Comment: This post was first Published on 8 November 2013
Do you have the David in you to face the giants? Are you leveraging the limitless potential of online publishing technology to grow your business?
Image Credit: blogs.scientificamerican.com
For the sake of those who don’t know the story of David and Goliath, it is a story from the bible; how a common shepherd youth, David, out of his faith in God and belief in himself, met Goliath, a manly giant warrior in battle and defeated him with a sling-shot. An inspiring story of how a boy rose from nothingness to become one of the greatest king and warrior.
In the business world, we can relate the story to how Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic was able to breakthrough the monopoly of British Airways to dominate the aviation industry. How Google rose from a start-up to knock out the likes of Yahoo, Altavista.
To bring it home, think about Linda Ikeji, a Nigerian news and entertainment blogger. This hardworking lady owns the 10th most popular website in Nigeria; placing major newspaper companies like Vanguard, Guardian where they belong.
Blog publishing has empowered the Davids of our time to rub shoulders with the big players – the Goliaths – because blogs makes it unbelievably easy for the average Joe to create and build a web platform, attract an audience and establish authority in their chosen field.
How is this possible? Does it happen by miracle or mere luck? Let me explain further:
Prof. Vs Joe
Here is a typical scenario that goes on every day.
Professor Philip is the country’s foremost authority in Health and Sports Science. This guy really knows his stuff when it comes to Health and Sports, and he’s got the PhD in Health and Sports Science to prove it. He’s also published several scholarly papers on the topic of Health and fitness in Sports, but unfortunately those demonstrations are deemed too valuable to publish freely online. Or at best, they are published in the boring scholarly writing style on University Websites. We wouldn’t be mistaken to label Prof. the Goliath in this field.
Then there’s Joe, the ordinary guy. Joe is passionate about Health and fitness in Sports, though he didn’t quite make it to graduate school. Joe is self-educating himself on everything there is to know about Health and fitness in sports by doing his own research, reading, asking questions on related topics and even practicing what he learns.
He decides to publish a blog about Health and fitness in Sports and share what he’s learned so far with anyone who’s interested. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t know as much about Health and fitness in sports as Professor Philip (yet). He figures his own understanding of the topic will increase by having to transform his research into blog content that can be viewed across the internet. Joe is our David.
And here’s the good part … whenever someone needs to cite (link to) a web page when mentioning health fitness in sports, they are likely to link to Joe’s blog – not Prof’s boring academic work.
Few months later, a reporter/writer comes into the picture. She is in need for a good source of information on sports fitness. Google is her friend. You also come in; you need a source of practical knowledge in Health and fitness in sports. You hit up Google. People like you and the reporter, hit up Google from time to time to learn more about health fitness in sports.
Now, think about it; between Prof. Philip and Joe, who are you, the report and other people with similar interest likely to find when searching online? Who will the reporter contact? Who is everyone likely to refer their friends to? Who are you likely to hire for personal training or consulting? Who between Prof and Joe has the potential to turn his interest into a profitable business?
Well, that’s right … it’ll be Joe. Sorry, Prof.
Why is this so?
Well, it’s due to the one essential truth about how both people and Google perceive authority:
What other people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.
Authority is all about perception. Perceived authority can outrank actual authority, because both the general population and the most powerful search engine on the planet look to who others “recommend” to be the most relevant expert in any given topic, more than anything else.
This is why anybody who has the interest, knowledge or passion to create content on any topic can build an online presence and establish themselves as expert – even if they are not really experts.
The internet has leveled the play ground that ordinary Joe in a cubicle can favourably compete with the elites. Blogging empowers David to beat Goliath in the scene of activity.
David’s greatest weapon over Goliath
What made David, a mere shepherd, beats Goliath? How did Apple weather the tempest, to gain sizable market share, despite IBM and Microsoft? How did Richard Branson breakthrough to become an industry leader in the aviation industry? How could Linda Ikeji, dominate the online news space despite organisations with huge financial muscle?
In business today, it is not the strongest, the most talented, and the most privileged or the most intelligent that wins the day. It is the one most ready and determined to win; the one most adaptable to change; the one who is willing to bring their personality into what they do; the one ready to take advantage of opportunity.
On the other hand, the Goliaths are often resistant to change. Their organisation systems have made them too rigid to adapt. They come in when the small guy have proven the potential in a trend and then try to dominate with their financial strength. Even with that, they still go about it the wrong way.
Those things Goliath overlooks – personality, the power of simplicity, flexibility, niching – are David’s greatest weapon.
Are you making the Goliath-Mistake?
One mistake I see a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners make when creating their website is trying to portray the Goliath image. A typical corporate website will have About Us, Contact, Services and 2 or 3 other static pages. No form of intended connection with their target audience. At best, you see a link to ‘like us on Facebook’, ‘Follow us on Twitter’, blah and blah.
And in their attempt to sound advanced and professional, their textbook-style written content will bore you to sleep.
In case you have forgotten, let me remind you; no one cares about you, your business and what you do. All people – your target audience – care about is “what’s in it for me?”, “Why should I care?” If your website does not demonstrate value to your target audience, it is simple a glorified business card.
Your website is not just meant to tell about your business, it is to show – or rather demonstrate – how you are the right solution.
The power of Blogging for Businesses
Blogging empowers individuals, professionals and entrepreneurs with an outlet within their control to communicate and connect with their target audience on a personal level.
A Blog is many things in one:
- A platform to communicate opinions and display creativity
- A powerful business building and marketing tool
- A tool to connect with an unlimited number of a target audience
This site is a typical example of a blog oriented business website. Think of a blog oriented website like having your own personal/ business TV or radio station, newspaper or magazine. Can you imagine the opportunity that has long been within your reach?
Blogs connect people, spread ideas and information, develop friendships, influence political opinion, inspires creativity, report news and promote business expertise. Blogs are so flexible; a blog can be anything you want it to be. You can use a blog platform – WordPress – to build a corporate, business or personal website. And interestingly, as I have come to experience, blogging brings you to experience the 21st century way of doing business – the laptop lifestyle of unrestricted work time and location.
Take advantage of the opportunities blogging provides to grow your business and establish your brand as an authority in your field.
I’ll love to hear your next David Vs Goliath Story!
Your comments
- How has blogging improved your business?
- Do you use the power of blog publishing to grow your business?
- Are you planning to implement blogging as a business building and marketing tool?
Blogging is a great platform to communicate opinion; Share yours, on comment below.
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Wonderful Story, Beautifully tied together.
You’re welcome man.