Recently, I’ve written three blog posts, of which I’ve published absolutely none of them. Not only is this a little bit frustrating, but I’ve also been thinking about the reasons behind it, and for catching a condition that is best described as Blogging Jitters.

Not being able to click on the magic publish button, and to share the work which has had plenty of time and effort spent on it, may come down to some of these reasons:

• Not being 100% happy with the quality of the post
• Not being 100% confident that the intended message is being conveyed clearly
• Feeling like the moment has passed

Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe I’m being over analytical. Maybe I should have just taken the plunge. My gut told me otherwise though.

Publishing a post about the fact that previous posts haven’t been published is probably a bit strange, but I think Blogging Jitters is a subject in itself! With that in mind, I ask:

• Have you ever suffered from Blogging Jitters?
• If so, what do you think were the reasons behind this?

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10 months ago I decided that through blogging I would share some views and opinions on social media and marketing. I made a plea: “Without you, there is no blog. Please get as involved as you like and leave comments”. This is my time to say thank you to those that did!

Taking the time to leave comments on other people’s blogs and take part in conversations is a big thing. Everyone has work commitments, home commitments and a barrage of content being thrown in their direction. Any blogger should be extremely grateful when someone spends THIER time leaving a comment.

To try and give something back, I’ve provided a list of those who have left comments and the areas they have shown an interest in. Why don’t you find some areas you’re interested in and get chatting to them? They have shown that they will make the time to talk.

Plus, meeting new people, exchanging views and learning from each another is what makes social media so fun, don’t you think?

Have a look below:

Social media addiction
Ann Holman
Jed Langdon
Dale Moore

Copywriting and corporate blogging
Maria Gandara
Andrew Knowles
Patrick Smith
Kimo Linkama
Sam Deeks
Sue Windley
Alastair Banks
Dale Moore
Jason Stanley

The Likeminds Conference
Joanne Jacobs
Ann Holman
Trey Pennington
Jonathan Alder
Colin Winstanley
Scott Gould

Sales techniques, assumptions and ethics
Sara Lancaster
Sue Windley
Dale Moore
Jed Langdon

Plymouth Twestival charity event
Jed Langdon

Sharing product experiences
Nicola Walder
Alastair Banks
Jason Stanley
Ann Holman
Jed Langdon

The role of negativity
Jed Langdon
Ash Mashhadi

Making your customers feel special
Ann Holman
Stan Phelps
Ash Mashhadi
Jed Langdon

Trusting a business
Marc Accetta
Ann Holman

Motivation and wanting change
Jed Langdon
Shannon Boudjema
Lorena Heletea
Paul Klaszus
Alastair Banks

Online privacy and researching clients
Ash Mashhadi

Annoying television adverts
Martin Haworth
Jed Langdon
Claire Bryden
Alastair Banks
Ash Mashhadi
Sue Windley
Jason Stanley

Sharing work online – students and ex-students
Lauren Gray
Jason Stanley
Claire Bryden

Social media service providers (Devon, Cornwall and Somerset)
Alastair Banks
Scott Gould
Claire Marshall

Guest Interview with Chris Hall of Cow Bell
Carol Verity

The 21 Days Challenge – achieving change by changing habits
Brock Patterson
Megan Crump
Jon Anderson
Cindy Osburn
Katy Creates
Annabel Hebb
Chris Maslen
Julian Summerhayes
Rachael Dolton
Ann Holman
Lee White
Rob Glover
Ian Creek
Dale Moore
Shannon Boudjema
Jed Langdon
Shayna Joynes
Jason Stanley
Chris Penberthy
Miriam S
Alastair Banks
Olivia Landolt
Alison Hernandez
Claire Marshall
Joi Murugavell
Christopher Manning
Heather Smalldon
Ash Mashadi
Jonathan Alder
Jack Russell
Sue Windley
Scott Gould

By connecting with those in the lists above, there could be plenty of opportunities just around the corner. Here’s hoping…

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Something different has just happened to my blog! This latest post is not actually from me. It is from Sue Windley. Recently, Emily Cagle and Adam Vincenzini came up with the fabulous idea of #BeMyGuest. Click on the link for more info but in short it is a campaign for mutual blogging that allows bloggers to share their content with different audiences. I really like this idea and am delighted that Sue is my first ever guest blogger. Please read on and enjoy the work of Sue…

As part of #BeMyGuest month, I am delighted to have the opportunity to provide a guest blog for Robert Pickstone, who requested a story from my sales and marketing career.  So here is how I learned my most important lesson about selling. And yes, it is true!

What a Tramp taught me about Selling!

Early in my sales and marketing career, I sold cars. The hard way. Commission only. An English woman selling cars in Scotland!

I was taught the technicalities of selling by men whose lives had been spent in the motor trade.  But the most important lesson I ever learned about selling was taught to me by a tramp on a wet Christmas Eve.

The only people in the showroom are the 4 other salesmen and me – all looking forlornly out the window, thinking what a waste of time – no one will buy a car on Christmas Eve when it’s raining.

An old man, dressed in a dirty mac, tied up with string, walks into showroom. The other four scarper, leaving me muttering under my breath that I wasn’t quick enough to disappear with them. The tramp comes across to say hello. What the heck, it’s Christmas, why not spread some good cheer around and just take the time to have a conversation with another human being. So I spend 10 minutes talking about trivialities with a dirty, smelly stranger who obviously just wants to get out of the rain.

Then he says “I want to buy a car”.  Oh no – a tramp who’s mentally unstable too!  Buy I play along, so we discuss what type of car he would like.  I even showed him the cars in the showroom, making sure he doesn’t get in them and get the seats dirty.  I can even hear my 4 “colleagues” sniggering as they hide behind the one-way window in the service area.

Then “my” tramp picks a car – a demonstrator.  And he wants a test drive.  Well okay – let me get the seat protectors (sheets of plastic used by mechanics to avoid getting oil on customers’ car-seats). And I take him for a drive around the East Lothian countryside, all the while worrying that a real buyer might be walking into the showroom.

As we drive back into the garage, he says he likes the car and wants to buy it.  “Can I drive it away today?” he asks.  Yeah right, I thought – you won’t get finance. “Och hen, I dinna want finance. I want to trade in my old car. Look it’s over there.”

And I looked at his car – a one year old Nissan Micra. All he had wanted to do was trade up to a car with more doors. He gave me the logbook and his insurance – yes, it’s really his. Next hurdle – I price his trade-in and there’s a £2000 difference. “Nae worries, hen.  I’ve got some notes in my pocket – not sure how much tho’.  Will ya count it fer me?” and he hands me a wad of cash which turned out to be £3000.

I was the only sales person on that Christmas Eve to sell a car in the whole franchise of 15 garages. And yes, he did drive it away the same day. And the best bit of all. As he drove away: “You know hen – this was the 7^th garage I’ve been to today and you’re the only person who came and said hello to me. Thank ye.”

It’s easy to make our minds up about other people without knowing anything about them. Now I never prejudge people as I know we are all unique, complete with quirks and foibles! Like the tramp, all we want is someone to notice us and say hello!

Sue Windley is the Marketing Director of the Pragmatic Performance Group, a business acceleration consultancy that supports small and medium-sized enterprises in the south west of England. She is active on Twitter as @DangerousMkting, which is also the name of her blog where you can find all sorts of news and views on all aspects of marketing.

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I recently came across the following tweet from LinkedInQueen:

“Writers block? We set up and write blogs starting at $100! http://bit.ly/8PanVX”

I was pretty astonished at first. How could someone else possibly know the ins and outs of a company when they have never stepped foot inside Head Office? Why would a company want someone else to speak to their customers? Why would a company be misleading and pretend that they created the content of a blog or that it is their voice?

After clicking on the link I discovered that the “Social Media Service” could write content around 3 areas of the company’s choice, as part of the basic plan. So, it may work like this: I give the brief…hand over the money…ask for blog articles around marketing, finance and skills…they produce the content…content is discussed and mutual changes are agreed…I give it the OK…it then gets posted to my company blog (which they have created) as my own content.

I am actually a little uncomfortable with this. In the vast majority of cases a company’s blog content should be controlled by the people that work for the company. They keep the cogs going round, they know the business inside out, they engage with customers, they are the experts, they are the company.

After stating that I did not agree with the approach, the author of the tweet responded: “There are clients who really need help & we work closely to translate their words w/ their approval”.  So, is this a way of saying it is a copywriting service? Or does this service write blogs for companies?

In an extreme example, there may be an extremely creative, self-employed entrepeneur who has very poor literacy and no computer skills, but wants to use the internet to share his ideas under the company brand. If his ideas were translated word for word after a discussion, then this may be copywriting. If there is any element of control or creativity being handed over to the agency, then would the blog content be 100% his? Translating and writing are two very different things.

After racking my brains, and after a brief discussion with Kimmo Linkama, the only times I can think of when it may be OK for a company to have blog content produced and then genuinly passed on as their own, is as part of promotional blog articles (Press Releases, Interview Transcripts, etc). Readers may expect other contributers in thse instances. However, an outside agency writing articles to display a company’s level of expertise and knowledge, or even just their opinion, just doesn’t sit right. That is not blogging to me.

• When do you think it’s OK for a company to have blog content created for them and then displayed as their own?
• Do you think it is wrong for others to write your company blog?

Vote in the poll below and share any opinions you have on this subject. It would be really interesting to hear your thoughts and experiences. If I am looking at this the wrong way, tell me.

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