I had a very inspiring talk with Kary Rogney late one evening and thought that it was a good time to share this information. I have been on this journey lately trying to discover why I need to blog and needed some guidance.
Kary was able to open my eyes and clarify some points that had been troubling me for some time now.
One of my main dilemmas was having a niche or main focus for my blog. Kary really helped me understand that I don’t need to be focused on one topic of interest. He believes that is a common mistake. Too many blogs which are beginning to emerge are lacking character.
I don’t want to put words in Kary’s mouth but I believe he was talking about the fact that they are too information laden. Too much emphasis on marketing or business, which is okay but to really build relationships, you need to have a blog that is set up much differently.
Kary mentions that people will stop visiting if they don’t feel welcome and can’t make that connection with you. Don’t get me wrong, I have sites that I visit that are all about education and marketing and am not looking to connect with any particular individual.
Bottom line, your blog needs to be real and updated with fresh content on a consistent basis, something that I WAS guilty of. Talk about your family, your passions, what you do for fun. You want to show visitors a snapshot of what you are all about and what it is that you have to offer them.
Obviously you need to offer quality content or educational value as a reason for them to want to stay in touch with you and connect.
The big shift at the moment for online activity is to form “Tribes”. If you have NO IDEA what I am talking about then you must be living under a rock. Seriously! Do yourself a favor and go out and purchase Seth Godin’s “Tribes” or borrow it from someone. You will be glad you did….
With blogging in particular, you can find other like-minded individuals who share similar passions and begin building that relationship. Ultimately, find enough people to form that Tribe and create a product that you can market and share with others. I will expand more on that in the coming weeks.
There are still far too many marketers out there sharing old information and trying to do it all by themselves. All they want to talk about is their business opportunity. It is one dimensional and eventually they WILL fall flat on their face. You want to have more than one stream of income. If you use products for marketing and you like them, then promote it as an affiliate.
You need to leverage your resources and give, give, give. … because in order to receive you must first learn to give.
My challenge to you and I will leave it at this is to go and find your tribe, find others who you can work with and build relationships that will last a lifetime. Please note, it may take weeks or several months to find a core of people who you can work with.
Oh, one more thing…. Go check out Kary Rogney’s Blog if you want to see what blogging and tribes are all about. This guy is without question a leader in this segment of the marketing industry.
I look forward to hearing your feedback and if you enjoyed the content, go forth and share it with others!
Cheers – Steve
Google Buzz
24 Comments on Why Blog? What’s The Point?
24 Comments
Great Blog.. Well Done!
Thanks Ivan. Definitely a work in progress. I have so many more great ideas coming in the near future and will continually be adding fresh content.
If you want to get an idea of where I am heading, jump over to http://karyrogney.com He knows how to market!
Cheers
Steve
Hey Steve,
I agree with what you said about building relationships and having a tribe. It makes such a huge difference to have a community of people to share & interact with! As far as a niche goes, I do believe that having a clear focus is so important to your readers & customers. It’s also just as important to know WHO your target audience is….who are you really trying to talk to & help out? Thanks for this post!
Take care,
Becca
Becca´s last blog ..9 Tips to Growing Your Health Business Online
Hey Becca,
Thanks for stopping by.
Glad you agree and understand the true power of the “tribe” and how crucially important it is to build those relationships with those who share similar passions.
Cheers
Steve
Hi Steve. Thanks for your thoughtful Post. It is wonderful to be in a Tribe. So far I am taking more than I give, but I hope to change that soon.
Hey Glorias,
Not to worry…. I too am “taking” in as much as I can and give back when and where I can.
Cheers
Steve
Blogging Buddies at the very least – right?
What a difference some people have been making in this community of blogpreneurs! Kary is surely among the leaders on track in this arena. Appreciate the share and look forward to more Steve.
Robin Lynn Brooks´s last blog ..Listen for that Real Connection in Relationship Building
Hey Robin,
Sorry for taking so long to reply. Must have overlooked your comment and I finally (thanks to Clifton) figured out how to reply underneath the person who commented!
Talk to you soon..
Cheers
Steve
This is a real great, personal look at what this blogging stuff is all about, Steve. I agree that many of us (me too) tend to avoid opening our SELVES, and focus on information.
I think, too, though, that it’s easy to get caught in a stream of consciousness blogging with just fellow bloggers… forgetting that our non-industry viewers and readers are actually LOOKING for information and don’t really care about us… not right away, at least.
So, I guess it’s a bit of a tightrope walk between giving quality info and developing our personal brand.
In any case, and I’m sure Kary would be in agreement here… The whole process is really geared to one end, and one end only… developing authentic and personal OFFLINE relationships with people interested in working with us on some level.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Steve. You’re certainly one of the go-to leaders our here!
David Merrill´s last blog ..Building Your MLM Downline with Social Media
Great points David,
It is all a balancing act.
Thanks for the kind words too.
I have so much to learn and once learned, plan on doing exactly as my mentors so….. give all the information away!
Cheers
Steve
Tribes are awesome. Since I joined a couple, my blog has been visited so much more. Relationships are important.Great post Steve.
Beverly
Beverly Monical´s last blog ..Interview With Ray Higdon- Financial Wellness Created With Numis
Hi Beverly,
Tribes are without question a great way to meet like-minded individuals.
I know my traffic has increased as a result as of the tribe movement!
Cheers
Steve
Steve,
You’ve brought up some very important points to remember about blogging. Building relationships builds trust, which can build from there.
Thanks for sharing your insights,
Val
Val wilcox´s last blog ..Along The Path of Self Discovery…
Hi Val,
Building relationships is the fundamental to all of our successes….
Cheers
Steve
Great points you make here Steve and thanks for drawing them to my attention as perhaps I was becoming guilty of too much ‘teaching’ and not enough personality…
For sure one of the things I am really appreciating about the new style of branding and business building is that we can all do it because the only real skill it requires is that of being ourselves!
It was long a dream of mine, way before blogging became so ‘mainstream’ to find a way of sharing the stuff I had leaned over the years in a format that was easy for people to assimilate and digest and social media seems to be the ideal formula for that…
And David also raises some very pertinent points… keeping the balance between delivering useful information and sharing insights and distinctions while at the same time making ourselves accessible and human… a very fine line indeed and one which we are all learning I guess as we delve the social media depths!!
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
BTW Your template came out very well… love the dark green with the blackness!
Sandhan´s last blog ..You are Brilliant and the Earth is Hiring!
Thanks Sandhan,
Glad you enjoyed this post.
Look forward to connecting with you.
Cheers
Steve
Steve…I really like this post. I have tried to figure out a focused niche for myself…but have just not been able to do so. I finally decided that I would just share what is on my mind. Some of those things fall into my areas of expertise and others simply fall into areas of interest.
I once did a post on how to put skype on my particular phone. Since I did that post I get regular traffic to my blog from google (nearly every day). I just wanted to share something that I was inquiring about and thought the info. would be nice for others.
I have found by doing this on a number of occasions I have made it to page 1 on google for dozens of my posts…not even necessarily working at that angle that hard.
Anyhow…I really appreciate the things you have to say and I truly believe that together we can certainly make a much greater impact (and create a great deal more momentum and have a lot more fun as well). Grouping together in Tribes is not only a powerful strategy but the way of the future.
Many blessings Steve!
Bruce Backman´s last blog ..A Quick Update on Yesterday’s Stock Market Craziness and what we can learn
Hey Bruce,
Glad to hear that I am not the only one who has struggled with finding a particular “niche”
I think you are right when you say we just need to speak and write what is on our heart.
If it doesn’t fit into a particular category, that is okay.
Chat soon.
Cheers
Steve
You bring a lot to the table for all to share in. Thanks for giving, Steve. Looking forward to more and more.
Patrick McIntosh´s last blog ..World Cup Group G!
Thanks for the kind words. I too look forward to giving more and hopefully we can connect soon.
Cheers
Steve
Great blog. An eye opener for those who do not know this information. I am very fortunate to know Kary and be in his tribe. Learned so much from him and the “tribe guys” Our blogs have to give information so we brand ourselves. It works very well. People get to know us not only from good content, but we share parts of our lives too. This makes it great for earning trust.
I really enjoyed this post Steve, Thanks,Donna Merrill
Glad that you enjoyed this Donna.
Kary is the reason I am where I am and what I am!
He is a man with a vision, to truly serve others and he is always ready to encourage and educate.
Talk soon Donna.
Cheers
Steve
thanks steve, i admit i was naive when i began blogging, and just rebranded myself using (drumroll) my name! i was in pursuit of some obscure niche, when now i’m so much happier blogging about me and sharing myself with others. glad i stumbled across this =)
Melissa McCloud´s last blog ..Grown Men Can Be So Pathetic
Hey Melissa,
Thanks for stopping by. Glad you “re-branded” yourself…. I will certainly head over to your blog… what is the address? lol Glad you took away from this post that you don’t need to be super specific. Be “YOU” and others will like what there is to offer.
Cheers
Steve
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 7:49 pm and is filed under Part-Time Versus Full-Time Entrepreneur - The Series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.