How Blogging Can Pay Off if You Go the Distance
I was speaking the other day to a colleague about how blogging and social media generally had helped me build my business. He asked how long it had taken for me to get the results I have now. When I told him it had taken four years or a bit more, he went silent.
We didn’t pursue the topic, but my hunch is that he thought that was a rather long time.
Perhaps. But when I compare that with the results I’d had – or rather, not had – from the preceding nine years or so I’d had a presence online, I feel that four years is not a lot for the profile I’ve been able to build and the business that has flowed to me. Business which I am absolutely sure would not have come if I had not taken that first step and started blogging.
More important than the business, more valuable and lasting, the friends I’ve made along the way. Like the wonderful people in this photo.
Patsi Krakoff, who is one of the indomitable duo, with Denise Wakeman, of the Blog Squad, gave me the opportunity to reflect and share, when she interviewed me a couple of days ago.
You can read the interview at Patsi’s Writing on the Web.
Des Walsh
Business coach and digital entrepreneur. With coach training from Coachville.com and its Graduate School of Coaching, and a founding member of the International Association of Coaching, Des has been coaching business owners and entrepreneurs for the past 20 years. Over the same period he has also been actively engaged in promoting the business opportunities of the digital economy. He is a certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) coach, and a certified specialist in social media strategy and affiliate marketing.
Des,
I can say this much, with social media and blogging, results will vary from one person to the next (from one business to the next). But like you I can say that the results are very much tangible! Not only do you form business relationships, but you acquire new friendships! These add to the whatever conversation you’re having…they bring value and collaborative thought. It’s the kind of thing you don’t always find anywhere else.
I know what you mean, Des. Some hot-shot wanna be bloggers may be looking to get rich quick and think that 4 years is waaay too long.
But look at what you’ve built. Well worth the 4 years. Denise and I both had online businesses, since ’96 (DW) and ’99 (PK) and it was hard work for little visibility. So we are very happy with what’s happened since late 2004.
Truthfully, we aren’t A-list bloggers with hundreds of thousands of readers to our 3 business blogs. But it’s bringing us enough qualified leads to keep us in multiple hundreds of thousands of revenue dollars…;-0..
When people call or email us, they’re already fans, and are pre-sold about working with The Blog Squad! We work with amazing people, don’t have to do very much marketing except write on our blogs, and we love our work…What can be better than that?
Ricardo
Another thing I’ve noticed and others have remarked on is that when you do meet someone face to face for the first time and have been in conversation with them via blogging, or even if you have just been a lurking reader of their blog or blogs, the live conversation can cut more quickly to the chase rather than having to do the usual “do I really want to talk with you?” two-step.
Patsi
Great point that when people make contact “they’re already fans, and are pre-sold…”. That alone would make it worth the effort.
Another great post, Des. I’ve been online since 2002 myself with my main business site, and though it’s gotten me a little business here and there, and is ranked well for its specific search terms, overall it hasn’t generated what I had expected as far as attention. However, with my other blog and a true dedication to the craft, I can’t believe how fast it’s grown. And adding some of the social media things like Twitter and Facebook have helped as well. I can’t believe some of the people I’ve had the opportunity to talk to and meet, including being able to read Guy Kawasaki’s book that’s coming out soon and offering my opinion and critique on some of it. To me, that says it all, and what a fun ride it can be also.