One of the most common pieces of advice that I share is for small business CEOs to get out there and blog.  Yes — get out there and actually write your blog posts.  Take what’s inside your head and share it with your customers and potential customers.

I’m often met with this “deer in the headlights” stare that says “What am I supposed to write about?”

Well, HERE is what you’re supposed to write about:

Take a look at Paul Rosenfeld’s blog: http://fanminder.com/blog

Paul is the CEO of Fanminder – a mobile marketing application for small business.  While you’re reading the blog- you should check out Fanminder too.  But that’s another post.

Here are just a few things that Paul does amazingly well:

• He posts relatively often.  And he changes it up.  So sometimes he posts every day, sometimes he posts once a week.  But he POSTS.
• He alternates between “professional” posts, short posts, long posts, notes and other variations. This is how I know that Paul is a real life person.  He’s literally COMMUNICATING with his readers in a human way.  Sometimes, he’s sharing an official article type of thing that tells me that he can communicate.  Then he blasts off a quick bit of news that he thinks I should know.   Love that.  I know he’s real.
• He shares customer ideas and strategies (and pictures). I can trust Fanminder works because Paul’s got actual pictures of businesses – their cards and ideas from their campaigns posted on the blog.  I love this latest one with the the “Psycho Donuts” donut shop that has a donut called the “Cereal Killer” and where the people who work there dress up — freaking hysterical.
• He tells you what he’s thinking and what he’s up to. Paul doesn’t limit himself by rules about what he posts and formulas about how he posts it.  It’s clear to me that his objective is to tell me what’s happening and how small businesses are using the product.  Help me use the product, make it easy and fun for me to share what he’s offering.  And more.

I could go on and on, but I won’t.

Thanks Paul for an outstanding example of CEOs (like us) blogging to build our brand and grow our customer base.

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There are really only two ways to successful market yourself on the internet:

1. Participate in a well, targeted niche.
2. Identify and “own” the keywords associated with that niche.

There are lots of great free keyword tools out there.  My favorites are

• Google’s keyword search tool
• Aaron Wall’s SEO Book Keyword Search Tool
• Keyword Discovery
• Market Samurai

I’ve been reviewing and participating in Ed Dale’s “The Challenge 2010″ which consists of a series of short, easy-to-follow video clips and easy-to-finish homework assignments designed to help you get better at targeting your market and owning the keywords that will get you found so you can get chosen.

The first couple of videos are all about understanding the definitions of market, target market, market niche and, micro niche (which is where all the gold is.)  The assignment was to identify 7 market and niche ideas.

Cool Tools to Help You Brainstorm For Niches

1. Search Magazines on Amazon. com.  LOVE this idea for its ease and simplicity.  Simply head over to Amazon, then head over to the menu on the left and click on “Books” – you’ll get a sub-menu.  Scroll down and click on “Magazines”.  You’ll notice that there are all kinds of subjects and categories.  Those are the different “markets.”  Then click on a subject and you’ll see all the sub-categories (on the left) — those would be your niches and micro niches.
2. Use Google Keyword Search Tool. Once you’ve clicked over to www.google.com/skool you’ll see that there are “categories” that Google has already identified — those would be your markets.  Then you’ll see the keywords that people had been searching on — those are potential “niches.”

See if you can identify 7 niches of your own.

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It’s easier and faster than ever to get the word out about you and your company and expertise.  One of the fastest growing trends in marketing is “Guest Posting on other blogs.”  Basically, all there is to it is writing an informational and educational article about your area of expertise and literally submitting it to blogs that might be interested in your content.

To take advantage of this trend, however, you’ll need an active blog where you can send people.  A web site is good, but having a blog is better because this gives your audience the opportunity to learn more about you and the value you provide via your articles.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Purchase your name as a domain name.  Head out to Go Daddy and see if you can get your name as a domain name.  If not, look for words that clearly describe who you are or what benefit you offer.  For example, if your name is John Smith and you write for the web, then you might want to try something like “web writing guy.”
2. Go to WordPress.com and start a blog for free. There are many free blogging platforms including TypePad and Blogger, but if you are serious about business and you think that you might want to expand your blog or use it as a web site as well with more functionality, WordPress is a better choice because it is open sourced and there are tens of thousands of people who can help you.
3. Forward your purchased domain name to your blog. When you start your WordPress Blog its domain will look like this: www.yourname.wordpress.com.  When you forward your domain name to your blog, then when people type in www.yourdomain.com, it will actually go to your WordPress blog – and that is what you want.
4. Write a concept article as your first post. Your first post needs to answer the question – “Who are you and why should I choose you?”  Think about the passion or peeve that lies behind your business.  What frustrations do your customers have and how do you solve them?  What is it that your customers should know, but don’t?

There you have it.  In about 30 minutes, you’ve got yourself a web presence and you are ready to tell the world about it.

What tips and tricks can you add to this list?

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It’s easy to say “Find your ideal customer.  Figure out what’s important to them.  Then develop a system to get them to choose you every time regardless of price.  But how do you actually DO that.  This outline will take you through the step-by-step of identifying your ideal customer and the emotional triggers that will drive them to choose you.

Follow this outline to help you identify the strategies and tactics that will help you build loyal and profitable relationships with your ideal customer.

1. What is your Competitive Advantage? In other words, you have to be clear about who you are and what sets you apart.  What is the purpose of your business?  What are you here to do.  What unique features of your business set you apart from other alternatives your ideal customer may have.
2. Profile your ideal customer. Include things like demographics, lifestyle, values, emotional needs, life experiences, philosophies, hobbies, and interests of the heavy purchasers.  Now compare that profile with that of the lowest-opportunity, non-ideal or, pain-in-the-neck customer.  This comparison will point to the key driver behind their purchasing decisions.
3. Brainstorm for Emotional Triggers. Think about your offering and together with your team start brainstorming on a wide range of underlying, emotional triggers  that could potentially drive your customer to choose your offer.  For example, if your product is in the healthcare area you might brainstorm “fear of dying” and “joy of living” and then see which of these triggers your ideal customers relate to most.
4. Create and develop several positioning concepts. Take this information and develop two or three possible positions to test with your ideal customers.  You may want to develop concepts, storyboards, advertising, direct mail — anything that features words, phrases, pictures and your potential positions.  Ask customers to choose the one that resonates with them.   You can also use online survey tools to upload multi-media concepts and have customers choose their favorites.

This is a little bit more of an involved process — especially when you get into developing concept ideas around the messages that you will use to connect with your ideal customer.   But this is really focused on that segment of customers who represent the highest level of profit and opportunity for you.  This is a worthwhile effort because it will save you untold time, money and dead-end strategy.

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