The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

I am a student of Alex Jefferys’ Marketing With Alex 3.0 course (2010 edition) on internet marketing. One of the first major tasks Alex has given his students is to start their own blog on internet marketing. I must say, I feel somewhat like Goethe’s sorcerer’s apprentice dabbling in things I may not be ready for. 
 
In Goethe’s tale, while the master sorcerer is away the apprentice begins using magic he is not yet fully trained in. I now find myself conjuring up the powerful spirits of the blog. 

However, I wish to avoid the fate of the lowly apprentice, who found himself embroiled in majicks he had little control of. In the story, the apprentice is saved by the master with the moral of the story (all good stories have a moral) being that powerful spirits should only be called by the master sorcerer. Thus, I have been doing some research on what one might call the art of the blog. Here is what I have uncovered. 

The Art of the Blog (Part 1)   

First of all, why blog? Actually, answering this question tells you how to approach and structure your blog. There are a lot of reasons to blog so I am going to focus on the field of internet marketing. Here are some reasons that internet marketers blog…

Branding and Positioning - As an internet marketer working in the internet marketing niche, in most cases, you become your brand. It is important to set yourself apart, that is, to position yourself as an expert in your particular area of interest. This is called brand positioning. Your brand helps set up your unique selling proposition (USP). 

Social Relationships - A blog is an excellent way to build a relationship with prospective customers and clients. It allows people to get to know you and very likely like you. This ultimately builds trust which is the cornerstone to your online relationship. People tend not to buy from people or websites they don’t trust. If you can gain their trust, they are more likely to become a prospect and eventually a customer or client. 

Community – Readers who enjoy your blog, tend to be drawn in to your blog community. They have the option of leaving a comment and reading the comments of others. Once they have interacted with you through a comment, they have something in common with you and your blog community. Interactive feedback allows for sharing of ideas and lifestyles, and offering technical and social support. Since you are the focus of your community, you become credible and now have proof of your expert status and ability to get results. In the process become accountable to your community which compels you to grow further and add more value. 

Leverage – Once you have developed social relationships with your readers and have created a sense of community through interactive communications, you can leverage your blog as an internet marketing vehicle. If done right, your community will create a buzz around your blog site which should bring in new readers. Blogs are also great for attracting the attention of search engines. Blogs can be continuously updated with fresh content that is unique. With proper SEO, a good blog can be a search engine magnet that can generate a fair amount of traffic to your blog. 

Monetization – Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we’re internet marketers! In the end it’s all about traffic and offer. If you have created a compelling blog site you will get the traffic. Monetization of  a blog can take many forms from onsite AdSense to directing  your traffic to a well planned sales funnel. 

In Part 2 of The Art of the Blog, I will cover how to write blogs that will draw traffic to your website.