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Lesson Number Eight: Review the Statistics
Hidden in the announcer’s box is someone charged with a very special job: Watching each and every pitch thrown, ball hit, and play made, and recording it all in the official scorebook. Each ball and strike, walk and steal, are all duly accounted for in the scorekeeper’s book. Then, after the game, the scorekeeper calculates statistics such as batting average, earned-run average, slugging percentage, and a host of other mind-numbingly-precise details.
Not only do these statistics give the announcers something to talk about during the inevitable lulls in the game (“This batter is 0-for-3 against left-handed pitchers with an “X” in their last name!”), they also provide invaluable information for the coaches and the players themselves. The stats are reviewed and rehashed, posted and celebrated (or moaned) over. Statistics matter in baseball.
They matter in business, too. Knowing that a certain affiliate is bringing in the bulk of your sales, or that a particular product’s appeal has dropped off significantly, or that one sales page is doing twice the business another is, are all valuable bits of information. Sure, you can get lost in the numbers, but there are a few basics online business owners must track on a regular basis:
1. Site visits/page views/unique visitors. How many people come to your site? How many pages do they view? Do they come back?
2. Conversions. When they visit, do they take the action you desire, whether it’s making a purchase or signing up for your mailing list?
3. Total sales and total expenses. How much are you bringing in, and how much are you spending?
4. Referring sites. Who is sending you traffic and why?
If you don’t do business online, the same general topics can be tracked for any businessperson. Instead of site visits, you can track number of people who come into your store or who call your (800) line, and what percentage of those actually order. You can track total sales and expenses, and what brought the visitor into the store (billboard, radio ad, referral from a friend, etc.).
But tracking these statistics isn’t enough, just as knowing that your clean-up batter always walks the first time up in a home game. You have to DO something with that knowledge, and review it again and again over time, looking for patterns and trends. You need to know as much about your business as those color announcers know about the home team.
Lesson Number Seven: It Hurts Worse When You’re Losing
Watch any sporting contest for long enough, and you’re sure to see at least one injury or near-injury. The runner stealing home collides with a catcher blocking the plate; the pitcher gets mowed down by a line drive; the center fielder runs into the wall. It happens.
What is interesting to me is that the same tumble that might earn one player a few days on the DL (disabled list), is nothing more than a shake of the head from another player. What causes the difference?
What I’ve noticed is that if a player gets hurt sliding into home for the winning run, he’s more likely to leap to his feet and celebrate with his teammates, rather than having to be carried off the field on a stretcher. The simple fact: It hurts worse when you’re losing.
The same is true for business. If you pull an all-nighter to get your first product ready to launch and it’s a rousing success, earning you five figures in a matter of hours, you’re less likely to complain of sleep deprivation. The adrenaline of a great play carries you through the discomfort. But if that same person pulls an all-nighter for a product that flops, you’ll feel a lot more tired.
Here’s what to do when you experience your own jaw-clenching mess-up:
1. Remind yourself that a setback is just that: A temporary obstacle, not a death sentence. Tomorrow is another day, another game, another chance to improve.
2. Look for the lesson. Dig deep into a missed play or loss to find the nugget of wisdom you can use to improve your next go-round. Did you find a great new widget for your blog? Did you increase your traffic? Did you make any new contacts? These are all achievements that will outlive the pain of a bad tumble.
3. Watch the instant replay. Replay that awful crash not to beat yourself up, but in order to avoid a similar pile-up in the future. Were there warning signs you missed? Did you know the outcome was inevitable? What can you do differently the next time around?
Losses hurt. But they don’t have to send you to the infirmary for the rest of the season. Remind yourself that there is a win hidden in defeat, and commit to finding and extracting the lessons. It’s all just part of the game. The only true failure is to fail to learn from your own mistakes.
By now, you know that there are literally millions of blogs already in existence, with new blogs rolling out at a rate of one per second. And though you probably have a blog, or have thought about starting one for your business, I bet you haven’t fully exhausted blogs as a source of potential leads and customers. I can help you with that! Here are three ways you can leverage the power of other people’s blogs for your business:
- Industry Bloggers. One of the coolest things about the internet is the way it allows people in even the narrowest of niches to find others who share their passions. And while you may be frequenting industry forums to make your presence known, are you checking out the bloggers in your niche and becoming part of the community there?
Bloggers don’t have to have thousands of readers to be powerful – or to be potential customers. Go beyond just the top three or four well-known names and dig deeper for mid-list bloggers. Leave comments, send them an occasional e-mail, and consider sponsoring some sort of giveaway.
The top bloggers in most industries are inundated with attention and love, and your efforts may get lost in the melee. Mid-list bloggers, though, are likely to be quite receptive and responsive. And even the smallest blogger deserves a comment or two from you. Introduce yourself and invite them over to your site. Issuing a couple of invitations like this a week takes only a few minutes and can pay off big. - Blog comments. OF COURSE you’re paying attention to the folks who send you comments and suggestions directly on your own website or blog. But are you taking a look at what people are saying on other blogs in your industry? Many blogs require anyone who comments to establish profiles or provide their email addresses or websites URLs. You can find out who the commenters are, visit their blogs (see above!), or email them directly if you think they’re a good fit for your product or service.
This should be a soft sell with no pressure: “Hey, I saw your comment on great jazz trombonists on so-and-so’s blog. I just compiled my list of top five trombonists, and I’d love your input. Check it out here!” The goal is to establish a relationship, not to get a commitment to purchase. Take small, non-threatening steps. - Blog rolls. Blog rolls were a huge thing five or so years ago when blogs were fairly novel. Bloggers wanted to show off who they read and who they associated with. Blog rolls are less common now, but they’re still out there, and they’re like referral lists from your customers! Once you find a blogger who seems to be an ideal prospect, see who else they’re associating with, and follow the blog roll links like a trail of breadcrumbs. Hop from blog to blog, seeing who else is a likely prospect and start establishing a relationship. Again, tread softly: “I saw your link on so-and-so’s site. I’m a big fan of his, so I thought I’d stop by. Love your post on overhauling your outboard motor; I just wrote a similar post on my blog. Stop by!” That’s all it takes.
It can be a little intimidating to just jump onto someone’s blog and begin commenting, but most people who publish blogs do so because they want to share their thoughts and ideas with others. You’re not butting into a private chat. Instead, you’re joining a public conversation with another like-minded individual – and that’s where relationships can start.
Commenting on other people’s blogs is one of the most overlooked social media strategies, which makes it a great opportunity for you. Not only is there little competition, but it’s actually a highly effective way to increase your visibility. By posting on other people’s blogs, you’ll be able to leverage the other bloggers’ success and audience quickly and efficiently.
Before you start posting, though, you need to plan your strategy. Create a list of 10-20 top blogs in your niche that are vibrant and have a strong readership. It won’t do you a lot of good to create a passionate, compelling persona on a blog that only a few people are reading, so it’s okay to be picky here. You’re looking for a site that is a social hub in your industry.
You could approach this task with a variety of goals in mind. For example, you might want to create a relationship with the blogger or with others in your niche. Your goal might be to establish yourself as an expert. Then again, maybe you just want to create backlinks to give your own blog or website a boost in the eyes of Google. Either way, you’ll accomplish your goals by reading posts, making insightful, helpful comments, and building on the conversations already taking place.
Each day, spend 15 minutes visiting some of the blogs on your list and reading the day’s posts. Then make comments where appropriate, and provide links back to your own website or blog. Here are some guidelines to make your efforts most effective:
- Be a gracious guest. First and foremost, keep in mind that you are a guest on someone else’s blog. That means you need to be supportive, polite, and kind. You can disagree with what the other blogger has said, but do so in a polite manner. Don’t hijack the conversation or steer every post back to you.
- Be thoughtful. No one is going to pay much attention to comments that just say, “Great post! Thanks!” In fact, those kinds of posts are generally considered comment spam and are unlikely to be approved. Instead, respond to the post specifically and provide additional insights or context on the topic. Steer people to places online for additional resources. Sometimes those might be on your blog or website, but sometimes they will be on someone else’s site. If you look too self-promotional, don’t be surprised if your posts are deleted.
- Stay on track. Imagine this scenario: You and a friend are at Starbucks, sitting and sipping your lattes, chatting about the best place to buy a digital camera. If someone at the next table suddenly pulled up a chair and said, “I sell ink cartridges – wanna see?” you’d likely roll your eyes and move as far from him as possible. But imagine he said instead, “I’m sorry to interrupt; I overheard what you were saying and I just saw that Joe’s Cameras is having a half-off sale on all digital cameras next week. I got mine there and the customer service was awesome!” You’d probably buy the guy a pound of coffee to thank him. See the difference? One comment is about HIM; the other one is about YOU. Keep the comments focused on the conversation already in progress and you’ll be a welcome guest.
Commenting on other people’s blogs won’t make you rich or uber-popular overnight, but it’s a great way to build relationships with the movers and shakers – and the customers – in your industry. And those are the types of relationships that last… and can help you grow your business.
Many “professional” bloggers would like you to believe that blogging requires nothing short of an advanced degree and a full-time commitment to creating words worthy of being chiseled in stone on the side of the New York Public Library. That’s just not the case. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes online businesspeople make is seeing blogging as some secret skill that they couldn’t possibly learn. The truth is that if you can hold a conversation with a neighbor or coworker, then you can blog.
The benefits of blogging are many, and have been covered extensively in a variety of other forms. But the bottom line is that blogging is one of the most effective ways to showcase your expertise, connect with potential customers and partners, and establish your on-line persona.
You’ll be able to find plenty of books and videos covering the basics of setting up a blog. But what I would like to cover right now is how to blog in15 minutes a day.
Once your blog is set up, your energy will be spent on two main aspects – adding content and promoting your site. Because both of these topics are critical to the success of your blog, I recommend alternating between them; one day, add a new post or other content to your blog. The next day, spend your 15 minutes promoting your blog. Here’s how you can create valuable content in 15 minutes:
- Create a list post: the top five mistakes people make in your industry, the top five bloggers to follow in your niche, or the top five books for newcomers to your industry.
- Add a video. Go on YouTube, search for videos in your area of specialty, and pick one to embed in your own blog. Add a few sentences of commentary.
- Record an audio. Hook up your microphone and record a short monologue on a topic that moves you, makes you angry, or makes you laugh. Better yet, use an app on your smartphone and record on the go to save even more time.
- Upload a photo – one of your own, or one you find on a photo-sharing site. Again, make it applicable to your market, and add a few lines of commentary.
- Write a short review of a book, product, or service in your market. Share pros and cons.
- Ask someone in your industry a few questions by email and post the interview.
- Answer questions you receive from readers.
- Create a “round up” of posts or resources online that your readers may be interested in.
Once you’ve got some great content, the next step is to promote it. On your days off from writing or posting content, use the following to-do list for promoting your blog:
- Link to some of your most popular posts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, or your other social media sites. There are services and plug-ins that will do this for you automatically. (3 minutes)
- Respond to comments from readers. You can do this on your blog, in the comments section, or directly by email. (4 minutes)
- Create internal links on your blog posts from one link to another. For instance, if you write a post on a great recipe, link to other posts you’ve written on the same topic. (3 minutes)
- Make a few changes to your blog post and submit it to an article directory (5 minutes)
As with other social media forms, the most important thing to keep in mind is to make your content useful to your audience. You are much better off creating great, useful content twice a week, than throwing up garbage several times a day. Post great stuff, tell people about it, and they will come.
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