In the beginning, there was fear!!
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What would I say?
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I’m not that original.
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Everything I have to say has been said before.
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How do I begin?
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I don’t have time to blog!
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My business is too small.
I initially had all those same reservations. I was encouraged to start my own blog by a client who blogs. I was impressed. I didn’t have other clients who blogged. He told me about a service he uses that assists you with blogging, finding topics, writing and editing and even promoting your blog on social media. I decided to jump in. The president of the blogging company said, “You’ll see. It’s addictive.” And you know what? He was right.
It is not worth doing.
Some people think blogging is a time waster and you don’t get the ROI, but you can’t look at blogging like you would other marketing programs. It has to be part of an integrated campaign. Blogging alone, unless you have really great content to share, may not be effective.
Maybe I can do a couple.
With blogging, being consistent is the key. You can’t give up after posting 2-3 blogs. And you won’t get any value by posting sporadically.
Who would read it anyway?
People will read it.
One of my first blogs, The Difference Between Advertising and PR, generated several comments and encouraged debate and interaction. While some people commented on my blog itself, others commented through my LinkedIn groups where my blog was posted. All I could think about was: How cool. I’m actually communicating with people I’ve never met and would never have met if not for blogging and social media.
I’ve talked to people from Boston to Seattle and from India, Australia and Turkey. I’ve had conversations offline with people in my industry, met a colleague in NY, talked to others and even was asked to do a webinar. People have told me they found my blogs useful and informative.
It is interesting that these days, many people make money blogging. They find that they started out just to write and express themselves, but then their blogs morphed into something bigger….they became experts in blogging and wrote “how to” books, including how to make money blogging, etc. There are blogger conferences – mommy bloggers, beauty bloggers, weight loss bloggers, fishing bloggers, you name it.
Today bloggers hold as much, if not more, influence than newspaper reporters. They break stories, bring down politicians, cause retailers to change the way they do business, move products, increase sales and are paid by companies large and small to write blog pieces for them. Today, certain bloggers are paid to cover events and write about products, such as auto bloggers, mommy bloggers and beauty bloggers.
In my recent blog, Why Should I Blog? one of my readers said I have encouraged her to take that first step. What about you? It’s never too late to begin.
Wendy Alpine
[email protected]
www.alpinepr.com
Phone: 770-321-1695
Fax: 404-806-5316