I love it when experts specifically call out what everyone is thinking about but not saying. Chris Brogan’s recent post “No One Is Reading Your Blog” was like a slap upside the head – in a good way.
This is something I have noticed as the editor in chief of this blog. Readership seems down and social reactions and sharing are way down.
Does that mean it’s time to stop blogging? I don’t think so, and neither does Chris Brogan.
Instead, think of it as a challenge to up our game as content providers. Meh content won’t cut it in a distracted and overwhelmed world. We need to educate, inspire, and entertain. Bonus points if you can do all of these.
I’ve tried a lot of things this year to add more value to our community.
Video interviews with Carol Roth
Carol is always working on multiple projects simultaneously. In order to have more of her insights and sage advice on the blog, I have started doing more video interviews with Carol.
The topics we cover range from marketing to social media to customer loyalty to funding. We also include the occasional rant, which is usually a crowd-pleaser.
Video interviews with experts
Carol and I know some really smart people. When I have a question, or when I’ve been asked the same question a few times, I reach out and do a video interview with someone who knows more about the topic than I do.
I love doing these interviews. It’s so fun to have great conversations with super-smart professionals. And I know our community gets a ton of value from these videos.
Posts on sticky topics
Just when I think nobody is reading anything, I throw myself under the bus and write about something deeply personal. It could be the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur, depression as an entrepreneur, lumpy revenue streams, or something else.
The more risky the topic, the better it does.
I view myself as a truth-speaker. I am willing to shine a light on the elephant in the room. I say the things a lot of other people are thinking about and not talking openly about.
Articles on LinkedIn
Everyone should be leveraging LinkedIn to establish thought leadership and share their point of view. You probably know that LinkedIn’s blogging platform is attached to your profile, and your contacts are notified when you publish an article. (Amber Naslund and Brad Hastedt are doing a great job consistently posting quality content.)
I am also seeing people leverage status updates to post shorter point-of-view pieces. These are often around a theme. Marina Erulkar posts about customer acquisition, onboarding, and attrition, and Susan Tyson posts about the tug of war between Sales and Marketing at most organizations.
So, my professional opinion is blogging is still important for establishing thought leadership and for generating trust with prospects and customers. And it probably is a good thing the bar has been raised.
Never has it been more important to understand your customer and your prospects, and to provide real value to them. Seth Godin’s minimum viable audience should be who we write our content for, not the world. As Seth says, “When you seek to engage with everyone, you rarely delight anyone. And if you’re not the irreplaceable, essential, one-of-a-kind changemaker, you never get a chance to engage with the market.”
