Part 2 in the Blogging for Business series…

ReDiscovering Your Purpose & Goals for Your Blog or Website

As you may have noticed this article is just a more detailed continuation of the 6 deadly mistakes mentioned in an earlier article. If you didn’t get your copy or have lost it, an online version can be found here: Part 1.

This time, I want to spend some more time discussing how to rediscover your purpose & goals for your small website or blog.

Defining Your Overall Purpose –

Once I started my own business, my friends and former co-workers always asked me, “So what is it that you do now?” At first I was stumped. After all I had been working as an employee of one kind or another for over 40 years.

And like most working people, when I was asked what I did for a living I would answer them with my current job title. But I have always felt a little uncomfortable saying I was a “president” of a small business since the next question was “Oh…how many folks do you have working for you?”

“Huh…Just one…me.”

“Oh…?” Then other person would look vaguely embarrassed for me. And the conversation would drift off.

Or I would say something like “I am…a webmaster, or web writer, or internet content marketer and trainer”, depending on who I was talking to. Now the other person just looked confused if they weren’t a dyed in the wool geek.

Both type of answers were wrong and actually didn’t embrace what I felt I actually did for my clients. So I decided what I needed was a “mission statement”.

According to Wikipedia “A mission statement is a formal short written statement of the purpose of a company or organization.”

Often corporate mission statements are large, complex and quickly forgotten by both the staff and stakeholders. What originally I wanted was just a simple declarative statement I could use to answer the dreaded, “what do you do?”

But in the end, by defining my ultimate purpose as a business person, I could finally pull all my online and offline products and service under a single unifying banner. I discovered that a mission statement helps tell the world why you exist as business. And this helps to balance your own professional goals in relation to your blog or small business website.

To discover my mission statement, I started off with this formula, “I do specific things for specific people that helps them obtain specific benefits or results.” This little formula can be used by anyone for just about any type of business or service.

For example, if you have a site that supports a retail fireplace store, your objective could become, “I sell quality fireplaces that both beautify homes and provide warmth for families”. Or say you own a pottery business; it could be “I create raku pottery for people who love hand made local crafts and want to fill their homes with these unique pieces”

Or say you have a blog that is designed to be more of a “think piece” or an opinion based site for environmental matters. Your objective could be say, “I write posts that help concerned citizens understand how big business can be unduly influence “green” legislation.”

If my formula doesn’t work for you can try out the “Build a Mission Statement” tool found at http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/. This site has personal and team statement help as well as a couple of others.

Once you have defined your mission statement, you can use it to narrow down and work on developing your goals.

Oh, yeah in case you were curious my mission statement ended up being “I teach non-technical people how to understand and use their technology better.”

Setting Your Goals –

Goal setting is next on the list of things to do. As a mentioned before your ultimate purpose or mission statement is like a road map. It should guide your business or organization’s overall actions and give you and your team a sense of direction. Your goals are just stops along the way.

Here is list of 7 Very Good Goals for Any Small Website or Blog (adapted from larger list I found at http://www.jrlenterprises.com/why_web_site.htm).

• Creating an Online Presence

In 2005 Google announced that it had some 8,100,000,000 web pages in their databases and indexes. In 2009, the UN announced that it reckoned there are just 6,800,000,000 in the world. This means that the Internet has over a page of stored data for every man or woman or child in the world.

As you can see the Internet is huge. It has become the largest archive and potential repository of human knowledge in all of recorded history. And when counting eCommerce, it is also the largest marketplace ever invented.

This trend to move more and more commercial sales and human knowledge online will increase. The wave is coming.

• Connect with Your Clients, Customers and Prospects

It’s a matter of high tech vs. high touch. Internet technology allows you to connect with people faster, and easier than ever before. People want to know more about you and your business.

It is natural for folks to want to bond with and stay in contact with other people who they feel they know, like and trust. You can learn to use the Internet to create viable communities around your products and services.

• Share Your Organizational News and Information with the Public and the Media

Ask Tiger Woods…right or wrong, Tiger has “hidden” behind his personal blog statements since his scandal has broken out. Making contact with the media via an online presence is a lot less nerve racking than a personal interview or live press conference, especially if the news is negative.

• Sell Company Products or Services, Locally or Internationally

eBay paved the way and now people from around the world routinely buy and sell products and services from each other. While international import/export laws still must be enforced, small items from small seller to individual buyer pass through customs quickly and easily.

And digital products can pass even the most hostile borders with the click of mouse. And with Paypal and other online based payment processors, money all nations can be turned into little digital bits for easy payment.

• Provide Customer Service & Support 24/7

No more costly call center or technical support processes. By archiving information in FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) or knowledgebases and by using simple web forms, you can now handle a majority of your customer support issues cheaply and quickly.

• Service a Local or Global Niche Marketplace

While many licensed professional services are bound by laws of geography and a specific governing body, many other services can work with a much wider market than ever before.

Small service professional can either work with a specific niche market (like web design just for dental practices in the US, Canada) or web design for non-profits in a specific state or region say North Carolina or South Carolina.

• Educate the Public about Your Products or Services

As I mentioned before, one the reasons people surf the web is to obtain information. And over and over again, people have discovered that online “teaching sells”.

By taking the time to create educational materials and content, you can attract attention to your business, organization or cause. A saying from Japan goes like this, “When you light the path for another, you also light the path for yourself.”

If you liked this article and want to learn more about online promotions then I invite you to enroll in the “Blog Mastermind Training Course“** by Yaro Starak

I have always enjoyed all the blog training courses I have taken from Yaro in the past.  I think you will enjoy this one as well: Blog Mastermind**

~ Chancer