Lyrica24's Blog

I had this happen early on,turned the offender into
PLAYFAIR.
NO one needs to be riding on anyone else's coattails in
this forum..

Try Playfair..

Best,
Auroealis

Dear Lyrica:

I have only had a couple of incidents like you describe and it is annoying.  I love the blogs also and so many are so interesting.  I have heard from my customers however that they wish I would post my availability on the blog each day also so I am a little torn about this.  A couple of times I have mentioned I would be setting a regular schedule on Keen but I haven't really included my availability on a regular basis.  A compromise might be to keep writing interesting blogs and add a short message at the bottom for availability.  That way we can keep our content interesting and keep our customers apprised of our whereabouts also!  
Rosie

i noticed CardLady156 is missing from the listings.  she was new to keen.  i am guessing she was booted and i thought she was very sweet.

I agree with you, Rosie.  That's certainly a good combo.  I just have an issue when it's the SOLE purpose of the post.   There's so many ways that clients can see the advisors' availability it makes no sense to me to clutter the pages here.  

But the fact is that they certainly CAN do so.  But being allowed to and it being appropriate are two different things.  

Keen itself recommends to us that the blogs are in essence "advertising" for our businesses.

And since the new Featured Listing crazyness has made many, many advisors pages and pages back now, for fear of being charged to death for clicks, they are posting their availability because of  -- well, the "advertising" concept already inherent in the blogs.

Yes, it would be ridiculous if every blog listing on the home page was a boring "Availability today!" listing.

I agree.

But at the same time, you can hardly blame some advisors now for using their blog in this way -- we can't always be sure our customers have us in "My Advisors," or have us bookmarked, and now with the new FL system, we can't always be sure we can be found, some of us.

I'm not very interested in writing endless blog entries about this or that -- I just don't have great ideas fro blogs the way some wonderful writers here do. I don't KNOW what to write about. My creative juices go into another area of life, and into my readings. I"m not interested in writing about what my cat does or more stories about my psychic experiences -- others are great at it, I'm not.

So I will continue to post my availability, since my business is in trouble and I NEED the exposure. I've tried to incorporate "interesting" writing in addition to the "By the way, I'm available." But it's a struggle for me. So I have to reserve the right to just post "hey I'm on."

No disrespect intended but we all need to do what we see fit to do and it's a different "call" for each of us.

Personally?  I just ignore the "availability" blogs.  I've found a couple of new advisors to try based on their blogs about things that I found interesting, and availability ain't one of those interesting things. :)

That's fine, lsb.

But at the risk of repeating myself, I find it a struggle to write "interesting" blogs. It's not my thing.

So sue me. It's qutie okay by me if you don't call me jsut because this is not something I can do as well as the other advisors here.

Dear Gwen:

I can really relate about not being very good at blogging.  I am learning and searching for new ideas because I feel it is a great way to let others know what we do.  Sometimes I come up with a good idea and I find ten others have the same idea and have done it ten times better than me but I don't give up because my heart is just interested in learning this new gadget they call blogs and it is great to help with your customer base.  So don't give up Gail as there are those of us who are just learning how to do this also.
I agree with Lyrica however and really feel used when someone uses my blog to plug their business.  Somehow that is just not playing fair.  I tend to get my dander up over that also.  We need to find a happy medium and find a way to serve our purpose of advertising in a tasteful manner and not offending.  I think blatent advertising tends to turn our clients off so maybe we can find a standard among us.
Blessings and lets not let this issue divide us for there are enough customers out there for all of us.  I am a testament to that.  I always get the customer that has been looking for my kind of advice and I think that is Gods plan.
Rosie

I generally fly by the availability blogs and the ones where I am told every move the reader plans on making that day.  Other people might like them, and that's fine.  We are all interested in reading something different.  I don't think I have ever called anyone who has left an availability blog tho.  I have called others based on their content.  

I don't get this whole featured listing issue either.  Honestly, I don't think I have called more than 3% of my readers based on how far up front on the list they are.  I barely even look at readers on the first 3 pages. 97% of the people I choose to call are usually far in the back - I search thru all of them and when it feels "right" I check out the listing and then decide to call or not.  

I don't get why readers think that your regular customers won't be able to find you either??  As soon as I make a call, that advisor goes immediately on my fave advisor list?  If I liked them, they stay there.  If I didn't, they get deleted. That whole issue of people not being able to find someone confuses me.  :)

Anyway, my point -- I don't care for the availability blogs either, so I just flip by them.  They aren't creating an "Oh! I should call this person!" thought to go into my head, but, they aren't really annoying me terribly either. (Honestly, I just don't even really "see" them.)

Those spam things you mention, however, are another story.  HOW ANNOYING!! :)

Gwen, I wish you much success with your business.  I am certain that the difficulties you have had will not continue and you will again experience the growth that you deserve.  Keep the faith.  I am sure you are excellent at what you do.

Much Love,  Lyrica

I agree wholheartedly - defeats the purpose. It's not like they are getting any views with such info.
If the categories worked, it would be good to have just ONE SECTION where availabilities could be posted, don't you think? ( and this section would be tucked away ).
*nods repeatedly*

Carmen

Hi Lyrica:

I wanted to weigh in on this from the client side, and asa personal blogger for over three years. I work in the technical sector as well, so I wanted to share my opinion if that's alright.

first, I wholly agree with you on the value or impact of a blog that's solely used for indicating availability. That's not a blog. That's a virtual calendar. Big difference. I can't speak for the business side, and I know you must be sensitive to your clients needs and desires - yet, knowing that someone is just going to post availability on their blog is a surefire way to encourage me not to visit the blog itself. If I want to know availability, I check my favorites listing to see if the reader is on. If they aren't on, I'll schedule an appointment. I know many readers (including you) send updates to your clients, that seems far more helpful as an availability heads up. Blogging here on keen often does not seem to be used as blogs were intended.

Which brings me to my second point. According to webopedia, a blog is defined in this manner: (n.) Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

They can be personal, they can be about industry topics or issues, they can be updates on current events, whatever. Rarely are they used as appointment books. I would suggest possibly sending clients a 'friendly' email instructing them on how to find out about your availability, or simply send daily availability as a blast email.

Third, I hear some folks stating that they aren't creative, or they aren't writers. Bah! If you have a creative thought, or any thought at all...you are a writer. So what if it does "flow perfectly" or read like Whitman. You have thoughts, and I'll bet your clients are anxious for them to be shared, big or small, simple of complex.

I appreciate all that you guys do. I love reading great, informative blogs like yours Lyrica - and I wish you all the very best. So sorry for the long comment, and I sincerely hope no one is offended by my thoughts.

Warmest regards,

BubbleNest.

Hi BubbleNest:

You're always so wonderful to read or talk to you.  Yes, I am in wholehearted agreement with you on all counts.  I really am.

I agree with you on the writing.  If you have thoughts, if you have interests, if you have experiences, and certainly if you are psychic, you have something interesting to communicate in writing!  

Solely posting availability on the blog just comes off as extremely mercenary on the part of the advisor doing the post.  

There are so many ways that Keen enables clients to find their advisors and the advisors to advertise.  It is simply inappropriate here, albeit "allowed".  

There is no sense or truth to this concept that this is the best or easiest way the client can see the advisor's availability.  THAT is totally inaccurate.  

I don't even do mass emails on availability b/c honestly I'm offended by the ones I get from other advisors.  Again, it comes off as mercenary and THAT is not an impression I want to give to my clients or potential clients.

I do, however, do mass emailings on what I believe to be interesting or worthwhile knowledge to my clients.  Should they indicate that they do not want them, I put them in my "do not mail" folder.  

The aforementioned is also why I am careful to send free minutes to callers right after their calls and ratings to me.  I absolutely never send out bulk free minutes.  I want the client to know that I just sent them those minutes out of appreciation of them for their call to me and comments thereafter.  

Because I care, because I make my readings strictly about my clients and don't fill them with extraneous commentary, because I don't drive them nuts with "look at me, I'm logged on" emails or blogs, they seem to know that I am genuine.

I am NOT saying that those that do the "availability" emails and blogs are not genuine.  In fact, they probably are.  I am saying two things:  1:  they may well be giving an impression they do not want to extend to the community at large;  2:  blogs, by their very nature, are not intended for that use.  There are plenty of other mechanisms through Keen to use for that.

I was a Keen customer for years prior to becoming an advisor here.  I make a point of never forgetting what my experiences were and what I wanted as a client seeking advice.   I will always view this wonderful work from the vantage point of a client.  Afterall, that is who it's all about anyway.