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Blogging for Coaches

I think that blogging is an ideal way to get into the habit of writing regularly. Assuming, of course, that you do write regularly and do not abandon your blog! According to entireweb.com newsletter (April 26, 2007), there are over 35 million blogs (and over 100 million web sites).

Keep a few things in mind: blogging is not private (including in some situations when you check a preference for private); airing a dispute with a client, spouse, friend, or neighbor is too much information (some situations hinder developing trust with others); what you had for breakfast is not interesting (unless you are in the nutrition fiend). If you model the principles you advocate in your coaching, cilents will follow.

The word "blog" is derived from "web log." It's used as a verb and a noun. Technically, a blog is a web site or part of a web site. However, it's distinct from the "usual" web site as there is not a hierarchy of pages. Blogs are set up to invite comments from readers; however, blog spamming makes some bloggers take actions that stop or trap spammers that also trap or discourage legitimate visitors who would add value to the blog.

Blog posts and comments can easily be set up for re-publication with RSS (real simple syndication). Regular web sites can also take advantage of RSS technology, but few web sites do this. Interested readers can subscribe to one or more blogs and read posts without actually visiting the blog.

It's not unreasonable for a blog to be your only Internet presence. If it really works for you, there may be no reason for a regular web site. For most people, though, a blog supplements a regular web site. Blogs are getting more versatile, with ease of adding video, graphics, and audio.

My Reasons for Blogging

Everyone has different intentions for blogging, of course. Many people blog for the purpose of marketing products and services. I think that blogging is a bit elusive as a marketing tool -- especially as a stand-alone tool and especially for those of us who are in the coaching and consulting business which is so dependent on relationship-building.

I have a variety of reasons for blogging:

1. I Blog for Me.
I love to write. Writing sharpens my ideas. I have lots to say. On many subjects. With a commitment I made to myself, I write and publish regularly. In fact, essentially daily. With that discipline, I know that I'll write down at least a few of the concepts, ideas, experiences, and suggestions that I talk about in my consultations. In addition, I write about experiences in my life that might otherwise be swirling in my head. Blogging is a way (a very public way) of recording my thoughts and making them more available for those who resonate with them. It's often an act of courage to write what I write.

2. I Blog for My Existing Clients.
When they read what I write publicly, they connect in another way with what I say (or perhaps have not yet said) to them privately. Recently, I had an interesting interchange with a client I've worked with for several years on a whole range of projects. I've explained one particular concept to her in many different ways. With one reading on my public blog, she got it! She got it because the situation was specific to someone else rather than to her. It doesn't happen that way for everyone, but my clients read and value my blogs for their own unique reasons. including being able to use it to introduce me to their friends and relatives.

3. I Blog to Complement my Other Web Sites.
Blogging is set up for fresh material to be added regularly. A web site is more static -- of course, it doesn't need to be, but often is. Many blogs are static, too, also known as abandoned! I consider that my blogs are part of the infrastructure for my web presence.

4. I Blog to Let People Know Who I Am and What I Think.
Those who are interested find me; those who are not, look for others more to their liking. I started blogging for credibility and exposure for a web site that had not yet launched which now sells my CD albums and MP3 downloads. Before the Voice of Jeanie Marshall web site launched, I had done guided meditations on television, in large and small groups, on audio cassettes, and on telephone consultations. My blogs supported and continue to support this effort for those who don't know me.

Blogging as a Marketing Tool

Often people want to know how I measure the effectiveness of blogging as a marketing tool for my business. Since my primary purpose for writing is for me, the measure of success is my own satisfaction and enjoyment. With respect to others, the only measure I'm really interested in is one by one. That measurement is also subjective: how each benefits.

My current clients are 98% unlikely to make a comment on my blog, even though they can easily conceal their identity to the public if they want. They go to the blog to read what I have to say. Some readers have interacted there, but those I know personally tend to wait to tell me their reactions when they talk with me; many send me private email.

I know that many entrepreneurs put emphasis on doing certain business-related activities simply to generate more revenue. Throughout my career, I've realized repeatedly that I would continue to do what I do whether or not I made money or needed money. That attitude has put me in a very high income bracket because I've made it so important that I do what I love to do. It's true that my clients pay me well so that I can continue to do what I love, but the key is that I would do what I love, anyway, for me.

Blogging for Your Current or Potential Clients

Blogging can be a powerful way to keep in touch with your clients or provide valuable content that augments client sessions. You may find as I found that sometimes a client can understand a point better if it's made in a more general way, in writing. It depersonalizes (or generalizes) a concept that may seem a little too close when it comes up in a one-to-one conversation.

Potential clients can get to know you through your blog, your web site, or your articles. Exposure to your ideas can help to draw appropriate clients to you and introduce your ideas and philosophy. If you think in terms of generating new clients, I encourage you to consider it "soft sell." If you're a marketing coach with a hit-'em approach, then "soft sell" won't be very appealing to you. Know your own style.

Confidentiality and Anonymity in Public Writing

If you decide you want to blog about concepts you discuss with your clients, be certain to maintain 100% confidentiality. Even if a client has given you permission to talk openly about your work together, be very careful because potential clients will tend not to use your services if they think that private information will be blasted into the Blogosphere or discussed openly with others. So, if you want to name a client and the client has said you can use his or her name, it's a good policy to state that you've received permission.

It's really quite easy to discuss matters of a private and personal nature in a way that others can relate while maintaining confidentiality and anonymity. It takes practice, but it's easy. The best approach I've found is to write whatever I want to say about a person or a situation and then re-write it, thinking about ways to describe elements of the story so that even the person wouldn't recognize himself or herself. You'll know you've succeeded if your client later says, "that's a little like what you and I were talking about a while back, isn't it?"

Another approach is to write as soon as the session is "hot" and then wait for enough time to pass so that it's easier to bring in other ideas from other consulting sessions to enrich, deepen, and further alter the story so that it's really no longer the original person or situation.

Blog Provides a Format

When I write about my experiences with the DailyAffirm Transformational Process (as I do in the Tips to Tap the Writer in the Coach eBook), I think of DailyAffirm as having a format, like a blog has a format. In fact, twelve years ago when I started writing DailyAffirm, it was, in effect, a blog before blogs were called "blogs." Now, it's a blog with its own domain at http://www.dailyaffirm.com.

Blogging as a Profit Center

Personally, I don't look to my blogs to make money, although I do have a few links that generate some modest income. With some effort, I could certainly generate more income from them. Many people do make good income with their blogs, so check around.

Getting Visitors to Your Blog

Opinions abound about the best ways to attract people to your site. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts have gotten wealthy advising bloggers and other web site owners. My general suggestion about SEO experts is to wait until you have a good rhythm on your blog, beause that is when they can be most helpful.

My methods of gaining readership are probably not all that unusual: write regularly, create postings that have value and substance, link to similar sites, include the link in my signature lines, and mention one blog on another one of my blogs or web sites. I have also listed my blogs in a few blog directories and other resource directories.

In addition, from time to time, I comment on other blogs and I mention one of my articles when it seems relevant on forums. I also let clients know the blogs are available because that helps them to supplement what we discuss in consultations and to introduce my work to others in a powerful way.

One of the most succinct lists of tips for generating visitors is on Marty Fahncke's My Perspective Blog.

Blogging Software and Services

Blogs are available in many different software packages and services. Even blog experts have challenges keeping up with all the approaches.

Many people on the Internet are looking for anything that's free, and make their decisions based on how inexpensively they can do or have something. Unfortunately, that consciousness keeps them from being prosperous. So, my suggestion is that you first become clear about your own reasons to blog. Make the choices that give you a professional-looking blog if you want to be seen as a professional.

If you get a blog at blogspot, for example, you'll not be projecting a professional image. Get one there if you want to talk about your pets or gardening, but not your coaching and consulting principles.

Research the various services. I'm not an expert. I chose WordPress after starting with a service while I was working with someone who only knew about that service. It felt very cramped. I needed more flexibility and made a switch before going public.

I've been using WordPress and have inspired many others to use WordPress. You may find that a service is just perfect, whether you get it for free or pay for it. You might find a blogging community that seems appropriate for your participation. Search. Experiment. Play. Most of all, write. You want your blogging software to feel easy for you so that you can do what you have the software for: write!

WordPress

WordPress is Open Source technology, which means that it's free to download and use. Many, many software developers offer auxiliary programs (called plug-ins) and designs (called themes). You need a web host that allows the PHP web language. At this time, most do. You have the choice of creating a separate domain for your blog, or including it as a subdomain with your main domain. When it has its own domain, you'll want to choose a descriptive name. If it is a subdomain, you might simply name it "blog" so that the URL to reach your blog would be www.blog.yourdomain.com. And there are other configurations, including www.yourdomain.com/blog. Your web host company can tell you the options. See my Web Host Recommendations.

There's a bit of a learning curve with WordPress, although in recent years it's getting easier for people to get on board. Many web hosts have a one-click set up.

WordPress has a discussion forum with lots of helpful geeks to help you and documentation at the Codex site.

Blogging as a Professional

Rule #1: Stay Professional and Ethical. When your blog is published, it is available to the world. (By the way, this is also true of forums. If you search for your name in quotation marks, you can find out what the search engines have accumulated.)

Name Your Blog

Create an interesting name for your blog. Many people say that all the good names are taken. But that's not so. You can take two interesting words and put them together. At one time, people added hyphens to domain names, but that is now considered less desirable than just putting words together. When typing a multi-word domain, it is helpful to use uppercase for the beginning of each word. That way your invitations can use the address www.ThisIsMyBlog.com instead of www.thisismyblog.com.

My Blogs as Examples

At one time I had three blogs. That's excessive for most people. However, it made perfect sense to me because I have so many different interests. If I combined everything at one web site, it would be confusing, not only to my visitors, but to the search engines. I have removed two of those blogs temporarily. Here's the one that's still active:

The DailyAffirm Personal Transformation Process is based on the book, Affirmations: A Pathway to Transformation. The DailyAffirm blog is located at http://www.dailyaffirm.com.