Meeting and talking with Brian Clark of Copyblogger and Teaching Sells was one of the highlights of SOBCon 08 for me. Brian is one of the nicest dudes you could ever meet. He answers a question I had for him after he had just delivered his presentation: what was the most important take-away point from his presentation. He didn’t have just one, he had two (like I was gonna argue about it):
- Attention by itself is worthless if it can’t be transformed into authority in a real business
- Build an asset, not a job–in other words, don’t build a blog, build a media property
I don’t think I’m exaggerating at all when I said that this is the most important blogging strategy you will ever hear. If you’re new to blogging, it may not even make any sense, but the more I dwell on it, the more nuances of what this really means become apparent to me.
What may be hard to take is that it’s not really about blogging at all. A blog is a tool. Just one tool, at that. That notion isn’t hypocritical or sacrilegious to me at all. I mostly write about business blogging, where the blog is a tool designed to further the goals of the business.
If you really want to understand what Brian’s talking about, check out Teaching Sells. Teaching Sells is the only program of its kind I have ever suggested to my readers that they sign up for. Teaching Sells teaches you how to do these very things that Brian talks about in the video: transform authority into a business and build a media property asset instead of a job. I have been a member of Teaching Sells since it first began, and the experience has been transformational.
Teaching Sells introduces you to strategies, methods, and an arsenal of other tools you can use to build an asset, instead of slaving away at your blog, one hand clapping into infinity. If you’re curious about what Teaching Sells is all about, and you want to learn more, head on over and check it out or download the free report.
Resenting my participation in the blogosphere right…about…now. Seriously, get out of my head, Michael Martine!
Did I not go to bed last night reading a comment from you on Dosh Dosh about this program? Did I not, in the same comment thread, get knocked out of my tree since sights were set on leveraging this script…
http://membershipsitescript.com/
…instead?
The universal alignment has come to pass and now I must go to Teaching Sells!
Question: Will they have *specific* application recommendations? It’s great to learn the Why but I need the How, too.
Thanks for your insights and all looming online presence.
@Natasha – Not only does Teaching Sells have specific software recommendations, they have a vibrant and helpful forum of Teaching Sells community members to offer help and suggestions.
Thanks for the info
I am working as hard as I can on implementing these insights. I am nearly overwhelmed with inspiration. Thanks for keeping the fire burning!
TS is great. It’s not easy–there’s nothing “get rich quick in 10 days without doing work” about it (then again, you didn’t really believe that stuff, right?)–but tons of solid info and wise advice.
@Natasha there are specific recommendations and also how-to videos for setting things up. Very comprehensive.
Thanks for the kind words, Michael.
And thanks for posting the video… reminds me that I need to get to the gym and sleep more often.
Wish I had been there listening after the presentation – I would’ve implemented two weeks ago . THIS makes blogging so much easier to understand and explain to the life coaches I work with. They get “media property” – blog is just another four letter word. Will check out teaching sells.
[...] problem with this approach is that blogging is just a tool — it’s a means to an end. Michael Martine at Remarkablogger recognizes this, in his [...]
@Stephen – Keep those fires burning bright!
@Sonia – Right. Teaching Sells is not a scheme and its not for getting rich quick. You could, however, get rich slowly–just hopefully not too slowly!
@Brian – When I saw the video of my own “20 slides in 5 minutes” presentation that Sunday, I almost wept. I look pregnant, for crying out loud. You’re in better shape than me! I’m going to try out Tim Ferriss’ “slow carb” food regimen and see what that does.
Anyways, thanks for allowing the interview and speaking at SOBCon.
@Melissa – “Blog is just another four-letter word,” I LIKE THAT!
TS Charter member here.
Excellent takeaways. Thanks Michael.
Also a TS member. Good stuff.
It only makes sense to build something that increases in value over time rather than churn out widget after widget and be dependent on putting the same number of hours in to get the same payoff.
@Janice – Thanks!
@Dave – Yeah, that sounds way too much like a job.
You’re welcome Michael. Love what you’re doing.
Love that phrase – “Media Property”
It used to be that you needed someone else’s permission to build a “media property”. A publisher, a TV executive, what have you. The fact that today you don’t need anyone else to give your property the thumbs up is one of the greatest gifts that we have in the internet age. Thanks for the insight.