Blog Expert Series: The Little Blogging Secret Nobody Wants To Talk About

In the last Blog Expert post in this mindset series we discussed confidence and how it can help you meet your goals and targets.

Now let’s talk about communication.

How effective are you at communicating?

Great, you may assume, as you have been talking for years and as a veteran blogger you obviously have a great command of the English language and know how to use it to gain readers.

Detrimental To Your Success

However, the majority of small business owners who spend most of their time online often fail to factor effective communications in to their business strategy, and this could be detrimental to your success as a blogger and entrepreneur.

The term ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin word ‘communis’ – this literally translates as ‘common’. This means that the phrase “to communicate” means ‘to make common’ or ‘to make known’.

Often regarded as a peripheral skill in comparison to more tangible attributes such as a sound business knowledge or good financial acumen, communication skills are at risk of being sidelined, despite the fact that they are fundamental for anyone wanting to make a success of their online venture.

Single Most Important Factor

The University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School conducted a survey in to the importance of communications, researching recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees. In the study, they found that communication skills were cited as the single most important decisive factor in choosing managers.

This shows that communication skills, whether you have no staff, one or many, is one of the single most important factor which contributes to the success of your business.

Despite the growing acknowledgement that communication skills are critical for us as small business owners, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively, whether in verbal or written format.

This inability makes it nearly impossible for people to compete effectively online, hampering progress and preventing the engagement of stakeholders and the development of strong and fruitful relationships with suppliers and customers.

Facing Your Communications Demons

Communicating is not as tough as you may first imagine.

We do it instinctively, every day.

Each time you log on to your PC you are initiating communication online whether by commenting on other people’s blog, posting articles upon your own, or responding to queries and questions relating to your products and services.

The good news is that it just takes a few simple steps to establish yourself as an expert communicator, opening up two-way channels online between yourself and your clients.

Understanding The Nature And Form Of Effective Communications Skills

Great communications depend upon a number of elements:

• Understand what your key messages are

• Know your audience – what they expect from you, how you should be communicating to them

• How your communications will be perceived by your audience

• Situational circumstances – time of year, what is going on externally and within your chosen industry

We are bombarded with different messages every day.

The average person in America spends fifty-two minutes each day reading the newspaper. This means that in a seventy year lifetime (subtracting the first fifteen years as non-newspaper reading time), a little less than two years, are spent absorbing news.

According to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, there are 24.5 telephone calls made for every 100 people in the entire world, and in every hour that an American listens to the radio in the US, there are over ten thousand words spoken.

All this means one simple thing to you as a small business owner, communicating on line.

Your messages need to be clear, accessible and concise. If you haven’t already done so, it could be time to assess your communications strategy and make sure it delivers all of these attributes, in order to keep your customers happy and engaged.

Previous posts in this blog expert series, the Six ‘C’s of blogging success :

Creativity

Confidence

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