5 Reasons Business Blogs Fail...
         ... and How You Can Save Yours

Do you have the biz blog blues? . . . Is it getting harder to find the energy to write frequent posts? . . . Do you wonder if anybody is even out there reading your blog?

We often hear these complaints from new bloggers.

Why do so many business owners start writing interesting blogs and then fade away? Some estimate that 50% of blogs are abandoned within 90 days.

It doesn't look good when a visitor stumbles on your blog or finds a link to a blog post when they do a search, and then discovers you haven't bothered to write a new post for three months.

It's the same experience as walking into a store in March to see Christmas decorations still up!

As The Blog Squad, Denise and I have set up some pretty good-looking blogs and trained some great professionals to maintain their blogs. Some take to it like ducks to water, and others struggle. We often wonder why some of our best students let their blogs die off.

Quite frankly, it makes us sad and a little frustrated. It's not that we don't understand the time it takes to keep your blog up to date. Believe me, we know.

Blogging for your business is a marketing task you must consistently do if you want it to work to attract new clients, build visibility for your business, and generate more revenue.

Why blogs are abandoned?

So we did a survey among bloggers who have let their blogs go. Here are some reasons some of people give for letting their blogs fail:

1. Not getting many comments

2. Not enough subscribers

3. Didn't see any increase in traffic to their website

4. Too hard to come up with new content every week

5. Couldn't figure out how to promote their products and services

Quite often there are simple solutions to these issues. That's when we get frustrated. Business blogging is not rocket science; sure, it requires some work. But if these bloggers only knew how to fix these problems, they wouldn't give up and let their blogs fade away.

If only these people knew!

When we do an extreme blog makeover, for example, we can often boost blog traffic quite a lot (500%). For example, here's what happened with this San Francisco chiropractor:

"I came across the Blog Squad and decided I wanted a Blog Makeover after listening and reading about some others that had done it already. Well, we are ¾ of the way done and my blog looks 100% better than before, I am posting almost every day, and my blog traffic has increased 500%. It is currently my #1 source of new patients. And, the patients that come from the blog are better educated and seem to get better results. It's a lot of work, but well worth it." Dr. Eben Davis, Chiropractor, San Francisco, CA

Like I said, we know how much work a blog can be, especially when you're running a business and serving clients non-stop. And we get frustrated because there are often simple work-arounds that would solve some of these blogging problems if only bloggers knew about them.


4 Keys to Solving the Blog Blues

The pay-offs from consistent blogging can be enormous, but the key is optimizing your blog for business.

There are four areas you need to pay attention to if you don't want your blog to fail:

Content - You need to write frequent posts with valuable information your targeted audience needs and wants. It's all about strategic use of keywords.

Outreach - The blogosphere is the community of all the blogs and blog readers. If you reach out to bloggers in your niche, you become part of a larger community and connect with more people.

Design - Your blog needs to be easy for visitors to use. Too many widgets, or the wrong kinds of things in your sidebars can confuse readers and distract them. Optimize your blog for its purpose.

Action - At a minimum, you should be asking your readers' for feedback, ideas and comments. Get readers involved.

Content, Outreach, Design and Action: This is our proprietary 4-point CODA system to take your blog to the next level. When you pay attention to critical elements in each of these areas, you will see improved traffic and improved results.

We don't want our clients to fail at blogging -- or let their blogs fade away. To us, it's like watching pets not get fed or be neglected! Well, not quite, but you get the picture.

So we came up with this idea - an advanced blogging group where we work with business professionals, like you and help you develop and optimize your blog for business.

Better Business Blogging: Boost Your Blog for Better Results
…how to use the 4-point CODA system to take your blog to the next level
 

Let's be clear about what we're offering:

We want you to succeed with your business blog. We'll teach you how to optimize your blog, and provide specific feedback about what works and what needs to be improved. You'll also get feedback from the other participants.

Here's what else you get:

• A small group of business professionals who are serious about using a blog to build their business

• Establish your current reality and blogging goals - homework tasks

• Blog tracking worksheet to measure before and after results

• Weekly group sessions, 70 minutes of coaching

• Each class consists of: case studies, focused lecture on one optimization topic, Q&A and reporting on weekly program

• 4 areas of focus with a checklist for each: content, design, blog outreach and call to action

What's your investment?

We know how much business you can get from blogging and what it is capable of doing for your business. We also firmly believe it shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg or hours of work.

If you learn to do this effectively, blogging shouldn't take you more than 20-40 minutes a day.

That's a pretty good investment of your time and energy, and it's also about the biggest bang you will get for your marketing dollars.

The investment is $397 for the four-week coaching program.

Is it worth it?

Only you can decide if investing $397 is right for your business.

If you consider how much you would spend hiring a web designer or a blog consultant to give you this information and training, it's a bargain. Our one-on-one blog coaching is $850 for a month.

You will be able to apply this knowledge to your blog immediately, and to any future blogs and businesses. You will not have to rely on hiring a blog or web marketing consultant in the future.

That's a good investment.
 

Are you ready?

You should consider whether or not you're ready to move forward in your business. Work is required. You can't listen to the calls, and sit back and expect progress without taking action. Not even osmosis works that way.

"There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight."
~ Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe

And The Blog Squad says, "There is nothing worse than insight without activity!"

Some people are more prone to implementing new steps than others. Our expertise and coaching experience takes into account your particular situation (and personality!) without passively accepting your excuses!

We don't mess around and lose time, and we don't want our clients to either. If you're serious about improving your business blog for results, then we can help you.

The Guarantee

If you follow our steps and attend or listen to each class audio, you will get business results for your blog.

If after attending the first 70-minute session you decide this program is not right for you and your business, we will refund your money, no questions asked, when requested within 3 days of the start of the program.

The Bonuses

Of course, we want you to join us, and we know it's hard to act when being pressured. To help you decide we'll give you a few bonuses just for having the courage to make that decision to join us right away.

Join now to be among the exclusive group of bloggers to participate in our program beginning on February 5, 2008.

Bonuses You Get:

• A copy of The Blog Squad's ebook, Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog ($97 value)

• MP3 audio Program: "How to Use a Blog to Gain Expert Status"  ($47 value)

• Press Release Template for announcing your blog to the world ($75 value)

• Access to a members' only discussion forum where your blogging questions will be answered by The Blog Squad (priceless!)

Let's recap what you get:

• 4+ hours of blog coaching with an exclusive group of professionals

• Learn how to optimize your blog's content, drive traffic, increase your visibility in the blogosphere and be more findable by the search engines

• Worksheets to guide you through the action steps

• Audio files and transcripts from the every class for your ongoing review

• YOUR questions answered every week to make sure you get what YOU need to succeed

• 4 valuable bonuses

Click here to join this program now!

NOTE: This is NOT a beginning blogging program. This program is specifically for professionals who already have a blog, know how to post content and update elements in the sidebars. The program will be useful if your blog is on any platform, but our recommendation is for TypePad. We will address tech questions about TypePad and make referrals to other consultants if you want help with Wordpress or Blogger or one of the other platforms.

This program is for professionals who are serious about using a blog as a marketing tool for their business and want to get better results than they are currently experiencing.

Details

The reason why you should act now...

There's only one reason you should act now: you want to get more bang for your blog. Anyone can blog but for it to work like a client magnet, you need to pay attention to four essential areas in our CODA system: Content, Outreach, Design and Action.

Click here to take your blog to the next level.

Not all business blogs function like they could. If your blog isn't working to drive new clients to your business then you're wasting your time.

Get smart and learn to blog smart. The Blog Squad is here to help.

We expect this program to fill up fast so join us today and blog better tomorrow,

Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman
The Blog Squad

 

Click here to reserve your place.