Blogs? I’'ve Heard of Them… So What?

Yep – Blogs are on a hype. You’ve probably heard of them, you may have even seen some, or, at a more advanced side of the spectrum – you may have even written a comment, created a blog for yourself, or interacted with bloggers in some other way. But do you know how powerful a blog can be? And even more – do you know how powerful a blog can be for a life coach??

Coaches – listen up! Blogs are good for you. As we’ve previously written, blogs can be defined as a kind of self-sustaining site: you don’t need an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host one (at least not directly); you don’t need a programmer to keep it up-to-date and looking good; and you also do not need more-than-average technical knowledge about computers, the internet or HTML. Most blogs are free of charge, with some of the more intricate and better designed ones charging relatively low annual membership fees. A vast range of interactive, useful and practical tools (from publishing to management tools) have also been designed by several programmers – and almost all of them are available for free and are very easy to download and/or implement.

Coaching, Marketing and Blogging

The most important benefit of using blogs is in marketing. As a coach, you’ll need to market your services efficiently in order to acquire a good base clientele – and from that move forward to other clients through a mix of networking and direct marketing. The best ways to market your services as a coach are: (a) using education-based marketing (for more information about this type of marketing, visit our ‘Professional Development Centre’ category) and; (b) obtaining exposure and recognition in the niche market. Blogging tackles both needs with a single act, and a very efficient one.

With a blog you are able to post articles, tips and any other valuable content you can offer. Such process elicits value to your coaching services, allowing your prospective clients to realise your potential as a coach and, furthermore, visualise themselves in a coaching relationship with you. You will be able to provide a much more personal communication interface to your prospective clients, making them comfortable about the decision of whether or not to engage in a coaching relationship with you. And the best part is that you are able to achieve this with very low costs (no print, design or other related costs – although we would recommend that you use other medias to market your services as a complement to your blog). You can create a blog and constantly post content without spending anything but your own time.

On the exposure side of things, maintaining a blog with good content and reasonably up-to-date (that would require an average of 2 to 5 posts per week) will get you rating points in blog and web search engines – which in turn would increase the traffic to your site. The more people access it, and post comments – the more exposure your coaching brand will receive (with networking opportunities highly likely to increase). Blog tools also allow you to link with other blogs, and this process is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your blog, and also improve positioning in search engines.

Coaching, Learning and Blogging

So far we have discussed the primary benefit of blogging: marketing to your customers and improving networking and exposure. However, there is another benefit in blogging which is intrinsically related to your coaching career – learning and professional development.

First you can use RSS technologies to receive selected content in your own pre-defined strucuture (you can do that without blogs, but the more you are involved in the ‘blogosphere’ – the better content you are likely to discover).

Second, you may use your blog (and others) to open discussions about any particular coaching topics: if you have the right networking, you will benefit from the insights and knowledge of dozens, or perhaps hundreds of other professionals.

Third, in order to keep your blog up-to-date you will need to ‘force yourself’ to keep writing quality content. This exercise will improve both your writing skills and your general knowledge of coaching theories, approaches, relationships (and whatever else you may write about).

In such a flexible and responsive environment, the opportunities are endless…

Visit the Life Coaching Institute Blog at www.lciablog.com

© Life Coaching Institute (Aust). If you wish to republish or reproduce this article, please include this information in the end of the article. For more information about the Institute – please visit www.lcia.com.au/lz

About the Author:
Simon Clarke has over 15 years of experience as a writer, entrepreneur and business specialist. He is also the founder and Director of the Life Coaching Institute and the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors: both industry leading training providers in Australia and overseas.
Article Submitted On: September 11, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/