Blogging

Riff On The Age Of Independent PR Blogging

Garth Beyer

I just caught Arik’s article on PR daily suggesting the age of independent PR blogging is over.

He suggested there’s too much noise.

I agree, there is, but the most wonderful attribute of the Internet is those who are the loudest do not rank the highest. It is those who provide the most valuable work who rank the highest. There’s a filtration system for independent PR bloggers. Especially PR bloggers.

If you think you’re part of the noise, you’re not creating enough value, you’re not connecting with humans, you’re not standing out. Like I wrote yesterday, it’s not the person who can juggle more balls or yell louder than the rest who gets the attention, it’s those who get in front, those who make themselves vulnerable and those who create the greatest value who get the attention.

It’s easy to say there is too much noise. It’s a whole lot harder to admit you’re part of it. Noise is what groups of mediocre people make. Noise is cared about only by those who are making it.

He suggested early bloggers have moved on.

They have, but we need to clarify, not just the why, but also the where. They haven’t moved on because independent PR blogging doesn’t pay off, they have moved on because it has. They aren’t off somewhere else trying to get the same results they hoped for from blogging, they’re out there reaping what they sowed in their blogs.

He suggested you beware the content machines

Independent travel bloggers, say, Mike Walsh with flight4sight aren’t afraid of sites like Pursuitist. Consumer centric growth blogger Steven P. Dennis isn’t afraid of content machines. Bernadette Jiwa isn’t afraid of sites like Copyblogger.

Just because there are wandering generalities, content machines, if you will, it does not mean you can’t become a meaningful specific. (HT Ziglar)

Courage is the key ingredient

Writing as an independent PR blogger, I’ve shared all the same concerns as Arik. I’ve feared I wouldn’t make it through the noise, I’ve questioned whether it would be worth it or not, I’ve worried what the point would be of investing so much time in a blog if I knew I would eventually leave it behind (I won’t), and I’ve felt beaten by the content machines out there.

Recall the filtration system I mentioned, all the filters are right there. I understand the fear, the apprehension and the concern. It takes a lot of courage to blog about technology when TechCrunch is out there. But it’s that specific courage that makes you and your blog valuable.

If you’re going to plant any seeds, be sure to see their growth all the way through.

Trends don’t end

Lastly, a note about trends in general. A trend isn’t over if people leave. A trend is only over if people leave for something else, something better. Arik notes Danny is leaving the trend of independent PR blogging for his family. It would be different if Danny was leaving the blogosphere to start a new PR trend.

Spending time with family doesn’t produce the same benefits as an independent PR blog. Trends end when people find an action they can take that has the same benefits as what they were doing PLUS some. Better stated, trends don’t end, they change.

 

Stay Positive & It’s The Independent PR Bloggers Who Change Them, The Content Machines Simply Follow Suit

I was privileged to exchange a couple of emails with Arik since posting this. It needs a returning note. There are dozens of benefits to establishing a group blog model, benefits an independent blog model doesn’t have. However, it works the other way around too. My final note is a reminder that you can have the best of both worlds. In the early ages of PR blogging, guest blogging gathered attention for multiple bloggers at once. Think of group blogs as guest blogging on steroids. Bloggers never stopped writing for themselves even though they wrote guest blog posts, why should you if you’re also part of a group blog model?

Thanks, Arik.

How To Become A Breakthrough Blogger

Garth Beyer

You’ve got to do crazy shit that other people wish they had the courage to do. It’s really as simple as that.

You can blog every day for years, but that’s no guarantee you’ll attract the following you want.

Travel bloggers get popular (and make bank!) because they dropped everything to travel or they had a heartbreak, travelled to get over it and blogged along the way. Their blogs tell not just any old story, but one other’s wish they could live. Like reading a book you can’t set down.

Business bloggers with all the readers have all the readers because they’ve made some extremely risky calls or have dealt with some outrageous ventures, customers, competitors, etc.,. No one visits their blog to hear that it was another uneventful day in the office.

Life and style bloggers… they don’t just have good taste. They get others to look at them like style gods. Do you get it yet?

That’s why we read the blogs we do, isn’t it? We want to live like the authors of them. And in an almost indescribable way, we feel as though we are when we read their blogs.

 

Stay Positive & Bloggers Take Ridiculous Risks

Be The A-Player They Want To Hire

Garth Beyer

Hiring A-Players is much more difficult to do in a rough economy. Simple fact of the matter is that with a flipped economy, there aren’t more A-Player resumes, there’s a massive flux of C-Player resumes. (Find a longer explanation here.)

This framing doesn’t put the problem on your shoulders, it puts it on the business’s shoulders. I don’t like that. It’s not fair. Businesses shouldn’t be looking for the A-Player to higher. They should be deciding between this A-Player and that A-Player. It’s not them, it’s you (and yes, it’s me too).

In light of this, here are four steps you can take daily to become that A-Player.

1) Connect with someone every day. It can be something as little as sending a Tweet at someone or friending someone on FB who you haven’t seen in a while. Or something larger: coffee with a CEO, scheduling a tour of an agency to talk with employees or asking someone to be your mentor. As Brené Brown has said, “Connection is why we’re here. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”

2) Blog. I can’t stress this enough. You don’t need to do it daily, although it’s likely better if you do. (It took me a year to acquire the daily habit.) If a blog is too big of a start, try journaling for five minutes. Advised by the best.

3) Know that blog or journal you started? Notice what’s happening around you and write about it. Are you a musician? Keep an ear and an eye out for what stands out most about other musicians whether it’s their actual melody or their marketing strategy. Share what you find interesting. The thing about being human is that if you find something interesting, their’s surely someone else who agrees. No matter how different it may be.

4) Be human. Seriously.

 

Stay Positive & Four Things, Is That Too Much?

 

Long Form Vs Short Form

Long Form Vs Short Form

Garth Beyer

Long form

I made a not-so-pretty big mistake when I started my blog. I wrote long form posts, I wrote tall orders, I wrote laundry lists instead of a few bullet points. I wrote posts that would take four minutes or longer to read. That was a mistake.

For any business, a blog is essential, press releases are essential, newsletters and other forms to update people are essential.

Getting the length of them right – even more essential.

Now I can get away with writing a long form post. I couldn’t before because I didn’t have any true fans, no passionate customers, no connected friends to what I was writing about.

Think of the websites that you go on to read, whether it’s for news, fiction or self-help. Now filter through the authors and pick which ones you would read a five-minute post if they wrote it. Your list of authors dwindles, doesn’t it?

When writing anything, knowing how to write to your audience is everything, but knowing how also means knowing how long or how short you can make it so they will read.

New readers, new customers, new fans, new friends, new strangers – none of them will spend their time reading a long form piece from you. 140 characters to 200 words is about all you have to work with.

Let me make something clear. I don’t think the internet has made us incapable of focusing our attention on something longer than two minutes. I simply think that it’s more difficult than ever to have a true and passionate follower.

Well worth the work though.

 

Stay Positive & Tell Me Again Who Your Focus Is On

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A Quick Riff On Criticism And Allowing Comments

A Quick Riff On Criticism And Allowing Comments

Garth Beyer

Why allow comments on your website?

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For two reasons. One, people will try to piss you off, they will hate your ideas, they may even hate you for having them.

Ever heard of desensitization? Nothing makes it happen faster than allowing comments online. Being capable of handling any form of criticism pays off in the best of ways. You’ll see.

Second, percentage wise, we’re no shorter on critics than those in the 70s were. They just had the option of trashing (more commonly burning, I’m sure) letters of unpleasant and unhelpful criticism.

Now, today, the letters, the comments, they stick. What matters, though, is not the 100 letters of criticism, but the one comment that offers you an opportunity to connect.

If you’re going to burn any letters or delete any comments, let it be the ones that bash on the one person who is being human and giving you a chance to connect. Let’s face it, they’re more important than you are.

That’s the biggest problem with bloggers that I see. Authors will often guard themselves, but forget about guarding the ones stepping up and speaking out (commenting) in support of them.

Your eyes don’t deceive you. I don’t allow comments on my blog for two reasons. The first is this. The second is because if you really want to write to me, you can email me at thegarthbox@gmail.com If you want others to read it, by all means, start your own blog and email me the link.

Stay Positive & By All Means, Shun The Critics (don’t think it will stop the criticism though)

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How Blogging Can Help You (+tips)

Garth Beyer

The following are notes and tips from fabulous blogger Danielle Bruflodt.meet-dani

How could blogging help you?

1) It puts your name out there.

2) You can control the content found when someone discovers your blog or social media accounts. What impression will you make?

3) It creates an online portfolio that speaks for itself.

4) Blogging teaches you valuable skills that you might not have had and helps improve the skills you already had.

5) Even if your career path doesn’t lead to blogging, the skillset is in demand for almost any occupation.

Tips for starting a blog.

1) Put thought into your name and brand so that you can avoid changing it later.

2) Learn to create your own graphics. Find a way to get free access to Photoshop and learn it.

3) Don’t focus on traffic. Put the content out there and focus on what you are creating and how you are presenting yourself.

4) Be consistent.

5) Look to the month ahead. You’ll be more likely to post if you plan in advance and the quality of your posts will likely improve.

6) Let your personality shine through in your writing.

7) You don’t have to be a great writer to be a blogger. You don’t have to be great at creating graphics to be a blogger. You don’t have to be great at social media or HTML or photography.

8) The Internet is your friend. Google and Youtube will become your best friends.

9) Be consistent with your branding and bio across all social media platforms. (logo, username, icons, business cards)

10) If you aren’t interested in being the “face” of a blog, look for a local blogger who needs help with ghost writing, graphic creation or social media and offer your services.

 

Stay Positive & Feel Free To Email Me For Input thegarthbox@gmail.com

Garth E. Beyer

You’re Not That Important, But Everyone Loves You

Garth Beyer

I’ve sifted through dozens and dozens of blogs, attended some productive, some not-so-productive meetings and listened to speakers all week. Here are some tips to spitshine your blog, your productivity and your speaking.

Blogging

  • Never start a blog post with anything that is similar to “it’s been awhile since I’ve written,” “I’ve been sooo busy and haven’t been able to write lately” and “I’m going to try and write more.” Nothing makes me cringe as much as seeing 165,000,000 results show up on Google
  • You won’t find that fine line between personal and professional until you write a lot under each.
  • I met with blogger Danielle Bruflodt who advocates planning out blog posts. I, on the other hand, never do. I argue that not planning forces you to observe more and keep a more open mind throughout each day to find something to write on. Both ways work.
  • What Danielle and I both agreed on: write daily.

Productivity (meetings)

  • Don’t let any meeting go past an hour.
  • Know who the leaders are and those that flat-out standout. Thank them for it.
  • Some meetings don’t need to be ran. Some meetings run themselves. Recognize this. Leading meetings that don’t need to be lead damages productivity and how people will view you as a leader.
  • If you’re not running the meeting, know more about the people who are than anyone else attending. It’s not creepy to know I completed National Novel Writing Month or stayed in Madison for Thanksgiving.

Speaking

  • Much like the que on how you start a blog post, never start speaking by giving an apology, no matter what you’re sorry for.
  • Not everyone loves cherries on their sundae’s, but everyone loves getting gifts when they get information. Give. Give. Give.
  • Handouts are your friends, but not at the start of your presentation. Let everyone know they are getting a handout outlining the presentation. What matters is that they focus on you, not on following an outline and not on taking notes the entire time.
  • No one goes to just listen to a speaker anymore. They go to speak to. Involve your audience, they expect it. There’s a reason it’s called a “speaking engagement.” Engage them in conversation.

 

Stay Positive & Do, Learn, Share

Garth E. Beyer