Did you know, that as of this month, there are over 156 million public blogs in existence? And with that type of competition growing everyday, is the effort worth the prize? What makes a blog a rewarding a home run? and are you still wondering how to attract more visitors to your blog?

We are too.

I did some research regarding this matter and there’s a lot of opinion on the subject. Some say sell advertising, some say to blog every day, some say to not write more than 200 words so the audience doesn’t get bored, others suggest tightly niche your content and others say wake up the dead with extreme controversy.

I do agree with them all, most importantly I believe that businesses need to write stuff that people actually want to read!

Before you start writing, ask yourself who the target audience is and what the do they really care about. Also ask your self these questions:

1. Why do you write your blog? To make money, to serve as marketing tool?
2. Have you clearly identified 3 other highly read blogs in your topic?
3. Can you see their magic formula? Is meaningful content – are they a rock star, have a book and/or a national expert?
4. How is traffic being driven to their site? This takes some digging, but it’s important.
5. Does your niche topic have a big enough audience to tap?
6. Have you looked at Google analytics to see what you have written in the past that really drew readers?
7. Does your content provide pragmatic advice? Is the writing original and thought provoking, Is it entertaining, or is it just sucking up your time and you should be doing something else?

If you answered NO to any of these questions, stop writing, talk a walk, read a book and start again.

Be useful. Be unique. Be engaging.

How do these blogs do it?
HuffingtonPost – 35,000,000 estimated unique monthly visitors.
TMZ – 17,000,000 estimated unique monthly visitors.
engadget – 11,500,000 estimated unique monthly visitors.

For more blogging tips, view: 10-steps to making writing your blog easier.

Stop what you are doing!  Take the pulse on your personal brand, today. It’s fast and painless. Add up all the No’s and then total them.  If your total higher than 2 you’ve got some work to do. Earned a low score, below 2, Go Celebrate!

These tips were part of a talk I gave this morning at the Southeastern Entrepreneur Conference. Thank you University of Tampa Entrepreneurship Center for hosting such as awesome event. For a copy of the PowerPoint scroll down and download. Got a question? Post a comment and I’ll do my best to address it.

6 questions every professional to answer with Yes!
1) Have you secured your full name as a URL? (Like mine is Karenpost.com)  YES OR NO

2) Do you Google search your name at least once a month? YES OR NO

3) Does your cell phone recording state your full name and sound professional? YES OR NO

4) Do you have a professional, one paragraph only, blurb of copy that can be used a byline after a blog post or article, or to introduce you to someone? YES OR NO

5) Is your Linkedin profile set up and 95% completed with a great head shot photo, concise content about you professionally speaking with at least three top three key words (that people would search for you with)? YES OR NO

6)  Do you have a list of at least 4 adjectives that describe your professional personality? YES OR NO

7)  Do reflect these adjectives in your social and offline? YES OR NO

8) When friends and professional colleagues introduce you at an event or party do they get what you actually do?

Download full presentation from 2011 SEEC.org, click on the image.

Need more ideas on expanding your market presence with publicity? Check out our Publicity Da-To list.

I love oxymorons. I find their mix of contrast, clarifying. Here’s my favorite big little list.

I also have a love-hate relationship with waiting things.

I’m in New York City and while I love this city, the waiting for most things, I hate. It grades on my patience account.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve waited a lot, for my luggage, to be seated, for my coat, for a cab, for an Internet connection, for a phone signal, for an appointment, for the hotel engineer, to get service and to even pay for what I wanted to buy.

On the back end of waiting for all of these things, fortunately came good rewards and benefits that I did in fact want and desire. So I suppose it was worth the wait.

I don’t think I’m alone with this down opinion of waiting. Unless I was waiting for a call from the IRS for an audit, or a my one way ticket off the earth, then waiting is looking better.

In our society we as consumers are conditioned to get lots of things fast, some even immediately. I like that. Because I’m really not a patient person, even though I do wait patiently. Verses the screaming guy or gal who looses it after 30 seconds of waiting.

Technology is responsible for this speed of delivery, until you are put on hold for technical support, which is a nightmare even if it’s during the day.

It seems like with all this waiting, there should be some opportunities here too. It’s likely your competition is not even thinking about this stuff, because they are waiting for other stuff.

Here are ideas you don’t need to wait to do.

• If your customers have to wait, why not make it a fun experience, entertain them, teach them something.
• If your customers have to wait, why not pamper them in some way. A soothing environment small treat goes a long way to shorten the reality of waiting time.
• If your customers have to wait, provide something that engages them to participate in your brand experience. This can be accomplished with media, sensory elements or human conversation.

Watching paint dry is never fun. Watching a masterpiece being created by an artist is amazing.

Also, don’t forget to check out: Make vacation communication a day at the beach.

I’m a late night gal. Although, I do spark after my java and eggs in the mid AM and then again at 3 and again after tennis around 8 or nine. I suppose the point is we all have peak performance and high think zones. For a week, monitor your best creative juice output. What time is it? Then, if you can, plan your day accordingly.  We should not fight these waves of brilliance, we should leverage them.

If nothing else, have a pad ready at your peak times and make list of ideas for marketing, blog posts, new biz prospects. Do this every day for a week. By Friday, you’ll have a bunch of powerful stuff.

And hopefully you are an entrepreneur and can decide your schedule. And if you are not, you should highly consider the jump. It’s really the most awesome place to be.

Regimes and rituals do help me stay on course. But there are others days, I am a reckless, wild, free bird and fly all over the place and still produce.

Do what works for you. If it’s not working, try something new.

If you have not read Finding Flow, you should. It’s an awesome book. All of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi books are amazing.

For more on marketing, visit our Market your biz blog.

I’ve been doing TV interviews for many years, Bloomberg, CBS’s The early Show and lots of FOX TV, just to name a few.

They can be a frightening experiences (live, no editing, no script) or they can be powerful opportunities (SEO, website content, exposure) to add credibility to your brand.

Last week I did a 30-minute, live segment on the upcoming Super Bowl commercials. So how did I pull this off – answer questions on the spot, with poise, and share a good amount of branding insight?

Check out the 2-part interview here:  Part 1 |  Part 2

Remember this interview was a soft news angle with no controversy, I was not on the hot seat. If I was, I would have a different set of steps for that type of situation.

9 steps to smooth live, 30-minute TV interview.
1.) After the interview is booked, start doing your homework on the topic and think about the audience. I’m fortunate to have an awesome assistant, Lauren, who sourced three pages of stats, trends and history on the Super Bowl subject.

2.) Then send the producer, or your contact, a list of suggested questions with some key points from your research.

3.) The day before, review your key messages – out load.

4.) Before you go to the station, mentally get in the zone, run through your questions again.

5.) Always wear solid colors, not prints or tweedy fabrics.

6.) Women, where three times as much make-up as normal. Guys, wear powder, shiny face is not a good look.

7.) Arrive early, review your notes again. Breathe full breaths from your stomach.

8.) Write out your notes on index cards. Bring them with you.

9.) During the interview, pretend you are talking to your best friend, look at them. Relax.

10.) After the interview, get a copy. Watch it and learn from the experience. What can you do better next time?

For more Fox news interviews, view:
Can a Victoria’s Secret bag make you feel sexier?
Are you ready if your brand explodes? 4 important brand saving action items.

This sediment is shared by millions of young baby boomers everywhere. While official boomers (over 76 million of us) were born between 1946-1964, I’m so not ready to hear that term, if fact it really freaks me out.

I know I’m not alone. And smart marketers understand that there is a brand new generation of boomers, just like me.

Don’t call me a senior, and don’t even remind me that I’m aging, even if I am like a nice bottle of Merlot.

I prefer something more like a middle-aged person or how about no reference to age at all, that’s even better. That’s not a lie, 51 is the middle of 100. A lot of people live that long.

So why a blog about this?

My birthday is next week. On Feb. 12th I will be 51. Yes I’m crossing the mark of the other side of the game. Ole Abe and I share the day, although he is a real senior at 201.

I don’t feel 51 and I live a young lifestyle, I play tennis 4 times a week, I watch music videos, love Linken Park, Train and Katy Perry, shop at Forever 21 and occasionally drink really cheap wine.

Today, the Wall Street Journal did a story on retooling boomer marketing and it caught my attention. The story covers everything from how small type faces can hurt sales  to colors that won’t help you market either. But the big point is, don’t tell any of that to the young boomers.

Seniors like my mom, are cool with that Senior marketing stuff. I suppose when you hit 75, it’s like a merit badge and senior discounts are a bonus. But for people like me, marketers better be very sensitive with how they speak to me, or I’m not buying their products.

As a young boomer, I’m famously demanding, independent and rebellious. I’m health-conscious, I text daily, tweet sometimes hourly, don’t have gray hair (thank you Clairol®) and my eyes were bad when I was 30.

So marketers, please don’t use models that look like my parents to get my attention, don’t assume I won’t try new things and do know that I’m fit, not fat and child proof containers always pissed me off.

And AARP, I have enough magazines, so why not save a tree and your postage and just chill for a few years.

For more on aging, check out: Who said interns have to be young?

The TV broadcast industry does it with news scoop.

Tabloid papers do it with rumors of dirt.

Email marketers do it with headlines.

Flirty people do it with compliments.

Online marketers do it with time sensitive offers.

And dancers do it with a boa.

They all give you just enough to peek your interest, get your attention and then hook you in for more.

Now bloggers like me are doing it.

The next 5 days are going to be really big.
Some of the best blogging I’ve ever done. Check back and you’ll get some never before shared secrets, the skinny on this years Super Bowl commercials, full details on my next book with a major publisher and why I’m going to the Middle East.

Stay tuned. I won’t disappoint you.

For more on conquering customers, view: 3 free ways to help connect buyers to your business.

Today I flew to Houston on Southwest, one of my favorite airline brands. I was escaping the invasion of pirates in Tampa Bay. I live in a high rise and on Saturday my balcony will have a direct view of over 500,000 mostly drunk revellers.  I enjoy this celebration called Gasparilla about every other year. This year I was passing and headed to H town for a big city fix.

As I boarded the plane, I was auditing all the brand touch points as I just got hired to speak to an international airline in February. I noticed a lot more that I usually do – from the ticket pocket, to the checkin line signage, to the gate tunnel walls, carpets, uniforms and the seat magazine and laminated promo card on the changing Rapid Rewards program. All on-brand, same SW story, all 500% consistent. Good job Southwest.

As I enter the plane, I scope out my seating opportunities should I, in fact, decide I want to chat with my seat mate. I’m always very strategic with this due diligence.  No crying babies, no people preparing and eating their dinner next to me and no live animals, especially birds.

What I do look for are business people and if there are none, which is rare, then I default to a George Clooney look a-like.

Why the effort? Because I have met many new clients, new friends and even once an investor on an airplane. I don’t always work the row, sometimes I do just pass out, think, read or work.

But just to make sure I’m ready if an opportunity sits next me, I always:

• Have a several business cards
• Dress professional when I fly
• Practice good phone and technology etiquette
• Avoid garlic and other strong foods before the flight (they may keep away vampires, a client too)
• And listen more than I talk

If it’s appropriate , I get a card and keep my word if I promise a follow up.

More from Houston later. My battery is low and my cables are sitting on my desk in Tampa. Can you say Apple Store on Saturday?

For more in the sky lessons, view: JetBlue gives you four inches, but…

Standout brands are distinct, memorable and own their turf. Think about Target (hip, cool and great design), Alfec (the duck icon), and Lady GaGa (outrageous style, no borders behavior).

They didn’t copy the pack, they lead it with a set of unique attributes. If you want to break through a clutter of the same old boring stuff that 95% of your competition are doing, then be original, odd and offbeat. And avoid these 5 costly mistakes.

1) Don’t use other people’s quotes in your marketing content and social media. Create your own original quotes, ideas, opinions and and insight.

2) Don’t use the same colors and graphic styles that are everywhere in your industry. Break the rules. And then rule your category.

3) Don’t use the same tired copy points and words that your competition uses. Tell memorable stories and create your own words that are unique and belong to you.

4) Don’t use, over used stock images and photos that everyone and their uncle has used since 1982. Find compelling pics, try adding treatments to them with cropping, borders, colors and filters. Or take your own.

5) Don’t expect everyone to love your distinction. Change or an unusual approached often get resisted early in the game. How may people loved Google when it first launched?

When you find your solid path of brand distinction and stick to it, your marketing dollars will have more power to help build a strong and sustainable brand.

Also check out: The 3 A’s of an awesome brand name.

Friday evening I went to the opera in St. Petersburg, Florida at The Palladium. The Palladium is a gem, full of charm and historic architecture. The theater was built in 1925 as a church and later transformed into a community performing arts venue now run by the St. Petersburg College.

The opera was Verdi Rigoletto, a story of love, passion, betrayal, revenge and tragedy.

I love opera. It’s so intense. The majestic voices, the opulent costumes, the suspenseful drama, the entire experience is artistic and emotional.

The Palladium, compared to other rooms I’ve been to, is very small for an opera. Yet the characters and the behind the scenes team delivered the same incredible rush of entertainment value as the big opera houses in New York, London and Houston.

The evening and performance exceeded my expectations by 10 fold.  The cast and orchestra had the talent which is certainly vital part of the experience, but supporting their theater and musical skills was a well executed package of equally as dramatic and very scaled-up visual components.

Scaled-up is important strategy beyond an operatic performance. It applies to brands, our stories and the experience we all deliver to our buyers.

Here’s how the production of Rigoletto did it, creating a moving, memorable experience that will be treasured for a long time with the audience.

• They used the full space (left to right, top to bottom) to project massive black and white images behind the stage. They were big and bold and transformed the mood of the room instantly.
• The costumes were also scaled-up, exaggerated and all toned in a consistent palate of black and white with a splash of subliminal blood red preceding the tragic ending.
• The scenery was also scaled-up, over-sized and poignant. And of course, the volume and magnitude of their voices was thundering even in the most peaceful scenes.

Think about how you can scale-up some elements in your experience to make a grander impact and more lasting memories. These ideas can work in office lobbies, retail and hospitality businesses.

1) Enlarge your wall graphic communications.
Dinky art or framed publicity on big walls, often says small potato. Big impressions can imply confidence and that success lives here.

2) Add a high tech aspect to your messaging.
Projected images can be applied to entry ways, ceiling and floors. Incorporating technology can say innovation, creative thinkers, that’s us.

3) Introduce props to an environment and showcase them.
An over-sized product model, a character or even your logo – as a dimensional item can be a powerful aspect of the experience.

4) Garb your team with a strategic uniform or dress code.
Apple computer’s retail staffers all have a common look, that says: hip and creative, to a cosmetic company that sports hot pink lab coats to project a scientific/fashion image, to the Geek Squad’s special agent cool, nerd attire.

What’s your next act?

For more up-scale elements, view: The 5th element to a successful marketing mix.