Jason Falls
My friend Mark Dykeman had some problems with his hosting provider the last few days. His blog went down. Websites do that sometimes. It’s inconvenient and annoying, but it happens.
But Mark doesn’t depend on his blog for his primary income. He doesn’t drive thousands of dollars in business through it. While I’m not certain, he may not make any money from his blog. He blogs. He writes his thoughts and observations on the world and shares them with people. He’s a smart guy, too. You should read his stuff.
Why is this relevant to social media?
Because when his hosting service was repaired, he went live with a short, simple blog post that was entitled, “Service Restored.” Mark doesn’t likely profit financially from his blog, his content, but with it he provides a service to his readers. They enjoy consuming the content he produces. They depend on him.
He isn’t just a blogger. He’s a service provider.
Businesses can take a lesson from Mark. When you are providing content to your audience, you aren’t simply marketing your wares. You aren’t driving sales of your product or service. You should view yourself as providing a service to your audience.
The return from that investment isn’t always important. Your readers depend on you. The return on not serving them well is that they lose interest or trust in you and your company.
What are you doing today to provide a service to your website visitors? Are you making sure you never have to apologize and say, “Service Restored?”
Food for thought.
IMAGE: Stephen Coburn on Shutterstock.com
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“Businesses can take a lesson from Mark. When you are providing content to your audience, you aren’t simply marketing your wares. You aren’t driving sales of your product or service. You should view yourself as providing a service to your audience.
The return from that investment isn’t always important. Your readers depend on you. The return on not serving them well is that they lose interest or trust in you and your company.”
I happily nodded along through the first pararaph — and then I got to the second. The moment you mentioned ROI, my eyebrows arched. I knew what you were up to. All of a sudden, you were not writing about blogging and service providing but making money. That's where you erred for you lost me.
Re-read it then and don't skip assuming you know what I'm doing. The
paragraph clearly speaks to trust not profit.
———————
Jason Falls
jason@jasonfalls.com
Twitter: @JasonFalls
C: 502.619.3285
Thanks Jason. In the interest of disclosure, I do have three different Project Wonderful ads on the blog, but the income from those ads might pay for one plain coffee a month if I'm lucky.
The point that I think that Jason is trying to make might be a little more clear if we emphasize the fact that the type of content that is being provided is being provided free of charge, above and beyond the goods and services that a company actually tries to profit from. If a company blogs about trends, research, or other things that they don't directly profit from, but they provide as a service via their website, that content will have its own fans who will miss it if it disappears. It could be an example of Wal-Mart blogging about back to school safety (don't know if they do this or not), supermarkets blogging about nutrition and recipes, or… fill in the blanks.
Excellent. A viewpoint that rings true with me. I think that looking beyond the immediate picture is important. The question is no longer about the bottom line. It's about providing something of value for somebody else to go forth and create something else of value with. Recycling and building off of ideas and content to thrive. If you're better off because of what I've put out into the world, and I've received some satisfaction from what I've produced, we're both better off in the larger picture. And payoff may come in many forms, in reputation, in credibility… and making a living too. It's harder to measure, but the impact is greater and reaches much farther.
Not sure I see the connection with making money and Jason's piece?
The post talks about the value you're providing for your readers, with your content and experiences. ROI, 'making money', etc. shouldn't be your company's ultimate objective, instead content creation for the sake of being an important resource & authority figure for your audience and the industry you represent.
Blog content – The original freemium model.
Whether it's free content or a free web application, if it adds value people will miss it when it's gone. I think it's easy for human beings to become indignant about failure of the things they've grown dependent upon. Even if they're not paying for it. That is weird to think about, huh?
Great thoughts.
Thanks Chris. Here's hoping brands understand that indignant part if they fail in delivering on the service of their content. Appreciate the comment.
Well said, Wendy. Thanks for that.
Excellent points, Mark. Thanks for those and for the inspiration, as accidental as it may have been.
Yes, I grasped that, Jason; but you still mentioned it. I'm curious why.
Why was there a need to drop in ROI, or sales in the paragraph before?
Because no client or business I've ever encountered isn't focused on
the return on investment or profitability or business drivers they get
out of a marketing effort. Businesses read my blog. This is helpful
for them to consider.
It's definitely food for thought because even if you go back to blogging 101, when Blogger was the king and authors were just randomly posting events on their lives (pretty much what a new Twitter user does nowadays), it's still a service. The product? Perspective.
Thanks Jason for the wake-up alert!
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Wow great post. You really made your point…this is excellent advice.thanxxx
Very much true, a great reminder for all of us. The post sounds like a charity but in a different level- intellectually. We should sometimes stop for a moment and introspect about the things we have provided over the past years. Is it valuable enough? There are certain moments in our lives that we had received too much- greater than we have given. We have to reevaluate our purposes, actions and motives sometimes. Maybe it’s time change some details to get into the next level.
Re: “What are you doing today to provide a service to your website visitors? Are you making sure you never have to apologize and say, 'Service Restored?'”
At last years Blogworld Expo Darren Rowse advised that the best way to build a community is to invest in your readers (one person at a time). In answer to your question above, I'm doing just that. Responding to comments (every single one), answering emails, listening intently for the kind of questions/challenges my readers are facing and then finding ways to address those challenges either through the blog or via the newsletter.
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