5 Signs Of A Small Blog That Is Ready To Grow

(Photo by Kaptain Krispy Kreme)

When you leave comments as a way to market your own blog . . .

In my last post Know, Like, Trust: Three Steps To Winning The Business, I emphasized the importance of working on the process of being known. It’s such a basic step, yet it’s quite obvious that many businesses fail on this first step of marketing. How many businesses go out of business before they ever get attention of substantial number of potential customers? Forget about the quality of your products and services for just a moment, if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter to them.

In the online world, this translates into getting attention of new readers. And one of the tried-and-true approach is to comment and / or guest blog on other blogs.

James the “handsome debonair king of the blogosphere” wrote in this post that it’s better to comment on smaller blogs. He insists that the ROI (return of investment) is higher with smaller blogs. Kind of like investing in small cap stocks. It’s an interesting strategy.

Not all small blogs are created equal, though . . .

I sort of agree with him. There is a point in investing in growing small businesses rather than in large cap blue chips. The “sort of” is inserted there, however, because I don’t think all small businesses or blogs are created equal. There are small blogs that are going to stay small and silently disappear and small blogs that are ready to grow big. Two different animals even if the current subscribers number are the same.

Can we spot promising small blogs that are going to grow big? Like stock investment, there is no guarantee, but I think there are signs that indicate that a blog owner knows what he or she is doing. Look for these signs and find great small blogs to comment.

1. There is About page with contact info.
As I discussed in Are You Afraid Of Expressing Yourself In Business?, people like people. Further, if the blogger is hiding out, do you think they are responsible for their writing? I don’t like dealing with nameless someone, and I bet many people feel the same.

2. The blogger responds to comments.
Maybe things are different for A-list blogger who gets 100 comments for every post. For everyone else, it serves to treat the visitors right. Not ignoring the people who spent their precious time to write their comment is really just the first step. I usually don’t return to blogs that ignored me before, and again, I’m betting many people feel the same.

3. There are outgoing links.
We don’t live in the vacuum. Bloggers who send out link loves know they will be reciprocated. (Well, most of the time.) Further, it shows the blogger goes out and do some learning or marketing by reading other blogs, which is important for growth.

4. Unique contents that deliver value.
We are tired of rehashed content. (Except this extraordinary one) Unique content is fun to read, and it attracts incoming links. But I’m putting this at #4 because there are certain limitations to uniqueness (whereas the aforementioned three are actionable for anyone willing to put their effort in). I mean, I’m pretty well read and it’s very seldom that I come across with something that is so new to me. What I’d like to see is a fresh angle, a personal flavor. Of course, if you can offer something that I never heard of, that will be wonderful — it reminds me there are more to explore in life.

Needless to say, please present the great contents in a neat way that doesn’t take more than 15 seconds to figure out what this blog is all about . . .

5. Big Bonus Point: You’ve seen the blogger at other parties – I mean, at other blogs. This means the blogger is working on the marketing.

Do you know of other signs to spot a growing blog? Some secrets to success? Whisper me. . .

Further reading: King James is currently writing a series of posts on the art of guest posting. The first post of the series is here.

More reading: The best way to comment is to find the blog you really enjoy and comment for the joy of having conversation with the blog author. Cath Lawson just published a terrific post on this — I could not explain better.

If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download

Know, Like, Trust: Three Steps To Winning The Business

(Photo by Michael Dawes)

The long, and sometimes winding, road from nobody to somebody

Okay, I’m back. I appreciate your loving support for my inner child. (I sometimes call her Wie Wie.) But we are back to discussing business, and today I want to talk about the very basic thing in marketing that you just can’t afford not to know. It’s so basic that, when I started my business, I didn’t give it much thoughts – I took it for granted. It’s about the three steps to successful sales: Know, Like and Trust.

In order for a potential customer to do business with you, he or she first need to KNOW you exist. You and your business. Then they need to LIKE you. They may not consciously admit they are doing business because they like you, and there are certain businesses that this factor hardly matters (such as businesses that address emergency – when you are locked out of the house, you probably call the locksmith in your town even if he is not the most pleasant person. . .), but in most cases, this is critical. Finally, they need to TRUST you enough to put their money and emotional investment in your business.

It sounds simple. Common sense. But actually getting this process working is . . . well, it’s a lot of work. Let me explain by an example.

Who is this guy? James “hire me” Chartrand?

While I was trying to learn about blogging by checking famous big blogs, I noticed I saw some names repeatedly in their comments. Like James “hire me” Chartrand.(Note: He doesn’t sign this way any more, I think. This was awhile ago. But still, this is a great twist – if you have a common name, learn from his example how to stand out.) I’m not sure how many times I saw his name before I actually started recognizing it. Read: many many times. This is the KNOW step.

Then one day, I was writing my own comment at a big blog. Now you know how things are at those A-list blogs. Most comments are like “Great post!” “I totally agree.” kind. I actually had a point that I thought was valuable, and had to think a bit how to say it. And while I was staring the screen, I noticed this guy James also wrote a comment asserting his point. I thought, “Hey, here is someone who can actually think, and not afraid of saying it!” This is the LIKE step. Or maybe the beginning of it.

So I finally clicked on his name and went over to their blog. “Men With Pens” Hmm. . . do they have anything interesting for me? I subscribed to their feed and honestly, pretty much forgot about it. (I have way too many subscriptions that I just can’t keep up with all the posts . . . my apology here.) Eventually, I noticed they respond to every comment on their blog. Now I try to do the same on my blog, and I know how hard it is. They have far more comments and they still do it. So this is quite remarkable.

Then I asked if they could do an interview for me. They were graceful both in the interview and in responding to comments. My LIKE thermometer went up. Now I’m their fan. I read their posts very often, and I check their blog evaluation every Sunday. They seem to know what they are talking about, and their actions live up to their words, so I TRUST them. I like writing myself so I’m not going to hire him as my copywriter, but when I need sophisticated web work (I am an entrepreneur and have lots of ideas. . .), I know who to contact. Read: If you are in business and want to have a website but have no clue how to do it right, or if you have started blogging and realize you actually suck at it, check them out.

See how much work James has put in to this Know – Like – Trust process?

Note: James didn’t bribe me to say nice things about him. And I didn’t write this to earn brownie points for this blog’s evaluation that is scheduled on August 24th. James is fair, and even if I call him the “handsome debonair king of the blogosphere”, I know he will be brutally honest about what he has to say about this Yes to Me blog on that judgment day.

How I am working on the Know – Like – Trust process.

It took me a while to realize that just having an online presence doesn’t get me known. That was the first mistake I made. I also made the wrong assumption that, once people notice me, they’d surely like and trust me – because I’m a lovely trustworthy person Well, online persona doesn’t quite reflect all my good qualities in real life, and most internet surfers have extremely short attention span to notice anything that is not explicitly clear.

I realized I needed a strategy and actual work – lots of it – on this Know – Like – Trust process.

Being noticed is very challenging. I’d like to be known as professional Akashic Reader, and I want to be known not just among the “spiritual” kind of people but also people who don’t yet realize their spiritual nature. This is why I have two websites, this and Akashic Record Reading.

Yes to Me offers a place of learning and sharing for aspiring entrepreneurs and personal development enthusiasts. I do as much commenting and guest blogging I can to get attention and traffic to here. My hope is that my readers become to like me and this blog because of the many features like Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs and Gratitude Friday. When you like this blog, you are more likely to spend time here, and you might check other pages like this. In other words, I’m gradually awakening your spiritual awareness. (Of course this doesn’t mean I expect all readers to check Akashic Record Reading website – Yes to Me by itself is a great learning place, open and free to all.)

Trust is also a critical part. It’s a shame some people just spread some tarot cards and call themselves psychics. I also heard about nasty stories that they would “light up special candles” for extra $XX. I don’t do this kind of thing (nor my friends). My prices are clearly written on my website and I even offer 100% satisfaction program. But for people who don’t know me well, or someone who is suspicious about “spiritual” service in general, how can I win their trust?

Yes to Me serves to make this point also. I mean, do you think someone who writes all these quality articles as volunteer work would cheat or offer bogus service? My sincerity is right in front of you. You can also see I’m quite practical. (Just to let you know, I don’t use any drugs. Zero. No nicotine, either. And I hardly ever drink. I do drink a cup of coffee a day.)

But I know there are plenty of room for improvement. How can I improve my Know, Like, Trust factors?

And which step of Know, Like, Trust do you find most challenging?

Related post: Learning To Love Networking

If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download

Do You Know What I Do?

(Photo by tanja de Bie)

My fellow small business owners: How many people don’t know what you do?

Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz threw this question in her article Let’s Play A Game – What’s Your Home Business? because she found out not all her blog readers know what she does for a living. She says,

I got to thinking… how many of your readers don’t know about your IttyBiz? How many knew one time 8 months ago when they read your About page but have promptly forgotten? How many of them have room on their credit cards? How many of them know people who could use your products or services? How many of them would fall over their own feet to recommend you but don’t have a damn clue what you really do?

Hmm. If it can happen even to an A-list blogger like her, it can happen to me, I guess. This blog is still so young and I don’t always write about my services in blog posts. So I started writing my answers to her questions . . .

Do I know what I am doing? Do I at least know what I don’t know?

Writing I did. Definitely the worst writing I ever did. I slept over it, and finally admitted to myself: This is no good.

Not that I don’t know what I do. Not that I never thought about how to present my services to new people. Of course I know what I do and I’ve thought about marketing. It’s that the questions she presented for this writing project are the kind of pointed questions that digs deep into my marketing plan of my business. Like the USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Also, I have so much to say about my services (I love what I do, you know) that it’s hard for me to put it in short neat sentences.

So I did what I preach: I asked for help.

I call it Team Building in my e-workbook 7 Check Points For Aspiring Entrepreneurs. We don’t need to be everything and do everything. Seek the right help. It’s faster and easier to get things done. (By “Team” I mean everyone who can help an entrepreneur take her business off the ground and moving – CPA’s, attorneys, strategic partners, coaches, employees. . . and marketing specialists.)

So far, I have exchanged several emails with her and talked with her once. She is wonderful. Just bouncing ideas with her gets my creative juices flow. So here is my response to her “game” for now — I’m thinking of following up on this when she gets back to me with more great ideas.

And here is my update ^_^ now, three months after this writing, and two months after I started my second website Akashic Record Reading for my soul reading service, this soul reading service has grown faster than my coaching!! Naomi told us about fast growth in the interview she gave to Yes to Me — mine is not that killing bad, but it’s certainly surprising. So please take the following Q&A with the understanding that coaching is actually my side offering at this time. And if you think your situation takes something more than life coaching, go ahead and check out my soul reading service — my clients’ testimonials are proofs for how powerful this is!

What’s your game? What do you do?

I help people who is stuck and find it hard to get out of the rut. These are smart people who have high aspirations and know how to live better, but somehow can’t help doing things the old way. . . I just think it is such a shame that these good people try and try so hard without realizing a few critical points. As a professionally trained coach, I can often see what they are missing.

It’s one thing to have a generic understanding of how to live better – you can learn this by reading good self-help books and blogs. However, it’s quite another to implement the changes in your own life. I help my clients make their own action plans that are best for their own situations and personalities.

Logistically, I usually schedule one phone session per week. The length of time clients work with a coach varies, but typically two to six months.

Additionally, I will be offering soul reading and clearing soon. I’m very excited about this new service because I think it will give a new dimension of understanding to our life’s struggles.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

I love it. Also, I’d like to think I’m good at it. Just for fun, I recently took Gallup’s StrengthFinder test and the result confirms my talents to find the best qualities in people and help them utilize the strengths to the max.

Moreover, I’m very intuitive. I’ve always known this, and I’m glad I’ve found a way to train it systematically so that I can put it into practical use.

It’s like my whole life has been preparing me to do these services. I’ve re-invented myself and my life a few times. The major ones are when I came to this country and when I quit my nice corporate job. I know how to put ideas to action.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

If you feel you can do so much better but somehow find it hard to actually do what you intend to do, talk to me. (That doesn’t make you a loser – real losers don’t have dreams nor goals. Or don’t see the benefits of getting assistance.)

This is where Naomi gave me an insight. In her email, she said my target clients were “anyone who read Oprah magazine.” What a brilliant way to put it! While I think men would also benefit from my services a great deal, it does describe my main client group.

I also work with aspiring entrepreneurs and new entrepreneurs. I guess people who take themselves serious enough to start their own businesses are open and willing to have coaches.

What’s your marketing USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

This is the hardest question. For one thing, I don’t think other coaches are “losers” at all. I think if a business owner has to put down her competitors, she has a problem, not her competitors. I certainly would like to think of myself better than that. There are plenty of people who would benefit from having a coach, so all quality coaches can thrive.

However, I do understand the need to differentiate myself in the market. Again, this is a tough question because it’s hard to see myself in others’ eyes. So, until she gets back to me with more professional advise, here is my answer:

I can bring out the courage within you that you may not know you have. I’ve been through challenging times when my faith was pretty much all I could rely on. And I know how hard it is to take courage at face value especially for intelligent people – we tend to get analysis paralysis.

Also, when I say “faith” or when I talk about soul and spirituality, I am talking about open spirituality, not necessarily religious affiliations. So don’t worry about being recruited or lectured when you talk to me – I’m not that kind of a person. I guess this makes me uniquely attractive to certain clients.

Finally – well, not many coaches have cross-cultural perspectives, right? And not many know how to read soul records upon request. . .

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

As mentioned above, soul reading service is coming very soon. I’m creating a Squidoo lens for this. It is an optional service, but I think a lot of people who are interested in my coaching service would find it helpful.

Long term, I want to do inspirational speeches and publish books. Coaching is great for the clients because they get ongoing personal attention – I like it, too, and consider it as privilege. However, it does limit the number of people I can reach. By speaking publicly, I can reach out a lot more people.

If you have a small business, try this writing exercise. It’s very helpful to make sure you have an effective marketing plan, the kind of plan that helps people find you. And your readers get to know you better!

Coming up:

I interviewed Naomi for my Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series. Will post it soon, so stay tuned! > It’s here.

« Previous Page — Next Page »