Alumni Blogs, a great idea

If Alumni are considered part of a school, instead of perhaps just a cash cow to milk, the importance of open and honest communications cannot be underestimated. Hey, just communications, and I don't mean the mere mountain of mail I get from my Alma Mater, Dartmouth, are important. Communications are two way.

NYU has taken a great step with their NYU Arts and Science Blog -- I love the use of images, something I don't do well myself! 

I also love some of Evan Nisenson's posts, like Ted Allen (GSAS '90), Food Detective. I wish Dartmouth did similar things online.

I reflect on this as I'm both speaking more at colleges, and just sobering up from my 25 year college reunion (OK, I exaggerate), and realize that I went to school with some really old dudes and women, yet a few of us (me included) still look and act as we did 25 years ago :)  All positive :)

I've written a bit about similar topics here:

College Admissions Blogs & Student Bloggers
Social Media and Higher Education

What The Blogging Gurus are Missing

A blog needs a primary goal, and with a business blog often that is in supporting the business in some way, as part of the business' overall strategy.

For example, one common goal is to position yourself as an expert and perhaps, as in my case, use it to help get consulting and speaking gigs.

An entirely different goal is to monetize your blog -- make money directly from your blog, for example from ads, product sales, etc.

Many blogging gurus focus solely on monetization, which (in my not humble at all opinion) should NOT be the goal of most business blogs!

Read Michael Martine's take on this at Gateway Blogging (and check out the hilarious picture!)

Blogging for small town professionals

Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival has a great post on Blogging for Small Town Professionals, with input and profiles of:

Britt Raybould
Shawn Kirsch
Cody Heitschmidt

and even me (did I ever mention I can't see my nearest neighbor?)

How to Sell Blogging to your CEO and Clients

How to Sell Blogging to your CEO and Clients, my slides from my talk for Search Engine Marketing New England are now online.

It was a lot of fun with a great group who keep me there until the end asking some very good questions.
I'll be attending more SEMNE events, assuming I've ever home! The talk was the only week out of the recent six I've been home. Traveling, speaking, and consulting on information lately (and having a blast, although I miss my 3 kids, wife, and dog too).

Topics included:
    * What are the characteristics of the most successful blogs?
    * What distinguishes the successful from unsuccessful blogs?
    * How to present the case for blogs and other social media to management.
    * How to handle the Return On Investment (ROI) issue.
    * How to present ‘baby steps’ to management; simple measures that show results.

Click to Download Here

Companies should blog, unless they’re sleazy

I love this quote from the article, Should Marketing Executives Blog by Dan Schawbel:

“I see no reason for a company not to blog, unless they’re sleazy. Companies have a unique opportunity in time to speak to consumers in a human voice. Provide understanding, clarity and void of corporate bunk. It’s an amazing time to be in Marketing, Communications and Advertising. There is no reason for a company not to leverage this channel to build credibility, loyalty and add humanity. I write this from an airport while dealing with flight delays, so trust me – a corporate blog and humanity does (and could) go a long way.”
        -- Jackie Huba, The Church of the Customer

I agree with the sentiment, although I'm not onboard 100%.

All companies should consider blogging, but not all companies need to blog.

For example, the General Store across the street isn't sleazy, but they don't NEED to blog.

I DO think all Marketing Executives need to understand blogging however, and no better way to understand than to do.

Dan quotes me in the article also:

“All Marketing Executives should consider blogging. They need to understand social media marketing techniques, and there is no better way than first hand experience. If they don’t want to blog on something related to their profession, they can start a ‘throw away blog’ on an unrelated topic in order to gain familiarity with the medium.“
     -- Ted Demopoulos, really cool guy, or at least his mother says so.

Blogging: Passion is not enough

"You must be passionate about what you blog on," we always say and hear. "Passion separates successful from unsuccessful bloggers," etc.

Sorry, passion alone is not enough!

You also need a "beat." Dianna Huff has a great post on developing a beat as well as her beat.
"Ted, what ARE you talking about?" -- it's so simple and obviously we overlook it!

For example, I have a friend who is passionate about surfing. He lives to surf. His whole life is set up around being able to drop everything when "surf's up!"  His vacations are only to surf spots.

He has passion, but, when he's not surfing, he doesn't care to talk about it much. He doesn't follow discussions on the latest surf spots, new and better surfboards, different techniques, and other stuff surfers may follow.

In other words, he doesn't have a "beat" when it comes to surfing. He does it endlessly, but he doesn't follow it.

He wouldn't make a good blogger on surfing, despite his passion.

I have another friend who is passionate about wine. Drinks it daily. Has a few thousand bottles in his cellar. His wine is worth  ore than his house!

But he doesn't particularly care to discuss wine, as most oenophiles do, other than "what should we open?" He doesn't follow what's new in the wine world, what the latest vintage of XYZ is like, what the grape current growing conditions are like in his favorite wine growing areas, etc.

He used to years ago, but he's lost his beat (happily) and now just thrives on drinking the stuff!

Passion, but no beat. You won't (and shouldn't) see him blogging.

Successful bloggers need passion, but they also need a "beat."

They need to both be passionate about and immersed in and naturally follow what they're blogging on.

Why You Shouldn't Blog

Not everyone should blog.

There are a number of reasons why you shouldn't blog, as well as a number of non-issues I discussed yesterday that people sometimes think are good reasons not to blog.
They include:

• I don't like to write
• I don't know how I'll come up with topics
• I'm afraid I'll look silly or foolish ( a common concern!)
• I can't write well

I dispute them here.
   
This is in preparation (and of course to convince people to sign up) for a teleseminar on this topic Tuesday evening where I'll go into much more depth -- click here to signup for the teleseminar.

So, what are some legit reasons NOT to blog??  Here are three.

1) You're not passionate about your topic or don't "have a beat"

Quite simply, if you don't care, why should anyone else?

And if you're passionate, but "don't' have a beat" -- follow closely and think about a lot, it won't work either. For example you might love something passionately but have little interest in discussing it or writing about it.

My friend  Paulie is like that about flyfishing -- as passionate as possible, but if he can't do it right now he doesn't care to discuss it, read about, meditate on it, or anything else. Obviously he's not a good candidate to blog on flyfishing, despite it being the passion of his life.

2) In your organization can't blog freely -- your blog will be tweaked, positioned, arbitrated, massaged, or whatever term might fit by perhaps marketing, PR, or some other department which will truly be in charge of your "thoughts."

Sorry, but that type of blog simply doesn't work -- it's not effective. No Web 2.0 touchy-feely stuff here -- it just won't work so "just say no!"

3) You're not willing to make a commitment of blogging for at least a few months to try it out.

It may take a while to get into the swing of things, and to start seeing results. You can't blog for a few days and say it doesn't work.

They say it takes 10 years to learn to play the violin poorly. Taking lessons for a month and then quitting makes little sense for the violin, or blogging (unless of course you truly decide you despise it!).

I believe the violin part too! -- I have 3 little kids who are taking lessons.

Blogging? Within a month or two, if nor much faster, most people are quite comfortable although "results" may take longer, depending on what your goals are.

Of course I'll go into more details in the not expensive yet not free teleseminar "Is a Blog Right for You? Tuesday at 8PM  2PM Eastern.

Should You Blog?

One of the most common questions I get from people is whether they should blog.

Blogs are extremely powerful and can help your business or career -- NO doubt about that, but should YOU blog?

Certainly blogging is not for everyone or every business!

Some of the issues?
Well I'll mention I'm doing a teleseminar on this topic Tuesday evening where I'll go into much more depth -- click here to signup for the teleseminar.

First, some non-issues, You might think these matter, but they usually don't.

• I don't like to write

I would have told you in 2004 that I hated writing. Four years of blogging later, and a couple of published books, I can tell you I was wrong. I love to write.

What I didn't like, and thousands of successful bloggers agree, is formal writing, the type they tried to teach me beat into me in school!

I love conversational writing, informal writing which is closer to how we speak than what Mrs. Diesel forced me to do in 4th grade.

Good chance you'll find the same thing.

• I don't know how I'll come up with topics

Once you start blogging, coming up with topics to blog on is rarely a problem. It's usually the opposite -- you can't write on every topic you want to!

Most days I could blog for 12 hours. Yes, occasionally I'll get a very minor case of writers block. Big deal! It passes quickly.

• I'm afraid I'll look silly or foolish ( a common concern!)

As long as you have thoughts or opinions, and we all do, chances are you'll be respected in the blogosphere. Sure, many people won't agree with everything you write, but that doesn't mean they won't respect you.

As long as you pick a topic you're passionate about, i.e. you care about, you'll be just fine.

• I can't write well

Do you think I could write well when I started? Basically, "no" -- but that doesn't matter. I won't claim I write well now either.

It's the ideas that matter! As long as you can be understood, it's alright.

Hey, do we make fun of brilliant Nobel Laureates who speak with a heavy accent? Not usually :) And often we can't even understand them because they're so smart!

And remember, you'll become a better writer as you blog. No, practice does not make perfect, but it'll make you a much better writer, and remember that writing is a critical business (and life) skill.

The teleseminar is Tuesday night at 8PM Eastern. Click here to signup for the teleseminar.

Tomorrow -- some legit reasons why you might not blog! Yes, there are certainly some.

Some Hopefully *very* Helpful Interviews now online

I've put a couple of audio interviews you might find interesting online.

The first is an interview on blogging with Peter Anthony Holder on radio CJAD -- Peter always does a great job!

Click here to listen or download the mp3

Also an interview on developing an Effective Internet Presence for professionals on MySuccessGateway.com:

Click here to listen or download the mp3

There is also a complimentary teleseminar this Thursday on using video in Blogging with Brian Edmondson on Blogging with Video. Click here to signup for this and some future teleseminars, including one with me.
I'll be listening for sure.

Last but not least, this one costs just a few bucks, Is a Blog Right For You?, a teleseminar with me and Dianna Huff of DH Communications next week.

A Web site updated daily that you can subscribe to?

It's a Web site that's updated daily and that you can subscribe too, says the Rock and Roll Guru about his new blog.

He doesn't use the word "blog" and that word will eventually fade into obscurity. Just like "podcast."
Just like they don't use the term "Chinese Food" in China (OK, bad example, but I think it's funny).

Hmmm, if the term "blog" goes away, I guess I'll need to rename this blog often updated Web site eventually.

BTW, The Rock and Roll Guru loves how I use quotes from rock music in Effective Internet Presence, and almost called me up at midnight when he read it. I'm flattered.