Am I writing to you?

Having a blog in a crowded industry is difficult and discouraging. Take my situation for example. Everyone has a blog about marketing.

I’ll admit that part of the problem is that I’m not being interesting enough (which I’m working on). And the rest of it is that I haven’t taken a real stand on who I’m writing to. Or at least it hasn’t been super clear up to this point.

The point is that I’m not the only one with this problem, and this problem isn’t limited to my industry. There is a lot of noise out there. I actually was successful a few months ago in convincing a client that she shouldn’t start a blog. And that’s just plain heresy when you work in marketing!

The difference between me and a lot of people is that most aren’t even aware that they have this problem. Is writing blog posts really worth your time if you don’t have enough time to invest in rising above the crowd?

So here’s where I stand at least. I’m writing to you if…

• You own a small business. The smaller, the better.
• You don’t know a whole lot about using the Internet to market your business.
• You are don’t quite understand technology but know that it’s necessary.
• You want to learn some tips here and there. You don’t want to be an expert, but you want to learn.
• You aren’t sure who to trust amongst all of these “experts” that are clogging up the proverbial blogosphere.
• Bonus: You are in Columbus, Ohio, and there’s a chance that I may meet you at some point in time.

Most of the comments that I get on my blog are from other marketers. This worries me. If you don’t meet the criteria of the bullet points above, then I may be boring you. And you’re probably leaving a comment because you want other visitors to come to your blog. Worst of all, you’re not contributing to the conversation. You’re just adding more noise.

If you’re Sharon Thomas of Permanent Ink, then welcome! (And thanks for hanging out over the past year.)

If you’re Seth Godin, then you’re probably bored.