Blogs are the ultimate in “sticky websites”

While your 3 year old’s sticky fingers aren’t necessarily a good thing, a stick web site is. A sticky web site is one that visitors spend time exploring. The more time a visitor spends at your web site, the more likely he or she is to return or make contact with you. Isn’t that why you published a web site in the first place?

Marketing specialists all agree that it takes approximately 6 to 8 contacts from you (whether it be via email, snail mail or phone call) before your prospect will turn into a client.

There are lots of “tools” you can install on your web site to make it more “sticky”… but the positively most effective stickiness tool for any coaching practice is a blog.

The “beautiful” thing about blog stickiness is it’s YOUR insights… YOUR vision…. YOUR blog posts that keep visitors coming back for more.

Many blog “gurus” will tell you that RSS is the reason for a blog. Unfortunately, RSS (which stands for Really Simply Syndication” is not a widely adopted practice… YET!  For that reason, it’s not reason in and of itself to launch a blog.  (Don’t worry… there are lots of GREAT reasons to launch a blog for your coaching practice.  It’s just the ability to deliver RSS is NOT one of them!)

In an effort to raise awareness of what RSS and how you can use it in your daily life, the Daily Blog Tips has announced it’s sponsoring RSS Awareness Day.
RSS Awareness Day

Believe me, I’m ALL for 100% adoption of RSS feeds.  However, when someone like Chris Garret says he’s adding an email newsletter subscription to supplement his RSS feeds, I think we all should sit up a listen.

Chris is very “tech savvy” and as a tech savvy user, he has chosen Aweber to deliver his email newsletter.  However, if you’re not tech savvy, you may find the learning curve at Aweber to be steep.

That’s why I recommend Marketer’s Choice for my “less than tech savvy” clients.

  • First, the live support with Marketer’s Choice is TOP NOTCH.
  • Second, they provide TONS of online videos which make calls to live support very rare indeed.  If you use the link in this post, well… it’s an affiliate link but it also gives you a first month free bonus that you won’t get if you visit the site directly.

The secret to “sticky”…. lots of good quality content… and then remind them that your blog is still there with an email newsletter.

If you’re still fuzzy on the difference between the two… your blog lives “online”.  The content you post there is indexed by the search engines just like a “traditional” static HTML web site.  The big difference between a blog and a web site is how EASY it is to add fresh content to your blog.  This ability to easily add and edit content is the BASIS of the “magic of blogs”.

Your blog will serve as a “sign up point” for your coaching newsletter.  It’s where the sign up form will live so people can sign up to get your email newsletter.   When you SEND your email newsletter, unless you also post that content on your blog, that content will not be available to the search engines for search.

RSS is a way for people to sign up for your blog’s content without sharing their email address.  Less than 10% of web users even KNOW what RSS is.  Some day, RSS will be a great reason to launch a blog.  Until then, a blog is a great “sticky” website.  One that allows you to communicate with potential clients BEFORE they pick up the phone and call.  For that reason alone, you should have a coaching blog.

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Creating Blog Content is not as hard as you might think….

Content Paralysis… what happens when you think you don’t have enough time to create content for your coaching blog.

It’s a common concern, but like any “problem” there are easy and effective solutions.

Over at Duct Tape Marketing, John gives helpful tips on how to Reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose as a way to generate content. While Shonnie Lavender encourages you to create exceptional blog content by thinking of your reader. Vandalay Web Design offers their advice with a great post on13 Ways to Create Unique, Original Blog Content.

Of course, if you find you’re totally blocked, a great way to get inspired is to begin reading what OTHER bloggers are writing about.   Dosh Dosh offers his take on this tactic in his post on using Social News Aggregators to create content.

Of course, when you find you’re on a roll… go with it, but don’t post all those great posts on the same day.  Try to build up a post “savings account” for those days when you don’t have “time” to create compelling content.

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Choosing a Theme for your Coaching Blog

You’ve done it.  You’ve decided to launch a blog to promote your coaching practice.  Congratulations!  Blogs are GREAT marketing tools for coaching professionals.

You’ve also made another great decision by deciding to take the “high road” and launching a self hosted Word Press blog.  Again, another great move.  (Some Typepad coaching blogs are having trouble accepting Trackbacks, which are essential to building a successful blog.)

Now, it’s time to determine how you want your Word Press blog to appear.  This process should be positively PAINLESS when using Word Press.  Word Press Themes can be activated and deactivated with ease, unlike a traditional HTML style web site.  Applying a Word Press Theme is like  “buying a dress” while choosing a look for a traditional HTML web site  is like getting a tattoo.

Despite the ease with which a Word Press Theme is activated/deactivated… many coaches are paralyzed at this phase of the blog launch process.  Sometimes, it’s merely a fear of “poor branding” execution.  However, there are other times when I suspect that the obsession over the theme choice (and the never ending “tweaking” of the blog’s theme that follows)   are merely an excuse to avoid getting down to the real task of blogging.

Make no mistake… the theme (which controls the appearance) of your blog is important.   However, it merely sets the stage for the real production… your content.  Whether it’s video, audio or merely the written word… your Word Press blog is a powerful communication tool.  Don’t get stuck in the endless loop of moving the blog title to the left 10 pixels and then to the right 10 pixels while your “welcome to word press” post is still hanging out there for all to see!

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