Browsing Category: "Blog Challenges"
Wow — I’ve been busy
Blog Challenges September 10th, 2008
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
And things aren’t slowing down yet!
Right now I’m working on a nifty campaign for a client, helping another client get their new site set up, indulging in some regular old writing work and (most fun of all) I’m knee-deep in HighBall Halloween committee work for the Short North Business Association. Our launch party is tonight at Skully’s from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
I’m working on the marketing plan with SNBA director John Angelo; ColumbusUnderground.com guru/owner Walker Evans; and the brilliant owner of Brilliant Ryan Morgan. So far we’ve got a Facebook group, a Twitter page and a MySpace page to give folks lots of ways to keep track of what’s going on with us! And of course we’re going to be doing some blog outreach, too.
See, if you want to reach a diverse audience, you’ve gotta diversify your efforts. That’s what we’re doing. The blanket approach will work for us because we’re putting on what we hope will be the biggest Halloween event to hit Central Ohio! But if you want to get specific, you need to be much more discriminating.
Too often blog campaigns are wild shots in the dark — sending out press releases without understanding who you want to reach and what you want them to do with that information. People share themselves online for different reasons and in different ways. To reach the right people and in the right way, you have to use finesse. You’ve got to ask yourself some questions like:
- What are my goals with this campaign?
- Who do I want to reach and why?
- What do I hope the online world will do with my information?
- How can I help them understand and help me reach my goals?
- What can I do for them in return for their time and effort?
Traditional press releases, let me tell you, do NOTHING for most bloggers. You’ll need a more thoughtful, more personalized approach, which is time consuming, sure. But you’re building relationships and relationship-building takes effort.
Need help figuring out a creative campaign that bloggers will CARE about? Having trouble finding the folks you most want to reach? I can help. Gimme a call, shoot me an email or head to my contact form. Let’s talk.
Possibly related posts
Keeping up with your blog
Blog Challenges August 7th, 2008
If you go back and glance at the dates of my own blog publishing schedule, you’ll see I know a thing or two about the challenges that get in the way of keeping up with your blog. In my own case it’s the old story about the cobbler’s kids not having any shoes — I’ve been so busy getting my clients all blogged up that my own blog has fallen by the wayside!
I’m a cautionary tale folks: DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
There are some things I need to do to make updating ye olde Open Book Stategies blog ball:
- Create an editorial calendar: As a former editor at a newsstand magazine, I know the value of editorial calendars. You do your planning ahead of time and you’re never stuck scrambling. Plus it gives you time to prepare your content like getting the research, gathering the images and choosing your links.
- Create a blog brainstorm list: I’m full of blogging ideas when I’m out meeting with clients, reading other blogs or brushing my teeth but when I sit down here at my keyboard, I forget ‘em. Lately I’ve been using Jott as my note-taking-on-the-fly tool. (I call Jott from my cell, tell it what I want to remember and it emails it right to my computer. No notebooks to lose!) Remember the key thing about a brainstorm is that it’s all your ideas — not just the good ones. You can weed through them later when you’re setting up your calendar.
- Listen to your clients with an eye to your blog. The work I’m doing now may be keeping me from blogging but it’s also giving me lots of new material. As I help my clients work through their concerns, challenges and triumphs I’m getting a better picture of what belongs in my blog. So that’s when I call Jott, add to my brainstorm list and eventually it’ll end up on my calendar.
- Treat it like a necessary part of your job. Ok, this is where I fall down on my good intentions. Because I enjoy blogging for myself I keep saving it for last. Only the world being what it is, it’s too easy to keep shoving it down to the bottom. Somehow when our work schedules get busy the first thing that goes our own marketing efforts but eventually when we hit that slower patch, we’ll be wishing we’d stayed on top of tings. (And when I say “we” and “our”, I mean “I” and “my.”)
Ok, I’m inspired now. I hope you are, too!
