One of the mindsets I encourage my clients to nurture is that of being perceived by their target market as an "Expert Thought Leader". This is not only a mindset that will free you of the anxiety of having to "sell", but it is also a specific positioning strategy. It answers the question - How do you want your target market to identify and notice you?

Physicians are natural thought leaders, with their inbuilt expertise and ability to educate -- aren't you sharing your expert opinion and teaching with patients all day long?

So what does this information have to do with blogging?

When used effectively in an overall marketing plan, a blog is a platform for you to:

• begin sharing your expertise
• educate your target market
• brand yourself as an Expert Thought Leader
• differentiate yourself from your competition
• get your distinctive opinion and voice heard

I'll be up front by stating that I'm an unabashed fan of blogging for business, so when I come across an article called New Media and Blogging for Influence with Journalists by Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog, I feel my enthusiasm is warranted!

In the article, Odden quotes the following stats from a recent study:

• Over three quarters of reporters see blogs as helpful in giving them story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue
• Nearly 70 percent of all reporters check a blog list on a regular basis
• One in four reporters (27.7%) have their own blogs
• About one in five (16.3%) have their own social networking page
• Almost half of reporters (47.5%) say they are “lurkers”
• Over half said that blogs were having a significant impact on the “tone” (61.8%) and “editorial direction” (51.1%) of news reporting

What this means for one of your possible marketing strategies is that, to catch the attention of a journalist who will then write about your business (thereby giving you free PR!), you need to be discoverable in the "blogosphere". This strategy is working beautifully for my business - I have been quoted as an "expert" in three publications in the last 2 months. And I know other business owners for whom this is even more extraordinarily successful.

I do not recommend blogging as a marketing strategy for all of my clients. But I do want them to eliminate it because it makes strategic and business sense to do so, not because they didn't know about it or hadn't truly evaluated its potential.

Blogging is wonderful for those of you who have a specialized knowledge to share, a distinct target market and the energy to share knowledge, an opinion and resources by writing for 30 to 45 minutes three times a week!

Here are some prior thoughts about the benefits of blogging -- and I remain gungho!

Whose business is benefiting from blogging? And who disagrees with me? I'd love to hear from you.