Presentation to NCET, February 25, 2015 on how to get started blogging for business or personal brand

1. Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
NCET, February 25, 2015
Blogging 101

2. www.bretlsimmons.com
http://www.slideshare.net/BretLSimmons

5. What do you want
to learn today?

6. Let me ask you
• Own, operate, or chief marketer for a
business?
• Does the business have a website?
• Does the website have a blog?
• Personal blog?

11. Your Website

12. More social, less media
(Coine & Babbitt, 2014)
Be more human
(Schaefer, 2015)

14. If your website does not have a
blog, it’s missing the engine of
relational capacity

18. 752 blog posts total;
first new one 9 months

21. What most companies think
1. When we get started, people will
show up
2. Well, we gave it a couple months,
and no one showed up, so let’s quit
Falls & Decker, 2011

22. The Reality
• It takes at least SIX MONTHS
before you will start seeing any
demonstrable results and success
from your blog
Falls & Decker, 2011

23. Before you start
• Read your competitor’s blogs
• Look at your industry’s best blogs
• Note the best design elements and
content marketing aspects
• Talk to subject matter experts within and
outside your team
• Coine and Babbitt (2014)

24. Know your Value
What you can do uniquely
well to help others address
opportunities or solve
problems that matter to
them.

25. Your First 50 Posts
1. What are the most important things
your customers need to know to
successfully shop for or use your
products or services?
2. What problem are you solving?
3. How do your solutions make a
difference?

26. Effective Blog Post
• Conversational
• Informative/Helpful
• 3-6 paragraphs
• Links to other sites
• At least one picture
• Call to action

27. Savvy Marketing
• Give a bunch
• Provide plenty of value
• Earn the right to ask for a sale
• Ask
(Gary Vaynerchuck, 2013)

28. Hiring Help
• Content
• Technical Issues
• Social Media Marketing Strategy

29. Examples
• Alice Heiman
• Guy Johnson
• The Applied Companies
• The Abbi Agency
• Tahoe Mountain Sports
• River Pools and Spas
• Mirabeau Wine
• Tiffany Brown

30. Summary
• Blogging is one of the most effective
ways to document and target your value
• Delight your customers and bury your
competitors with helpful, human content
• Start now, don’t quit

31. Questions?

32. Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
www.bretlsimmons.com
Bret.simmons@gmail.com
(775) 336-9576