3 Top Reasons Why Sage VAR Partners Blog – In Their Own Words

Why do Sage VARs blog?

Wayne Schultz –

The ERP Lifestyle Consultant

1. I'm a terrible salesperson.

I absolutely dread cold calls and waiting in a prospect's lobby to be one of three VARS allowed to bid on a potential project.

Blogging is a way to differentiate your company and avoid competitive situations. Almost all of my clients come to me asking how quickly I can start. I spend very few hours sitting in client lobbies.

2. My memory sucks. When I blog for technical reasons it is often so I can remember something technical (a link or a tip) for a future client situation.

It doesn't hurt when these tips get indexed by Google and in turn are highly visible in search.

Many consultants question why I give away this type of information. I think of it as a means of qualifying prospects. I'm looking for clients who will stay with me for a minimum of 5 years. If someone is only looking for one free tip that they find on my site - they probably wouldn't have been a good client for me anyhow.

3. Blogging is something that is wicked hard to do.

Actually - blogging is technically very easy. Finding good and interesting topics to write about is hard.

I love that so many competitors push out 5 (or fewer) blog posts per year that are nothing more than sales pitches for their products. Honestly - how many times can you re-write a post about "how to select _____ software" until it gets boring.

The best way to get started is to write for an existing blog. They're always looking for volunteers. I volunteered for two years at http://www.geardiary.com until I got to the point of where I could blog nearly in my sleep (since I start writing at 4:30am there's some truth to that claim).

Mike Lazarus – Life and Times with ACT! by Sage

1. Blogs are the NUMBER 1 form of business social media... other methods dont't count if you don't have a blog
2. Search engines love new text, so regular updating of the blog is the best way to improve SEO - I just posted a new article 5 mins ago
3. People subscribe to blogs via RSS or to the feeds from them (Facebook, LinkedIN groups, Twitter, etc) ... so you know the readers have a direct interest and you don't have to worry about people thinking it's spam

Meredith Gooch – Terrell & Terrell Blog

1. A blog adds one more connection point for clients and prospects to connect with us. Some people prefer newsletters, some prefer phone calls, and some prefer social media. We want to have information available in many different formats for different preferences.

2. A blog helps my company's Web site to be found online.

3. I believe that a company blog should serve as a knowledge base, and the authors should serve as advisors on a particular topic or at least offer guidance. Especially in this industry, people don't want blogs to be advertisements for products and services; they want expertise and advice.

Len Kamerman – Hero Technical Solutions Blog 

My top three reasons for blogging:
1. To provide additional value to our customers and prospects.
2. To establish credibility with prospects.
3. For search engine optimization.

Harold Ford III – HRMG Blog

1. Stay connected with our customers - We know our customers are busy, and we want to provide a means for them to obtain information about their profession, department, and software on their time. We understand that many times people disregard emails or move unread emails into a 'to do' folder because of 'lack of time'. We hope that our blog allows our customers to get information when they want it.

2. Provide a central avenue of information - From legislative changes, to software updates, to miscellaneous news and notes, there's a lot out there for an HR/Payroll professional to keep up with! We hope that our blog can act as a good avenue of knowledge sharing, where readers can get up-to-date information that effects their lives in their organizations from experts in the fields of HR and Payroll.

3. Share and collaborate - We want to allow our customers and partners to be able to access us better. Through our blog, we can provide news, expertise, and guidance for HR and Payroll professionals, but it doesn't stop there. We'd like them to add their commentary and experience so we can work together to engage conversations that matter to these professions.