FBO: Minimize Your Viewers’ Discomfort

Sunday, October 12th 2008 by Shanel Yang

[For “FBO: Keep Your Eyes on the Prize at All Times,” click here.]

This part of the “FBO” or “For Bloggers Only” series is actually NOT JUST for bloggers, but FOR ALL entrepreneurs, employees, and nonprofit organizations seeking to raise funds to support their goals.

If you want millions of viewers, readers, customers, clients, members, etc., then you’ll want to follow along as we go through, one by one, the rainmaking secrets provided by Jeffrey J. Fox in his book How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients.

MINIMIZE YOUR VIEWERS’ DISCOMFORT

A. FOX’S TIP NO. 12 FOR ALL RAINMAKERS

Fox’s Tip No. 12 for how to become a great salesperson, or rainmaker, is the practical tip: “Never wear a pen in your shirt pocket.” As he explains in his book:

It’s your first meeting with a prospective client. You prepared carefully. You dressed with care. You are ready to persuade the customer to do business with you because of your meticulous attention to detail.

Your designer pen, in your left breast pocket, has bled. A startling blue stain has become a focal point for your customer. She can’t take her eyes off your ruined shirt. She can’t get completely involved in your presentation. She feels trapped. She is embarrassed for you. She is too polite to tell you, and is nervous about what to do when you discover the leak. She is hoping the meeting will end quickly. She is hoping to avoid witnessing your inevitable discomfort.

Your leaky pen killed the sale.

And you don’t want ballpoint streaks on your shirt, either. Buy shirts without pockets, and keep your pens in your briefcase.

Rainmakers do nothing that might decrease the odds of making the sale.

B. APPLYING FOX’S TIP NO. 12 TO BLOGGERS

If you want to become an A-list blogger, apply Fox’s Tip No. 12 above to your blogging business by minimizing your viewers’ discomfort. What’s the equivalent of your “pen in your shirt pocket” and your “pen bleeding in your pocket?”

Think of what you have on your blog that might make your viewers unable to completely focus on the message you’re trying to deliver. Is there anything on, about, or in your blog that might make your target audience feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or otherwise anxious to get away from particular posts, or, worse, your entire blog—even though they really wanted to like it because they heard great things about it or maybe they used to like it when they first found it?

Now, keep in mind that you can’t please everybody. And, the purpose of your blog and, hence, your target audience sometimes evolve over time. But, putting those issues aside, assuming you have a clear main purpose for your blog and set target audience, what would be off-putting for that crowd which you can minimize?

I think we can all agree that most viewers get annoyed by the following problems:

1. Typos (typographical errors)
2. Ungrammatical sentences
3. Broken links or error messages
4. Broken promises or delays
5. Incorrect information
6. Erratic posting schedule
7. Too many posts off topic
8. Too many guest posts
9. Too many changes overall
10. More ads than content

Next, depending your blog, your viewers might be bothered by some or all of these:

1. Color scheme (blue and green are easiest on the eyes; neons and black are not)
2. Font sizes and styles (for kids or elderly viewers, bigger and simpler is better)
3. Profanity or obscenity
4. Discussion or mention of politics
5. Discussion or mention of religion
6. Some types of comments
7. Some ads and/or endorsements
8. Bad jokes or attempts at humor
9. Bad or confusing photos/images
10. Too much personal information

CONCLUSION

Remember, most of your viewers are too polite to tell you what bothers them about your blog or about any changes they don’t like. Anticipate and correct, as needed.

When in doubt, don’t fix what ain’t broken. Ask the opinion of your trusted friends if you really need a second opinion. But, in the end, it’s your blog. So, follow your own gut instincts. You should have a pretty good idea of what your viewers liked about your blog in the first place. Don’t change things just for the sake of change.

Make big changes on your blog very carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask your viewers what they think about any changes you’re thinking about, either. What’s a blog without its viewers? Nothing! They’ve invested their time to help make your blog grow, so it’s their blog, too. Give their opinions a voice; and, let their votes count!

If you would like your own copy of Rainmaker someday, here’s what it looks like.

[For “FBO: Ask Your Viewers to Make Up Their Own Minds,” click here.]

[For entire “FBO” or “For Bloggers Only” series, click here.]

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