My friend and sometimes team mate Blog Consultant Michael Martine had a nifty discussion on where your business would be without a blog. It’s an interesting question, and his crowd is primarily pro blog. He had a couple of dissenters, but the conversation was great (if not a little long winded). Many felt you had to have a blog to have a business that does anything on the web.
Fact is, you don’t.
Fact is, if your business isn’t working right, you must solve that problem before you buy a blog from me.
Fact is, if you are struggling to keep the lights on, it’s time to figure out why.
Maybe a blog will change that, but a blog sure as heck isn’t a ‘Hail Mary’ pass that’s going to rejuvenate an obsolete business and sagging career. It’s not a magic bullet, and you’re not going to suddenly be able to “trick” people into patronizing your business. It’s a style and skill that you need to learn. It’s a discipline that takes work before you see great results.
If you don’t have business in your normal business, then let’s get that fixed:
- How do you treat people that want to do business with you?
- How clear are your expectations when dealing with a customer?
- How fast do you respond to new inquiries?
- How easy is it to get a hold of you?
- How are you following up on leads?
- Do you have an e-mail newsletter that goes out?
- What do you do every month to get new business in?
Executing those 7 ideas is a higher priority than running a blog. Having good answers to those questions, and having a service-mindset is the important part of your business.
If you’re not doing that stuff right, then a blog will just add to the confusion and fall behind that you have. It won’t help you get out of your funk. If you ARE answering those questions right, a blog will help you double down on your winners.
If not, then the core reason for your business to exist must be something that you think about and deal with first.
