1st Big Decision
Whether you’re starting fresh or redoing your current blog or website, there’s an important order to thinking about it that I always take my clients through. Following this planning procedure will help you immensely in not only saving money in its creation but also your ability to make money with it once you get going. Your site’s success is definitely a case of making sure you get ‘the horse before the cart’, so to speak.
And your first big decision to make is: What is the purpose of my business blog site? Hand-in-hand with that is: Who is my specific audience? Without having this clearly defined, which many don’t, there is a high probability that you’ll be all over the place with your content and design and therefore not be speaking to anyone in particular – which is a recipe for disaster. Let’s dive into the details of the first question so you can apply it immediately.
What is the purpose of my business blog site? A very interesting question and one you have to get right. When I asked a recent solo-preneur client of mine this question he answered, “To sell my services”. While this is technically correct, it’s a mindset that won’t serve you very well. A lot of the gurus out there will answer the question with – “To build your email list.” Which is also technically true but still not the right answer.
You get the right and overarching answer by switching your thinking to this: The purpose of my blog site is to help the people in my target market. That’s it. Sounds almost stupidly basic. But when you start with that in mind, your entire approach changes. Your content becomes specific, useful and kick-ass. Are most people looking for another blog to read? Hell no, we’ve all got too much going on. But…are we looking for something that will help us with our everyday work and life issues? You’re damn right.
So before anything else, remember that helping them is the purpose. When you help them (your target market), you will stand out, be read by more folks, build your list and yes, sell more of your products and services.
Now the question becomes, who is them? Who is your specific audience? I’ll deal with how to handle that in an upcoming post called The 2nd Big Decision for Your Business Blog Site (or redo).
If you’re having trouble with this or would like more help, check out the Blog Site Rescue service here. As usual leave your questions and comments below. Cheers.
