Are Your Blog Readers Your Customers?

Are Your Blog Readers Your Customers?

“The customer is always right.”

It’s a business cliche that has been around for ages. While it’s debatable whether the accuracy of this exact statement is true, it definitely highlights an omnipresent point that cannot be refuted. Your customers are your business. Without them, you’d be out of business.

It’s a no-brainer that any business or anyone involved with making money should treat their customers like gold. They’re the ones paying your bills, feeding your family and hopefully, maintaining your comfortable lifestyle. There’s no question it’s important to care for them, nurture them, provide support, foster a relationship, communicate and establish a continued positive environment for them to purchase in the future. I think we all understand this… but this begs the question, just who exactly are your customers?

To get clarification and answer this simple question, I did a quick search on Google for the definition of the word “customer”. Here is just a sample of the results:

Customer – a person who buys.

Customer – one that purchases a commodity or service.

Customer – a person who purchases goods or services from another.

Customer – one that buys goods or services.

Customer – one who purchases or receives a product or service from a business or merchant.

What is the one thing all these definitions have in common? A customer is one that buys something. If you even want to broaden the scope a bit more: a customer is someone in which a business makes money from in a transaction.

Your blog readers are NOT your customers.

Sure, maybe some of them are. Maybe some will turn into customers. Maybe some never will. But just because someone is reading your blog, it doesn’t automatically make them a customer.

It also really depends on your business model. Are you even selling any product or service? If so, are the bulk of your blog readers part of the target market and demographic you’re even selling to? If you have nothing available to purchase, then how could anyone you encounter even be considered a customer?

Your peers are NOT your customers.

Sure, maybe one or two may buy something from you – that is, if it fits a very important need for them and you’re an expert on the subject. Otherwise, they will most probably never purchase anything and make you any money directly.

Peers are business associates. Peers will likely visit your blog quite often. They’re great to have as a resource for help, support and future business opportunities. It’s definitely a good idea to foster a good relationship with them, but when it all boils down – they’re not your customers.

Your friends, followers and fans are NOT your customers.

Sure, many of them can be. It’s quite possible a whole bunch may have bought something from you or will in the future. But out of the hundreds, thousands or even more “followers” you have (many of which are faceless names, non-engaging types or downright spam automatons) – what percentage of them are truly buyers?

Platforms like Twitter and Facebook are an absolute must for any business to get the pulse of the market. There’s a definite benefit in engaging with the community centered around your niche, but it is just that: a social network. It’s not necessarily your consumer base. Just because someone retweeted you, @replied, posted on your wall or gave you a “poke” – that doesn’t automatically make them a customer.

Pay attention to everyone, but focus more on your customers.

Everyone repeat these three words with me. This. Is. Business.

If you’re looking to make money online through your blog, it’s imperative that you really grasp this concept well. You’re creating and maintaining a business. You want to make money. There’s nothing evil about this! It’s just cold hard facts. Everything you do should lead towards to your ultimate goals. Prioritize accordingly.

Should you try to reply to e-mails in a timely manner regardless of who it’s from? Sure.

Should you make it a point to thank those who help promote your business? Absolutely.

Should you encourage discussion within your community and on your blog? Of course.

But when it comes down to business, real dollars and tangible, sellable assets… the actual customers, whoever and wherever they happen to be, should always be at the forefront of your attention. No questions asked.

Not readers. Not peers. Not followers. Not fans. But customers.

Repeat those three words again. This. Is. Business.

Maybe after hearing the cliche of “the customer is always right” being used time and time again, we should update it to a more accurate 2010 version: the customer is always first.

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  • Well said Jordan. The customers are those who buy from you. If you are in the new media/social media business, they are your first concern. It works out better that way for both parties... ;)
  • What a great post.

    I know and believe my readers are not customers. But, I always treat my readers with respect and if they could be a client. But my real life clients always come first. If I can help my readers in any way possible I will.
  • No, they are not as I just set up my blog to interact with my readers, not for selling anything but they help me generate money too
  • Ian
    I could probably write a post on this myself based on personal experience. I had a blog back in 2008 that went from 0-2500 RSS subscribers in 3 months. I was getting around 100,000 uniques a month (apart from one month that was around 500k after a few Digg front pages) and some of my articles had 300+ comments on them.

    I spent HOURS writing blog posts on topics I hated, trying to build this up more and more and more.

    And guess what? I didn't make a cent. Zip. Absolutely nada!

    I didn't focus on my customers at all. Hell, I didn't have any customers. Why would they buy the milk when I was giving the cow away for free?

    I was young and stupid and flipped the site soon after for $2k. Then the guy who bought it flipped it about a month later for $10k. I knew nothing about business. Lesson learned.

    Good article, man. Let's see if I can do any better second (and third and fourth and fifth) time around!
  • Ian, while I'm glad to see you've actually had good success building up a site in the blogosphere, it sucks that you put in so much work for little return. You've seen proof first-hand that traffic doesn't equal money.

    As I said in the video, if you're blogging just for fun & enjoyment - don't let anyone stop you from doing what makes you happy. But if your goal is to make money, even if it's a blog about your passion, it's still business. It always will be.
  • Great post, Jordan.
    Man you have me laughing like crazy, but you speak the absolute truth.
    On a serious note, I always treat everyone as I would want to be treated, knowing that most will never buy squat. However, in exchange for treating them decently they may someday speak a favorable word about my character, leading to some other positive result.
  • True a lot of people do not know their customers or they think they are someone else. For example, Engadgets customers are not the readers, Engadgets customers are their advertisers.

    Essentially, your customers are the ones writing the checks not the ones reading your content.
  • Blogging is easy, finding customers is hard! You have to have traffic to have customers. The more traffic, the more customers. Converting the potential customer from your traffic is the challenge.
    It stands to reason that the more people know about you, the better your odds are at making a sale.
    Darren Rowse does not strike me as a business talent, rather a developed talent.
    You have to keep working at it, until you get it right.
  • Jeffrey, you're right - sometimes it is just a numbers game at a point. I can understand if it's difficult to really narrow down on the exact demographic of your potential customers... but if you don't, you'll eventually end up spending an inordinate amount of time marketing in bulk to a group where a large portion will never or rarely be buyers.
  • Having read all the comments (and your post of course!) I have to ask your advice. What do you do if you have no customers but instead, are trying to engage everyone in the hope that they might catch the vision, like the concept and then give a brick (£1)? Is it possible to successfully target 'everyone'?

    Look forward to hearing what folks think and thanks for your help,
    Eleanor
  • Eleanor, I believe every business has a target audience, no matter what. Even if their customer base is very broad (like Wal-Mart), there still should be a specific demographic that is prone to buying more than others.

    The key is to first find out what this target market is and then focus your efforts more on them. Have you looked to see the types of people (age, sex, etc.) who have previously donated a brick?
  • Hi Jordan,
    Thanks for your input. Whilst we'd love 'everyone' to Give A Brick, you're right, realistically, our online efforts are obviously going to be geared at folks online. Whilst there are exceptions, most people online are in the younger demographic so I guess that sort of answers your question.

    We've only been doing this online for a month so it's too soon to be looking at types of people who've donated. Offline, we've raised £20,000 and this was from a very eccelectic mix. Some did it because they supported the first project. Others because they just liked the simplicity of the ideas and others, because they're related to me ;)

    For now I guess we'll just have to keep on going and see what happens next. Thanks again for taking the time to help,
    Eleanor
  • Jordan,

    Great article and thanks for the link love! :-) I didn't know your bigtime notaproblogger self realized I existed LOL.

    Just a point I want to make regarding customers and your blog: They are NOT customers until they buy or click an ad (not sure clicking an ad even constitutes being a customer) but they are potential customers. If they land on your site and are reading your articles, then the potential for them to "become" a customer exists.

    To me, this is no different than when I owned a contrcting business and I met with a customer to discuss their project, they weren't a customer YET, but if I did my job correctly, and my services fit their needs, they could potentially become a customer.

    With blogging, depending on your niche, most of your readers and maybe even some of your colleagues, could potentially become customers. And while I completely agree that the existing customer should come first, potential customers need to have their share of your attention. If you are blogging as a hobby rather than a business, than you don't really have customers, but if you are selling products or services, every reader is a potential customer.

    So the question would be, how do you treat your potential customers?

    Just my view....
  • Keith, I understand your viewpoint... but who says everyone that visits your blog (or store, business, etc,) is even a *potential* customer? Everyone has a target market, even if it's fairly broad, where they're more likely to get a sale from one person over another.

    When I was 9, I'd go to the local baseball card store every day and regularly look at the really expensive cards & memorabilia in the glass cases. Every so often, the owner would let me get a closer look at them and talk about the "good 'ol days" of collecting cards - but he knew straight out that I was in no way in a position to actually purchase these $1000+ items. I barely ever had any money to spend whatsoever.

    Although I frequented his shop often, still bought an occasional $2 pack - I wasn't really his potential customer. If a serious "adult" collector walked in, he had no problem politely ditching me to take care of them. Why? Because that other guy WAS a potential customer. He may have never bought anything previously... but since he fits the target market & has the most potential to purchase, the owner prioritized him over me. It's simple logical business sense.

    Although a bit exaggerated in my example, it's the same concept here. Not all blog readers, commenters, followers, etc. are equal and can be grouped into one big bunch as potential customers. Sure, I believe you should pay attention to all of them in some regard, but your focus should primarily be on those who stand to have the highest ROI.

    It's nothing personal. It's just business.
  • Great points Jordan, as bloggers, it is difficult to determine who is potential. I guess it really depends on many factors and how targeted your readers/followers are as well.

    Maybe now that you are "notaproblogger" you can go back to that shop and buy some cards!
  • This sent me thinking that we (bloggers) often say "subscribe to my blog!" to a new visitor, or even worse "buy this!", when we should say "how can I help you?", just like a shopkeeper would do. And similarly, we should say "Hi, nice to see you here again, the usual or ...?" when we see our regular readers coming in through the door. Maybe, just maybe, we could have more customers this way too?
  • Antti, that's an extremely valid point you got there. I never even realized this before - are we hard selling too much with simply this common methods on our blogs? You're possibly right, the conversion rate of readers into purchasers would probably go up, in theory.
  • Well, my readers are my customers, in part. However, most of the people that buy from me have never left a comment or an @ on Twitter. I only know them from an order ID and an email address. From time to time they'll respond to an email, but rarely.
  • There really isn’t anything to disagree with about this post except possibly purchasing things at Radio Shack.

    In my real world job we increased our customer base by over 40% in one year, and in a highly competitive market, just by focusing on taking care of customers needs first.
    My constant nattering about taking care of customers pissed off all the staff but our business increased as a result.

    I also read all the blog posts about building community and replying to every comment or tweet or whatever and in my twisted sense of humor most of the posts amuse me.

    It’s not about building community it’s about dealing with sales first. Marketing yourself and your product so people will buy it.

    Being sociable and helpful to everyone is critical in building a business online or off but as you point out very bluntly business comes first. Socialize later.

    Oh, and subliminally, promote others products, like Mountain Dew or Radio Shack for examples, so that you may get financial renumeration from them from promoting their products I suppose..
  • Glen, I tend to agree with everything you've said... but the building community part may be just a bit off. I think it's *totally* about a community... of customers.

    The thing is that many bloggers take this blanket concept too strictly without understanding there is no *one* correct way of doing so. Maybe you have a large community of all types in one place. Maybe you have a group of smaller communities sectioned off in different platforms of communication. Either way would be viable.
  • Extremely perceptive. Sure, a few fans and friends might buy your product to show support, but ultimately you're so right.
  • Good example here, Jordan about the shop owner stopping chatting with his friend to deal with the customer. People still fail to realize that this is the information age and that people need to move businesses online, but money will still be made through looking after and selling to customers.
  • Excellent post and video. I agree with every single word that came out of your mountain-dew-drinking-face. It's good to be in business with such a wise mind. This was a good reminder to keep focusing on what is important. Although I don't have any paying customers yet, you never know what happens down the road.
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