What to do When You Feel You Have Nothing to Blog About
Amanda from Hall Web Development put together a great list for stuck bloggers. Feeling a need for fresh ideas. Go visit her post: 10 Things to do When You Feel You have Nothing to Blog About
I love Amanda’s #1 suggestion:
Make sure you are writing about what you are passionate about.
If you blog about something you really enjoy and can enthusiastically write about you will be far more likely to continue blogging. Put yourself into your blog and have fun. Blogging can be fun if you choose to make it that way.
Follow your passions, share from your heart and enjoy what you do. Blogging and social media gives you a voice that spans the globe and connects you with like minded individuals all over our planet. The opportunity is unprecedented to do what you love.
Farmers Discovering the Power of Social Media
The business of farming has come a long way since I worked on my neighbors farm as a teenager in the late 70’s. Farming is mostly about adopting modern business methods. Social Media is an excellent way for farmers to connect with their consumers, partners and suppliers and share their stories. Here’s a excerpt from an article in The Independent:
Social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, are helping to define a new direction for agriculture that puts farmers in direct contact with consumers.On Wednesday, the Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association Conference and Trade Show held a program titled “Social Media Applications in Agriculture” at the Mid-Town Holiday Inn in Grand Island.
Hosting the program was Dennis Kahl, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator.
One of the main advantages of farmers using social media is it puts them into direct contact with their target audience, whether it be other farmers, consumers, business suppliers or customers.
It’s good to see the business of farming embracing the technology of social networking. How could your business benefit from this direct connection with your consumers?
Kevin Rose – Some Thoughts on Social Location Sharing
Location based social sharing services have huge potential implications for local, brick and mortar businesses. How do you feel about sharing your location with your on-line social networks?
Location Based Services are Pioneering a Deeper Connection Between Place and Community
Twitter offers a way for businesses to connect with their customers online. Foursquare puts location in context and extends that connection to the offline world. The model of the location-based game is such that any venue willing to make an extra effort can get to know their socially active customers on a more personal level, and even encourage meetups in their space.
Much of my interest and excitement around social media centers around the deeper connections that can occur with the use of technology. Technology that tracks our activities and what we like can help make the world around us better.
We are beginning to see evolutionary shifts in business that are going to see organizations focusing on the human relationships. These relationships have always existed in the background it’s just that now the consumer has a much bigger voice. The businesses that get great at listening and nourishing their relationships will increase their opportunity to thrive in our fast changing world.
Create a Strategy of Outstanding Uniqueness
We can debate the countless intricate ways that companies can use to create a strategy of difference, but it all pretty much boils down to:
1) Better product
2) Better process
3) Better relationshipsIn my opinion focusing all of your strategic thinking, goal setting and actions on building a better process or better relationships is the surest and maybe simplest way to create a true competitive advantage that someone might care about. Would you rather lean on your 5% better product or price or on something so totally outrageous and innovative that people can’t stop talking about it?
John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame offers up these words of wisdom in his post where he challenges businesses to stop trying to be better than the competition, the opportunity is in the ways you can be different.
Create a strategy of being outstandingly different in your processes and relationships and you create something remarkable and worth talking about. Consistently amazing customer service experiences get spread around. Innovative ways of improving your business can yield exponential results.
We we owned our salon and spa we made huge investments in people and culture with our training systems and team development. These investments kept our business way out in front and made us significantly different in our market and consistently successful.
What do you think about creating a strategy of outstanding uniqueness? Where is your opportunity to be different?
Google’s Near Me Now is Live – Location Based Search
Google just launched a great new local search feature based on your location. Right now this location based search is only available to iPhone and Android users.
I’ve tested Near Me Know here from my office in Wisconsin and it works great. The option “Explore Right Here” brings up a list of all the websites nearby that Google has indexed. I found a few local businesses that I didn’t even know existed.
Near Me Know and the other geo-local search services are going to have some very interesting effects on how local businesses promote themselves.
When I Come Downtown I Park:
<a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2442796/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2442796/”>When I come downtown I park:</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://www.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://www.polldaddy.com”>survey</a>)</span>
Evolve in 2010 – Focus on Adapting to Changes
The most important thing for brands to remember is that we should spend less of our efforts trying to predict “what’s next for 2010″ and focus on adapting quickly to changes in consumer behavior and technology. The one certainty is that social marketing strategies will have to evolve with whatever comes our way next year.
The “real time web” is here and the world feels like it’s moving more quickly. As more people find new ways to communicate with the tools of the social web, companies will have to continually adapt.
My recommendation: If you want to thrive, get better at adapting.
The more you understand your business the better and more quickly you can adapt. The more you understand your customers the more quickly you can adapt to serving them better. Engage your customers, listen to their needs, allow them to help you be better.
Your business is not static.
- It is a living,
- breathing,
- sum of all it’s relationships,
- continuously evolving sphere of connections.
Embrace the changes and enjoy each moment of adapting.
Securing Brand Loyalty Through Relationship Marketing
Consumers need a reason to continue purchasing a brand apart from habit and family tradition,” according to the report. “CPG marketers that fail to highlight and promote the unique benefits, value and relevance of their products will risk a consumer exodus from their brands. In creating an emotional bond with customers, CPG marketers will help encourage a lifetime of brand loyalty.
Are you building relationships with your customers? Do your customers have an emotional connection to you?
Real Time is a Big 2010 Web Trend
Google this week launched real-time search, bringing live updates from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and more into a scrolling pane in your Google search results.
How will the real-time trend evolve in 2010? Rapidly, no doubt. Why will it sweep the Web? Because it fuels our insatiable info-addiction.
Real Time is a huge trend on the web right now and it will grow in 2010. Google’s newly announced real time search is one example of how important the real time web is becoming. Pete Cashmore’s CNN article ( link above ) gives an overview of some real time services that will see growth in 2010.
It’s easy to participate in the real time web communication stream today. Real time is empowering entrepreneurs to entirely new opportunities in thought leadership, brand management, customer service, trusted relationships and quicker business cycles.
Are you participating in the real time web?
