The Bad News

Bad news often travels faster than good news. For the media, “If it bleeds, it leads!” Your team mates may be the first ones to toss you under the bus, even if you've done good things (sometimes, especially because you've done good things).

People talk about CYA for a reason, because they know the 'bad news' drill.

Perhaps it is just part of our human nature, but the reality is that you can't please everyone and thus have to work harder to make a good reputation for your business. In the internet age, you can get torched by anonymous emails, or websites placed online for the very purpose of torching another. Online ratings (1 to 4 stars, etc.) also make it easy for people to dish out less than kind (or fair…) feedback.

So dealing with “Bad News” means you have to supply your residents, your customers and others with a steady supply of Good News!

In the age of micro-blogging – which includes, but is not limited to Twitter or Facebook – it is interesting to note that some say the trend in marketing may be back towards longer content, especially if it sports graphic images and the message is focused on your target market's interests. The Dan Kennedy marketing crowd would not be surprised by this trend.

If you have a website, but don't have a blog, the short answer is 'start one!' Blogging done correctly enhances your website's SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Blogs are a handy way of getting and sharing 'good news' with your target audience.

Sharing Good News

For those who already have a website, there are lots of blogging plug ins available (just Google blogs, blog software, blog plug ins), along with third party hosted blogs, etc. If you want to hire installing a blog onto your website or need a new or updated website, there are companies like our webtech division that do that for others.

Not a writer?

If you aren't a writer, consider hiring one part time or by the article.

Another approach is to invite guest articles by knowledgeable or respected people in the field. Our Industry Voices Guest blog has had some 200 articles submitted, which is more than one a week on average since we launched it.

A third approach can be to use more photos or videos – that you can post on YouTube – as a primary or major means of communication for your blog posts.

When you share news – good news – to your readers/visitors, you can do so in short messages, long or in between. Some of the keys for successful blogging include, but are not limited to:

Consistency. If you set out to blog once or twice a week, stick with it! Don't start out great guns, and then falter.
It takes time to build your audience. Again, persistence and consistency are keys for long term success.
Use the SEO and Tag functions build into your blog, see below.
Accuracy in SEO and Tags. Don't put keywords or tags into the SEO portions of your blog post that don't apply. Below you will see an example of the keywords/tags used in an article on Industry Voices. Everyone of those key words were used in the article it was associated with. That makes the article's keywords/tags relevant. Relevance over time will enhance your blog – and website's – SEO and 'authority' with the search engines.

tags_for_Marty_Lavin_interview-posted-mhpronews-com-cutting-edge-blog

If Bad News Hits You

What if truly bad news hits you and your business? If you've established a blog, you now have the ability to respond to it. You can say what the 'bad news' is and then give it your side of the story in a way that doesn't cross any boundaries.

Today, blogging has become part of the 'alternative media.' Some reporters and writers have 'made it big' by blogging. As a rule, those success stories focused on putting out quality work and doing so consistently.

For the success stories where blogging was used to help build a business, there are thousands of examples of businesses using blogging to grow. MHProNews.com is in these both of these groups, so we are living proof that blogging can and does pay off when you do it properly.

But don't take my word for it. When it comes to blogging, take Nike's advice: “Just do it.” ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for April and see the

other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach