Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Pick One Thing and Own It

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Norm and his ballI was talking to someone the other day who heard me speak recently. They mentioned one thing I said that’s been working well for them. In my 2 hour presentation I obviously covered a TON of ideas and made a variety of recommendations. But their favorite recommendation and take away?

Pick One & OWN IT

During my presentation we talked about using social media as a follow up tool instead of a sales tool (more on that soon). I made recommendations for Twitter, LinkedIn and yes, even Facebook. But my recommendation was to start with one thing. Wherever you’re active, pick one and try it. Not just once, but a few times. Play around with it to see what works.

Overwhelm gets the best of all of us. When I present a 10 page task list to a client, they’re likely to ignore it. But if we walk through and prioritize it, that’s going to help to ease the overwhelm. Start with one thing.

I just started working with a client and they asked about Google and Facebook Ads. With all the OTHER marketing efforts we’re about to implement my recommendation was to wait and save the money right now. Let’s see how this work we’re doing together fits for their business first. If it brings them in business, great. If we need to add in Google ad words or Facebook ads, then we can try those out in the future (by them hiring a qualified person to manage it, because that’s way outside my scope).

When you go to a speaking engagement and like EVERYTHING the speaker says, start by implementing just one thing. Get that down, then add another one to the mix. I know this isn’t something new or crazy, you’ve heard it before. My challenge to you this week is to actually do it. One thing.

Let me know how it goes!

How in Depth Should Your Blog Post Be?

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working away on a posed photoI was chatting with someone a few weeks ago about blog post length and it got me thinking – how in depth should your blog posts be?

There’s a few different thought processes for different types and lengths of blog posts, here’s 5 that I see most often:

  1. The In Depth Expert Post – This is the post you write when you want people to know how smart you are on a subject. Or, put more politely, this is the post you write to assert yourself as an expert. You’re probably referencing other sites and experts here. It may be a super long post but you’re hoping to assert yourself as an expert so it’s worth the research and details.
  2. The Hot Off The Press Post –  This is the “initial reaction” to the latest news tweet, or commenting on a new technology or movie review kind of post. These aren’t meant to be as detailed as they are to be FIRST.
  3. The Series Post – That would be if I decided to write this as 4 blog posts instead of 4 points and go a bit more in depth with each option. It’s not really my style, but it works great if you are covering a big heavy topic and it’s easier to chunk it out into readable and shorter posts. I’ve also seen the “Article Break Down” Post – where people have published an article and turn it into 4 or 5 blog posts over the next few weeks.
  4. The “I’m tired of writing the same thing over and over again to people” Post – These are a lot of the posts that I write. I tend to write my blog posts in response to something going on in my business (see my opening sentence as an example) and that I think may be helpful for other small business owners to hear about. I also like writing posts that I can easily reference back to when someone asks me about it. So the next time a client or prospect asks how long I think a blog post should be, they’ll be getting a link to this post!
  5. The Review/Recommendation Post – My Pop Culture Round Up is an example of this. My friend Matt has an app of the week post that I often check out. If you are frequently reading or writing or working on projects that you can make recommendations, go for it! I’ve seen IT companies do this well with different software options. Or nutritionists recommending an app or a product (who knew Apple Cider Vinegar was so important?) Give your totally biased opinion on something!

I know there are a variety of opinions on blog post length, content and depth. What do you find works for you?

Do You Want To?

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norm!
Norm refused to get out of the car to go to the park the other day.

I’m pretty vocal about not being on Facebook which means that when I talk with clients or colleagues and they talk about what they should be doing, my first question is “but, do you want to?”

I had this conversation yesterday with a small business owner who was trying to figure out HOW to set a blog on their site. I asked, do you want to blog? And the answer was (as I expected) no. There’s a difference between what you need to do for your business and what you think you should do for your business. If writing on a weekly (ish) schedule stresses you out, then maybe a blog is a bad idea. Maybe harness that power to one great post that becomes your monthly newsletter. If Twitter stresses you out then just don’t use it. You’ll find clients other places, I promise.

As a small business owner you need to do what works for you. Having a blog is great, I use it as a way to help readers get answers to marketing questions and to see a bit of the method to my madness. But if you hate writing then don’t do it. If your target market isn’t hanging out on Pinterest then don’t worry about not being there.

Here’s a New Years Resolution you can keep: Before you start anything NEW ask yourself “do you want to?”