Do your product experts run the other way when you ask to interview them for a blog post? You have to remind them what is in it for them. If they answer your question now, they can avoid answering it for prospects and clients over and over again in the future. Because your published blog post can serve as a knowledge base resource. Instead of answering the question in an email, they can just send a link to the blog post. This saves them time but also shows the prospect or client that they didn't just make up the answer on the spot. Your company is experienced and prepared and one step ahead of them because the answer has already been published.
At the Dynamics ERP partner I work for, here are few examples of posts that we refer people to all the time:
6 Basic Questions We Will Ask To Learn About Your Existing Microsoft Dynamics GP System
What is the Average Cost of a Dynamics GP upgrade?
How Microsoft Dynamics GP Users Can Access CustomerSource
How to Divorce Your Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner
How to Change Your Dynamics GP Partner Of Record With Microsoft
How Many Companies Use Microsoft Dynamics ERP?
Hints:
- Keep an Excel document in a shared folder that lists titles and links of published blog posts for easy reference.
- Send an email to the entire company each month listing the blogs that were recently published.
- When you have written several posts like this, list the most popular ones on an FAQ page on your website.
- Use my "Record, Transcribe, Polish" method to make it easy for billable consultants to give you the product info you need.
So ask your team members what questions prospects or customers ask them over and over again. Tell them you are willing to help them out by publishing the answer as a blog posts. But only if they ask you nicely. After all, marketing people like us are very busy making important decisions...such as which blinking chotchkies to order for the next trade show.
By Anya Ciecierski, Collaboration Works Marketing
Twitter: @AnyaCWMktg
Tweetables:
Insider Tip: Convince subject matter experts to blog by showing them what it is in it for them (Tweet this)
How To Use Blogs To Build A Knowledge Base For Your Dynamics Business (Tweet this)
Don’t bother the marketing dept, we are busy choosing chotchkies (Tweet this)