Blogs And Billboards Strike Only When The Iron Is Hot

Some years ago, I read about an experiment having to do with people’s attention and the way in which that attention is engaged. The subjects of the study were people (several hundred of them) who drove the same route every day to work and back, passing a giant billboard advertising new cars.  When questioned, almost none of these people could remember even seeing a billboard, much less that it was about cars.  On the other hand, the moment any individual was in the market for a car, he’d notice the billboard immediately. In other words, if what the billboard was advertising was not relevant to a person’s life right then, his brain “brushed off” the information as not useful, never making room in his memory for the image of the billboard.

This study about car billboards sums up the reasons blogging  has become such an important part of any business’ marketing plan. Blogging for business is about promoting yourself, your products, and your ideas.  Your blog posts are out there on the Internet “super-highway”, available for anyone to see.  But the only people who are going to notice your blog are those who are searching for the kinds of information, products, or services that relate to what you do! That’s because your blog will come up on their screen based on their search of the Internet. Millions of other people are “driving” on the Internet highway every hour of every day.  The important thing, though, is that you’ll engage the attention of the ones who might be in the market for what you sell or who need your particular type of expert advice or service.

(By the way, “strike while the iron is hot” is a blacksmith’s phrase.  An iron horseshoe needed to be shaped at exactly the time the metal was hot enough to be flexible.)  As the study with the car billboard demonstrated, the folks most likely to become your customers have an immediate need or interest in your type of product or services.  And, exactly at that time while the “iron is hot” for them, your blog is catching their attention and introducing them – to YOU!.