How to Succeed in Business Blogging Without Trying

By on May 22, 2007 in Blog Coach, Blogging with 8 Comments

Part of me says I should leave the rest of this piece blank. Because blogging takes hard work. Lots of it.

Scott Ginsberg (The Guy with the Nametag) writes that we should Never Underestimate the Power of Working Your Ass Off and how the scariest phrase may just be "Hard Work". Scott gets a lot of traffic and business from his website, and in the post above – he shares the secret of his success.

I’m often approached by people trying to take shortcuts into the blogosphere:

  • We’ll post once a week
  • Let’s turn off comments
  • We’ll create one voice and byline ("The Blog Squad")
  • We don’t have time to read other blogs
  • I don’t want us pointing out to other sites
  • We don’t want to blog – but we know we should

If you want your business blog to succeed – work hard. You’ll extend your voice, broaden your customer base, develop loyalty with current customers, and synchronize your communication.

If you want to avoid hard work – you should probably think thrice before blogging and social media. Of course, isn’t that true with most things worthwhile?

Follow on Twitter or Facebook or on Google+

Find Your Social Media ROI

I hear it from a lot of business owners: “Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?“ If this is a question you ask yourself, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. There is a “there” there.

About Mike Sansone:

All Posts by
  • http://www.maryschmidt.com Mary Schmidt

    Yeppers. People’s eyes light up when I tell them how much I’ve gotten from blogging…and then they say, “But, I don’t have timmeeeeee…..” Ah well.

  • http://www.artdinkin.com Art Dinkin

    I still think the best plan is to rely on luck. Of course this brings two sayings to mind. First, “luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.” Second, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”
    Thanks coach!
    Art

  • http://www.BusinessBlogWire.com Easton Ellsworth

    Right on, Mike! Ya gotta bust your tail if you want tail-busting results.

  • http://www.coachingwizardry.com Joanna Young

    Hi Mike
    The only caveat I’d add is how you sell this idea to clients. ‘Hard work’ is an expression that will mean different things to different people. For some it’s a simple equation (eg it’s what you do that gets results). For others it might bring up associations of struggling at college, having to do work you don’t enjoy, being over-burdened by work… Or to look at it the other way round – I put a lot of time, commitment, energy and thought into my blogs, including reading, commenting, making links, developing networks, capturing ideas as well as doing the writing. But there isn’t any way I’d label this as ‘hard work’ – because I enjoy it, because you get quick feedback, make new connections, because it fits with my wider purpose etc etc
    Hope this makes sense. It’s not to suggest there are shortcuts or ways round the things that need to be done – just that you don’t have to sell blogging as hard work (unless you know that’s what your clients want to hear!)
    Joanna

  • http://www.conversationagent.com Valeria Maltoni

    Mike:
    I agree with Joanna, language is everything. I was talking with someone from an edgy agency in Philadelphia tonight and explaining the value I see in blogging for them. The response I got from the owner is that he barely has time to work on clients’ stuff. I suggested he open the doors to his whole staff and see who feels passionate about online and connections. That would be a good start.

  • http://www.theblogstudio.com Lucia Mancuso

    I must admit I go through the ups and downs of having time to blog. However, the reason I have no time is because the of the success blogging has given to my company. Without blogging, we wouldn’t be sooo busy.
    I have a new thing though now – I have a list of the things I know motivate me to blog and when I’m feeling the lows – I am going to start doing the things that motivate me. You’d be amazed at what attending a conference or going to a book store can do when you lose motivation.
    Everyone is busy in their own way – but if you want results – I think it s important to set a side the things that are must do’s (such as blogging) and must get done. Urgency vs Important is a hard balance – but one that if you master life gets less busy.
    Going to write a post tomorrow about those things that motivate me to stay on track with blogging, even though I could work around the clock and still have no time.

  • http://www.giftideahelp.com/ Elizabeth (Beth) Anderson

    Your post on blogging is hard and reasons people don’t succeed is like one of your classes. Every reason people are not successful (posting, comments etc) was addressed in the classes. We learned we have to post once a day miniumum, comment etc. I am following what you said in class.

  • http://finance.google.com/finance?q=AMEX:IIG ecommerce60

    Superb!!!
    The presentation of this blog explains the whole thing in a clearcut manner. Thanks a lot. :)

Stop SOPA