Here’s a really good question we get quite often from business owners. This one’s from a small business owner who’s wondering whether she should combine her ezine with her business blog, and if so — how to do it.

The answer below will help you optimize your marketing with your business blog(s).

Business Blogging Question:

Coach JP,

I took your first business blogging class early last year. With your encouragement I started blogging and have been getting great results with my search engine rankings. But I stopped my e-zine and now I am not sure if I made a mistake. What’s your opinion? And if I did both, how should I position the ezine?

Thanks for your comments and coaching!

Cynthia

Business Blog Coaching Answer:

Aloha Cynthia,

It’s terrific to hear that you’ve been putting business blogging to work and getting great results. The short answer to your question is that you definitely want to combine your newsletter/e-zine with your blog.

Here’s why …

The most recent online studies show that less than 10% of people on the web regularly use RSS feeds. The number is growing, but it’s still not anywhere near a critical mass that would justify going with RSS only updates to your list.

“Professional” bloggers (who write for a living or make money off ads on their blogs) may do fine with RSS only subscriptions because their readers are part of a primarily incestuous visitor base (i.e.: regular bloggers reading the blogs of other bloggers.)

The business blogging goals of small business owners is dramatically different from people who blog for a living. You know those main goals that you need to keep your focus on. You also know exactly what your personal goals are, and how your business blog integrates with your overall marketing plan because you’ve completed your Business Blogging Strategy Playbook in the multi media coaching course. So stay focused on those things and don’t be sucked in by blogging evangelists who try to sell you on blogging being the answer to your every marketing challenge.

Here’s a simple way to restart your ezine and integrate it with your business blog

Since your list has grown “cold” I’d start with (more…)

UPDATE on Blogging!

Hey - I don’t know about you - but it’s Saturday, and we can’t just always talk about the business of blogging, now can we? There has to be some chatter on the sheer entertainment value of blogging - right?

Ok - well - let’s first get down to how people are marketing with business blogs - and then I’ll give you a very cool entertainment break to reward your learning efforts.

But we warned! When you read more in this post… you’ll read about some seriously hypnotic shows out there. But heck - it’s Saturday - you deserve to go down the rabbit trail and get a few laughs in the process!

Blogging goes bigtime at Sundance - and gains the attention of Yahoo and AOL while taking on the big boys: Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

Blogging has now permeated every part of American culture. From the news (political bloggers) to the arts (movie goers) it’s undeniable that blogging is serious business.

“As blogs become more successful, they are challenging traditional media, and this year’s Sundance marks a fascinating juncture as newly powerful blogs like Cinematical.com take on the likes of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood has just discovered how to put word-of-mouth marketing for movies - on steroids - with blogging! They know their buzz will be louder than ever as they have top bloggers in their industry giving movie goers all over the world the scoop - real time - and faster than traditional main stream media can even try and compete with.

The originial genius behind the idea of bringing blogs into the cinematic world was Jason Calacanis, founder of Weblogs Inc. who persuaded the festival to let him blog about the festival, and the movies he viewed, giving his readers LIVE coverage - from inside the movie theatre.

Now THAT’S instant buzz!
And for those of you business bloggers wondering what the arts have to do with the business of blogging, and marketing with business blogs - check out these cool facts for yourself:

(more…)

Business blogs, podcasts, and RSS are poised to dominate Internet communication for the next half decade or longer. The evidence shows clearly why. It’s because of what a business owner recently in one of our Marketing With Busines Blogs sessions called “the business blogging pardox.” Blogs are not complicated, yet they can accomplish so much for small business owners and professionals.

No magic wand here, and no hype!

Blogs are not the magic wand that many tech gurus and blogging pros tout. But business blogs are an undeniable part of a master marketing formula. And it’s a formula you need to blend yourself if you’re going to master the marketplace of the new millennium.

Whether you realize it or not, elements of blogging are cropping up in nearly every area of marketing, media, and general communication. And the most important reason is because of one key element (what blogs are based on,) — RSS (Real Simple Syndication.)

The solution that binds the marketing formula together

RSS is at the core of podcasts, instant digital distribution, and on-demand media.

• You can use it covertly to monitor your niche, industry, or competitors.
• Use it to stay up to speed filtering an incredible amount of info in a radically shortened timeframe.
• Or out in the open, you can put this core power source of business blogging to work in your marketing, positioning, and promotion.

RSS is something that will exponentially multiply all your online marketing strategies, and many of your offline ones as well. Simplicity is the key.

That’s the beauty of business blogs. You don’t have a lot of moving parts, and what you do have is easy to manage. But the best part is the viral (search engine based and human) multiplication of your efforts.

How digital positioning makes a real world difference

Business blogs, podcasts, and RSS all work together to allow for rapid assimilation and leadership in niche areas of the marketplace. Take Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba for example. These trainers and first time authors took their first book, Creating Customer Evangelists, to levels of national recognition so quickly that they seemed to come from nowhere.

How did this pair of trainers position themselves as first time authors to be crowned the national “go to experts” in their niche by the New York Times and Harvard Business School? (more…)

This is the summary list for the 12 Laws of Marketing With Business Blogs. It’s a convenient reference list to the 13 part series that shows small business owners and professionals how to maximize their marketing using business blogs, RSS (Real Simple Syndication,) and podcasts.

In this series you’ll learn:

• Today’s most effective way to cut through the clutter and market effectively online
• How to get and keep top search engine rankings reliably, ethically, and easily
• How to generate surging streams of highly targeted traffic
• How to grow your subscriber/prospect list faster than a corn stalk on a rainy August afternoon in Nebraska.
• How to make MORE sales in your small business or practice
• How to start reclaiming a bankroll of lost profits from your previous online efforts

If you’re a business owner, a professional, or a direct sales networker this list will give you the keys to unlocking the full potential of your marketing with business blogs. All 13 parts of this powerful series are outlined below with a link to the full blown review of each law. To get the most out of these irrefutable laws we suggest you print the entire series and read it offline.

You’ll get much more value and lots more ideas on how you can apply these laws in your marketing with business blogs. Plus it’s a lot easier on your eyes!

So let’s roll out the list for you!

The 12 Laws of Marketing With Business Blogs Summary List

>>Introduction: how to master the Marketing With Business Blogs mindset
http://www.advancedbusinessblogging.com/?p=123

Law #1. All of your business, all of your online marketing, and all of your profits depend on your clients!

Learn how you can profit by marketing and business blogging with this simple principle in mind

Law #2. Your business blogging (and all your online marketing) must start with your USP

Discover how to put this powerful advantage to work in your business blogging

Law #3. Know the Lifetime Value of your clients

This is the law that will release the full marketing potential of your business blogging, and provide the exact framework for budgeting your time, money, and effort! Get the facts here

Law #4. Leverage every thought, action, and physical asset for maximum performance and profits

See how easy it is to exponentially multiply all your online and off-line marketing here.

Law #5. Headlines are the front line of all your business blogging, online, and off-line marketing efforts

Uncover the hidden marketing power lurking in each and every post you make to your business blog

Law #6. Reverse the risk to watch your list grow and your sales soar!

It’s so simple you’ll kick yourself if you miss this profit multiplying strategy. Watch how easy it is as we lay out one practical example after another

Law #7. Business blog with your back end in mind

All great marketing depends on a great back end! And YES… you can develop a great marketing strategy even if your back end hasn’t been to the gym in a while. See how easy it is to get your business blogging back end into action here

Law #8. The fastest, easiest way of increasing your profits lies with your current clients

There’s a gold mine of hidden profits lying just out of sight in your own backyard. Discover how to unearth these deep reserves of cash here

Law #9. Existing clients and vendors are the quickest, surest way of getting more new clients

Did you know that your most effective sales team may already be paying you? Find out why understanding this law can help you transform your business blogging into a sales force multiplier

Law #10. Test, measure, and track before you “go big” with your marketing

The simple secret that for making all your marketing low risk and high return is revealed here!

Law # 11. Direct response marketing is the ONLY marketing you want to invest in

STOP wasting your money and START getting results with every marketing effort you make. Learn the power of motivating your prospects to action

Law #12. A slight edge from incremental improvements is all it takes to exponentially increase your profits

We saved this law for last in the 12 Laws of Marketing with Business Blogs series because it reinforces and binds all the other laws together.

It appears simple on the surface, but as Sun Tzu’s timeless classic “The Art of War” and John Nash’s Game Theory Equilibrium proved — simplicity is what generates meaningful action. See why this 12th law is so important to your marketing success

As we close out this series on the 12 Laws of Marketing with Business Blogs, keep this in mind rule in mind. Leave the flashy, wildly creative, costly and “cutting edge” marketing that produces no action to the “big boys” with “big budgets.” Revisit each of the 12 laws on a regular basis and focus on making consistent incremental improvements in each area.

When you follow this coaching advice you can be confident in knowing you’re on your way to making BIG Profits and a major impact on people’s lives.

Enjoy! Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul Micek is a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. He’s known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.


The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

I saved this law for last in the 12 Laws of Marketing with Business Blogs series because it reinforces and binds all the other laws together. It appears simple on the surface, but as Sun Tzu’s timeless classic “The Art of War” and John Nash’s Game Theory Equilibrium proved — simplicity is what generates meaningful action. That’s why this 12th law is so important to your marketing success.

Law #12. A slight edge from incremental improvements is all it takes to exponentially increase your profits

Many clients who join the Marketing with Business Blogs course or any of our other business coaching programs are often under a misconception. These business owners think they need to overhaul their entire business to produce big gains. In most cases the plain truth is that’s not necessary.

The fact is — all you need to outperform your previous efforts (and your competition,) is a slight edge. And that slight edge is easy to gain with small, incremental improvements.

I’ve seen explosive improvements come from something as simple as changing a headline on a blog post or sales letter. The copy, design, and medium of delivery remained exactly the same – but the piece pulled three, six or even eight times the previous way.

Or take the example of how slight changes in the way a new employee team member is hired and managed can mean a ramp up in excess of 90% maximum task efficiency in 60 days instead of six months.

On rare occasions, a major revamp will be called for. But more often than not, all it takes to see massive improvements is small, almost unperceivable changes. And better yet — you can do it safely, with very little effort, and almost no additional expense thanks to a reliable governing dynamic of business.

The Governing Dynamics Of Compounded Business Growth

Just as John Nash’s Nobel prize-winning Game Theory Equilibrium revolutionized economics, science, and politics, the Governing Dynamics Of Compounded Business Growth can revolutionize your (more…)

Any marketing without motivating your target audience to action is a waste of your time and money. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about your business blog, your web site, a postcard mailing, or even an expensive magazine or television ad. Directing people to take specific action, and then getting them to take that action is all that counts for effective marketing. Cute, catchy, or funny is for losers. (People who want to lose money that is.)

Here’s a perfect example of how NOT market.

The other night I was watching a recording of CSI on my DVR. At one point as I was jumping forward through commercials, I saw a beautiful scene that caught my eye. I backed up to watch the entire commercial. (On a digital recording! Go figure, since the whole reason for using a DVR to begin with is to save time not watching commercials. But some commercials are just plain entertaining.)

Now you might think, “that must’ve been a pretty powerful commercial.” But, that would depend on your goal as a business owner or marketer. As a viewer, the ad was a visual delight. But from a marketing standpoint, it was painful to watch. Here’s how it went…

There were gorgeous snowcapped Colorado Mountains in the background with rolling fields in the valley below. A thunderous sound became louder and louder as the cameras panned across to focus in on a herd of wild mustangs galloping across a field.

All of a sudden the herd comes to a screeching stop and all the horses turn to stare off to the side. The cameras pan again and there is what caused them to stop dead in their tracks. A glistening black 4×4 truck with a man working nearby. The man smiles at the mustangs, turns toward his truck, back towards the mustangs and they rear up and gallop on. Wow, impressive! This truck can get a herd of mustangs to stop and stare.

Was it entertaining? Yes. Visually stimulating? Sure, if the awesome Rocky Mountains are something you find appealing. But does any of that motivate you as the viewer to take action right then and there while you’re emotionally charged… if you even are? For 99,999 out of 100,000 people — they’re not going to take any action after watching that advertisement!

Now maybe a big Fortune 500 company with tens of millions of dollars in their advertising budget can afford that sort of creative license and still not get someone to take immediate action. But I bet you couldn’t afford that luxury. Am I right?

I shared this experience with you because it’s the perfect lead-in to the eleventh law in this series on Marketing With Business Blogs.

Law # 11. Direct response marketing is the ONLY marketing you want to invest in

Off-line and online. Marketing in a magazine or on the Web. In a press release or a postcard. In every sales letter and occasionally in posts on your business blog. The only thing that matters, and all you should focus on is — getting your prospects or clients to respond by taking some type of action.

What that action is will depend on what you’re trying to achieve

If your goal is to generate leads and build a list of prospects that you can help with your product or service, you’ll want a you’ll want the person to (more…)