Are You Participating in Blog Action Day?

[KristineS]

I just went over and read your post vangogh. It was a good one.

I also agree that things like Blog Action Day can make a difference. Blogs can influence a lot of people. Writing about something can actually bring about change.

I agree, things like everyone turning their lights off for an hour or sleeping outside in a cardboard box to dramatize the plight of the homeless probably won't do much. Writing about an issue and educating your readers might.

[vangogh]

Thanks Kristine. With making a difference you have to start somewhere. It's that think globally, act locally mentality. Will a single blog post change anything dramatically? Will 10,000 blog posts change things dramatically? Maybe the answer to both questions is probably not. But not writing those blog posts certainly changes nothing.

[KristineS]

I think that's the trap a lot of people fall in to and it causes them to fail to act. People think that the little bit they can do won't make any difference so why bother. I'm always of the opinion that every little bit helps. Even a small action can start a ripple that eventually results in a big change.

[vangogh]

Yep. It's an easy trap to fall into. I've fallen into it many times myself.

At some point you have to realize that even influencing one other person is still important and brings you that much closer to changing things. If you read The Tipping Point or looked into viral marketing in general you can see that you doesn't necessarily have to reach a lot of people for your message to spread. You have to reach the right people under the right conditions.

[KristineS]

The Tipping Point is a great book. It's so true that it matters more who your message gets communicated too than how many people hear what you're saying. I wish more people who are trying to do their own marketing could understand that.

[vangogh]

Too many people still see it as a numbers game. They just look to get something, anything out to a lot of people without really thinking about whether or not any of those people even might be interested in the slightest. They think more about the numbers than getting out a message that's aligned with their offering and getting that message in front of the people most likely to be receptive to it.

Hopefully some of the discussions we have here will get some people to see differently.

[KristineS]

I think you're right about that. I always try to educate people on that point. It's not getting to a large number of people, it's getting to the right people. Also, your target market cannot be "everyone". Even if your product is something like Coke which has universal appeal, you still have to target your message to specific market segments.

I hope you're right that the subjects we cover here will help.