Uncovering the myths of blog marketing, so you can be a better blogger
Recently I’ve been talking to a couple of friends who are interested in embracing blogs as a marketing tool for their business, and the general picture I get is that they would tell me “Yeah yeah, I’ve got a blog, but it doesn’t seem to bring in any traffic…”, or “Yeah, people are reading, but it seems like people are not leaving comments…”
Well, I guess we need to uncover some myths about blog marketing.
#1 Blogs are not instant traffic generators!
You need to market your blog! Yes most blog platforms come with the functionality to ping services to get word out. But there are 70 million blogs, as reported by Sifry’s State of the Live Web Report in April 2007! Pinging alone is not enough, its far from enough! You need to participate in the blogosphere, go submit your blog in blog directories, participate in forums, write articles… well, there are a thousand and one ways to market the blog, and these are just a few.
The more effort you put in to market your blog, the more traffic you will get. Period.
#2 Blogs are not official articles, press releases, reports or white papers!
People are sick of reading reports and articles written from a third party perspective, and blogs engage their readers because they are written in a conversational voice. Because even though you’ve never heard my voice, you can hear ME talking to you right now, not a boring article educating or informing you on the myths of blog marketing. Blogs are informal. To put it in a crude way, information on blogs are not facts! They are opinions.
But then you say, “Well then, how can I trust the things I read on blogs then?”
You can’t. Seriously. The world of blogs don’t work in the same way as the world of white papers and government regulations. If there is only ONE blog in this whole wide world, then it won’t be a blog. The blogosphere is about a global network of opinions that is self regulating. While opinions on a single blog may be unreliable, the self-regulating forces of the blogosphere are there to make the necessary corrections… and if 70 million people around the world think that something is right, then well, there is a huge possibility that something is right, don’t you agree?
So if I say today “All horses are stupid!”. Well unless that is a fact, I’m pretty sure there will be someone somewhere will come up and write a comment and say “Hey Kian Ann, I beg to differ”, or say “Hey Kian Ann! Horses are not stupid! YOU are stupid! 
” … and that is exactly why this global network of opinions is so powerful.
Mike from Converstations has recently made an excellent piece on how you can write a your blog post so it makes an excellent marketing piece, and this is the exact way you should write if you want more participation on your blog.
I love this line (and notice as I am doing this I am reinforcing his opinion by referring and recommending this to you):
It’s important to think of blogging more in terms of a conversation than a marketing or public relations piece. Compelling conversation will make for a compelling marketing tool, not the other way around.
His points are:
- Write Like You Talk
- Keep it Short
- Links are Resourceful
- Post Frequently
- Synchronize Your Communication
Do check out Converstations for the full post.
Tags: blog-marketing, converstations, mike-sansone
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Tan Kian Ann is blog marketer based in Singapore. He now works with individuals and small businesses reach out to the world using blogs. 
April 25th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Visit White Paper Pundit » Blog Archive » Comparing the Trustworthiness of Blogs and White Papers
[...] to blogsite Blogopreneur, people are “sick and tired” of reading third party information such as reports and [...]
April 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Visit ketyung
That’s rite, Kian Ann, long time no c, how r u doing?, blogging, it’s basically conversation, thought or commentary u wanna let others know… If u take blog as the marketing tool for ur business, products, I’m not 2sure whether u wanna keep on praising or keep on giving negativ feedback or both for your products or services. I think, it should be best 2get a 3rd party 2do so
then people will feel that is neutral and not bias to any side. Furthermore, for those non-internet biz, it’s hard for them 2embrace blogging, mainly due to q taxing for them to promote their blogs in terms of money and time.. Big corporate normally will engage number of well-known bloggers 2create buzz for them instead of doing by their own 
April 26th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Visit Kian Ann
Hey Ketyung, I’m doing great! How about you?
The power of blogs is in creating buzz, and unlike traditional marketing where a lot of time is spent in pushing products by listing benefits, I guess the way that blogs market a company is different.
You are right! If you go on talking about your own products all the time, you will find that your readers will run away!
Blogs are a relationship marketing tool. In a sense, we don’t push our products through the blog. The purpose of the blog is to build awareness of an entity, by posting regular informative articles about the industry, and just talking about our daily experiences.
In fact, I would think of blogs as more of a lead generation tool, rather than a sales tool. Sales should be left to the long 30 page sales copies
April 26th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Visit ketyung
Me fine
sounds nowadays hard2 get leads?
April 26th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Visit Kian Ann
Hmmm… well, I guess when there is so many people offering so many free products, it helps to have a blog to back you up in terms of credibility.
I’m so careful now whenever I put my email addresses. Just look at that number in my junk mailbox!
September 10th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Visit Steven Yap
That true.
My site also offer free download and you could really see the different of people staying for a little bit longer.