#NerdsUnite: Inside the marketing mind of @MyMelodie (4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One is Reading)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Melodie. I met her when she invited me to come and crash on her couch for the night in the San Dizzle and she is for reals one of the nicest chicas ever. She's a fellow marketer and wanted to use this space to share her thoughts on life, love, and all things nerd. Hit it Melodie!</editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @MyMelodie
First I’d like to thank everyone in the TNTML community who has reached out to me some way. I love hearing from you guys on Twitter and Facebook. I also appreciate the emails you guys send me. The majority of emails I have gotten are related to marketing questions. I love that you guys are interested and eager to learn more about marketing to improve your own business or brand so in today’s post I’d like to talk about one of the primary ways I market myself and that’s BLOGGING!
Although blogging is a great marketing tool, it’s not the reason I blog, it just happens to be an amazing benefit. I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years yet I don’t ever think of myself as a blogger. Blogging is really just me writing and since I now do it online, instead of saying “I write”, I say, “I blog”. In college I used to blog daily on Xanga.com. I wrote about my adventures, school, work and things I did and experienced day to day. Before blogging I used to journal. My parents had me journal as a kid to practice writing. I remember keeping a notebook and journaling as far back as kindergarten maybe even pre-school! (Even then I was an early adopter ;))
Now I write now to educate others, share my adventures and inspire both myself and my readers. I started my current website and blog, Marketing Melodie in March of 2008 (I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 years). When I started it, I was working for a large media company doing sales and marketing. I created the site to be a resource for clients and to educate myself. It’s since evolved into the marketing company I run today specializing in digital technology and social media.
Whether it’s for your business (especially if it’s for your business) or personal I highly recommend everyone have a blog. I hear the excuse from so many people “But no one is going to read my blog”. So what if no one reads what you write? Write for YOU, write like no one is reading and don’t be afraid to put your thoughts down in a tangible place. By doing this you’ll receive so many benefits. So I present you with 4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One is Reading.
- SEO- The first reason is just practical so let’s start with that. Even if a single soul doesn’t read your blog, updating your site with fresh, new content (this is especially important if it’s a business blog on your website) will significantly improve your SEO. Search engines pick up on fresh, new content and place a higher value on sites that have been recently updated versus stagnant sites that have been sitting around for months or years. Within each blog post you can create links with keywords directing readers to other areas of your site. I won’t get too technical here, but just know that blogging will improve your SEO.
- Blogging teaches you- I learn something new every day and much of it is attributed to writing. I find that writing stuff down often teaches me how to be more clear and concise with the thoughts I have racing through my mind. Because I’m able to clarify my thoughts I’m able to see things in a different perspective which in turn teaches me more about the very topic I’m blogging about.
- Blogging is cathartic- Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest. During these times, it can also difficult to say these things out loud. Well blogging is a great way to release any emotions you have stored up. Not all blogs need to be public. If you write something but don’t yet feel ready to share it, there’s no shame in that. But at least you put it out into the world so it’s no longer just stored inside you. Putting things out there is also a great step in being able to let things go.
- Reflection- I read a bunch of blog posts I wrote back in 2008. Wow it’s really amazing to be able to read the YOU from 4 years ago. Reading old posts really allows me to reflect on things I’ve done in the past but also appreciate the present moment. It brings into perspective even more of how everything that’s happened so far has led me to where I am today. I do find it amusing though because reading back on some of the stuff I wrote the thought “Are you kidding me? I actually said that?!” does tend to pop up a lot. Live and learn. Live and learn.
As you can see, writing, blogging, whatever you want to call it has helped me in so many ways. I leave you with a quote from a famous writer that really inspired me:
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt”. ~Sylvia Plath
#NerdsUnite
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mymelodie