Conrad Hees’ Blog

Kind of a harsh title, isn’t it?

While of course we all have a lot of value without having to own a blog, the purpose of this article is to show you why no one will be able to see that value until you get with the program and start blogging.

High Expectations

As human beings, we are all governed by certain laws of the mind which limit us in various ways. One of those laws is that once we are conditioned to expect something, especially from ourselves and others, we tend to tune out all those who do not meet those expectations.

Look at it this way. Ten years ago, a cell phone was a luxury item, and very few people had one. Then, as cell phones became more readily available, more and more people began to get them. About five years ago, it was still acceptable to have a house phone line and use that for all of your calls, but the majority of people had cell phones by the early 2000’s.

Now, as 2008 comes upon us, everyone has a cell phone. I know 10 year olds with cell phones. I myself, as well as most of my young friends who are living on their own now, have opted not to even get a house line, and we strictly use our cell phones for our calls.

The point is this: in our current day and age, I think it is safe to say that you are considered a weirdo if you do not own a cell phone.

Isn’t that a strange phenomenon? Something that was considered rare and unnecessary ( and this can be applied to computers, business websites, etc.) only a short time ago, is now considered an absolute must-have for everyone in our culture. Now, we expect everyone to have a cell phone, every business to have a website, and so on……and if you do not have these things, you will be considered out of date, out of touch, and basically, less relevant in our current environment.

How This All Applies to Blogging:

This phenomenon of a certain rarely used item becoming more and more prevalent until we are all expected to have it is quickly becoming applicable to weblogs.

A blog, which only a few short years ago was considered a silly online alternative to a diary, has evolved into perhaps the most valuable and relevant means of communicating your value to the marketplace, the community, and to the world.

The Blogosphere has multiplied many times in the past year or so, to the point that tens of thousands of blogs are being created each day. Soon, a blog, which was once considered unnecessary, will be something that all of us are expected to have.

The point of my long-winded explanation is that the longer you wait to begin blogging, the more at risk you are of being considered irrelevant in our current environment, especially the online world. You are literally compromising your online presence without one.

I know that many of you will most likely already have a blog, but I thought that I would provide a fresh, as well as urgent perspective on what is happening in the world today. At the very least, if you do own a blog right now, you can feel pretty damn good about yourself after reading that J.

Why Blogging is Today’s Most Powerful Self-Marketing Tool

In today’s current environment, the competition in nearly every facet of our lives is fierce. The job market is fiercely competitive, the business world is cutthroat, and everyone must continually step up their game in order to meet the requirements of our world today. Those who do not face immediate obsolescence.

Beginning to blog is the best way for a person nowadays to stay ahead of the curve and relevant. Blogs serve three main purposes that make them absolutely necessary to anyone who wants to succeed:

- They are a powerful and efficient networking tool

- They allow you to easily and powerfully demonstrate your knowledge and value

- They allow you to take advantage of the current trend of ‘permission marketing’ and relationship marketing; people are moving further and further away from traditional sales techniques, and blogs allow you to position yourself as a friend, not a salesperson

Even if you have nothing to sell, a blog will help you to instantly increase the value in your only true product, which is yourself. The ‘personal branding’ benefits are enormous.

In our current day and age, it is not uncommon for people to drastically increase their personal value through blogging. You can get a job through your blog, create a business, make a second income, and open up endless opportunities for yourself that otherwise may have not been possible.

In short, blogging makes you RELEVANT.

Why Your Business is Doomed Without a Blog

Going back to the example of cell phones in the first section of this article, it is not hard to see that with so many people and businesses starting blogs today, you run a major risk of being left in the proverbial dust if you do not start a blog for your business.

Just as it is today with all businesses being required (in the customers’ minds) to have a website, I predict that in the near future, all businesses will be required to have a blog as well. Once again, if you do not, you run a very high risk of having your customers, potential customers, allies, and competitors all view you as a business dinosaur, and having your relevance slip further away each day.

A blog is a must-have nowadays for a business, because of the extremely important following reasons:

- A blog is the easiest way for a business and its leaders to establish themselves as experts in the field. Blogging can change the markets’ entire perception of you, raising the value of your reputation, all the way down to the value of your product. After all, perception is everything. What would it be worth to your business if you were considered a thought leader, expert, and innovator? I think that the answer could be measured in several extra zeros over the years, don’t you?

- The networking possibilities of blogging are endless. Not only will it give you the ability to create allies with other leading businesses (after all, the other cutting-edge people in your field will be blogging as well), it will open up endless possibilities that you may not even be aware of at this moment.

- Once again, the market is changing, and customers are becoming incredibly discerning, as well as wary of old marketing tactics. Everyday, they are being faced with more and more free value, which is in turn causing them to tune out traditional advertising and sales techniques. The wave of the future is in approaching customers as friends that you are trying to help, and blogging is the perfect medium to convey that message. After all, who is a customer more likely to choose? A business with a website trying to sell him something, or a business with a blog that is trying to help him fill his need? The answer is obvious.

- Each year, more and more shopping is being done online, and more consumers are forming their opinions about companies from the information they receive online. It is time to expand your online presence, period.

I think that these points are enough to make any conscientious businessperson understand the value of a good business blog.

Improve Yourself, Your Business, Your Life

So, have I beaten this into the ground enough yet? Blogging is the future. You will become obsolete without one. Etcetera, etcetera.

But has this resonated with you at all? Has it moved you to action?

If it hasn’t moved you to action, I haven’t done my job. If you have any questions that you would like to ask me personally about how I can help you, let me know immediately. I want my content to deliver the maximum amount of value possible, and answering your questions will help me do that more effectively than just writing. If you want to know more, contact me today.

The Next Part of The Series…

I hope that you enjoyed the first part of my series on blog marketing. This was really more geared towards people who do not know much about blogging, or those who are interested in what a blog can do for their personal and professional lives.

Part Two of this series is for people who already own a blog and would like to know about how to gain more of the lifeblood of a blog: subscribers.

The article will go into detail about exactly what questions a visitor is asking themselves when they are deciding whether or not to subscribe to your blog, and how to help them along with deciding in your favor. Stay tuned…