Blog Posts Aren't for Sales

You put a lot of time into growing your small business, creating a website, creating sales strategies for your services and creating a message that will draw people to your enterprise.

A blog was just a blip; another way to get people interested in the other parts of your site. It is obvious, that if people are reading your blog, they will also see the other features on the website and most will do some browsing. So, the blog drew them in and you were able to provide your service as a result.

The problem is that you have a good customer base, but it is not growing as fast as you wanted. As a matter of fact, it doesn't seem to be growing at all. For a time the blog grew and drew people, but now, even though there are more hits, the pace has become stagnant.

There has to be something else that you can do to punch up the message and maybe make some more sales.

That probably will eventually lead to this thought: maybe if you sold via the blog you could cut out the middle man. Instead of hoping that people get to know you through your blog and then look at the rest of the site it may be a good idea to sell directly. It seems to work in other forms of marketing. But, will it work for your blog?

The answer is no... a resounding NO.

Why?

Well, a blog is about a conversation. At a social gathering (party, convention, etc.), you don't walk up to an individual and extend your hand then start trying to make a sale. They would be offended and probably try to get away as soon as they could. Any social gathering is a place to get to know others with similar interests, to network. A blog is much the same type of device.

Yes, it is a way to sell yourself and your product, but it is not a means of direct sales. With a blog you want to let people know you, what your interests are and what your expertise is. The person who reads your blog may not be a potential customer. He or she may just be someone who wants to learn about your niche and connect with other people.

Remember, a blog is a conversation. Or, more exactly, it is a conversation starter. The people who read it are far less interested in what you have to sell than they are in you and what you have to say.

Let's look at some examples:

-Susan sells quilts, quilting accessories, quilting books and patterns on her website. As a part of her website she also has a blog. This is completely separate from the sales pages and is a means for her to share both her love of quilting and her expertise. She blogs about how she got started in quilting, famous patterns developed over the years and other items of interest to people who also love quilting.

-Tom is a hunter. He is active during deer season, turkey season, fishes whenever the weather allows, and takes part in every other game season available. He even runs a hunting travel business that plans trips for hunters to desirable spots and provides guides. He has to have a website, which is advertised in all of the trade magazines, because he wants to reach the widest audience possible. His website also has a blog. On it he has guest posts from prominent hunters/trappers and fishermen, talks about how the woods are his lifeblood and interacts with others who have similar interests through the comments section. He has made some good friends through his writing.

-Mary is an online marketer. She has a website and offers marketing services to clients that need help spreading the word about their business and services. She is asked many questions from her current clients and prospective clients about how her marketing tasks work, how to do the tasks, etc. She knows her blog audience has the same questions, so she provides the answers in her blog posts. She does not mention she provides these services to her market. She gives her audience solutions to their problems and has made many great relationships with her readers through her blog content.

With the above examples, it is easy to see what a blog is meant to do and what it is not. Both Susan, Tom and Mary realize the importance of forming relationships through blogging. It is just as important to them to make relationships with their readers as it is to make a sale. The blog provides them the ability to demonstrate the importance they place in the service they provide while also creating a place for interaction.

Another important point regards sales. A good salesperson, even the one at your local retailer (any retailer... take your pick) will begin by just talking to you. Of course, they will show you the merchandise, explain how it works and try to stick you with a warranty, but they first create a bit of rapport. Sales is about relationships. A person who puts sales before relationships will not make many sales.

So, when you write your blog content, imagine what you would say to a friend. What does he or she want to see in this blog post? What questions have they asked you? Wouldn't they rather talk about topics that interest them instead of being sold to? They probably know what you do and may ask you how the hardware store is doing, but they aren't currently trying to buy a hammer (but they may want to know how to do certain projects with that hammer).

Talk to the people who read your blog as if they were a friend who shares similar interests and needs solutions to their problems. Because that is exactly what they are.