A blog is a great marketing tool…but not such a great advertising tool.
Advertising is the process of selling your product or service to someone at a distance. In order to do this, you need to determine that person’s needs and talk about the benefits of your product or service (how you meet those needs).
When you take a larger view of marketing, however, that encompasses everything that happens in getting your product or service to market. And a blog can fill a void that many businesses have trouble bridging. By having a conversation that creates a relationship with your customers.
Don’t Talk About Yourself
Of course, one of the keys of having a good conversation is that you don’t talk about yourself too much. You try to talk about the other person, or subjects you have a common interest in, right? And if you end every conversation with “by the way, would you like to buy something,” pretty soon, no one is going to want to talk to you anymore.
Shut Up and Listen
You can’t have a conversation all by yourself. As you blog, make sure you take time to reply to any comments people leave for you–real, meaningful replies, not simply “thanks for commenting.” TALK to your readers.
Challenge Assumptions
Get people thinking about long-held beliefs. Ask if they’re still valid. Chances are the world has changed dramatically since they were formulated. Push the line. Get out of the box. I’m not saying you have to go all “shock jock” on them…but don’t make it an easy, comfortable read.
Paint Pictures
Conversations are typically stories. Your blog is no exception. Don’t simply rattle off a list of facts, or the mundane minutia of your life. They’re giving you their valuable time. Make it worth their while.
IMAGE CREDIT: Courtesy of SXC.hu
译文:
交谈的艺术
写博是一种很好的行销手段。。但却不是一种好的宣传工具。广告是在一定距离范围中向别人来推销你的产品或服务的过程。要做到这点，你要明白人们的需求，并谈论你产品或服务怎样给人们带来益处（你又将怎样满足人们的需求）。
然而，在行销中，将眼光放长远一点，容扩到一切在将你的产品或服务投放到市场会遇到的问题。许多生意可以通过博客这种捷径搭建起桥梁，通过对话的形式和你的客户建立联系。
不要总谈论自己
当然，良好谈话的开端是，你不要总是过多的谈论自己。你要试着去谈谈别的人，或找个你们共同有兴趣的话题，你说呢？再者，如果你在每次谈话完后，来一句：“顺便问一下，你想买点什么东西吗？”，很快的，没有人会再愿意和你交谈。
少说多听
你也不能一个人自言自语。既然开博了，确保你会花时间去回复人们给你的任何评论---真实，有用的答复，并不是简单的回复“谢谢你的点评”之类的。多和读者交流。
避免猜测
让人们想想长期以来所持有的观念，问问是否还在坚持。这个世界在其初始形成开始就一直戏剧性地变化着。往往这时你要打破成规。我的意思不是说让你跟他们耍嘴皮子。但也别写的太随随便便了。
让语言充满画面美
谈话就像讲故事。你的博客也不例外。不要只是一位地唠叨一些事实，或是你生活中的平凡琐事。他们把珍贵的时间交给你，你就要对得起他们。