All Business Owners Are Publishers

If you own a business, you know how many hats you have to wear … accountant, salesperson, human resources, janitor, etc. etc.  Well in today’s commercial world, you are going to need one more hat and that is social marketer.

All the traditional advertising and marketing you have invested in will no longer engage your customers in the way that social marketing does.  Just having a website today, won’t cut it.  Today’s customers expect new information constantly and they want to connect with the people they are buying from.  If you have any doubt about this, check out these points:

  • Many tier 1 corporations have given up their primary websites and deal strictly on Facebook
  • Without a Twitter presence, you don’t exist for many young consumers
  • Consumers use their smartphones for all aspects of their lives, if your content isn’t mobile friendly, they will move on to your competitor who is
  • If your content is not relevant and up to date you are missing opportunities to connect with current and potential clients
  • Blogging and videos are used by your clients as sources of information

It’s all about the Content

Times have changed and your content cannot be all about you.  Your customers get thousands of marketing messages every day, they are looking for something that will help them in their lives or at least entertain them.  If you want to engage and compel your customers to be interested in you, you must give them something.  You need to be seen as the expert and the “go-to” in your niche.  For instance if you are selling garden supplies, don’t just blog about mundane gardening tips … tell them how to grow the biggest prize-winning roses … or how to have the best lawn in their neighborhood.  Even better, post a video showing “how-to” grow roses or get the best lawn.

Your content must be current

Now that you have an idea of what it takes, just producing the content will not be enough.  You must think like a publisher to attract sales and have current content whether it is on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube videos.  This is a huge challenge for some business owners as they do not have the time or resources to put on this task.  If this is your situation, you could benefit from outsourcing or engaging your employees to contribute, schedule and manage your online marketing content.

Most small businesses deal with a social marketing expert (either full time or on a consultant basis) to determine where, when and what they should concentrate their social marketing efforts on in order to reach their clients.  You need to be wherever your clients are, whether it is Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. etc.

Regardless of how you get it accomplished, you must start thinking about your marketing differently.  Think of your clients as subscribers to your publishing efforts.  If you deliver valuable, current and compelling content to your readers (customers), you will become the “go-to” and your business will naturally grow.

 

Written by

John Romano is an entrepreneur, marketing strategist, Internet consultant, blogger and an expert in the technical, conceptual, and content development of online startups. He is the founder of several ecommerce sites and has helped multiple companies launch successful online businesses.

14 comments

  1. Steve

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    Great post John. As a freelance writer specializing in content creation, I can vouch for all of the points you’ve made. Most business owners know that they need a website, but so many don’t realize that a good business website is more than an online contact card. You need great content for a great website. The more content you offer, the greater impact your business will have.

    Keep up the good work.

  2. Denver F.

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    I like the idea of encouraging employees to blog. My local radio station has a blog and its fun to read what all of the people that work there have to say. They might all be talking about the same thing but they each have something different to say. My website had blog posts by all of my employees. Too bad right now I’m the only one. That will change someday.

  3. Stephanie

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    One quick glance at various job sites like Monster.com and it is obvious content writers and developers and in high demand now. If you can include that feather in your cap as a small business owner, then that is all the more better.

  4. J Stenn

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    Resist the urge to post content outside your niche. if you want to post and idea outside your niche, post it elsewhere. don’t dilute your content. write your off-topic piece, then find a blog it fits with and submit it to as a guest post. great way to share your idea without muddying up your content.

  5. Jennifer D.

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    As one of those ‘journalists’ you mentioned, I’ll definitely say we’d welcome the work. I cut my teeth, so to speak, on social media and web content for political campaigns, so I can definitely write to persuade. :)

  6. All Business Owners Are Publishers

    Brilliant suggestions, John. Micro niches are by far the best way to create a super popular site that attracts targeted visitors, but on top of that you do have to have great, regular content that is unique and personal.

    Enjoy the journey.

    Mandy

  7. Pat

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    I am always looking out for new places to talk to others about my niche and connect with new people who may be interested in what I have to offer. I often chat on forums in my niche and also find local offline groups a great source of readers.

    Pat

  8. Paul S.

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    I like the suggestion that small business owners consciously realize they are content producers and should try to address specific articles that relate to their customer’s most pressing problems. I own a small business, but I do have trouble finding the time to create all this content. There are so many outlets to publish on now it can be exhausting! To date, I have mostly tried blogging, Twitter and Facebook – although I haven’t posted to any of them consistently enough. Third party ghost writers are a possibility, but I offer professional services that are not super easy to write about at a high level. It’s an ongoing challenge!

  9. tonimarie2448

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    Never thought of it this way, but it makes complete sense. Great info here for anyone looking or even in this field for business. I definitely like the part about having a journalist. They really can be priceless for you and there are so many out there ready for outsourcing. They’ll really make a difference for you.

  10. MelanieLM

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    Website and blog owners are often both publishers and writers, although hiring freelance writers and media developers is a viable option for those with less time or inclination to do it all themselves. I like that you touch on both on-site and off-site content as being key to the whole process.

  11. Quinton Walker

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    That’s an interesting idea to let employees share stories about customer experiences. It could work out fabulous, but I would be worried that a ‘Negative Nelly’ type might actually start *complaining* about customers and bring serious harm to the company. One would have to keep an eye on the blog/forum continuously and insure the comments were appropriate. Privacy issues might also arise. Has anyone actually done this in their business?

  12. MarieT

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    I’ve found that combining outsourced content with my own writing is the best way to maintain a current blog that the search engines love. I’m busy. I can’t do it all myself, but I don’t want to leave all the writing up to other people. My posts are a reflection of myself, after all. I’m the publisher, as you say in this post, and what I offer brands me.

  13. Doug

    All Business Owners Are Publishers

    There is a saying that I think originally came from Benjamin Franklin, it goes “If you want to be remembered, ether write something worth reading or do something worth being written about.” As a entrepreneur, it’s your job to make your company continual relevant to your customers. Do the exceptional and you’ll never be at a loss for content.

  14. All Business Owners Are Publishers

    I agree with J Stenn – For any topics that are not relevant to my sites, but might have decent earning potential, etc. I post on Hubpages or Squidoo. (BTW, these sites are also good to write something relevant about your site, and link it to your blog. Hubs and Lenses get page-rank quite quickly at times, and can be a good source of traffic. Marie T – I also supplement my own writing with outsourced articles. It saves me time and money :) Good tips here John, keep them coming!

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