The success of a business, whether for online and offline businesses, is the same. It relies on the customers.
A business won’t grow without any customers, so it is just right to care for them. According to Derek Sivers, “Care about your customers more than about yourself, and you’ll do well.”
Our main objective in putting up a business is to earn. But to whom do we cater? Our customers, right? So we should put them first. The customers dictate a business’ success. They can make or break our business and can keep a business afloat. Moreover, we should be more mindful of what they need rather than focusing on ourselves.
I often get this question whenever I speak about blogging specially to businesses and entrepreneurs decided to include this as part of their Digital Marketing Strategy. And my answer has always been the same. Check it out in this new video!
Sometimes, we can let our fears get the better of us. And it often affects our work. It’s all right to have fears, but what we do about them is another story.
Worrying does the same thing to us. When we worry too much, we let our fears get bigger than us. We let it overcome us; and in the end, hindering us from doing our best.
Instead of putting up a list, I decided to shoot a quick video showing you the Essential Gadgets that I use for my Online Business. When I say essential, I normally leave the house with these items in my back pack, whether I need to work outside of my home office or meet people in coffee shops.
When it comes to providing valuable content, another factor online entrepreneurs and bloggers need to consider is relevancy.
Your readers won’t be too interested if you’re writing about something that has had numerous studies and research over a decade ago. The readers want something they can use today, now or in the near future. They want something that is fresh and new or something that would help them.
Also, relevancy will encourage readers to engage with you. Just like Gail Goodman said, “What makes content engaging is relevancy.”
If we are not updated with our content then our readers won’t have any reason to check what you have to say.
Relevancy is the reason why we buy newspapers daily, magazines monthly, and subscribe to newsletters all the time. We always want to know what’s up or what’s new. It’s not just about being original or following trends. Sometimes, it’s about giving a fresh look on an old idea or an update on an event that has already been covered.
Relevancy also shows how much you care about what your readers want to know now. Having relevant content also means it is aligned with your blog’s topic. Why search for your blog on carpentry if all you are talking about is trigonometry.
So make sure content is relevant to your blog’s topic and current. Don’t just produce numerous content per day. Make sure they are worth your readers’ time. Be relevant and engage.
Last week, I finally took the plunge to being a full fledged video blogger when I purchased my very first Video Camera. I didn’t have any regrets with my newest acquisition in spite of the couple of thousands of pesos that it took from my bank account. The camera I bought was a Sony Handycam HDR-XR260V with the following essential specs:
Shoots full HD video at 1920 x 1080p
Take still pictures at 8.9MP
Store up to 63 hours of HD video in the internal 160 GB storage
55X extended zoom
Focus Tracking – good for moving objects and sports video
Jack of external microphone
I got so excited when I shot my first footages that fresh new ideas for video blogging started pouring in. So expect a more video content on my blog from now on.
Here’s one video that I did together with business partner Carlo Angelo Gonzales for a new site we are launching next week.
PS.
I was forced to learn Final Cut Pro video editing to maximize the good quality footages from my new video cam. Took me about an hour watching FCP tutorial videos, an hour shooting the footages, and another hour of editing. Let me know what you think in the comments section below!
Last week I spoke at the 2nd Baguio Blog Conference about SEO and Blogging held at the Azalea Residences. I really enjoyed sharing my tips to the very engaging bloggers of Baguio.
For those who missed the event, i’ve compiled and condensed the whole 1 hour session in to a 5 minute video, summarizing those SEO tips that I shared last May 11.
If you want the the full deck of the presentation (total of 39 slides), just tweet me with the hashtag #bentalks2013 and I’d be glad to send you a copy.
Enjoy!
PS:
For those of you who are still clueless what SEO is, check out an earlier blog post that I published explaining the basics of Search Engine Optimization
It’s amazing how fast and easy we can communicate nowadays. Aside from a simple phone call, we can now opt for video chat with anyone anywhere in the world.
Funny thing is, with these new ways of communication, connecting to people and building relationships are more challenging than ever. The lack of physical connection may have contributed to this.
The best way to sell online is by first building a relationship. According to Chris Brogan, “Marketers need to build digital relationships and reputation before closing a sale.”
Dreaming big is always good. It is where we get our inspiration from to succeed. But we shouldn’t just stop there. We must do something to live our dreams.
Don’t just wish for things to happen, make them happen yourself. No successful businessman got to where they are by simply wishing. They had to do the work. They didn’t wait around just wishing to succeed; they created opportunities to reach their goals.
It starts with the intention to succeed, but it must be followed up by planned actions. If we let everything to chance, then nothing will happen. The only way to reach your goals is to make the first step.
Successful entrepreneurs value both dreams and action. The two cannot exist without the other. Dreams give as the idea and inspiration. Meanwhile, efficient and planned action must be done to turn our dreams into reality.
There are no genies in a bottle that can grant our wishes. We need to plan, prepare, and act accordingly. And just like what the quote above says, “Stop saying ‘I wish,’ Start saying, ‘I will’.”
Don’t spend your day wishing about your dreams; get off your feet and do them already. Go out and make them happen.
Our customers are our greatest critics. We can get the most honest feedback from them.
And when it coms to learning from our mistakes, we must listen to our most unhappy customers. It’s just like what Bill Gates said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
"Ben has helped me develop many websites for many projects from ecommerce to simple blogs.
The best part about working with Ben is that the work is continually being done because of the time difference.
While I sleep, he's working. While he sleeps, I'm working. So the projects get done quickly.
He's very knowledgeable and makes some beautiful well thought out designs.
I highly recommend him and his team."
–Colette Marshall A+ Computer Fix
"Ben met and exceeded our expectations. We get all the attention that we need - even when the project was completed. We value his honesty, integrity, reliability and creativity. He stays current on all issues concerning web design and marketing, Ben is dedicated to producing high quality and positive results."
22 May 2013
![icon smile [Ask Ben] How often should I blog?](http://www.benfrancia.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif "[Ask Ben] How often should I blog?"){kind=icon}
