Blogging

The other night I found myself at the bar of one of my favorite restaurants, Cedric in Harlem and sadly watched Roger Federer lose a match in the quarter finals in Flushing. After getting over my Swiss pride being hurt, I started a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to me and we soon where in a deep conversation about blogging and selling.  His wife has a flower boutique, Katrina Parris Flowers a few blocks from my house and they are big on social media. 

We discussed what we sell and what we REALY sell – ‘emotions’ in his case, mine is a bit more complicate as I wear many hats, but let’s say ‘security’ – meaning I get the job done without costing you your job by going over budget or delivering shoddy video or a disorganized mayhem of an event. We also talked about ‘less is more’ and how important it is to constantly reinvent oneself without alienating customers. In short we talked (small business owner) shop.  And although our business are so different the challenges are pretty much the same. 

 

Coincidentally I had just finished reading an article not an hour early on the OPEN Forum app called “20 ways to drive more traffic to your blog”.  This American Express on-line magazine for small business owners (and Amex customers) often has excellent content and it has a decent app.  The article was short, to the point, nothing new, but a good reminder of what not to lose sight of.  And as always: you are not going to hit all 20 of the points but at least the majority – one would hope.  

 

For me the biggest challenge is quality over quantity.  That is, the frequency is an issue, as I would suspect for most bloggers.  I refuse to bring out a new entry every Tuesday no matter what if it’s not going to be pertinent. I do not want to write just for the sake of posting regularly.  Either I have a matter at heart I want to share or I do some ‘homework’ on a topic I feel fits within the context of my blog and merits my attention and time researching.  

 

Mark, my friend from the bar, asked me if I derived income from my blog or direct leads. And no, I do not, but I think it gives a potential client or partner insight into the fact that maybe I’m not just some hack, but someone who, if nothing else has opinions, interests and a voice. 

 

What are your biggest challenges in blogging?  Ideas, time to write, focus? All of the above?