Case studies build mega-credibility because they go beyond claims of great quality or wonderful customer service. They show real life examples of success.

Customer testimonials are short paragraphs about how your product or service helped them. Case studies are usually used in Business to Business advertising, while customer testimonials are more prevalent in business to consumer marketing.

Every company should have at least one case study and/or testimonial for each product or service it offers. Many companies take this further and develop a case study for different features of products. This is especially helpful in up-selling. Highlighting a satisfied customer who purchased an add-on feature and found it became indispensable is priceless in getting more customers to purchase that feature.
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Zebras roam in herds. Their stripes help each other get ahead by camouflaging them from predators. At the same time each Zebra has its own pattern, which makes her recognized by other members of the herd.

You can apply these Zebra-striping principles to your business as well. You want to help your customers, or herd. You want to protect, or camouflage, them from predators. (Predators are those unscrupulous companies or individuals who scam people.)

You can do this with Permission Marketing, which is a term coined by Seth Godin. As Seth Godin says, “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.”

He discusses how consumers want to be treated with respect. They have learned to ignore the noise of most advertising messages, so they tune it out. When someone pays attention to you, they are giving you a gift. You can get and keep their attention with valuable information on things they are interested in. As you develop your permission marketing methods, you create a herd, or village of people who like, trust, and know you – so they are more likely to buy from you. You can help them avoid scams, which further develops your relationship with them.

We all like to do business with people who we like, trust, and know. It’s more fun that way.
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Yesterday I talked about breaking down big tasks into bite-sized pieces as a way to “eat your elephant.” Today my tip is how to “catch your tiger” or the planning part of organizing.

The tiger above is just a cub. He hasn’t gotten big and shaggy yet. This is the best to time to catch those tigers –when they’re small.

To translate this into ‘business speak’: After you’ve broken your big project down into smaller tasks, schedule time to complete them and stick to your schedule. This is a simple, but essential step in the process.

I tend to make plans, schedule my time, and then get distracted by “urgent” things that aren’t necessarily important. (If you’ve ever read any of Steven Covey’s books or used a Franklin Day Planner System, you will understand these terms already.)

Urgent things are the telephone ringing, emails, or the next chapter in the newest mystery I am reading.

Important things are writing on my blog, keeping my books up to date, and spending time with my family. When I schedule the important things and stick to my schedule I am happier and I accomplish my goals.

As I was writing this article, this quote appeared on my digital dayplanner: “People have more options than they think they do. But most people spend more time planning their vacations than thinking about what they want to do with their lives.” Bob McDonald – The Lemming Conspiracy

Marketing takes planning and scheduling. Many people don’t market until they need more business, but marketing is best done a little bit at a time each day. It can also be fun.

So what do you think? Do you spend your time with ‘urgent’ or ‘important’ things?
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My friend, Mitzi Graham of Get Organized, posted this great tip: “Set Deadlines. Set deadlines for decisions, projects and tasks. This forces you to be accountable. Having a time table will help you to stay focused and on schedule.”

This got me to thinking about my “elephants.” Elephants are those big projects that you want to tackle, but are unsure how to do so. We’ve all heard the adage, “you eat an elephant one bite at a time;” which is a reminder to break a big project into smaller tasks. When you break down those big projects AND you add a deadline to each task or bite, then you can actually get the elephant eaten.

I personally need to remember this advice – especially in the fall when Thanksgiving and Christmas plans tend to be my focus.

So how does this relate to marketing? Well, in order to be effective at marketing you have to break it down. It is important to set tasks with deadlines. It can also be important to limit the time you spend on twitter and facebook. Although these are great venues for drumming up business, they can also become time wasters. So these deadlines can work both ways – setting a time by which to get something done, and limiting the time you spend on the task if it could be a time waster.

It’s also important to break down big tasks, such as blogging, setting up an email campaign, or getting a Press Release done.

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The other day some flashing lights at the side of the road grabbed my attention. I knew it wasn’t a police car, or a fire truck, so I was curious as to what was going on. I passed a small truck with a sign in the back that said, “DESIGN,” with flashing lights around the sign.

As I passed, I wondered exactly what kind of design the sign was referring to. I had just passed a restaurant that showcases local works of art. I was coming up to a t-shirt design and printing store. There was a very small interior design store around the corner. I was also near some car dealerships. So what kind of design did this sign refer to? I have no idea.

Flashing lights are attention-getters; they do not tell a potential customer what action is desired, or how a product or service can benefit someone. I notice this type of attention-getting advertising on TV all the time. There have been several commercials recently I have seen and noticed how clever they are; but I have no clue about how the product can benefit me.

To effectively create a marketing message you need three things:

1. Attention. (The flashing lights did this.)
2. A message that appeals to your customers. (If the design sign above had referred to the t-shirt store, I might have stopped. If it referred to custom designs painted on a car, it would have appealed to other customers. As it was, no one knew who the sign was intended for.)
3. A call to action. A call to action is what you want people to do. This would include:
“Turn here if you want . . . .”
“Call this number for a free visit from our interior design specialist.”
“Honk your horn if you like these flashing lights.”

Remember not to get caught up in a cut, attention-getting idea to the exclusion of who your customers are and what you want them to do.

That’s all for now.
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Have you noticed that in spite of the current “bad” economy, many people are thriving? This may be because they see opportunities where other people see problems. I recently had a discussion with someone who was being a negative-aholic. I realized that this person actually got a type of perverse pleasure in his/her gloom and doom outlook.

So I was very refreshed when I read my friend, Denise Webster’s, recent article about finding solutions to problems on her blog. She had a list of things to do when you have a problem. Here is that list in my own words:

1. Define your problem. Many people have a problem, but they’re not quite sure what it is. For example, they might not feel they have enough money, but they never define exactly what enough money is for them.
2. Know there is a solution. You may not know what the solution is right now, but at least you can believe there is one.
3. Picture the OUTCOME you desire. Focus on this outcome or goal, and not on the problem. Write down or draw the desired outcome. In the example above of not having enough money, you would write down, “I have $XXX of money.”
4. Move your feet. Yes literally, move your feet. Put your worry aside and start to do something. This can be jogging, cleaning, bookkeeping, almost anything. You don’t have to be working on your particular struggle.
5. Listen. Because you have followed the four steps above, when you begin to move, you will receive inspiration. You will have thoughts of things you should do. These might be someone you should call or someplace you should go. In the example above, you may think you need to call your uncle Jake.
6. Just Do It. Follow your thoughts. Don’t dismiss them as irrelevant; instead realize that they are inspiration that will help you. So in the example above, give your Uncle Jake a call, even though you haven’t talked to him in ages.
7. Keep moving. We learn as we solve problems. Sometimes it takes many steps to actually get to our goal. Along the way, we grow into stronger and better individuals. We also learn to listen more closely to our inspired thoughts. In the example above, your Uncle Jake might be just one step along the road. He might refer you to someone else who can help you. Or maybe he has a job you feel is beneath you, but you take it anyway because you need the money and it grows into something wonderful. You will never know unless you make the call you felt inspired to make.
8. Be grateful. It is important to be grateful for the things we have, for the journey we are on, and for our lives. I am a firm believer in God and so I pray when I am grateful. Even if you don’t believe in God, it is still important to be grateful.

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We need to be scared because we’re lazy. Yup, that’s right. The cat’s out of the bag. If we didn’t have to do something, we would all sit around like couch potatoes.

With that said, here are some suggestions to help you overcome the terror barriers in your life:

1. Zen out. Think, ponder, meditate. Sometimes in the silence great ideas are born. (I’ve found that these ideas are usually the ones that produce the terror barrier in the first place because they move me to be a better person by getting me out of my comfort zone.)

2. See Your Shrink. You don’t necessarily have to pay someone to help you. Almost everyone has a great friend that they discuss their ideas with. Take your great idea and share it with a supportive friend. They can probably add to your idea and help you with some of the logistics.

3. Buy Nike™. Not the shoes, but the attitude of “Just Do It.” Do something towards making your idea a reality. Once you get going, the path will become clear. I’ve discovered that often I can’t see the whole road in front of me. I have a goal, but I’m not quite sure how I’m going to get to that goal. So I start doing something – almost anything is better than just sitting on the couch and vegetating. As you work towards achieving your idea, other ways to accomplish your goal occur to you.

4. Enjoy the journey. Yea, I know. This is a trite saying that I didn’t appreciate until I had children. Babies are cute, kids are fun, teenagers are fantastic. I have enjoyed my children at all stages of their development. At each stage I thought it couldn’t get any better than it was. It continued to get better. (Now I’m a grandma and that is truly a blast!)
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