There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding and ignorance around Public Relations.
In this video, Kerry explains what PR really is.
Blog for Exposure
Blog for Exposure
Blogging is one of the best ways to build exposure for yourself or your business. By generating a following of people who access your blog for helpful or interesting information, you are setting yourself up as an expert in your area of speciality.
Normally, I would encourage business owners to blog about their topic of expertise, so that this is what they become known and recognised for. However, in some cases, it has happened that bloggers have built a reputation for themselves that has led to increased business opportunities by blogging about something else entirely.
One such example is Annabel Candy. A passionate blogger who lives on Australia’s Sunshine Coast with her husband and three children, Annabel decided to start her travel blog a couple of years ago to share her passion for travel and become a more confident writer. Called Get in the Hot Spot, it shares amusing and easy-to-read stories and anecdotes on travel, and Annabel’s trips to more than 40 countries, with tips and ideas. Just two years later, the blog has attracted over 20,000 people a month who enjoy reading her stories, with more than 145,000 visitors in the last 12 months.
Annabel and her husband incidentally also have a web and blog design business called Mucho that they set up in 1998, specialising in websites and blogs for small businesses, tourism operators and writers. Get in the Hot Spot has proven to be an incredible generator of business for their web and blog design business.
I had a chat with Annabel to find out exactly how her blog has generated leads for her business.
Question: Give me a brief background about your website design business and how the blogs feed into it.
My husband and I have been running our own website design and copywriting business for 13 years. Then I set up my travel blog Get In the Hot Spot after moving to Australia and it’s helped me get clients in Sydney, Melbourne, the US and the UK.
Although I didn’t blog about my business, or even try to get jobs, my writing resonated with people. It built trust and it made them want to work with me, not so much because of my qualifications and experience, but because of the personal experiences I’d shared with them.
In fact, my blog has taken over my business and looking back it’s easy to see why.
With my business branding I play safe, sticking to corporate grey and blue. I probably come across as one of those boring experts we all try to avoid. But Get In the Hot Spot is colourful. On my blog I experiment, share my passions and have fun.
Now I have two blogs – Successful Blogging which more actively markets our web or blog design, content strategy and copywriting services and Get In the Hot Spot which showcases my writing and has helped me break into travel writing too.
Question: How do the blog posts “sell” your service? Eg, do readers get to know and love you, as a person and then use your service?
The blogs seem to sell by not selling. They build trust and humanize me! It sounds odd but blogging does build personal relationships by making people feel as if they’ve met you when they haven’t. So many readers will approach me when they need help with their blog design.
Question: How long was it after starting your blog that it began to generate an income for your business?
A long time after. It happened naturally and slowly; if I’d been more strategic when I started blogging I could have done it faster, but back then I didn’t know what a powerful marketing tool blogging was.
The first job I got was during my first year of blogging when a blog reader saw copywriter in my Twitter profile and needed a copywriter. I got the job.
Question: Which one of your blogs compliments or “sells” your web design business the most and why/how?
Successful Blogging because it was set up strategically to do that. I have a tight focus on blogging tips for writers and small business owners so it attracts the right audience who might want to start a blog or redesign an existing one.
Like me, many bloggers start off with free template blogs but once they start seeing results they want to invest in their blog design.
Check out Annabel Candy’s Get in the Hot Spot here: http://www.getinthehotspot.com/
And Successful Blogging here: http://www.successfulblogging.com/
Why are people’s perceptions important to you?
Kerry talks about people’s perception of Holland to be the sleazy drug-and-sex image of Amsterdam.
Why do people have this perception of a whole country?
And why is people’s perception important to you?
Book publicity. (An older video, but very relevant!)
HI everyone, this is an older video I did with Joanna Penn, from The Creative Penn, a while back on book publicity. Even though it is a bit older now, it is still very relevant! Have you written a book? Then you should definitely check this out! Topics we discuss include: What is publicity…
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My interview with Jay Jay about viral marketing 1/2
I had a very interesting talk to Jay Jay, the well known illusionist and entertainer, about viral marketing. This is the first half and the second is coming right up. Kerry Did you like this post? Share it:Tweet
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Stratosphere YOU through this blog
The purpose of this blog is to show inspiring people in their field numerous tried and tested exposure techniques, plus a whole heap of new innovative and creative ways to generate their own publicity and get exposure for themselves and their brand. Spending big bucks on advertising is not always viable for those with tight budgets, and often is not effective in reaching your desired audience anyway.
