Let’s say you provide a product or paid service.
Are you the King (or Queen) of the copywriters? Self-professed WordPress wizard? Best of all….are you a social media expert?
You have a blog that shows off those epic skills, right? Of course you do! What better way to show off your prowess in your chosen field? Unless, y’know…it doesn’t.
Too often I come across the blogs of people claiming to be skilled or qualified in a particular field, and attempting to sell services via those blogs. I’ve already talked about why you shouldn’t apply buzzwords to yourself that really don’t apply, but this is a whole different animal. A sad number of service providers are failing at showcasing the very thing they’re advertising.
Hey Mr. Social Media Man, how come you only have 100 Facebook fans? If your social networking strategies are so awesome, how come you’re not leveraging them? Why would anyone pay you for something that you seemingly haven’t mastered yet?
Captain Web Design has his entire site tricked out in Comic Sans MS, and has the sidebar on his blog bleeding so far into the body of his site that it’s cutting off words in his content. But for just $700, he can install and configure WordPress to your wildest dreams!
And you, Ms. Copywriter. I think I’m disappointed in you most of all. Your blog is full of typos and bad punctuation, and you seem incapable of using the right wording in slang phrases. If it’s too hot, get off the kitchen!
Believe it or not, each of these examples is from a real blog I’ve come across. I don’t know if any of these people is making a decent living from the services they offer through their blog, but I kinda doubt it. And for the droves of qualified people who aren’t pulling in enough clients, I kinda hope they’re not. Sorry.
Do those examples sound anything like you? If so, consider stepping your game up. Do your very best work on your own blog, brand, or product before selling results to someone else. Convey proficiency (if not mastery) in whatever it is you’re selling. You wouldn’t buy cosmetics from someone wearing foundation that made them look orange, would you? I know I wouldn’t.
Image is important if you want to use your blog as a business card. This might be your first impression with a potential customer – draw them in with the possibilities of what you can do. Wow them with your skills or success before you ever make the sales pitch. Let the customer see what you have to offer, then try to sell it to them. Don’t just slap something together and wait for the bucks to come rolling in.
If you currently offer services – especially for something subjective like copywriting or web design – go through your blog with a fine-tooth comb. Think of it as another part of your portfolio, because it is. Make it sparkle.
Or just hire someone who’s better at what you do than you are, to handle the grunt work. That’s delegating, right?
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I wouldn't buy foundation from anyone! LOL
I agree with your point.
If the website or portfolio doesn't speak fr itself, then it will come under 'not effective'.
I mean this would be a basic thing, expecting the best from someone providing a service. They should at least implement what they are providing, and not just implement, but implement to the highest standards.
“Hey Mr. Social Media Man, how come you only have 100 Facebook fans?”
That guy has actually only 10 fans and not 100.
Nabeel
My favorite: SEO GURUs that don't show up in Google! Oh, wait, there they are #194,000,000 :O
Some of us weren't blessed with your flawless complexion, Keith
Haha! Seriously, at least provide a mockup of search results from somewhere. I don't care if your keyword is “San Diego Animal Chiropractor” – just show that you're capable.
Your site persona with reference to a portfolio or business card – aptly named. What would you do if someone handled you their business card if it was worn, torn, soiled and odorous to boot, smelling like wet gym towels? I get itchy just thinking about it.
Too often these online wunderkind use the old MLM marketing ploy of “fake it until you make it.” After all, who is going to know? That is just it…People will know.
p.s. I know DISQUS is great for tracking purposes, but I hate that I can't look at my comment in entirety, having to line scroll up and down to review for missing dots and crossed tees.
What Keith didn't mention, is he has a plastic surgeon brother on call.
What Keith didn't mention, is he has a plastic surgeon brother on call.
Hey Leon!
I agree, you have to be careful about how you position yourself. Authority is important, but it's not going to work if it's totally contrived. You need to have some kind of backbone to build your reputation from, not just flash and fancy words.
Hey Leon!
I agree, you have to be careful about how you position yourself. Authority is important, but it's not going to work if it's totally contrived. You need to have some kind of backbone to build your reputation from, not just flash and fancy words.
Did you notice how anonymous snuck in a squeeze page? Yep, I checked it out. I hope you leave up their comment as proof of: poor sentence structure, typos, an obvious chance to leave a weblink. If there name is Nabeel, then I am Kevin Bloemendaal. Oh, Keith, that $1 dollar I gave you in elementary school for milk money (the loan) is well past due. Where is my interest?
Did you notice how anonymous snuck in a squeeze page? Yep, I checked it out. I hope you leave up their comment as proof of: poor sentence structure, typos, an obvious chance to leave a weblink. If there name is Nabeel, then I am Kevin Bloemendaal. Oh, Keith, that $1 dollar I gave you in elementary school for milk money (the loan) is well past due. Where is my interest?
Gosh nab it! I said there instead of their. Forgive me.
That would be a lot of interest!
Part of the problem is people just trying to fake it…the rest is just poor career choices. Come on people!
Jillian, I like you're style
I dread making typos. “Handled” should be “handed.” See where fast writing gets you?
Wow, this was alot of thoughts but I really do love how British you are. Such a quirky way of expressing such deep thoughts. I do concur!
My all time #1 most absolute favorite…..the SEO specialist using default permalinks in their blogs.
Great article post. I love to read such type of posts, full of information on up to date topic. I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.
I hope I'm not one of those people, simply because I don't pretend to be an expert on any specific field – I'm an old-timer, a jack of all trades
I don't think I'm perfect in anything specific, but I do manage to make a good income from web publishing. And you won't see any “please donate” boxes on my blog 
BTW, haven't visited in a while, I think you switched over to disqus or has it always been like that? Bleh, I really don't like their system.
This is the best comment I've ever seen. Great conversation here. You obviously read the post and added great value to the article. I really have the urge to go buy a honda car mat now. Anyone else feeling that same urge?
Nick? It must be some type of bot comment poster?
Which is too bad, because Jillian is going to be the next Oprah (online).
I figured it was and whenever Keith gets back from grilling, I'm sure that he'll delete this little thread and rightly so, but it's a great example of how some comments just don't add anything to the conversation and even if that was a real person, you wouldn't be able to tell because of how spammy it sounds. Then again, maybe they are a commenting guru.
This really proves that we need to focus on our skills and our product first before promoting ourselves and what we have to offer. I think rushing to get things done is one of the reasons why some people do the things you mentioned.
I think we should do every possible task for our blog/site optimization.
I think content is the king so try to write lucrative content. There should something new for
visitor when he/she visit to site. Rest social media is a key for overall site/blog optimization. Thanks for such nice post.
WebProNews recently talked to Patrick O’Keefe from the iFroggy Network who talked about several interesting areas of concern in the use of social media. Patrick’s first point on the use of sock puppets is one area of social media that is getting abused, especially on Twitter.