Archive for February, 2011

Do you ever find yourself at a loss for blog content? One thing to keep in mind is that Google gives preference to content related to current events. All you need to do is ask yourself what is going on in the news or what holidays are coming up and then write a blog post about the event or holiday.

There are two approaches to making this work. The first method is to tie it in to your business by either adding a marketing message or showing that your company offers a solution to a problem being mentioned in the news. The second method is to simply put out the related content for brand exposure. Like every other marketing strategy, I recommend testing to see what works best for you.

After you have written your blog post, you will want to share it across your social media networks as this will help to “give it some legs.” A great one to use in this case is Twitter because you will also be able to leverage #hashtags which are basically keywords used to search on Twitter. Twitter monitors the top #hashtags which is an indication of what people are sharing or searching about. Tying your blog post into a #hashtag will help increase exposure to your blog post by leverage the event or holiday related activity on Twitter.

Last week I heard some interesting statistics about the Super Bowl and I decided to do a Super Bowl blog post on Sunday. I went the route of branding and made no mention of my company or what I did. It was a success; and is now the most visited blog post of the year. The real proof that Google listens came from viewing my analytics to see where the visitors came from. Most of the visits on Super Bowl Sunday and the two days following came through Google search (as indicated by Super Bowl search queries) and not just from the social media networks I submitted it to.

The moral of the story is that Google listens when you know how to speak their language.

This past week I heard some amazing statistics about the Super Bowl. I did some research to confirm the numbers and I wanted to share some of this with you:

Guacamole Consumed = 8 Million Pounds
Chips Consumed = 14,500 Tons
Increase in Antacid Sales on Monday After the Super Bowl = 20%
Number of Chicken Wings Consumed = $1.25 Million
Average Calories Consumed Per Person During the Super Bowl

If you want to get the full scoop (pun intended), you can check out these sites:
http://advertising.about.com/od/superbowlcoverage/a/xxxvfunfacts.htm

http://www.sbnation.com/2011-super-bowl/2011/2/6/1977719/superbowl-xlv-food-beer-stats

Enjoy the Game!

I am thankful to those who have followed my blog in spite of it’s ugliness. I could lie and say it was a test to see how many followed I could attract, just based on content, or I could just say the it never made it to the top of my list for a host of reasons.

I will say this that if you don’t yet have a custom blog theme, you really need to get one. I have seen the results on other blogs, where people are more apt to stay, and most of all, to share your posts when your blog has a nice look and feel.

I am however thankful to finally have a blog that has some character. For that, I owe thanks to my good friend Todd Dawson at Dawson Studios who created the header for me. Actually, he created several, and I crowdsourced it to my Facebook friends, and this is the one they chose. I actually was in favor of the other one, but I have learned that marketing is not about what you like, it’s about what others like.

I will point out that I am highlighting my coaching and consulting services as well as my speaking services with the new blog. I really have done a poor job at marketing myself from this blog, and I am truly seeking to add more speaking engagements to my schedule this year, so if you hear of any, please send them my way.

Thanks for letting me share. I am really not an “all about me” kind of guy, bit I wanted to at least acknowledge the new blog and most of all the graphic genius (Todd Dawson) behind it.

In closing, I will ask my famous “how can I help you?” and I ask you to respond either via comments or via my contact page.