The case for blogging

Another homework assignment for my marketing kit is writing a case statement - an explanation of a problem that my business knows how to solve, and what it looks like. Here's the first draft.

We blog so you don't have to
Solving the time problem for businesses too busy to blog

Blogs seem to be the new black – everyone's wearing one. Entrepreneurs get a lot of pressure to blog, without any real explanation of the value of the activity. Even business owners who understand why having a blog is important often neglect writing new blog posts, because it takes a fair amount of time, and more than a little skill, to blog well.

Why blogs are actually valuable for businesses
The most common – and arguably the most useless – explanation for why a blog is important is, “Google loves new content.” By itself it doesn't mean a whole lot, and technically it's not even really true, but it's not exactly false, either. Confused? Fear not!

Saying that we should regularly update our blogs because Google loves new content is putting the cart before the horse. Google doesn't actually have a preference either way, but the engineers behind the search engine invest considerable time into making it give us the results that we want to see. Particularly in the United States, there is a high perceived value for things and information for new things.

• The latest model of car, even if it only has small cosmetic changes
• The newest updates on a breaking news story, no matter how minor the change
• The freshest styles in clothes and music

We have taken our desire for newness to the web, and Google, its largest search engine, has responded by making new results show up quickly in searches. So yes, Google may love new content, but always remember that this is only because people like new content – people that could be clients of your business.

So what does this mean to the small business owner? In a world where most people who reach for the Yellow Pages rather than a computer to find a local business are over 75 years old, it's increasingly important to have an online presence. The internet has made it easier to get answers to life's questions, so today's shopper does a lot more research before making a buying decision. This tendency to place value on the newest information makes it easier to give your target customer what he or she wants, in the way he or she likes to read it online.

A regularly-updated blog keeps the search engines returning to your site, which in turn brings the people to your site. Those people want information, and a blog is the perfect place to educate these virtual window-shoppers, keeping your site in mind when they're ready to make a purchasing decision. That's what makes a blog valuable: it keeps interested people thinking about your business.

Scheduling blog posting: sometimes timing isn't everything
There are more people convinced that blogs are valuable than there are blogs which get updated regularly. Why?

• Time
• Writer's block
• Procrastination
• More important matters
• Key employee left
• This quarter's sales quota

The fact of the matter is that not everybody enjoys writing, no matter how important it is, and finding the time to change that habit can itself be challenging. Businesses large and small outsource important jobs which they don't do well, and writing should be no exception. Using keyword-centered strategies we can develop a series of posts that highlight your business strengths, educate your target clients, and keep your website fresh in Google results.

The High Cost of Low Price

Author Kirk White once told me that Jack Canfield, of Chicken Soup for the Soul
fame, has an interesting way of setting prices for speaking engagements: ask for the highest number you can without laughing. Canfield has mastered the idea that competing on price is nearly impossible if you're not WalMart, something that I've always understood intellectually but I've struggled with emotionally.

You want me to charge HOW much?
My Duct Tape Marketing Coach is quick to tell me why I should never overspend on advertising, but when he saw my list of services he was quick to tell me that my hourly writing rate was much too low. There are a lot of costs that have to be factored in to the rates you charge.

• Overhead expenses, like the ink cartridges, the internet access, top-notch business cards, and the like.
• The time spent on activities like marketing, meeting with clients, and other critical functions.
• Anything that contributes to top-notch customer service, like overnight deliveries, a solid guarantee, and staying up all night to finish a project that the client really needs done quickly.

It's pretty easy for a business owner, particularly one who used to do the same kind of work for somebody else, to underestimate how much to charge by failing to consider what his services really cost to provide.

The economics and psychology of price
On top of the business considerations, pricing services and products too low can impact my business in other ways. For one, if I pick a price-point that is too far below what others in my industry are charging, potential clients may think I don't have the experience to do the job right, and look for more competent help elsewhere. Drop it even lower and I find myself with rates just a bit higher than writers in the Phillipines are charging. I can't compete with someone who can live on four dollars an hour, at least not on price. My target clients don't go to Elance to find writers, because they know that you get what you pay for.

Overcoming my own objections
I know all of this, but the knee-jerk reaction to setting an appropriate price is, "Good gods, nobody will ever hire me!" Luckily, I had a near-disaster of my own that helped me overcome that objection.

In my Practical Marketing Program we've learned that providing educational content is absolutely necessary these days - people want to know what you know before they'll give you a try. So, I took a long, hard look at my Professional Wordsmith blog, which has been functioning as my website. It has served me well, but I needed something with more pizzazz, and elected to build a Wordpress site because it's powerful, customizable, and easy to learn.

I picked a company from the list of recommended hosting providers with Wordpress built in and arranged for my domain name to be transferred. As soon as I got access I realized my mistake: with no way to compare them, I had gone with the cheapest company, and it showed. Wordpress may be easy, but trying to navigate GoDaddy's interface is anything but! I immediately asked to cancel the transaction and reverse the domain transfer, but ICANN, the organization overseeing such things, has rules preventing transfers more often than every sixty days.

As I puzzled this all out, my site and my email service tanked, and I was in a near-panic when I discovered I had a solution right under my nose: I knew that Kathode Ray Media, a Hudson Valley marketing firm, is excellent at web design, but I didn't realize they also provided hosting services. Arielle Doerle took a look at my situation and quickly hashed out a solution: keep my domain registered through GoDaddy, but transfer the hosting to Kathode Ray. I didn't know there was a difference, and there wasn't a person at the other end of a phone to lay it out the way Arielle did. She got my hosting resolved so that my email was up and running again within the hour, and within a week I'll have a site with all the flexibility of Wordpress but without the headaches of a distant stranger hosting my site.

So what did I learn? Without going on a serious tangent, a few things:

1. Shop local, you ninny!
2. Don't assume the companies you already work with don't provide a service you need. Ask, you ninny!
3. Be suspicious of low prices! I just can't get the level of support I need from a discounter like GoDaddy. Knowing that my domain is safe, my email is reliable, and my site is customizable by me is valuable to me. Being able to pick up the phone and get a problem I don't even understand fixed in under an hour is invaluable to me. You just can't put a price on value.

For me, the value I provide is in listening to my clients, and taking the time to make sure my words say what they mean. I guarantee work that's free of the grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors which are common in the work of even the most fluent writers of English as a second language. I revise when I miss the mark, and I listen to the feedback I get as carefully as I do during the initial interview for the project.

That's value to someone looking for writing. After seeing how valuable choosing the best was for me and my website, I am now ready to price my services fairly for the value I provide.

FAQ or Not-so-frequently asked questions about writing

My assignment for the next session of my Duct Tape Marketing class is writing some frequently asked questions, or better yet questions that should be frequently asked about my business. I tried to cheat, but I had no luck finding out what questions the other freelance writers are asking.

Here's my first draft of the questions and answers, in no particular order.

How do you decide what to write in a blog post?
During my initial interview about a new blog project, I want to generate several keyword phrases that are important to my client. I do this by asking questions about your company's goals, including plans for products and services that you offer. Each keyword (two- or three-word phrases that your potential clients will be searching for online) can be used to create one or more blog post topics.

Do you design brochures?
I write copy for brochures, but I don't actually design brochures. I can create a basic mock-up brochure to get a visual sense of the text in the space. I can recommend a full-service marketing firm if you need professionally designed marketing materials.

Do you provide copyediting and proofreading services?
Yes. My first editing job was a detective novel written by a friend when I was nineteen years old, and now I find myself critiquing the wording and punctuation of virtually everything I read. I have written a number of articles on how to master some of the more difficult rules in English writing.

Do you proofread your own material?
Proofreading works best when it's a fresh set of eyes looking at the manuscript. I have mastered a number of techniques to make sure I don't miss my own errors as I reread what I've written. For my longer and more complex writing, I have access to a high school English and journalism teacher, one who is more than happy to take her red pen to my work.
Misteaks do happen, so in addition I guarantee that I will rewrite any piece that contains errors or otherwise doesn't meet with your complete satisfaction.

Do you write newsletters?
I write newsletter articles, including executive and employee profiles, company news, and informational articles that would be of interest to your readers. Both internal (employee) and external (customer) newsletter articles are within my scope.

Can you register my written material so no one can steal it?
You're looking for a copyrighter, not a copywriter. Copywriting is the writing of promotional, sales, or marketing materials, while copyrighting is the process by which authors protect their rights to written works. It's one of the fun coincidences that make English a bloody hard language to learn.

Do you guarantee your work?
Of course! The interview process at the beginning of any project is designed to make sure that you get what you want out of the written words you're buying, but you're not stuck on the off chance that you still don't get what you were hoping for. If you're not satisfied with the writing you've received, please provide as many specifics as you can so it can be tweaked to fit your expectations.

Suggestions welcome. Are there gaping holes you'd like to see filled? Answers that don't satisfy? Misteaks I didn't see? Just remember that my class is on July 13.