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How to Win Business with your Blog – Part 7: From Subscribers to Clients

Posted on July 27th, 2011.

I hope you enjoyed Derek Halpern's critique of my site in the last post on Conversion Optimization. There were lots of tips in there that will absolutely raise your conversion rate – you'll see me implement many of them in the next few weeks.

Of course, converting visitors to subscribers is great – but it's just the first step. Next you need to convert subscribers into clients.

In truth, I feel this is the area where the accumulated wisdom in online marketing for consultants and coaches is at its thinnest. What I'm going to talk about is based primarily on my own experience, because I've not seen an awful lot of codified best practice out there.

Now there are really two ways to to win high paying consulting or coaching clients online from your blog.

The first is to keep turning out really valuable content for your blog and email newsleter. Content that convinces your readers of your credibility and your ability to get things done. Over time, this ongoing drip-feed will eventually tip over many potential clients from uncertainty into deciding that they should be working with you.

Or sometimes, a problem or opportunity will hit them in your area. And if you've done your job, you'll be the first person they call.

For me, this is what provides the core, steady flow of clients into my business. my visitor and subscriber levels are high enough that I can rely on this to fill my pipeline.

The other method of converting subscribers into clients is more proactive.

This involves promoting your services more visibly to your visitors and subscribers.

It could be very subtle. A short PS at the end of your email newsletter. An in-passing mention in a blog post covering a related topic.

Or it could be more overt. An email to subscribers offering a free coaching session, for example.

Personally, I've found that overt promotion works better for specific, time-limited products and programs than it does for your regular services. An email promoting your normal everyday coaching or consulting services falls down on two counts. Firstly, it doesn't offer anything new, any value over and above what they could find on your website services page. It's all about you wanting to sell. Secondly, you risk sending the message that you're struggling – you're not busy and are sending an email out in desperation.

An email sent out to promote a specific new or time-limited product or service is different though.

It's new information. Something readers can't find every day on your site. And often a new product or service launch comes complete with extra free content as a preview.

And because it's new or only available for a limited time, there's a logical reason why you're contacting them to promote it. You can often generate a degree of buzz around the new product or service with other sites or bloggers linking to the new free content associated with it.

Think about having an entry-level service too. For people who've built their relationship with you online without ever meeting you face to face, it's a big step to hire you for a large conslting project or long-term coaching program. So make sure they can take baby-steps to build up their confidence and experience of you. Perhaps a short diagnostic assessment, or a group coaching program or paid membership site they can join.

Once they've built up conficence via your lower-level service, they'll take much less persuading to hire you for the big stuff.

There's a fine line with overt promotion between effective showcasing of your service and your emails becoming seen as purely promotional – and hence likely to end up in the trash folder. Always make sure you're balancing giving value with the promotional side. Overall your emails and blog posts should be 80-90% content, and at most 10-20% promotional.

Having said that, while many in the internet world over-promote – the reverse is usually true of consultants and coaches. Our natural aversion to being seen as salesy means that most of us don't promote our services enough – me included if I was honest. We like to think that our wonderfulness will shine through and clients will drop in our lap without having to actively promote.

That may happen to some. But for most of us it's a surefire route to the poorhouse.

We need to grit our teeth, plan out how we can actively (yet gently) promote our services through our blog and our newsletter – then do it.

The next article looks at the best sources of traffic for a blog.

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You MUST ask yourself this question

Posted on July 24th, 2011.

A while ago we had one of our best summer holidays ever. Kathy, the kids and I spent a wonderful week in Anglesey – a little islandy thing off the North West coast of Wales.

We lay on the beach in the sun most days, while the kids went off swimming, fishing or paddling around in our little boat. Fantastic stuff.

We weren't initially planning to go. We'd got out all the brochures with exotic and far flung destinations. Lots of exciting looking places we've never been, but everyone tells us we really should go to.

We were struggling to choose, then one evening Kathy turned to me…

“What would you say was the best holiday we've ever had? The one you've most enjoyed?”

“Honestly? When we rented that apartment in Anglesey a few years ago.”

“Me too. Why don't we just go there again then?”

So we did.

And we had a brilliant time again. It suits us. Easy to relax and do nothing – yet plenty for the kids to do.

It's so easy to be tempted by all those exciting new places in the brochures. But by sticking to what we knew worked for us we had a great time.

And it's often the same with your marketing too.

It's so easy to be lured by “shiny new object” syndrome. To see how much success others seem to be having with marketing approaches you're not using.

And I'll admit, I'm a huge advocate of shiny new stuff like online marketing myself. I'll tell anyone who asks it's been the most effective marketing strategy I've ever used.

But often the best thing you can do is ask yourself the same simple question Kathy asked me: what's worked the best for you before?

Whether it's networking, direct mail, conference presentations, referrals. If it's worked well for you before, chances are it'll work well for you again.

You should still experiment. Try out the odd shiny new marketing approach. But not at the expense of what you know actually works for you.

It may not be exciting and new. You may have got a bit bored with it over time.

But if it works, stick with it until you find something genuinely better.

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Conversion Optimization: Derek Halpern Reviews ianbrodie.com

Posted on July 20th, 2011.

In my last post on Winning Business with your Blog, I talked about the importance of converting website visitors to email subscribers.

Once you have permission to keep in touch, you can build credibility and trust with your potential clients over time. It's THE most powerful way to win clients online for consultants and coaches.

For such an important topic, I thought it was time to wheel in the “big guns”.

And while I like to think I'm pretty hot on online marketing for consultants and coaches – when it comes to conversion optimization, there's one guy all the “superstars” call.

Derek Halpern of Social Triggers has done website reviews for folks like social media legend Chris Brogan and internet marketing superstars David Risley and Pat Flynn. So I thought it was high time he did one for little old me.

In this video, Derek will reveal some of his “underground” strategies for getting people to opt in to your mailing list. I've been doing this stuff for years and thought I'd seen it all, but a couple of the things Derek talked about were completely new for me.

And, of course, the idea is not just to see how my site can be improved – but to apply those ideas to your own site. Both the things I'm doing well, and the areas where I could do better.

Enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33dt6-Nh00

If you'd like to get access to Derek's private newsletter where he shares more detailed tips on improving the conversion of your website – then head over to:

http://www.socialtriggers.com/ib

The next article looks at the next step: how to convert subscribers into paying clients.

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How to Win Business with your Blog – part 6: Conversion

Posted on July 20th, 2011.

Conversion: actually turning website visitors into paying clients is where the rubber hits the road.

I'm sure you know the old saying: Turnover is vanity, Profit is sanity.

It's the same thing for websites: Visitors are vanity, Conversions are sanity.

Now, if you're a consultant or coach wanting to convert visitors to clients – you need to think of two stages of conversion.

You see, you're never going to convert a first time visitor into a paying client in one visit. Not for the kind of intangible, high value, high impact services you deliver.

Even if they come to your website desperate for help, they'll need to build up confidence in your capabilities and trust that they can work with you. That's not going to happen instantly – they'll need to interact with you repeatedly.

Unfortunately, the chances are that even if your content is brilliant, most visitors won't be back. They'll make a mental note to come back. Maybe even bookmark your site. But then the real world will take over and they'll forget you.

If you want to be successful, you must take this process of regular interaction into your own hands.

You must get them to “connect” with you somehow. Give you permission to proactively communicate with them.

Then you can keep in touch, build credibility and establish your trustworthiness without relying on them remembering to come back to your site.

Connecting on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin can help with this.

But by far the best way for someone writing a blog is to get visitors to subscribe to receive regular communications from you via email.

People still pay more attention to emails (as long as they're not considered spam) than social media. You might chat to a friend on Facebook or tweet some gossip. But if you want a serious 1-1 discussion online, you want to send an important document, or make a complex point: you use email.

Many businesses have an email newsletter. But usually it's awful. Full of me, me, me information about them, what they're doing, their products. Nothing of value to the subscriber.

In fact “newsletter” is a bad name for it. You shouldn't be sharing news. You should be sending information of value. Like the blog posts, but even better. Personally, I refer to mine as an “Insider Strategies email”.

So although your long term goal should be to convert visitors to clients. Your interim goal should be to convert visitors to subscribers.

Because subscribers are the people who are more likely than any others to eventually become clients.

You'll see on this site that I give many opportunities for people to sign up to my regular communications. There's a box in the header, in the sidebar and at the end of every post.

And I have a “bribe” to encourage people to sign up. Subscribers get free access to my Client Breakthrough training videos and detailed report on how to attract and win more clients.

But the key is that I stay in contact with weekly emails that to the best of my ability are both entertaining and provide valuable information. So that over time my credibility and likeability grows.

Only a small percentage will ever become clients, of course. To everyone else the emails and blog posts are a gift.

But get enough subscribers, keep in touch with great content, and your client base will grow.

Next time…some advanced conversion tips from online marketing expert Derek Halpern as he reviews my site live on video (gulp)…

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How to Win Business with your Blog – Part 5: Finding your Voice

Posted on July 20th, 2011.

Finding your voice? It all sounds terribly pretentious doesn't it?

All I really mean is finding a style to write your blog in that suits you and your audience. That gets your character across in a way that you'd like to be perceived.

Why is this important?

Well, for two reasons:

  • Firstly, if you're not writing in an interesting, engaging style then reading your blog will be hard going and you'll lose people. Remember – visitors are reading your stuff online. it's not the ideal reading medium, and there are plenty of other distractions.
  • Secondly, before someone hires you – as we said in the first part of this Win Business with your Blog series – they need to feel that not only do you know your stuff, but that they'll be able to work with you. Eventually you'll need to speak to them over the phone or face to face to fully establish that. But you can go a long way down the track with the way you write.

How do you create this good impression?

First, you have to know what impression you want to create. In my post on creating your backstory I talked about how you can focus on and emphasise certain parts of your experience and personality that give you credibility for the type of work you're looking to be hired for.

It's a bit like the way when you see a comedian on stage, the persona you're seeing is almost always them – but it's a certain part of them, emphasised for effect.

This should also influence your writing. If you're positioning yourself as a mad professor, write like one. If you're the people's champion, write like one. If you're the power behind the throne, write like you are.

Generally speaking, I prefer personas which allow you to be seen as the “likeable expert” in your field. That's the guy people want to work with.

No matter what your persona, there are certain rules and best practices when it comes to writing a blog.

Most importantly: make it easy to read.

Write in short sentences and short paragraphs. Much shorter than if you were writing something for paper.

And use short words too. Simple (though not dumbed down) language that's easy to understand and sounds “real”.

Write like you speak.

In fact, speaking to yourself as you write a blog post is a good habit to get into.

Many people advise short blog posts – and they've got a point.

I struggle with this. My blog posts are typically longer. But I figure I've got a very smart readership and if you're interested you'll have the stamina to make it through a few extra hundred words.

Read lots. Read good bloggers. Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Chris Brogan.

Get a feel for how they write. Don't copy,  But watch what impact they can have with their words and how they construct sentences, paragraphs and entire posts.

After you've written your blog post – read it out loud. Does it sound like you or someone else?

(I found in my early days, my blog posts had great content – but they sounded like they'd been written by a stuck-up history professor).

Write lots. Write at least a blog post a week for a year and you'll see what a huge difference practice can make.

The next post in the series is about converting website visitors into subscribers.

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How to Win Business with your Blog – Part 4: Content that Wins Clients

Posted on July 15th, 2011.

Here's something that made a huge difference to the number of enquires I was getting from potential clients once I figured it out.

You see, like most people, it wasn't long into my time online that I heard the immortal advice: “content is king”. That you must create useful, valuable content for your blog. And I absolutely followed that advice.

I tried to create the best, most insightful content I could.

But I discovered that useful, valuable content is not enough.

It must be useful, valuable content that wins you clients.

And there's a difference. There are certain things you can write about. Certain topics and certain ways of covering them that will lead some of your readers to believe that you're the right person to hire to help them.

Are these secret topics and magic words known only to insiders – the top echelon of bloggers?

Thankfully no.

In fact, the content that wins you clients is actually unique to you.

The things that you should write about that will win you clients are different to the things I should write about to win me clients. Because they're dependent on what your potential clients and my potential clients need to believe before they're ready to hire us.

And those things are specific to our target clients and what we have to offer them.

So how do you figure out what it is that your potential clients need to hear from you?

Well, the thing I've found that works the very best is simply to get out a blank sheet of paper and visualise my ideal target client. If you've downloaded my free Pain Free Marketing course, you'll know I like to create little pen pictures of my ideal clients so that I can put myself in their shoes and think from their perspective.

In this case the thing I think through is “what do they need to know and feel before they'll be ready to hire me?”. I write down as much as I can on that.

I also test my ideas as much as possible. Get feedback from my mastermind group and, of course, clients themselves.

So, for example, let's say you're a leadership coach. Before clients are ready to hire you, they probably need to know you've coached other leaders who've become successful. Maybe even been a successful leader yourself.

They probably need to know that improving their leadership will pay off for them and their organisation. They probably will need to feel they can work with you – that they like you enough for the relationship to work. And they probably need to have enough confidence in their own capabilities that they'll be “coachable”.

(Normally you'd get a bit more detailed than this – pulling out examples specific to your target clients and the type of coaching you do – but not being a leadership coach myself I've kept it fairly generic).

Could you write blog posts which help potential clients know and feel these things about you?

Absolutely.

You have to make them informative and insightful too – rather than just “hey, I've coached other leaders”. But rather than just writing a “how to” post about an aspect of leadership, use some examples from leaders you've worked with.

Your readers will learn from the post – but subtly and subconsciously they'll also remember that you work with leaders who've successfully improved their skills.

Do a video or two, or a few light-hearted posts, and especially ones where you share your own feelings and insecurities – and they'll begin to feel they know you as a person and begin to feel they could work with you.

Share a case study of how one leader used his new leadership capabilities to transform his organisation, and in particular, what it was worth to him and that organisation to do so – and you'll be building the business case in their minds for working with you.

Talk about some of the common fears leaders have, their insecurities and issues and how it's possible to overcome them – and they'll begin to feel that they too could improve.

Keep working at that list. Maybe not every post. But regularly (and repeatedly as not everyone will read everything every time). And pretty soon, you'll have established yourself as being the sort of person they could hire.

And like I did, you'll find yourself getting more enquiries and more clients.

The next post in the series is about finding the right “voice” for your blog to engage with visitors.

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How to Win Business with your Blog – Part 3: Content

Posted on July 14th, 2011.

OK, so we understand how a blog can build your credibility and establish your personality. And we've figured out what we're going to focus on.

But what on earth do we write about? Where do all the ideas come from?

Well, when you start up your blog, it should be no problem. If you're not initially bursting with ideas in the area you've decided to focus on, then you've picked the wrong area.

That doesn't mean you can just write about anything in that area though. Early on, concentrate on creating your “core content”. Core Content is the central set of ideas, principles, beliefs and insights that you have about your subject area. It's your best stuff that you teach your clients.

Later on, it's OK to do lighter, fluffier posts. Say something controversial. Riff on something off-topic.

But initially you need to establish your reputation with your very best material.

It could be a set of “how to” guides for the key topics in your area of focus. Or it could be a series of posts going into depth in one subect like this series I'm doing on blogs.

But get your good stuff out there quickly.

When those initial ideas dry up – and they will if you blog for any length of time – you need to get more disciplined about creating content.

Keep a notebook or voice recorder with you to capture ideas as they happen. Believe me, if you don't you'll forget them.

Get into the habit of observing life from the viewpoint of your blog. If you write a blog about leadership, for example, then when you're watching sports, or the TV, or kids playing, or a cat stalking a bird or whatever – think about how you could learn something about leadership from that example.

Bring in stories from your daily life, and your history. Your readers will find stories and anecdotes that illustrate a point rather more entertaining and engaging than straight “you should do this” all the time.

Block out time in your calendar to work on content. Set up an editorial calendar (there's a wordpress plugin for that, of course) and stick to it.

The more content you create, the better and faster you'll get at creating it. And don't argue that you're too busy – Chris Brogan and Seth Godin both post almost daily. And they're busy guys too.

The next post in the series is my very best tip on creating content that wins you clients

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How To Become An Authority In Your Field

Posted on July 12th, 2011. Authority Marketing

For me, establishing yourself as one of the leading authorities in your field is the most powerful strategy for those in the advisory professions. As the web and the ability to find pretty much anything or anyone online becomes all pervasive, clients are now able to find the “best person for their needs”, rather than just the “best person they can find locally”.

Being a recognised authority in your field doesn't mean you'll win all the work – or even most of it. But it does put you in line for the most interesting and lucrative work.

It's not a strategy that's for everyone. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being “damn good at what you do” – but not necessarily the leader in the field.

Personally though (and for obviously self-interested reasons) I'm fascinated by what it is that these authorities do to establish their market presence. So I set about interviewing them to find out.

I have more interviews planned, but I wanted to share with you some common themes emerging from the research so far and to see what you thought.

What makes an Authority?

The first common factor is that all the authorities in my study so far have made their name in tight niche.

Charlie Green established himself as the go-to guy for becoming a Trusted Advisor. Tom Searcy focused on “whalehunting” – winning big clients. John Seddon is “the systems thinking guy for service businesses”. And so on.

Now, later on, many of the authorities expanded their reach. Charlie is now a recognised leader in Trust generally – not just for advisors, for example.

But they all started out in a relatively tightly defined niche.

Secondly, they all developed deep expertise in their field.

Now you may have heard people saying that you can “fake it 'til you make it”. That you can claim authority first, then develop the expertise.

– Bullshit –

Each of the authorities in my study dedicated themselves to mastery of their field.

Drayton Bird is well into his 70s – yet he's a lifelong student of direct marketing and continues to invest heavily in his own education. The detailed benchmarking that Greg Alexander and his team do gives them insights into sales performance that no other consultants can match. Jane Mason lives and breathes breadmaking and is constantly looking into new techniques, methods and recipes.

Now you don't have to be seen as the #1 expert globally to be an Authority. You just need an audience who values what you do and sees you as the Authority for them. That's where specialisation can help.

And transparency too. Be honest about what you know and what you don't. If you're just a couple of steps ahead of your audience, tell them. Be the guy (or gal) who's a trailblazer for them. Who shows them what's working and what's not right now to achieve the goals they're aiming at.

All of the Authorities I interviewed are passionate about what they do too.

None of them would have dedicated the time and effort they did into becoming leading experts if they didn't have a true passion for their fields.

Sometimes that passion was born of frustration: John Seddon's grew from anger at how badly the UK government was managing improvements in the public sector.

Sometimes it was part of their upbringing: Jane Mason's parents taught her the importance of natural food, good company and living well.

And sometimes it just grew: Drayton Bird fell into direct marketing accidentally when he was desperate for a job. But he fell in love with it and became one of direct marketing's true evangelists.

All of my authorities developed a clear market positioning: they stand for something.

Drayton and John are famous for being outspoken – fierce critics of poor performance in their fields. Tom is the champion of small businesses – helping them win big deals against giant competitors. Greg is on the side of Chief Sales Officers, having been one himself and been frustrated with the poor support he'd been given. Charlie is an advocate of trust based relationships and long term thinking in a world of short term transactions. And Jane promotes social enterprise and community building through bread-making.

We know who they are and what they stand for. There's no ambiguity. No “we do everything” or “we do whatever you want”. We know who to go to if we want what they've got.

Finally, they all have the courage to speak out about what they believe in.

Not everyone likes them. Not everyone agrees with them. But they don't pander. They don't say what they think people want to hear – they say what they believe in and they say it with power and passion. Listen to a presentation by “Entrepreneur's Guru” Robert Craven, for example – he pulls no punches.

To use social media terminology – they've built fans rather than just friends.

How does this apply to you?

Could you do this in your business? Is there something you're passionate enough about and expert enough about to become an authority on?

Do you have the courage to go down this route with your marketing? To stand for something. To risk annoying or alienating potential clients who don't agree with you?

It's worked for the authorities in my study – could it work for you?

I'd love to hear your views – just drop me an email at ian@ianbrodie.com

And if you want to listen to the interviews, they're all here.

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How to smash through the geography barrier

Posted on July 10th, 2011.

Every now and then I'll head down to London for a conference or to meet up with a client. I always enjoy my trips ot the capital.

One of the things I like about London is the sheer diversity. There are so many specialist restaurants and shops that you just don't get anywhere else in the UK.

On my last visit I spotted a specialist ribbon shop, and as usual, peered into the window of Arthur Beale's yachting supplies shop to look at the rope, ships bells, compasses and other obscure equipment.

The reason these specialist shops can survive and thrive in London but not in the rest of the UK is simply the sheer number of people who live and work there.

Even though they deal with a very tight specialism, Arthur Beale, VV Rouleaux the ribbon shop and the like have enough potential customers nearby who can hear about them and reach them to make them a success.

Focusing on a tight specialist niche means your marketing is much more likely to resonate with your target clients. To make them feel your services were designed just for them.

But it only works if you can reach enough of those targeted clients. Because of its size, that's often true of London and it's why it has so many specialist businesses.

And it's the same with the web.

One of the wonderful things about the web is its ability to lift geographic restrictions.

When I first set up in business, as an ex-consultant who'd got really good at marketing and selling consulting services, I looked into focusing on just that niche near my home base in the North West of England.

But there simply weren't enough potential clients nearby to make it viable.

With the web though, I can (and do) have global reach. People visit my website and sign up for my emails from all over the world (in fact I have more US subscribers than UK ones).

It's the same for you. If you want, you can have global reach online.

The first step is to market online so anyone can find you. The next step is to be able to deliver services remotely so you can translate your global reach into clients.

It might start with flying out to their location if it's a high enough value piece of work.

Or potentially working with them over the phone and skype if it's coaching or advisory work.

Or maybe you can deliver your service via pre-recorded video, audio or text. Further removing geographic restrictions.

Being able to overcome the geography barrier is hugely important. Because if you can find ways of remotely delivering your work. Or even just needing less of a physical presence. Then everything changes.

Then you can focus on a very specific niche you love, knowing there are enough reachable clients to make that niche viable.

You can communicate in ways that really connect with clients looking for those specific specialist services (rather than the generic communication you need to use when going for a broader market).

So here's a challenge for you: how can you break through the geography barrier in your business? What ways can you find to deliver your services remotely?

Because if you can crack this problem it can literally revolutionize your business.

It did for mine.

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How to Win Business with your Blog – Part 2: Focus

Posted on July 9th, 2011.

Blogs can be powerful tools to establish your expertise, position you as an authority in your field, and showcase what it would be like to work with you to clients.

Sadly, few live up to this. Most are dull, full of mediocre content and rarely updated.

As a result, they end up abandoned – discarded like a broken child's doll tossed from a car window on a motorway as the family heads off to other things.

So, of course, it doesn't win any business for you at all.

The first thing you need to to do to avoid this is to pick the right topic for your blog.

Blogs that win business for consultants, coaches and other professionals are, of course, almost always focused on a business topic that the professional covers as part of their services.

But what specific topic to choose?

Rather like the way you choose a niche to focus in for your business as a whole, your blog's primary topic needs to meet three criteria:

  • You need to have genuine expertise in the area. The web is far too full of mediocre, generic information – it doesn't need another blog giving out more of the same.
  • You need to have a passion for that area. To have an effective blog you need to update it at least weekly – that means lots of content. You need passion to keep cranking that out week in, week out.
  • There needs to be a market for the topic. It needs to be in an area where establishing your expertise will bring you clients. And the more valuable your blog is to potential clients, the higher value you'll get.

My advice is to go narrow. Pick a broad topic like marketing or finance and you'll end up producing bland, generic posts that try to cover everything. And there'll be too much competition for anyone to ever find your blog.

Instead, pick the one aspect of that topic that you find fascinating. For me it was marketing and sales for professionals – and consultants and coaches in particular. When I first started out, there were just a handful of blogs in the area so this allowed me to establish myself quite quickly.

A lot of folks have jumped on the bandwagon since – but I've managed to maintain and grow my popularity.

If you're into marketing, maybe it's copywriting or ad design, or long term nurturing you find the most interesting. Write on that and you'll produce in-depth, insightful material that will attract visitors and potential clients.

I'll write more on how to get visitors and potential clients to your site shortly. But the first step is to have quality, in-depth content so that when they do arrive they stick around. And it builds your credibility so they're ready to buy from you.

You need to hit the right tone too. An academic paper or treatise on the latest trends in your specialty may mark you as an expert to your peers – but it's not going to impress potential clients much. What they're looking for are tips, ideas and practical suggestions on how they can improve their business or lives in the areas you focus in.

And you don't need to be the world's leading expert either. You can be the guy that makes complex concepts simple and practical. Or the guy who's blog is insightful and also entertaining. Or the guy who's the expert is a particular geographic area.

The next article in the series looks at creating valuable content for your blog.