Have I got Article Marketing all wrong?

To keep up to date with the best tips and tools to share with my colleagues and clients, I subscribe to lots of newsletters and use Google Alerts to tell me when my favourite bloggers have posted something new.

Now, I only discovered blogs just over a year ago (I know that’s very late!) and really love the wealth of information being shared by these generous people.  I do tend to be a bit of a book and blog worm (is there such a thing as a blog worm?) and read voraciously!

I also enjoy sharing what I’ve learned about growing a small business and write articles for my Ezine ‘Competitive Advantage’ that comes out every two weeks and shorter articles more often for this blog.

But I’ve noticed that I’m doing things a bit differently from most other bloggers.  They use the article in their Ezine, post it on their blog and submit it to several article directories and do all this more or less on the same day.  Because I didn’t realise things were done this way, I felt a bit short changed at first when I had subscribed to both their Ezine and their blog, as I’m getting the same articles twice – now I just unsubscribe to one (usually the newsletter as it cuts down my inbox).

My reasoning for writing different content is that I like my Ezine subscribers to be the first to read new articles – after all they have been good enough to sign up and many have been with me for years.  I don’t submit these articles to other sites for about a month, and often don’t post them on my blog at all.

This does mean quite a bit of extra writing and I’m often tempted to take short cuts.  But I want my loyal subscribers to benefit first and stay with me because I provide plenty of high value content.  Perhaps I shouldn’t be expecting them to sign up to both?

I’d really value your opinion on this.  What do you do and what do you expect?

Do you remember?

A couple of days ago, I spent ages trying to get the links to work between Twitter and Facebook, and Twitter and this Blog. Yesterday I spent more time trying to do the same. Today I tried again but gave up sooner.

Do you remember being told that modern technology (computers and the internet etc.) would save us time? I'm sure I do. But it doesn't always. At the risk of showing my age, I remember a time before computers, when typing involved an electric or even a manual typewriter.

My earliest memory of computers was the word processing package. This really did make life easier with wonders like spell checking and formatting. Correcting a typo no longer involved messy correction fluid!

When PCs first put in an appearance in my workplace, directors and managers suddenly wanted to type their own correspondence (something to do with new toys perhaps?) which transformed the working lives of their secretaries and PAs.

Today, I look back and remember those days with fondness. Technology in the workplace has moved on at such a fast pace that it's getting harder and harder to find the time to keep up. The internet is so powerful and has transformed the way a lot of us work. Whole businesses can be set up and run just using the internet and a computer. Even the products for sale don't have to be physical products any more.

Yes computers, the internet, and new technology in general, have made it possible to reach wider audiences quickly an more easily. Learning about how the new packages and applications work is becoming increasingly time-consuming and stressful - in my opinion!

What do you think? Please feel free to post a comment.

Lessons for the business coach!

I'm afraid I've badly neglected this blog over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, a cycle of migraine headaches over a 10 day period completely wiped me out. But I'm pleased to say that's behind me now and I'm gradually catching up with things.

I have learned some salutory business lessons from this experience. The first is that it would be prudent to prepare in advance some articles and blog postings that can be used in such times. I have to confess that I usually write 'in the moment' and to meet deadlines. This works fine until I need to take time off!

Another lesson is the need to start delegating and outsourcing more - and in order to be able to do that effectively, to record my business systems and processes on paper.

An obvious lesson is to build in more time off - I certainly wouldn't expect an employee to produce their best work on the excess hours and paltry holidays I submit myself to!

Tomorrow I'm running a Selling Skills workshop and then planning next week to sort out the remainder of my backlog. Looking forward to getting straight again.

Promotions disguised as blogs

I've been subscribing to lots of different blogs since I started blogging myself. I deliberately pick those written by business owners and gurus I respect and admire. So why am I feeling disillusioned?

I thought that blogs were meant to be informative and share resources. Of course, I'm not naive enough to believe that there shouldn't be a bit of promotion going on (after all, some blogs are carefully set up to maximise money-making opportunities - and that's fine because they don't pretend to be anything else).

But when I get posting after posting that pretends to inform but instead tells me only about available or soon to be launched products and services, I start to lose respect for the authors, and eventually disappointment unsubscribe.

I'd really welcome your comments here. Am I being unrealistic or are some bloggers overdoing the promotions?

Is it really still only Monday?

I'm not sure that Monday is a good day for a networking breakfast. I feel as though I've almost worked a full week already! I promised to report on the quality of the breakfast - it was excellent! In fact, so good that I'm going back next week (I've been asked to substitute by someone else - how could I refuse?). The group is great fun and I'd like to get to know some of the members better.

I'm still working on this month's newsletter! I managed to get side-tracked by some exciting ideas for workshops next year and it was only with great difficulty that I re-focused on the job in hand. Does that ever happen to you?

Another reason I can't believe it's still only Monday is because I did some work over the weekend (a life coaching client and dealing with an email backlog), not always a good idea.
I think I'm starting to ramble, so will post again when I'm wider awake.

Before I forget, there's a great video on Alice Seba's blog - watch it right to the end!
Alice Seba's Internet Marketing Sweetie Blog: Silly Sunday: Marketing Rules

Do Business Owners Get Lonely?

I've read a couple of blogs and articles recently that suggest they can, but there are steps you can take to overcome the loneliness that working on your own can bring.

The reason I'm thinking about this subject is that, one by one, the meetings I had planned for this week were cancelled or postponed. So frustrating! I've learned from bitter experience to email and confirm an appointment a couple of days beforehand. That still doesn't stop the last minute changes. It's not that I have a problem with people moving a meeting when there is a genuine reason, it's the knock-on effect in my diary caused by having to reschedule that offends my sense of order! Whereas I thought I would be out and about and meeting people this week, I've ended up staying in the office and feeling a bit like a billy no-mates.

I don't think it matters whether your loneliness is caused by working from home, or as the leader of a team, the feeling is very similar.

That's where networking groups, attending seminars, joining mastermind groups all come into their own. I remember when I first started in business nearly 10 years ago, my sanity was saved by going to Chamber of Commerce meetings and finding out to my delight that other business owners were struggling with the exact same issues as I was.

The relationships you form with people you meet are invaluable. You may never do business with some of them, but these business colleagues can be wonderful sounding boards when you meet up for coffee on the occasions when you just have to 'get out of the office before you scream!' Thank goodness I was able to pick up the phone and catch up with a few people before total isolation set in.

Yes business owners do get lonely, but only if they neglect to network and search out like-minded souls.

There's a great lesson from the younger generation on how to network effectively in this blog post. Read and enjoy!