Ask Gina Gaudio-Graves’ … About Internet Marketing & Strategic Alliances

As my husband (Bill) scrolled through the channel guide this weekend, searching for something good on TV (a rarity it seems), he started laughing.  He said, “Hey, I see you got your own TV show!”

Amused, I said, “Oh, yeah?  Where do you see that?”

“Well, ‘Band of Bloggers’ sounds like something you’re doing with your coaching students.  That’s the name of the show that’s on The History Channel later tonight,” he said.

We both got a good chuckle about that, and proceeded to watch a Pay Per Vieiw movie.

I almost forgot about the joke.  But later in the afternoon on the next day, he left the TV playing when he went to do his errands.  While he was gone, “Band of Bloggers” happened to be replayed.

As I went on with my day, I happened to overhear a commentator asking “What is this new fascination with blogging?” and was instantly drawn to turn up the sound.

The “Band” in “Band of Bloggers” refers to the members of the military who have turned to blogging to keep from being bored on the front lines in Iraw and Afghanistan. 

According to the “Band” in the show, life in these war torn, unsafe countries can be very monotonous.  Soldiers must be alert at all times, but often have nothing to do but sit waiting while hoping for nothing to happen.

To keep from going stir-crazy, many have started their own blogs.  This also helps them to keep in touch with people in the “real world” at the same time.

As marketers, we can learn a lot from the lessons in “Band of Bloggers” and from the soldiers-turned bloggers on the front iines.  In fact, if you get a chance to catch the reply of “Band of Bloggers” on The History Channel (channel 269 on Direct TV), I strongly recommend that you don’t miss it!

What can we, as marketers, learn from these non-marketing soldiers?

I visited several blogs from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan including “This War And Me” written by “Frontline Fobbit”. 

Fobbit talks about watching as his readership grows.  He talks about watching to see how many other blogs have linked to his.  In general, he talked about getting RESULTS from his blogging.

And results he is sure getting, too!  This guy has had 1,873 visitors to his blog just since October 21^st!  That’s more than a lot of my students get to their blogs in an entire quarter!

There was one thing that I noticed about EVERY blog that I visited, though.  That one common theme was simple …

… Every single one of these blogs gave incredibly GREAT content for FREE!

There was one other thing that I noticed about these blogs, too.  They were all extremely professional.  They were clean, simple, two-column themes.  Nothing fancy, but they looked neat.  They almost made you want to read even more.

And … every single one of them told a story.

The stories were riveting.  They drew the reader in.  You wanted to read.  Heck, you NEEDED to read!

These were not blogs filled with hype.

These were not blogs filled with ads.  (In fact, I saw almost no advertising on any of the blogs that I visited — not even AdSense!)

Sure, some of these soldiers are building lists from their blogs.  And a few are selling affiliate products from their blogs.  But here’s the one REALLY big thing that every one of them ARE doing …

Every one of these blogs builds solid relationships with its readers.

That is SO important!  That is what determines whether a blog is successful.

And, it’s not just the miliary personnel getting in on the movement.  Their families are blogging as well.

One mother has started a blog called “Some Soldier’s Mom”.  It’s another example of a great blog that gets a TON of traffic. 

This one is also building great relationships with the readers.  The blog even has a Google Page Rank of 4, meaning that it is on it’s way to becoming an “authority site” that will get even more traffic in the coming months.

It’s a shame that these soldiers don’t have anyone coaching them on monetizing their blgos. 

With so much going for them already, and such great relationships being built, all they have to do is to put up a simple opt in box in the sidebar, add a graphical ad for a low end affiliate product, and they would have instant revenue from their efforts.

I know these guys and gals aren’t blogging to make money.  They’re blogging to pass the time.  But doesn’t everyone like money?

Wouldn’t their families enjoy having them make a few hundred, or a few thousand, extra from their blogs?  Absolutely!  You bet they would!

You know — there’s a potential business idea for you right there.

For all those interested in going into internet marketing as a target market, why not be a little more specific and go oafter military bloggers to show them how to monetize their hobbies. 

In fact, the military bloggers can teach all of us marketers a thing or two about traffic while we teach them about monetizing.  It’s the perfect JV just waiting to happen!

I strongly recommend watching some of these military blogs to see how these bloggers are driving traffic to their sites, building relationships with their readers, and turning into authority sites — all because of the stampede of visitors to their blogs. 

As you do, think about how you can use what you see to do the same thing for your own blog!

To Your Abundant Success!

Gina Gaudio-Graves