WSI Internet Marketing

Blogging is one of the best ways to increase your Internet visibility (you’re reading this aren’t you?). Being a “guest blogger” on someone else’s blog just increases your reach, and establishes crediblity. Not only does it give you instant exposure to someone else’s audience and associate you with other highly respected bloggers, it provides a valuable link back to your web property. Everyone wins; the blog gets some fresh new interesting content, and the guest blogger gets more exposure for their own blog, website, brand or products.

Just remember that this isn’t a secret. Many other talented subject authorities are seeking the same exposure on the top blogs. So how do you differentiate yourself and snag one of those prime guest blogging spots? Here are a few tips:

1. Understand the Blog…Know your audience: Yes, you might actually want to READ the blog you are soliciting BEFORE writing your articles. Popular topics evolve and if yours is of no interest to the owner or the readers your blogging request will be denied.

Go back a few months and get a feel for the theme and the direction of the topics being discussed. Don’t pitch topics that have already been covered unless you have an interesting rebuttal or a completely different take on the subject.

2. Know the Rules of the Road: Not all blogs are looking for guest bloggers, so if it’s evident they don’t, you might be able to pitch them the idea. If they do accept guest bloggers, they might actually have blogging guidelines posted on their site. If you break the rules before you get started, chances are you won’t be taken seriously by the managers and you will probably blow the opportunity.

3. Write First, Ask Later: The more popular the blog, the busier the blog managers. Don’t bother going through a long relationship building courtship…get right to it. Just write the article (after assuring yourself that it is appropriate) and send it to them. If they like it, they publish it and no one has to jump through too many hoops. If they don’t like… shop it around to another blog, or use it yourself.

4. Credibility… Credibility… Credibility: This may be obvious, but and article written by an industry expert will carry more weight than just a random person with an opinion. Along with submitting your initial article, make sure that you explain why you are qualified to write on a certain topic or how you can bring a fresh new perspective to that topic.

5: Write an Interesting Headline: There is so much information out there that people no longer read…they scan. That goes for busy blog editors as well as curious readers. Think about your own reading habits when surfing the Internet. We all do the same thing…we scan headlines and move on until something catches our eye. That’s when we take the time to read the article. Write something amusing, witty, mysterious, shocking, or even a question that infers an answer in the article.

Go ahead and be someone’s guest. Unlike most visitors, you may be invited to stay.

Congratulations! Now your business is on Google Places, Yahoo! or Bing Local, or Yelp. You just became more visible…and more vulnerable.

Local business listings are becoming more and more popular, and more and more important. Your customers now have the ability to leave flattering comments about their experience with you. They also have the ability to leave scathing reviews about their experience.

Of course the optimal situation is to run your business so perfectly that you will never feel the wrath of a dissatisfied customer. Assuming that you and the people who work for you are just a few degrees short of perfect, you might want to have a policy as to how you respond to negative criticism. Here are a few pointers:

Take the High Road: Think about it, you aren’t going to win a public argument with a frustrated customer. Their experience was bad enough that they took the time to lash out. It isn’t as much about what they said, but how you respond that makes the difference.

Don’t Ignore it: No it’s not going away by itself. Ignoring an obvious problem only compounds the situation and declares that you just don’t care.

Don’t make it Personal: This is about an experience that your customer had, not about a direct attack on you. Remember there is a real person with real emotions on the other end. Address the problem…not the person. Most of these sites have posting guidelines, so if you believe the review violates those guidelines; you may be able to flag it as inappropriate.

Feedback is a Gift: Even if the customer was off-base with their comments, something set them off. Here is an opportunity to analyze the situation and make a long-term adjustment. You might find that the actual root-cause was a secondary event that wasn’t directly related to their complaint.

Rules of the Road

You can be as creative and innovative as you like in your response, but there are a few rules of the road you should follow:

1. Be Courteous and Professional: You may think you are responding directly to one person, but in practice you are making a public statement.

1. Less is More: Keep it short and sweet. Readers aren’t looking for a Tolstoy novel. They want to scan and move on. It’s your turn to deliver the message, make sure it’s easy to read.

1. Be Grateful: This is an opportunity to show how you handle customer service issues, and to take legitimate customer concerns and make actual improvements in your business.

At the end of the day even negative reviews are an opportunity to bring a disgruntled customer back into the fold and mold public opinion. Don’t hide from it… embrace it!