The World According to Mitch Fanning

While we’re at it, lets also hang up “web log,” “blogger,” “blogosphere,” and any other derivative of the word.

Why?

They’re outdated and, at times, associated with the stereotypical image of the rogue “Internet marketing guru” who plots world domination from their basement and uses excessive hype to bait naïve prospects with empty promises.

Perhaps it’s just the way these words sound to the average “non-techie” business owner or CEO.  To those who don’t eat, sleep, and breathe the Internet and social media it might sound more like a rubber chew toy a two year old puts in their mouth.

Let me assure you this post is not a rant.  On the contrary, it’s a tribute…a manifesto…a declaration.

Give me 48 seconds to explain…

According to the gospel of Saint Wikipedia, the term “web log” was coined in 1997 by Jorn Barger when he used it on his weblog, Robot Wisdom.

Barger used the term to describe the process of “logging the web” as he surfed.  The short form, “blog,” was then used by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog on his blog Peterme.com in 1999.

Shortly after, a few others started using “blog” as both a noun and verb (“to blog,” meaning “to edit one’s weblog or to post to one’s weblog”) and devised the term “blogger”.

Here ends the history lesson.

Blogging is Serious Business

Over the past ten years there’s been a new generation of people starting blogs.  They’re building audiences, creating influence, and generating profits.

They’re not just “logging the web,” they’re creating businesses.

Take the Huffington Post, a popular news site (ranked #1 in Technorati), which began as a politics blog by Arianna Huffington.  According to their Google Analytics numbers, the site blasted past 40 million monthly unique visitors in February 2010.

Companies like 37signals, Union Square Ventures, and the Wine Library have successfully used their blogs to build a massive audience, which over time have translated into millions of dollars in revenue and business opportunities.

Darren Rowse of Problogger is an independent blogger who makes a comfortable living from blogs like Digital Photography School and TwiTip.  It didn’t happen in a week, but he’s now built a stable business platform that allows him to leverage new growth opportunities.

These individuals and organizations aren’t just bloggers and blogs. They’re serious media properties, thought-leaders, and online publishers with real business models.

So let’s replace the funny-sounding word with something that gives the medium a bit more respect it’s so rightfully has earned.  Let’s come up with a better term than “blog” to describe the new generation of online publishers who are out there creating real relationships and businesses.

Any suggestions?

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an online marketing and social media practitioner. He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing opt-in strategies.

Inspired by the post The Word Entrepreneur and its baggage on the Signal Vs Noise, a weblog by 37signals.

A teacher affects eternity:  He can never tell where his influence stops. – Henry Adams

I just finished reading 37signal’s new business book, Rework.

At 288 pages it’s a quick read (about 3 hours).  It’s about getting back to the basics, making things easier not harder, and focusing on what really matters (in a business).

I’ll publish a full review soon, but for now I want to focus on the idea of “out-teaching” (not out-competing) your competitors.

Specifically, the notion that you’re more likely to buy stuff from someone who teach you something rather than being influenced by traditional marketing tactics, which is one of the topics in the book.

Teaching vs Marketing

Personal experience has also shown me that teaching vs traditional marketing does produce better results when attempting to create a loyal audience.

Most businesses do the opposite.

They focus on selling or servicing, but rarely do they teach their audience something.  Teaching shows you give a #*%@.  It helps you stand out.  As Fried puts it, it also helps you “out-maneuver” the competition.

There are lots of ways to put this idea into practice online.  One way (but certainly not the only or best way for you) is to start a blog.

Here’s a few examples to get your creative juices flowing.

MBA Mondays

Fred Wilson, a New York-based venture capitalist, has a very popular (and at times, controversial) blog.  Among other topics, each week he writes a post under the category MBA Monday, where he steps back and connects the dots for those wanting to develop their business acumen.  It’s here that budding VCs, start-ups, and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to learn from a VC veteran.

As a result, Wilson is now recognized as a leading voice of the venture capital finance community.  He also happens to be #60 on Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” list for 2010.

Oh, one more thing.  His firm’s portfolio has swelled with some of the hottest tech start-ups, including Twitter, Foursquare, and Zynga.

What Wine Goes Better With Fish?

Gary Vaynerchuk, who owns a large wine store called Wine Library, probably spent hours answering this question (and many like it, I’m sure) on Internet forums while teaching people about wine on Wine Library TV, his daily video blog.

As a result, his video blog is watched by tens of thousands of people each day.  Just as important, from 1997 to 2008, his wine business went from $4 million to $50 million.  He’s also the author of Crush It! a book detailing how he used social media to build his audience and business.

Stop and think about it.

If, like me, you consistently work to improve yourself (and your business) you probably consume content online in an effort to learn something.  In some cases, this content might even come from a company or site that sells something.

QUESTION – Have you ever bought something from a company or site after you’ve consumed their content for some time?  Have you ever purchased something in the hopes of learning something?

I have.

Sometimes even after a year later of being introduced to the company and their content.

Instead of trying to outspend or outsell your competition maybe its time you did something different.  Maybe, it’s time you tried out-teaching them.

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an online marketing and social media practitioner. He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing opt-in strategies.

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