FBO: Use a Blogging Point System Every Day

Sunday, November 23rd 2008 by Shanel Yang

[For “FBO: Don’t Wait Too Long to Get to the Point,” 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.

USE A BLOGGING POINT SYSTEM EVERY DAY

A. FOX’S TIP NO. 36 FOR ALL RAINMAKERS

Fox’s Tip No. 36 for how to become a great salesperson, or rainmaker, is the highly-productive habit: “Use the point system every day.” As he explains:

There are four steps that are part of every sale. They are:

1. Getting a lead, a referral, an introduction to a decision maker.

2. Getting an appointment to meet the decision maker.

3. Meeting the decision maker face-to-face.

4. Getting a commitment to a close (a purchase) or to an action that directly leds to a close.

Assign one point to Step 1, two points to Step 2, three points to Step 3, and four points to Step 4.

Work every day to get a total of four points, in any combination of steps: four referral, one referral and a one face-to-face meeting, one commitment, and so on. You can shoot for more points per day if doable.

At the top of your daily to do list put “Get 4 Points.” The key is to use the point system daily. Don’t wait until Friday and try to get twenty points.

If you tally four points per day, you will never run out of prospects, your pipeline will always be full, you will never have a slow period, and you will always be making rain.

Try this system diligently for fifteen business days, and then decide for yourself if it should become an integral part of your selling arsenal.

B. APPLYING FOX’S TIP NO. 36 TO BLOGGERS

If you want to become an A-list blogger, apply Fox’s Tip No. 36 above to your blogging business by using a modified point system for blogging—also every day.

I’ve listed the four steps I’ve found most helpful thus far to the growth of traffic on my own blog. Step No. 2 is based on my personal decision to focus on leaving as many helpful comments as I can on other self help blogs as my primary way to actively seek new readers. (New readers also find me when they use search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, to search specific terms that happen to be in one or more of my posts. Another way that new readers find me without my direct involvement is that my old readers spread the word via the various social networking and bookmarking websites, such as Facebook, StumbleUpon, and Digg.)

However, if you prefer to actively promote your blog through social networks and bookmarking sites, as opposed to leaving helpful comments on other blogs, just substitute your own version of Step No. 2 to reflect that preference. Be sure to quantify a chunk of time, or a specific task completed, in that type of work that fairly represents 2 points of rainmaking value in your own blogging point system.

1. Writing down the idea/title for a new post you know you will publish.

2. Leaving a helpful, positive comment on a blog that is likely to bring you traffic.

3. Completing a detailed outline for, or first draft of, a new post you will publish.

4. Publishing (or setting up in your queue for later publication) a new post.

Just as with Fox’s point system for the successful salesperson or rainmaker, this system for successful bloggers is also awarded one point for Step No. 1, two points for Step No. 2, and so on—and it’s recommend that you do this every day, including weekends. This shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s a bare minimum quota. And, just as with Fox’s system, any combination of these steps that totals 4 points per day is all you need to try for 15 days. So, two comments per day would meet this quota. Or, an outline for one post and a mere written idea for another post. After the 15-day trial, you can adjust your quota up or down to better fit your desired results.

CONCLUSION

The beauty of this system is it’s not too hard to “Get 4 Points” first thing in your day. Having got that out of the way, you’ll feel a tremendous surge of: (1) disbelief at how easy it was; (2) pride at having achieved it; and, (3) energy and excitement to do even more with the rest of your day so as not to waste the momentum. In fact, these great feelings are so surprisingly enjoyable that, if you do complete the 15-day trial, you will be addicted to these “highs” and crave them as much as you crave your morning coffee or some other favorite food or drink! ; )

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

[For “FBO: Never Say ‘I Can’t’ to New Skills You Need,” click here.]

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

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