Content Marketing Today

Too shy to network? Then, a business blog may be your best networking solution!

When I walk into a room full of strangers at a networking event, my first and most powerful inclination is to turn around and walk right back out. 

Even though much of my business career has been in sales related functions, I don’t even come close to anyone’s archetype sales guy.  I am shy, reserved, and a hater of small talk.  Perhaps worst of all: I pay no attention to sports.  In short, I’m hopeless at in-person networking.

Actually, I do have a personality and I can be amusing.  But that is only after I have gotten to know people and feel comfortable with them.  So, I’m darned lucky that the Internet and blogging arrived just in time to save me from myself.

Here is why a business blog can become your most powerful networking tool:

Although I’m not the sort of person likely to make an immediate, powerful impression within a social business setting, I can at least explain what I do to the individuals that I meet.  And, I always have the presence of mind to trade business cards. 

This is important because the first thing most people do after meeting someone new with whom they might want to connect, is to go to their website. 

In my case it’s the home of my website/blog combo, ContentMarketingToday.com.  That’s the place where I feel comfortable enough to say what I think about 21st-century marketing issues, about business, about life, and about some of the people,companies, and websites that I admire(or some that I hate).  All in all, my site gives me the freedom to reveal more about myself than I ever would upon first meeting someone.

When visitor shows up on the site, they can learn a lot about me, about how I think, about what I know, and about what I do.  They can select what is of particular interest to them and drill down for more detail, depending on their level of interest. My objective is to communicate lots of information about why content marketing is important and how to put it to work–along with lots of related topics on websites, eNewsletters, advertising, best practices, worst practices, and the occasional off-topic piece that I am just compelled to scribble down.

Even if somebody hates what they see on my site after following up on a networking meeting, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  It means that they learned quickly that working together would probably be a bad idea.  That saves a lot of time for both of us.

My blog reveal a lot about who I am–primarily professionally, but to a certain extent personally as well.  The latter is especially true to the extent that my writing reveals a lot about who I am.  Come to think of it, this post does exactly that.

The business blog bottom-line

I’m convinced that your blog can do exactly the same thing.  One of the most recent wonderful examples is Chris Griffith’s real estate blog.  We know her before we really know her.  And, we almost certainly will like what we read and what we see.

By the way, even if you’re great at networking, that’s no excuse not to have a blog.  In fact, even more people will show up at your blog because they will have been impressed by you in person and immediately want to know more about you and about your business. When your blog lives up to your in person presence, you have a very powerful marketing weapon at work.

To understand why Chris Griffith’s blog is so compelling and so effective, read our article about it here: Why a Blog with Personality Makes for Great Content Marketing