Don Schindler

Executive Reputation Coach & Digital Marketer

Month: January 2009

Do business blogs really work? Just ask Princeton Premier.

A business blog can do lots of things so it really depends on the company. I can tell you that we are not a digital company that immediately says you need a blog.

We are a company that will find out what you want to do, find out what your audience really wants from you and then if a blog fits our strategy – well then, we’ll suggest you start a blog.

But that being said, I am a big believer in blogs.  Right now, blogs are very good at doing lots of great things on the web.

What is Princeton Premier

What is Princeton Premier

Driving traffic (#2 from the guys at SEOmoz.org)
Spurring conversations – Check out Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel
Giving business a real voice and personality (Chris Brogan and Bob Rhubart’s Comments
Search engines love them
But they can also suck.  Here’s a good list for knowing if your business blog sucks.

We measure our business blog by the traffic it generates and the conversations it spurs.  Our chief evangelist, Scottyhendo, is very, very good at getting conversations going.  Some of his more intriguing ones are:

I Gave $10 to David Armano to Help Daniela and Now I Regret It
Why Chris Brogan’s Kmart Moment Matters: Personal Reputation vs. Corporate Brand

But he is amazed at how much traffic my little post about Princeton Premier has driven for our blog.

I wrote it merely as an example of how I used searching and social media to find out about a company and then make a common sense evaluation of whether I wanted to do business with them.

But the blog post itself remains one of our top posts and continues to drive traffic to the site.  It’s on the first page of the Princeton Premier SERP (Search Engine Results Page) for Google and it continues to get comments.

I never really intended for it to do anything but be part of our voice to help businesses understand that if you aren’t out there in social media spaces and being a part of the conversation, others will do it for you.  And it may not be the message you want.

For Princeton Premier, I think it is bad.  Their site is number one but almost all the other links are blogs calling them out for being a scam.

The lesson here is make sure you are constantly making sure that you know what is being said about you on the web.  I use SM2 and Google Alerts for both my company and myself.

And then if you find something bad, knowing what to do about it. MediaSauce has several solutions for this that range from contacting the person directly to establishing a siteless web presence with social media.

If you would like to learn more, just give us a call at 317.218.0500 or email.

But back to my original purpose of this post, business blogs do work if you give them time and you write about things that your audience wants and you tie it into your business.  Don’t give them just fluff.  Don’t give them that old school marketing spin.

If you don’t believe in business blogs, I would like to understand why.  Give me your feedback and experience.

“Proven” Methods Don’t Change The World

So every morning I basically do the same thing.  I get up, get the kids fed and on the bus and then head to work.

Photo by Kevin Dooley

Photo by Kevin Dooley

It’s pretty chaotic in the morning.  The kids make sure of that.

So when I get to work, I get to slow down right.  Well, not really.

In the world of digital, there is so much going on.  In fact it’s really chaotic.  There’s new technology – like everyday something fantastic comes out – and there’s new techniques.

What I did yesterday, may not work today. There are no real standards – and I would question what your outreach company says if they say they have a “proven” method.  How are you going to change the world with a “proven” method?  If that is the case, then everyone would be using it.

I’m not staying that you don’t need stats or some kind of proof that the strategy and tactics will work.  You should ask for examples of other successes but if they are suggesting that you do the same thing that someone else has already done.  Well, then how is that unique thinking?  How will that change the world for you.

I read this morning and had to print it out and tape it to the wall.  Things I like make it to my wall.

It’s from Scott McCloud.  And he says:

Learn from Everyone
Follow No One
Watch for Patterns
Work like hell

Love it. So how will you change the world today?

Your marketing and products are boring and it makes me tired

Grandma Iva Lee and Paul watching TV

Grandma Iva Lee and Paul watching TV

Seth Godin had a great little post today called “You’re boring“.

It’s really quick so go read it.

I run into this thing all the time with marketers taking the safe route.  Especially in this economy.

When you choose the safe and boring route, you make your potential clients tired.  You make your staff tired. You make yourself tired. Oh, great. Here we go again. Boring story, boring brochure, boring website. Whoa, that made me tired just writing it. Continue reading

RT Tamar Weinberg’s Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008

Tamar Weinberg is a rockstar

Tamar Weinberg is a rockstar

What an amazing compilation of blog posts. If you have the time (which I don’t right now but I will make the time), you need to check them all out.

I can’t believe how much time she put into this.

Check out her Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008 and then make sure you give her props on the list.

Good stuff.

I promise I’ll get a real post up soon because it’s part of my New Year’s Resolution.

Yeah, right.

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