Blog Diva, a.k.a. Anne Giles Clelland, writer of Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorks blog, spent the last seven months since the blog's launch happily creating a blog parade.
Each entry in the blog is a float of words featuring high-tech entrepreneurship and VT KnowledgeWorks member companies.
Blog Diva dreamed of a Title Sponsor for the parade:
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorks Blog
Sponsored by YOUR NAME HERE
Into Blog Diva's dream stole The Devil’s Advocate. He threatened to rain on her blog parade.
"You want a Title Sponsor for your blog? I'll sponsor your blog for a pyrotechnic quantity of cash," The Devil’s Advocate hissed. "But you have to sell me your soul. And your blog. Otherwise, big bad droplets will sizzle the streets! Behold the hail! Muhahaha!"
"Ask my husband," said Blog Diva. "You can't afford my wardrobe, much less my soul. And the blog is already free."
"Free?! You're giving away what you want me to sponsor? Where's the ROI? I want leads, conversions, customers, sales! I'm like those angel (ha-ha!) investors you wrote about. I want a 500% return on my investment. If you wanted $50K in year one? I would want $250K in year five!"
"Blog Diva considers herself a literary blog artist. A sponsor of the blog would be a philanthropic, altruistic patron of the arts."
"Patron!" sputtered The Devil’s Advocate. "All expenses, no returns! You're just like all the other entrepreneurs: ‘Money because I’m me!'"
"’Money because I’m me’," said Blog Diva. "I like that.”
***
The Devil’s Advocate rolled his eyes. "Have you never heard of a value proposition?"
"Oh, yes," said Blog Diva. "It requires a bulleted list.
In exchange for sponsorship dollars, the patron, I mean Title Sponsor, of Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorks blog, would receive this value:
- A logo with a link to the Title Sponsor's Web site on the blog's home page, and on each blog entry, a company name with a text link, a company tagline, and a company logo
- Association of the company with fine writing created by a former reporter and poet (who also took comedy lessons and did a little stand-up), particularly “musings,” “insight,” and “something funny” as recommended in the Wall Street Journal, 6/30/08
- Association of the company with informed, creative, engaging writing from a businessperson, educator, and counselor
- Association of the company with positive writing (If Blog Diva doesn't like it, she won't write about it.)
- Classic benefits of public relations initiatives such as good will, visibility, credibility, and branding
- Some other little treasures Blog Diva will only discuss in person with a potential Title Sponsor."
"Naive amateur," The Devil's Advocate scoffed. "Those are non-quantifiable intangibles. Another of my favorite lines from entrepreneurs: 'Can't you see the inherent value in what I'm doing?' Answer? Duh... No!"
"Mr. Devil’s Advocate,” Blog Diva said patiently. "Inside VT KnowledgeWorks is the VT KnowledgeWorks blog. VT KnowledgeWorks. Thirty-seven early-stage companies are in acceleration mode, rocketing this area into a new universe of community and economic development! Who would want to miss that ride?! Who would miss a chance to support it, and receive thanks for doing so, by sponsoring the blog, a part of the fuel that's igniting the launch?!"
"You know, Blog Diva, you've got a cute little flame-y thing going with that fiery idealism. I don't do creation, though. I do cash. Show me the money."
Blog Diva smiled. “I'll show you the money."
"I'm ready," said The Devil’s Advocate.
"Mr. Devil’s Advocate, I'll be ready when you no longer creep into my dreams. Although I was taught that polite people don't talk about money, if you care to visit me at a civilized time tomorrow, we can sip sweetened iced tea and talk about value propositions and ROI. Did you know "roi" is French for "king"? That reminds me of queen...blog queen..."
The Devil’s Advocate shook his head. "Un-be-lievable," he said, lifting his eyes heavenward, then stopping himself. “I want hot tea," he muttered. “Sour dreams, Blog Diva.” He poofed away.
Unperturbed, Blog Diva dreamed contentedly of the Inside VT KnowledgeWorks blog parade.
Portaqua drove a float carrying its own portable water purification plant with attendants handing out cupfuls of purified water to the crowd.
CEO Nanci Hardwick waved from a model of Schultz-Creehan's Micro-Machining Center shaped from white rose petals.
TORC's Marketing Manager, David Cutter, rode in the back seat of TORC's autonomous ByWire XGV. In the front seat was Blog Diva's cat.
***
Although The Devil’s Advocate tried to rain on Blog Diva’s blog parade in her dream about him, as she steeped hot tea for The Devil’s Advocate--she liked to help people, companies, entities of any kind get what they wanted--she daydreamed with unremitting hope of Jim Flowers, director of VT KnowledgeWorks, serving as blog parade marshal.
The last float, spectacular in its bountiful design, displayed this banner:
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorks Blog
Sponsored by YOUR NAME HERE
“Well, Blog Diva,” The Devil’s Advocate said. “This tea is diabolically hot. I like it. But you still have to show me the money. If you want me to be the Title Sponsor of your blog, I need your value proposition. I’m still tempted to rain on your parade. In Technorati’s Top 100 Blogs, I’ll leave comments on each of them about how pathetically rinkydink your little blog parade is.”
“Ah, Mr. Devil’s Advocate, you would know the value of negative press. Thank you for introducing part of a business blog’s value proposition: "online reputation management." Positive press for a company is beyond price. Negative press can cost a company everything. An ability to respond to negative press, via a blog, might save the day.”
“Let me poke some holes in your cute save-the day value proposition with my cute, sharp trident. According to your very same source, Technorati, 120,000 new blogs are created every day. And that was in 2007! You want me to sponsor a blog that’s one of millions? You do seem like one-of-a-kind, Blog Diva, but that’s way too many ‘kinds.’ How can you compete?”
“Before I answer, I want to tell you something: You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong to question the value of a blog in achieving strategic business goals. Business blogs are new. We might be able to get the illusion of answers from eMarketer’s May 2008 report, The Blogosphere: A Mass Movement from Grass Roots. It may well be worth its $695 price tag, but it's guessing and I'm guessing--we're extrapolating about the future based on a bit of the past and a lot of the present.”
“A concession from an entrepreneur!" said The Devil's Advocate. "How positively, I mean negatively, sparky!”
“Instead of a value guarantee--essentially impossible to get in business without a contract--I’m offering you a value proposition,” Blog Diva said. “I’m banking my time, my treasure, my heart and, yes, my soul (which you may not buy, nor rent) that business blogs are, and will be, of value beyond price to the high-tech companies showcased and paraded online in front of their target markets.”
“No soul-buying or renting?” wheedled The Devil’s Advocate.
“Nope, only more value proposition bullets typed with my sharp, pink-polished fingernails:
- Yes, according to Technorati, 120,000 new blogs appear every day.
- By 2012, that $695 eMarketer research report predicts 145 million people, 67% of the U.S. Internet population, will be reading blogs once per month.
- According to an eMarketer report from June 2008, the average income of an adult blogger is $55,819.
Summary? Bloggers are a part of a blog’s target market. Business blog writers must read each other’s blogs--and comment upon them--to create inter-related and inter-linked meaning and value for their readers. Bloggers, statistically, are an affluent group. The value proposition, not the value guarantee, is that for high-tech companies--whose products are often pricey--affluent bloggers, with whom a blog by definition creates a relationship, are a target market.”
“An affluent target market? I see potential,” said The Devil’s Advocate.
***
“But,” said The Devil’s Advocate, “you, Blog Diva, are in a dying biz. Hmm, I like that dying part. Anyway, Forrester reported in June 2008 that business-to-business (B2B) blogging in 2007 ‘plummeted’—a nice word, don’t you think?—compared with 2006.”
“Yes, isn’t it wonderful?” exclaimed Blog Diva. “Fewer blogs? Less competition! In that same report, Forrester notes that successful business blogs ‘make blog content entertaining.’ You, like the VT KnowledgeWorks companies, help me do that.”
“I’m entertaining?” asked The Devil’s Advocate.
“We’ll find out when we read the comments on the blog,” Blog Diva said. “It’s called an ‘on-demand virtual focus group' according to ECommerce-Guide 2/07, citing Forrester 1/07, Calculating the ROI of Blogging: A Case Study."
“Ah, but we get comments only if someone visits your blog and leaves a comment. Let me pry that sore spot with my trident. According to The Wall Street Journal, 7/2/08, ‘The sad truth is that the blogosphere is as hit-driven as the rest of the world, with a tiny percentage of blogs getting a huge chunk of the traffic, and with many blogs simply going unread.’ And Ted Leonsis says, 'Unless you can show 20 percent month-over-month traffic growth, you're not perceived as a viable Web 2.0 company...[you need] to get a million monthly unique visitors just to matter in this market.'
So Blog Diva, Dream Weava, how many visitors are there to Inside-y Liddle-Widdle VT KnowledgeWorks anyway?”
“As you can see from this Google Analytics visitor report from June 3-July 3, 2008, Inside VT KnowledgeWorks received an average of 17.94 visitors per day.”
“Muhahaha!” cackled The Devil’s Advocate. “That’s not Web site traffic! That’s ashes, that’s dust, that’s nanoparticles! You and your blog are nobody, Blog Diva!”
The Devil’s Advocate laughed noisily. Blog Diva noticed when he wiped tears from his eyes that his fingernails looked infected. She would remember to recommend to him Keraderm, the nail treatment system created by one of the companies partnered with VT KnowledgeWorks entrepreneur-in-residence Doug Juanarena.
The Devil’s Advocate leaned back in classic one-up body language, hands behind his head, and regarded Blog Diva.
“Where, Mr. Devil’s Advocate,” Blog Diva asked sweetly, “do you stand on quality versus quantity?”
Recognizing this as dangerously close to “Do I look fat in these jeans?”, The Devil’s Advocate slowly pulled his hands from behind his head. “Tell me more," he said carefully.
“To quote Seth Godin--who is on the Technorati Top 100 Blogs list, by the way, with, therefore, very measurable Web site traffic--‘Just because something is easy to measure doesn’t mean it’s important.’”
“Oh,” said The Devil’s Advocate.
“Mr. Godin adds, "'How many’ is not nearly as valuable as ‘who’…’”
“Who?” repeated The Devil’s Advocate, relieved the conversation had turned from measurement.
“One single reader,” said Blog Diva. “That’s who. All I need is one single reader to see the post on Portaqua’s Bagua of Hope, realize that Portaqua’s water purification treatment plant is an IPO waiting to happen because it’s got The Big-Hit Big-Three: 1) high-tech, 2) timeliness, and 3) social responsibility.
That one single reader thinks, ‘I’ve got to grab this opportunity before it’s gone. Who’s the contact? Let me follow the link in this blog entry to the company’s Web site. I’ll click on Contact…There! Rafael Gonzalez. I’m calling him right now.’
That single reader may or may not be someone who can invest, but he or she knows someone who can. Deal done, Blog Diva ecstatic.”
“One is good. Many is better,” said The Devil’s Advocate. He added snidely, “It increases the odds of finding Blog Diva’s Chosen One."
***
“The one reader or the many can come from our two sources of traffic,” Blog Diva said to The Devil’s Advocate. “Subscribers and searchers. The subscribers receive the blog posts via RSS feed or e-mail. Our top source of traffic is from visitors directly using the URL. The second source of traffic is Google.”
“Ah, Google,” The Devil’s Advocate mused. “Back in the old days of Web 1.0, I tempted a lot of souls who tried to spam the search engines by hiding white text keywords on their Web site pages. Something about search engine results brings out the gotta-have-it-at-any-cost-California-Gold-Rush syndrome in some people…”
“It doesn’t bring it out in me,” Blog Diva said.
“Come on,” said The Devil’s Advocate. “Let’s figure out how Google analyzes and lists blogs and then trick ‘em!”
Blog Diva sat up very straight.
“Mr. Devil’s Advocate, I have a business relationship with Google.”
“Well excu-u-u-se me,” snorted The Devil’s Advocate.
“With regard to Google,” Blog Diva said, relaxing back in her chair peacefully, “I am both a customer and a provider. I envision Google as a gourmet restaurant. I feast on the search results it serves, but I don’t feel I have a right to know, or a need to know, the recipe of algorithms it uses to dress my Google salad.”
“Hot soup. Much better than cold salad,” said The Devil’s Advocate.
“Either one," said Blog Diva. "They're both good. As a blog writer, I’m a provider of ingredients that help produce the quality of Google’s salads, soups, main dishes--its product. To Google’s gourmet restaurant, I’m like a lettuce vendor. Since I love my Google salad--and so does, according to a May 2008 report from Nielson Online, 59% of all search engine users--my bests interests are literally and figuratively served by offering Google the best ‘lettuce leaves’ I can from my blog garden.
Some days the Google chefs may choose my long, leafy posts. They’re a little tough to swallow--often prepared from highly technical press releases--but they’re reasonable garnishes. Some days the chefs may choose a small, light post perhaps because it’s like packaged loose leaves--the work is already done.
What Google selects most often from my blog offerings are the posts in which I use personal stories as metaphors to explain high-tech ideas or to showcase high-tech companies and leaders. I think what makes these blog posts main dish fare is that I prepare them from the heart.
You can see from this Google Analytics top content report that most visitors go straight to the home page, but after that, they visit the stories:
#3 - My assessed strengths and how they relate to Web 2.0
#4 - Eye-popping information I gained from using AttaainCI competitive intelligence software
#5 - Insights I derived about wikis from contemplating my cat.
Some days the Google chefs pick all three types of blog posts. Some days they pick none. To the Google chefs, I defer.
And here's some blashpemy for you."
"Ooh, I love blasphemy," said The Devil's Advocate.
"Even if Google went away--Google gone? There's the blasphemy--according to The Futurist, July/August 2008 issue, it's all about the story. In fact, The Futurist asserts, 'Writers who are willing to view themselves as storytellers first and foremost, who are eager to incorporate new technology into the writing process, have a bright future.' Blog Diva has a bright future, Mr. Devil's Advocate."
“I like bright. Fire bright," The Devil's Advocate said. "I still think we should try to trick 'em."
“I don’t need to trick them to achieve my goals. My from-the-heart, ‘lettuce leaf’ blog garden story-posts produce organic results.”
“Blog parades, blog gardens,” said The Devil’s Advocate. “If I could turn your metaphor-making to the dark side…Yep, you’ve convinced me. I need to entice you away from VT KnowledgeWorks to write a business blog for Soul Irritation Enterprises, Inc. I'm the CEO, you know."
***
“Come on, Blog Diva,” The Devil’s Advocate said. “Write me a big, bad, biz blog. Everyone has a soul’s desire. What’s yours? I’ll give it to you if you write my blog.”
“My soul’s desire is a Title Sponsor for Inside VT KnowledgeWorks. But I don’t seek a sponsor who’s a devil’s advocate, or even an angel. The Title Sponsor will be the savvy leader of a company or organization who sees the possibilities--the value proposition--of a blog parade for promoting the greater good of the local high-tech economy.” Blog Diva paused, then added, “And he or she will be a patron of literary blog art.”
The Devil's Advocate shook his head, leering. "That idealism of yours is a one-woman conflagration. But seriously. I'm The Devil’s Advocate, not the big guy himself. I have limited, not infinite cash. And I’m into the greater bad, not the greater good. You’ve convinced me I need a blog, but not that I need to sponsor your blog.”
“I think this is the ‘savvy leader’ part. I’ve saved the best for last. My final bulleted list of value propositions for the Title Sponsor of Inside VT KnowledgeWorks:
- For search engines, blog posts are each day’s hot, new product. With a Title Sponsorship, you no longer have to hope you’re mentioned in a newspaper or magazine. You put yourself in the news.
- Blog entries are archived and provide a perpetual database of informational terms and keywords related to your enterprise. When a searcher types in those terms, up comes the information they seek--paired with your text and logo links.
What would this mean for you if you were the Title Sponsor? For most search terms, Google seems to post the most recent blog entry higher in the search results than it does previous posts. You could sponsor one blog entry instead of the whole blog--which would be of value to produce search results--but that single entry would probably fall to later pages of results pretty quickly. It can still be found, but it’s less likely to have early page results.
Worth $250K in year five?” Blog Diva continued. “Since blogs have no history, I can only extrapolate a value proposition from the recent past and from the present. Sponsoring the blog gives you what you asked for earlier--increased odds. I post every weekday. That's about 250 posts per year, all readily available for Google, all with links to the Title Sponsor's Web site.
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks is always hot and new. No matter what the high-tech-related topic, no matter what the search term, if an Inside VT KnowledgeWorks post appears, you appear with it.
“Hot,” The Devil’s Advocate said thoughtfully. “I like hot.”
“Hot is nice,” said Blog Diva.
“I’ll give the devil his due (ha-ha!),” said The Devil’s Advocate. “I think I see where you’re going with all this. It’s not my cup of hot toddy, but I might know a guy or gal. I’ll ask around. May I give you one piece of advice, Blog Diva? If I promise not to rain on your blog parade?”
“I’m open to hearing it,” said Blog Diva.
“May I invite you to shorten your elevator pitch?” asked The Devil’s Advocate. “My ears are on fire.”
“I’ll consider it,” said Blog Diva. “Thank you. Would you be open to hearing just a tiny suggestion?”
“Yes,” said The Devil’s Advocate.
“I noticed,” said Blog Diva, “that your fingernails seem a bit inflamed…”
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks seeks a Title Sponsor. In addition to your company's logo on the home page, each blog entry would feature YOUR NAME HERE with a text link, YOUR NAME HERE with Your Business Description or Tagline, and Your Logo.
Inside VT KnowledgeWorks is written by Anne Giles Clelland for business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks, located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. For information about becoming the blog's Title Sponsor, please contact Anne, anne@anneclelland.com, or the director of VT KnowledgeWorks, Jim Flowers, jim.flowers@vtknowledgeworks.com.
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