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Bloggers can learn something from South Beach

This week Clay and I spent a couple of days in Miami, in and around the South Beach area. Clay went to the Future of Web Apps conference and I had the chance to hang out and try to relax a bit. Lots of luck relaxing in Miami.

If you have never been to the South Beach area and walked down the street along the Art Deco hotels you have missed an experience. Yes, the buildings are cool. Yes, the weather is amazing. But, and you knew there was going to be a but didn’t you.

But…

When you are walking down the street and you pass by all of the restaurants you are basically attacked by employees trying to get you to stop and sit down and order off their menu. It was almost like walking through a carnival at the local fair and having people trying to get you to stop and spend money in an attempt to win that cute teddy bear.

Seriously, I was amazed. I had never experienced anything like this. What was even more surprising was the fact all of their menus were basically the same. I did stop and look at the menus and they were all the same. From breakfast to dinner, same.

The really only difference was the presentation and the color of the decor. There was nothing to set them apart from each other.

This experience caused the wheels to turn and for whatever reason, this blog post was born.

Bloggers can learn something from South Beach

Are we as bloggers making some of the same mistakes? Are we all just the same as the other guy? Do we all throw up all of the same content and try to make it appealing by giving it a different package? I started to ask myself these same questions as I was looking for a place to have breakfast. Especially when I could clearly see in the light of the morning sun that all of the restaurants were serving the same exact menu for breakfast as their “competitor” fifty feet away.

There was really nothing that separated these restaurants apart from each other and I wonder if we as bloggers are doing the same.

What can we learn as bloggers from South Beach?

Content: No matter what niche you are in, we can all give our audience unique content. Yes, there are only so many ways you can prepare a steak or seafood. But, you can damn sure make it the best it can be. And you can always give your content your own unique twist or take on a certain subject. Don’t be a robot and do the same thing as all the other bloggers in your niche.

Your content is really the reason your visitors stop by. The content you provide is what turns those visitors into readers and your readers into subscribers. If you are providing the same old stuff as the guy next door, you both are not going to see an increase in readership. And in turn you are not going to see your blog help your business, whether an online business or brick and mortar business.

Your potential customers are not going to sit down long enough to read and buy something from your “menu”.

Appearance and Design: I would be the first to admit, content is really the key. However, if you don’t present your content in a way which makes it easy to read and pleasing on the eye, I am not going to hang around.

• Don’t make things so dark I can’t read the freaking menu or see my food. Hint: bright white or yellow text on a freaking black background.
• Don’t clutter your sidewalk with so much stuff I can not see what you are providing. Hint: Get rid of all the crap you are putting in your sidebar. Do yourself and your readers a favor and give us some white space. Keep things clean, crisp and clear of distractions. Don’t make me hunt for what I am looking for.
• Don’t look just like the guy down the block. Hint: Templates are nice, but they are templates and they all look the same. Get yourself a unique look and design. At least get a custom banner.
• Don’t make it hard for me to navigate your sidewalk. Hint: Make it as easy as possible for me to navigate your blog. Don’t make me guess how I get from one page to the next. If I am suppose to click something, tell me. I am stupid that way.

Your sales approach: You need to take a look at how you are trying to get people to sit down at your table and order from your menu.

• Are you attacking them the minute they start walking by?
• Do you hammer them with your pitch from the get go?
• Do you try to get them to sit down as they take each step down your side walk? In other words, are you walking with them giving them a sales pitch each and every freaking step of the way?
• Are you trying the same old hard sales approach the others are doing and still not seeing your tables fill up with repeat customers who come back time and time again?
• Or worse, are your tables empty even when it is prime dinning time?

Don’t get caught doing it the same old way

I visited with one of the young ladies who was doing what I mentioned above. She was “attacking” each and every person who walked down their part of the side walk. She was trying to get them to stop, look at the menu and sit down at their tables.

I asked her how business was and she said they really have not had the winter season they usually do. We also discussed her method of trying to get people to stop and she said they had no choice. The competition was fierce and they were just trying to get peoples attention. She also said they were all doing the same thing to get people to stop. And if they didn’t do the same, they feared those who were would get all of the business. Sound familiar?

What was interesting, most of these restaurants had a large number of empty tables.

The last evening Clay and I were on Ocean Drive in Miami we walked up the street in a different direction and I was amazed to see something. Yes, there were more restaurants doing the same old worn out marketing approach. But that was not what caught my attention. Up the street there were two restaurants right next to each other and neither of them were attacking us as we walked by. In fact, things were different. From the decor to the nice quiet approach to how they were doing things. And god forbid, their menus were different too. What was also amazing, every single table on the sidewalk and inside were full. They were clearly doing something right.

These restaurants were setting themselves apart and making it successful.

Take a look at your blog and take a look at the other blogs in your niche. Are you all doing things the same? How much more effective would you be if you made a solid effort to really sit yourself, your blog and your business apart from the next guy. I will almost bet you if you did make that effort you would see a drastic change in how things are going with your blog and your business.

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).