Don’t Forget the Vanilla

As you continue to publish and build your brand, it’s more important to consider what NOT to stop than it is to consider what to start next.

I’m all for new media. My eyes remain wide open to new social media platforms. I study any opportunity to aggregate and communicate with a new audience.

I again draw your attention to a cineplex. Multi-screen centers add screens to attract larger audiences into the lobby. When a movie has ended its run, another film is loaded for viewing. A cineplex owner must optimize the number of screens and content showings to build the brand for the operator.

If you have a message and a desire to publish your work, there has never been a better time to do it. Audiences are accessible. It is affordable to reach them. And it’s much easier to deliver a message with frequency.

But more media options produce a Baskin-Robbins effect. When I am presented with 36 options for an ice cream cone, I develop brain freeze long before I consume three scoops at warp speed. Many options tend to push us toward the option we know best. Quick and easy decisions make life simpler.

Vanilla ice cream may not produce the same utils of satisfaction as chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-supreme and 34 other other seemingly delicious options. But BR dare not open their carousel creamery without a vanilla option. A staple is a staple.

What is a staple in today’s menu of publishing options?

It seems clear that blogging is still a foundational tactic in an effective publishing strategy. Seth Godin says “podcasting is the new blogging,” but he doesn’t suggest we should podcast instead of blog. It’s not either/or; it must be both/and.

Allow me to make a few rather dogmatic statements about publishing a blog:

• A blog is the nucleus of all other publishing.
• Write (at least) a weekly blog and use the content for all 36 flavors for publishing.
• Don’t forget to make a weekly post to LinkedIn from your blog.
• Use your blog to develop email campaigns and/or newsletters.
• Take daily action to build your blog subscriber list. (Cross-pollinate to all media.)
• Do your best work in your blog. The best strategy for building a powerful blog is to become a category expert. It happens when your content is consistently high value to your audience. Be shareable.
• Communicate with your blog subscribers. Be personable, accessible and willing to engage.

Don’t let the new options distract you from the fundamental strategy of publishing.

Do you need help writing your blog?

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Respond to this email at [email protected] with your need or just give us a call.

We serve good ice cream. One scoop or two?