Before you read this blog post, take a few moments to think about what YOU think is the right answer to that question: Should you focus on blogging or list building?
When you’ve given it some thought, put your check mark next to the answer below:
It’s on purpose that I didn’t put a submit button in there. The result is for your eyes only, but read on to find out how right you were.
Let me ask you a personal question, and I’ll go first and answer it
What is the first thing you do in the morning? Oh, wait, NO, I didn’t mean THAT personal. I mean, when you’ve started your computer, what is the first thing you do?
Okay, maybe the second thing, AFTER you’ve checked Facebook.
The first thing I do in the morning, after I’ve turned my computer on, is to check my email. I’m always eager to see, if I got an email from friends, or an answer I was waiting for, or a message about a payment to PayPal, or a nice tip from a marketer.
Then I go on to do my business.
This business includes writing blog posts, pinning pictures on Pinterest, thinking about the novel, I’ve started writing (sometimes even writing on it), checking new shiny objects (if you don’t see many recommandations from me, it’s because a lot of those shiny objects lose their glow very fast)…
But before I get too boring, let me ask you: In that list of what I did every day, what thing did I leave out?
NO, not cooking! Did my husband tell you this? I meant, Internet related 😉
Got it? If you’ve read so far and noticed what thing I didn’t do daily, then tell me about it in the comments. And then read on.
I Rarely Check the RSS Reader to Read Blogs
Why? Well, I don’t know.
There was a time, where I would check the RSS reader at least once, daily. But I lost interest in it.
Do you read blogs daily?
If you do – what is your pattern? Do you start your day by reading blogs, and come back several times a day to see, if there are any new blog posts on your favourite sites?
Well, I don’t. I check the RSS reader once in a while, and I read a few of the blogs I’m subscribed to. I don’t go back later to see if there’s something new.
How about your email?
For a short periode, I managed to read mail only twice a day: At noon, and late in the afternoon. That’s a great way to save time and to be productive.
Since then, I went back to my old habit of checking email first thing in the morning, and checking it several times per day.
Now You Might Know the Right Answer to the Question: Blogging or Email
But you might be wrong.
If you said that it’s better to focus on your relationship with your email list, you wouldn’t be totally right.
I know, because I agree with what I read on Chris Brogan’s blog a few minutes ago.
I still keep [chrisbrogan.com] well fed. Why? Because Google search doesn’t look in your inbox, and people hoping to find me and learn more about what I do and sell. You can’t really cut that out, unless you don’t need a lot of organic search to sell what you do. You need to be on a few social networks (Twitter and pick one). Why? Because you need serendipity plus the opportunity to connect where people are talking. You can’t replace that, and it just doesn’t happen on your blog. But again, this doesn’t replace your main site or blog. It feeds it. That’s the goal. Feeding.
(I’m not convinced that Google doesn’t look in your inbox, when you use Gmail, but that’s another story.)
In other words: You should focus on both list building (and the relationship with your readers) and posting on your blog, and perhaps also on a few social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Write a comment, if you agree or if you disagree.
I don’t think this is an either-or question, Britt. One of the reasons I’ve never asked it is because I do both. If you have limited time, simply mark off a portion of that for writing blog posts and the remainder for building a list. Then stick to the time limit and you can get both done every day.
Leo, we are in total agreement 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
I think writing a blog post is more better than E-mail marketing. I’m also fond of blog writing and definitely It gives you better results…
Nice tips. I would like to apply the last part because I think, that’s the only thing that I need now.
I’ve already done setting up account on Social media sites and I just lack the last part of it.