Popular Today, But is Blogging A Flash-in-The-Pan?
As Facebook and Twitter gain momentum, it's been questioned whether blogs will become obsolete?
To answer that question, let's look at what the facts tell us.
Neither Twitter nor Facebook can match the presence of a blog. Blogs are feature-rich, versatile and permit long form content.
Twitter is text-based and extremely limited. It's considered a microblog that allows microposts of no more than 140 characters. This makes meaningful conversation impossible.
Facebook has more features than Twitter, but it focuses on individuals and their personal lives. However, as Facebook evolves, big-name consumer brands are building a presence.
Even so, because of its consumer-centric focus, it's not a haven for B2B companies. And it's unlikely to be one in the future. Regardless, you can employ Twitter and Facebook creating a synergy that directs traffic to your blog where prospects can find more substantive content. Social media complements rather than replaces blogging.
Blogging is both efficient and effective.
Inbound marketing beats traditional marketing on lead generation costs. A study by Social Examiner corroborates this in documenting a 62% reduction in costs less per lead than traditional outbound marketing.
As long as blogging remains cost-efficient, it's extremely unlikely B2B marketers will abandon it. But cost-efficiency isn't the only consideration.
According to HubSpot's VP of Marketing, Mike Volpe, "blogs generate 55% more website traffic than companies that don't… and they get 97% more links coming in to their sites."
Blogging is effective, in part, because it's an absolute workhorse. Specifically, blogging addresses 6 out of 9 customer buying phases.
Recognize need
Establish urgency
Create company awareness
Maintain visibility
Continue relationship
As B2B marketers become more resourceful in exploiting the benefits of blogging, its adoption and use will continue to grow. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, authors of Inbound Marketing, say blogs can turn your website into a living and breathing marketplace.
The Future of B2B Blogs
Today, B2B blogs are popular, and they promise to be a force in the future.
They're robust, versatile, and dispense with the hard sell. As long as blogs generate buzz- delivering compelling and engaging content when the buyer needs it – blogs will be a powerful force in the B2B world.
Most importantly, B2B blogging helps to increase your traffic, sales and profits.
The facts dispel the view that blogging's days are numbered. You might see personal blogging decline and give way to social media. But that doesn't apply to business blogging.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, I'd say the rumors of blogging's demise are greatly exaggerated.
Although B2B blogging has gained a solid following, B2B marketers haven't optimized its use. In that sense, B2B blogging hasn't reached a tipping point.
How's your business blog doing? Are you engaging prospects and customers? Are you doing it effectively and efficiently? Blogging done right can serve as the hub of your content marketing program helping you increase sales and profits. It can give you the edge you're looking for.
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Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive markethive.com
With the recent attacks in Paris, Istanbul, Brussels, Iraq and Lahore and with the current terrorism threat to the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) from international terrorism being assessed as severe (that means an attack is highly likely) I have decided to give my opinion on the matter to see if we really can defeat ISIS.
Original article by Joe Robinson where he is a regular blogger at Medium.
I believe I have an in-depth knowledge about how ISIL operate, not only for the fact that I decided to travel to both Syria and Iraq to fight against them during one of the Civil war’s most bloody periods but ever since their up-rising I have been infatuated with the so-called Islamic State. I have spent hours and hours trying to understand their ideology, sifting through the gory execution and propaganda videos, researching about how they have managed to rise and capture so much territory so fast and why young Muslims are attracted to the so-called Islamic state.
Most people only know ISIL through the media and from their propaganda material, but I have seen behind that. I have been up close and personal with them, I have seen how they operate, I have seen how they live their day to day lives, I have looked after them whilst they were detained prior to being handed over to state authorities and I can tell you that much of what you think of them, results from their brand of marketing and public relations. They present themselves to the public as superheroes; enforcers of the will of Allah, declaring Jihad (holy war) on Kuffar (none-believers) but away from the camera are a bit pathetic in many ways. Street kids inebriated on ideology and power and in many ways immature and dim-witted but that is not to understate the murderous potential of stupidity.
What I have come to realize is that ISIL thrive on Muslim separatism within European communities. They claim that the attack in Paris was because of France’s participation in the Bombing campaign knowing full well that in retaliation, France and other coalition forces would respond accordingly. This is what they want! they want us to respond with force so that it turns the Muslim population in Europe against us; it gives them opportunities to radicalise young Muslims to come and fight for their cause.
Nicolas Henin, a French journalist who spent 10 months as an ISIL captive and who got to know their fighters quite intimately came to the realization that “what they fear is our unity”. They want us to be scared of Muslims so that it segregates them from us within our community.
That’s not to say that I do not agree with coalition Airstrikes but even though I am fully supportive of coalition airstrikes in Syria assisting the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Unit), as they have pushed back ISIL further and taken back far more ground than any other fighting force on the ground; I do believe that a retaliation to the recent attack’s (just like the mass bombing campaign in retaliation to the Paris attacks) is precisely what Daesh wants. This is not the time for anger, this is not the time for retaliation, this is the time to stand together as one.
In my personal opinion, the best course of action is to not discriminate against the Muslim community. Show solidarity and come together as a community as we have seen in the past. This is what hurts ISIL the most. Something that I have come to realise and that I often say to people I meet is that it doesn’t matter how many Daesh fighters you kill; you can kill a thousand, you can kill a hundred thousand but you will never kill their ideology. The only way we can do this is if we stand together. This is how we defeat ISIL and this is how we can defeat their ideology.
If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they show at the top of the page.
Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive markethive.com
How Inbound Marketing and Social Media compliment each other.
What makes people addicted to social media?
Social interaction has been a human trait for as long as humans have been around.
However, relatively speaking, social media on the internet is only a recent phenomenon. Is it here to stay? There are many indications to suggest it is.
Only recently, Facebook announced they had one billion users on their site in just one day! There are so many aspects that attract people to Social Media.
…keeping in touch with friends and family; in some cases finding long lost friends and relatives.
…the ability to find new friends and associates interested in the same subject as themselves.
…attracting new customers to their business and keeping them informed of special offers, etc.
…keeping club members informed of events.
…carrying out research based upon answers to posts, etc.
The list goes on and on.
…but why has Social Media become so addictive? For example, why don't people stick to traditional methods such as the telephone to tell a family member about an event they are going to, or have been to?
There are many people who will even post a picture of their evening meal on a Social Media website but they won't pick up the telephone to tell someone what or where they have eaten.,
Is it because they can tell lots of people at the same time with just one post?
…or is it because they want to "show off" that they have been to a particular restaurant?
Maybe it is because they want to see the reaction from other people.
There is some research to suggest that the majority of people are basically insecure and many believe using Social Media as a means of communication and conversation is possibly less stressful than face to face interaction.
The kind of communication on Social Media is usually asynchronous, meaning the original comment and its response happen at different times. Therefore, a post is not always likely to receive an immediate response; sometimes it could be days, weeks or even months later (if at all).
Have you ever made a post on FB and then been disappointed that no one took the time and trouble to leave a comment?
Could the need for interaction be at least one of the hooks of Social Media? Of course it is.
Everyone is expecting others to join in their conversation. If not expecting, they are at least hoping. The "hook" is such that many people will log in "just one more time before they go to bed" to see if they have had a response.
It gets even more addictive. With Social Media on mobile devices being the current trend (a trend set to last a long time), many people are almost glued to their devices. It is no longer a case of waiting until they get home to switch on their pc. They are now in a position to see responses as soon as they occur. This creates even more "panic" amongst some users because every bleep of their device could mean someone is responding to their post or a conversation they are involved in.
Is it now a case of them wanting to be the first to know what is happening so they can then send a further response?
So what does all this mean for MarketHive?
Markethive.com is a Social Communication Platform designed for the Entrepreneur to compete with the Multi-Million dollar corporations in their quest to gain their fair share of business.
I expect that most people who become MarketHive members will be business minded. However, there will be some members who do not have a business.
There are many features in the MarketHive system for everyone, not just business owners.
All members of MarketHive are obviously potential customers for other members…
…and of course for MarketHive itself when optional services are offered.
…but as already discussed elsewhere, just having members is not enough.
Engaging the members will be necessary. They need to be 'hooked' on using MarketHive.
One of those hooks will surely be the Social Media sharing capabilities of the MarketHive system.
Origional article by: Thomas Prendergast, CMO, Markethive.com
If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they show at the top of the page.
Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive markethive.com
It has been my agenda for nearly 20 years to reform an industry that is for the most part built upon a shifting and unreliable foundation that has always been broken and is heading for total annihilation. If you have attempted to build a business in MLM Network Marketing) you will relate to what I am addressing.
For over a decade this vision has grown in urgency and definition to help direct a broken industry towards developing a customer based centered direct sales model. All of this was originally inspired by a maverick move towards customer acquisition by a company called Trivita. In 2001 I was introduced to this new direction in MLM by the simple statement, just buy your customers. I had already been engaged in the MLM industry for nearly 10 years at that time. My first exposure to MLM was in 1992 with the first to market a consumer (customer) based ISP, nationwide dialup Internet access for $20 per month.
I have been an entrepreneur my whole adult life and a good portion of my teen years as well, with my first business started at the age of 14. Prior to my exposure to MLM, I was and still am a traditional business entrepreneur. Therefore to say, I found the MLM model of exclusive distribution to and consumption by distributors and only motivated to this action by pursuing profit; "alien, illogical and disturbing".
Let me explain:
My introduction and very successful sojourn with Trivita helped me discover the stark contrast between the artificial economies of a distributor based sales company in contrast to a customer based sales company. I studied this comparison for many years and it became painfully clear, the reason traditional MLM fails, regardless of the compensation plan, regardless of the motivational speakers, regardless of the training to sell the “Hope and Dreams” as that is the only way to promote when the products and or services are frankly, always overpriced and usually underwhelmingly ineffective. There are very few exceptions. So the glaring difference I found in Trivita was the fact that for every distributor I recruited, I averaged 100 customers. Then the fact, I did not have to sell Hope and Dreams and instead, the pitch was just buy customers. The reaction from the potential distributor was always extremely positive and the close rate of a distributor was very high. When you factor in that every distributor usually meant 100 customers, the potential success was superior to anything else like it.
This was just a company that offered co-op acquisition of the leads and customers Trivita acquired via their infomercials and not much else. Even Trivita’s products lacked true demonstrability and the pricing was not competitive. The only viable benefit regarding being customer centric was the fact you could just buy customers, that for the most part, only about 20% stayed a viable reorder over the years.
Because of this one aspect with Trivita, I have enjoyed a significant income for over 10 years with little attention, a true residual income. Over the years as a vendor to the MLM industry, occasionally getting involved with a few companies because I was promised they were going to offer customer centric solutions. None of them ever did and in my opinion, the super majority of MLMs are run by greedy sociopathic owners, that understand the game and that being the 3 month rule. They build their businesses to inspire, motivate and separate their new distributors from as much money and contacts they can. They know their business model only attracts distributors seeking some semblance of financial success therefore they lay their snares with grand claims of Hopes and Dreams. I consider it borderline criminal. Now we finally arrive to the meat of this article, that being what is a true Customer Centric direct sales company look like. Being that there really isn’t any yet, we have to go to the imagination and vision that to some part is guided by good business principles and look at some of the true customer centric businesses on the scene today.
Amazon could easily be the epitome of customer centric.
Wow. “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.”
That is big, it’s bold, and it’s risky for a brand to make the promise to fulfill on that 24/7 every week of the year.
Service recovery design pays off
Of course the shopping and purchasing experience on Amazon has been exceptional for years. But what if a customer has a post-purchase problem? A big part of customer experience design is a focus on “service recovery,” or designing and refining the process when something goes wrong for the customer. Beloved brands like Zipcar know this is a critical opportunity for delivering moments of delight.
The latest results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index reveals Amazon.com as the reigning and undisputed champ in both Internet retailing and across the entire department in overall customer satisfaction. Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos perhaps more than any business leader has taken the philosophy of truly caring for the customer and ushered it into the digital era. Bezos has built a company from the ground up purely based off of the unbending, unyielding philosophy of serving the customer across all departments. With a 164 million Amazon customers, few would argue Bezos as the key architect of building an authentic, customer-centric company.
1. Don’t Just Listen to Your Customers, Understand Them
Everyone has to be able to work in a call center.”
2. Serve the Needs of the Customer
“We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backwards.”
3. The Empty Chair
The Most Important Person in the Room “Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient.”
4. Never Settle for 99%
“We’re not satisfied until it’s 100%.”
5. Respect Today’s Customer
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet,
they can each tell 6,000.”
6. Strive to Create a Customer-Centric Company
“If we can arrange things in such a way that our interests are aligned “with our customers, then in the long term that will work out really
“well for customers and it will work out really well for Amazon.”
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Apologize
“We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.”
Over the past two decades, Amazon has held a steady pace of positive press due to their industry-altering company and great customer service. However back in 2009, the foundations of the online book mogul were shook when they remotely deleted copies of the books “1984” and “Animal Farm” from users’ Kindles. The incident prompted an outcry of Internet users to see the dark, “Big Brother” side of Amazon – one that Bezos had worked hard to steer clear of. Amazon quickly made an apology with the usual dry and inhuman statement from the press team. But what really turned people back towards Amazon, was an informal and heartfelt apology from Jeff Bezos:
From “MLM” aka “Network Marketing”,
to a sustainable Coop Customer based Marketing Platform!
Now the vision for a better kinder direct sale company
I have run MLM companies, built them, serviced them as a vendor and engaged with them as a distributor for more than 20 years. I have touched and serviced and influenced over 100 million associates over this period of time. The following is my agenda to change this industry to service the little guy and gal, offering a real solution to build a middle class sustainable income for everyone, not just the elite few, we know as “leaders” in their respective company.
1. A Viable and Competitive Product
First and foremost, the “company” must offer a viable product and or service that does what it says and better than any of their competitors and better yet, have a product or service that has no legitimate competition. I could go into great detail here about the MLM industry and their underwhelming and over priced products with many making spurious claims to eventually be shut down by the FDA, etc.
2. The Virtual Warehouse
This may be putting cart before the horse. Inspired by Amazon’s virtual warehousing for their merchants selling in Amazon, it is time the MLM industry moves forward with a similar solution. Storing and paying additional shipping, your monthly product commitment in your spare bedroom, garages or den has been the standard fro decades. With today’s technology and database management abilities, there is no excuse to not move toward a virtual solution for distributors. This can be done in house by the company, or, use Amazon’s virtual warehousing that is available on a global scale.
This one upgrade to this industry will make reselling, shipping and distribution automated and easy for every distributor, regardless of location or available storage abilities. Bottom line is a doubling or greater movement of product.
3. Customer and Lead co-op acquisition
This is where the company marketing people run ads, driving vertically targeted prospects to an 800 number or website, acquiring quality pre enrolled prospects or customers who have purchased or best have enrolled into auto ship. The distributor’s contribution enhances the company’s budget and the “partnership” enhances the customer’s retention. The company also makes available to the distributor mailing lists to their “enrolled leads and customers” to assist in the continued purchases etc. It is a win win situation and is a proven technique as proven by Trivita.
4. Becoming an E Retailer (automated back office shipping)
Now that the distributors have their inventory, products and samples (if applicable), online, in an offsite virtual warehouse, the process to send product or samples becomes effective and easy. As simple as logging into the back office of their respective MLM company, entering the product (pulling from existing inventory and/or purchasing additional inventory), quantity, and drop ship address, with a simple click, the product or sample is easily on the way, while the distributor is still talking to their prospective client, prospect or distributor on the phone. This seamless process makes the potential growth of the company and distributor 100 times greater than the typical cumbersome processes today.
5. 800 telemarketing service platform
Today’s technologies not only make this proposed service affordable, but extremely effective. Typically, new distributors are assigned an ID# number. The number resides within the servers database to track sales, commissions, etc. of the distributor. Thus the hardest part is already done for an 800 sales number. [A little explanation of current tech] 800 number technology software interfaces display the originating number, or forwarded number. IE: If the distributor develops a radio commercial with a phone number (toll free or not) then forwards that number to the company 800 number, all he or she needs to do is register that number (via the back office) or calling it in. This way the telemarking operators receiving the incoming calls, or the technology, know who originated the call and the orders are taken and assigned appropriately to the distributor.
It can be as simple as the distributor takes a call from an ad, the prospects decides to buy the product. The distributor can easily 3 way into the 800 platform and assist the sale. It can be as easy as an ad running offering a product with the company main toll free number offering free shipping and handling with the special pin number. It can be very easy to build.
Imagine the projected results with the distributors taking the initiative, no more need for mentors, no more need for narcissistic leadership, no more need for motivational events, because the motivation is found in the system and the results. Imagine!
6. API (Application Programming Interface).
Distributor selling on Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, etc.
Basically, the MLM company has an API developed that interfaces with Amazon, Ebay, etc for the distributor. This allows the distributor to develop an online store on Ebay, Amazon, Alibaba, etc, drive and support the prospects and customers, but the sale interfaces through the company. Thereby the company controls the pricing, collects the money (connected to the distributor) and ships the product. All the collecting, shipping, tracking and commissions paid out is done by the company.
API: In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types.
Basically allows the company to remotely control pricing,
merchant collection, shipping and communication via the
Traditional MLM companies give a distributor a self-replicated web site that is upfront and focused on selling the Hopes and Dreams of the opportunity, the money, the comp plan, the hype and flash of it all, designed to recruit more distributors. This is death to a retail customer. Very few MLM companies even consider a dedicated self-replicated retail sales only site for their various products. I have yet to even hear of any companies making a simple widget that allows the distributor to have the retail site hosted via the widget on their own domains, much less the ability to add any customization to it. Below is one of the first and rare MLM retail sites I am aware of. It sells the coffee, the coffee benefits offers one off sale and free shipping with autoship.
Marketers, merchants, etc. need a portfolio of tools, to get the message out, to build awareness, to build a sphere of influence and to build a customer and distributor centered loyalty program. Very few people, even entrepreneurs have all the skill sets to achieve this. However, automated marketing, email auto responders, social broadcasters, coop advertising, blogging platforms, materials and videos are necessary tools for the entrepreneur. When you do not supply these types of tools in a controlled environment, the message being broadcasted may not meet the criteria of the company nor abide by regulations.
There are solutions and Markethive is one of the best options. Markethive supplies all of these tools and more, integrated and easily configured and controlled within the communities vertical structures built for DSA companies like yours. It is called the company Directories and within a company portal in Markethive, your distributors will find all they need; Broadcasting platforms, self-replicating personalized PDF documents, Coop advertising systems, blogging platforms, email auto responders, everything needed for marketing, in one place.
9. Training and videos
I do not mean motivational speakers and cheer leading. I mean, real world training how to build the businesses. Daily classes offered by competent experienced teachers, so the distributors develop a strong understanding, expanding their customer territory and acquisition and operate like a real business.
Summary;
With the accelerated market place awash in innovation and technology, technology that puts the human element right into the center of the equation, you can understand why you see the MLM industry sluggish and many companies dying on the vine and others falling flat on their faces with their much heralded launches. Entrepreneurs (distributors) that once upon a time, a flashy video, a charming pitch man, and a compelling comp plan, worked to explode the next greatest MLM launch.
Not today.
It is only a matter of time a young bold, innovative entrepreneur launches the first true customer centric MLM similar to the framework I have discussed here. And when they do, the world will quake, the swamps will empty and the first multi trillion MLM enterprise will rise to srtand head to toe with the great innovations today like Facebook Google, PayPal etc.
