…well, of 2011, at least.

As the final blog post of the year, it’s a time for reflection, reminders and resources.

Looking back over another 12 months of blogging here and for a range of clients, and remembering that good blogging is essential as the linchpin for effective social media engagement.

Over the course of 2011, there have been some incredible blogs to digest, review, re-visit regularly and learn from. My recommendations of the top blogs to learn from on a consistent basis are as follows, and in no particular order:

Brian Solis

One of the main advocates of effective blogging online, Brian Solis has once again proven that during 2011 his thoughts, research, analytical mind, and pure vision are a force to be reckoned with, and an invaluable resource for serious social media insight. Brian provides a totally unique way of getting complex ideas and concepts across. An absolute must-read blog for 2012.

Social Media Today

One of the highest-profile social media sites online, www.socialmediatoday.com has continued to be a source of inspiration, provoking discussions, and thought-leading social media commentators this year. I’m grateful to have been published there on multiple occasions, too, thanks to Cliff Figallo and the objective editorial team running the site.

Chris Brogan

An absolute powerhouse of a blogger, Chris continues to engage, inspire and create change. As a regular – often daily – blogger, his incredible blog provides inputs on social media, blogging, marketing, human behaviour online, and much much more. This is a blog to read, digest, re-read and be genuinely grateful for. Social media engagement doesn’t get much better than this guy.

ProBlogger

This blogging site has been out there for a while, but for me, ProBlogger really matured and came into its element during 2011. Daily blogs, downloads, hints and tips, incredibly-useful resources and a genuine attitude to creating an inclusive approach to blogging for all to embrace and benefit from. One of those rare examples of a non-selling, highly-successful blogging sites.

Spring

I worked with Luke Thomas, Director at corporate coaching consultancy Spring earlier in 2011, and was blown away by his openness, enthusiasm, inclusive attitude and hands-on approach to entering the blogosphere. His blog is his own – and it’s got brilliant insights, too. Great blog, great coach, great guy. If you need coaching at the highest level, Luke needs to be your first call.

Marketing Donut

If you’re running a small business, and need a consistently-brilliant resource-based site full of hints, tips and advice on blogging, social media, marketing and more, Marketing Donut is a great place to start. Loads of insight, freely given, and available to all. I’ve been included in their top blogger list for 2011 – many thanks to Rory McGwire and his superb editorial team there.

So, the last blog of the year. Blogging since 2005, and still learning lessons regularly. It’s an amazing thing, the blogosphere.

To those who have engaged, entertained and enriched – thank you. To those who have criticised, cajoled and commented – thank you. To those who have bolstered, brainstormed and bedazzled – thank you.

My last words from the blog in 2011? Thank you.

The power of blog influence is something I’ve been an advocate of for quite a while – since 2005, in fact, when I first started blogging for myself and others after a number of years in newspaper and magazine newsrooms.

But, on this occasion, I’m letting others do the advocating of blogging and blogging outreach on my behalf – many thanks, in particular, must go to the thought-leading Brian Solis for the phrase-titling this blog for me: ‘Live to blog, blog to influence.’

Brian’s outstanding blog examining the State of the Blogosphere for 2011 is a thorough, readable, and highly thought-provoking discourse from Technorati’s annual report on the blogosphere.

Some of Brian’s main points on blogging outreach need to be reiterated – largely because I passionately agree with them, but also because at times the world of blogging can seem i. daunting, ii. risk-laden, and iii. impossible to measure as a successful marketing channel – or, at times, all of the above.

So, in no particular order, the main points I wanted to highlight around blogging influence from Brian’s inputs are:

* Long-term bloggers can identify real ROI

This is true – the longer a person or business blogs, the greater their chance of deriving multiple forms of ROI from blogging outreach. Those who manage to stay out of the frightening 70% of new blogs which quit or fail in the first 12 months, and continue to blog with vigour, expertise and openness reap rewards. The message here? Keep going, don’t give up – it’s worth it.

* Our patience for marketing speak is eroding

As Brian points out, customers online are looking less to corporate speak, and more to business blogs which lead through insight and resolution. This means, in effect, that blogging outreach is a preferred method online and across social media platforms for customers to connect with businesses. This trend is increasing. Is your blog marketing open and inclusive, or closed and sterile?

* Blogs live longer than Tweets or status updates

The online shelf-life of a blog has far more influence than any other form of social media content, and this leverage alone should make blogging outreach an increasingly powerful and popular reason to utilise blog marketing in 2012. The added benefits of Social Media Optimisation (SMO) means a blog is pure dynamite when it comes to truly effective, long-term social media marketing.

Final word:

Does this final statement from Brian inspire or intimidate?

“Whether it’s to demonstrate thought leadership, earn authority, generate leads, change perception or sentiment, blogs continue to lead the way while disrupting traditional media along the way.”

For me, it’s inspiring.

And it reaffirms a key message – Live to blog, blog to influence.

What makes a successful blog, many people ask me – and why should I bother blogging?

Good questions, too, given the amount of energy, creativity, effort and consistency maintaining a professional blog requires.

Given the simple and somewhat uncomfortable fact that 70% of all blogs fail or quit within 12 months, it might appear that many online businesses don’t have a good blog in them. Or, at least, not one that will stand the test of time.

I’m a massive advocate of blogging as an integral part of successful social media marketing, and have been since 2005 when I first sat in front of my laptop after a decade in newsrooms, hands poised over the keyboard, about to write my first blog. Terrified.

When to write? How to say it? What is my blogging voice? Who wants to read any of this stuff? These and many other equally-limiting questions race through the mind of a novice blogger. And with good reason – it’s a tough world online.

The critics are many and the fans few – or, at least, that’s how it feels at times. But, good blogs have common themes.

A successful blog, in my experience, contains a few key elements which give it attention, leverage, and attraction over time:

* Honesty

Successful bloggers, such as Seth Godin, Brian Solis and Chris Brogan are all honest online. Sometimes brutally so. They discuss things they like and things they don’t. They stand above the parapet and honestly voice their concerns when they see something tricky, dodgy or reeking of snakeoil. Equally, they highlight brilliant sites, products and services, too.

* Inquiry

Successful bloggers ask questions – frequently. Chris Brogan is one of the masters of it online – and to see this demonstrates a real humility and attentiveness of his audience. I respect that – despite his considerable success online, he still remains teachable. There are oodles of ‘internet marketers’ hammering webinars, valueless product libraries, and the like. They’re not listening to us – ever.

* Integrity

Successful bloggers have integrity – and use it. For me, this means being objective, being able to blog unashamedly in your own voice, being able to distinguish between right and wrong, and also not being afraid to stand up and talk about it. Integrity in a blog also means that value, content, ideas, assistance, thought-leadership are genuinely, regularly, and helpfully offered to one and all.

Mission Impossible?

For some, creating and maintaining this kind of online marketing platform is an impossible challenge – it’s about giving and taking, of course, and there are many takers out there. I naturally gravitate to the folk who give of themselves in their blogs. They give inspiration, information and innovation.

These honest blogs are also, unsurprisingly, successful blogs. Have you got it in you, too? Experience, knowledge and passion. I’ll always pay attention to that.

I’ve got a tale to tell – about how treating a business contact well offline delivered – some four years later – a social media and blogging contract by a new client.

My blog also proved to be instrumental in sealing the deal.

The story begins in 2008, whilst working on a contract as Managing Editor for a business publishing house in Bristol, overseeing the editorial direction, commercial growth and online presence of two monthly magazines in the Sign and Print sectors.

One of the leading firms in the sign & display industry submitted fortnightly press releases with good quality images, for consideration on the Sign magazine’s News pages.

The PR contact was reasonable, and although the PR copy was acceptable it was nothing outstanding, given the size of the client’s business and potential positioning in the marketplace.

The real gem at the time, for me, was one of the National Sales Managers – a great guy, who always went the extra mile to provide more information, additional images, and truly insider-based details about the business for editorial usage. A proper win-win.

We also got on well, and developed a straight-talking, trust-based, and mutually-beneficial business networking relationship.

I gave their business good editorial coverage, because the stories were of real, significant, commercial interest to the magazine readership.

Having moved on, but keeping in touch offline with the National Sales Manager for a good 12 months afterwards, it came as a huge surprise when he got in touch about six weeks ago.

He’d found me via a Google search, and had passed on my blog to his Manager for review and potential involvement on a consultancy basis.

That lead to a great catchup chat, then a meeting with the Manager’s Boss, and (this week) confirmation of a new Contract for consultancy on social media and blogging activities, to take the company online in new and exciting ways.

My point? Simple.

The following factors proved crucial in gaining social media ROI from blogging on this occasion:

* A trust-based offline business relationship had been well established

* A good blog was in clear evidence highlighting thought-leadership

* A Google search quickly provided him with what he needed online

It’s a brilliant example of how offline activities should be used to compliment online profile-building, especially in terms of attaining social media ROI.

Are you using offline and online activities in tandem to win business via social media engagement? If not, why not? Try it.

I was pondering this important question for effective social media engagement last week, whilst delivering a blogging workshop for a new client about to launch her own blog.

The issue, for her, was how to find and use her own voice on social media.

She seemed initially to be scared of engaging with blogging for fear of not knowing how to write, to speak, to blog, to get started – my best advice was to simply use her own voice in the first instance and to take it from there.

It’s a common problem, too – when first commenting on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or writing the first blog posts of their own, many people feel virtually petrified. They are frozen. Scared. Unable to type, unable to speak online.

The temptation is to write like somebody else – to hide that fear.

The temptation to write like a well-established person, Brand or business online is always going to be difficult to sustain for any period of time. But why?

Well, as the saying goes, wherever you go, you always take you with you – and the same applies online via social media and blogging.

You might try and write, post, and comment like somebody else, but the true you will always surface eventually.

I always say, as I did to the blogging workshop client last week, relax and take it easy.

* Write it as you’d say it.

* Be natural.

* Be yourself.

* Don’t try to be anybody else.

The best social media voice will always be the one you were born with.

First things first, You need to find it, be comfortable with it, then use it – and consistently use it.

My top tips for finding your social media voice are:

* Think of your social media voice as being like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

* Think of the people and businesses on social media – it’s likely they are using they own voice well.

* Think of the offline voice you use with ease and confidence – then replicate it across social media.

An interesting shift happened with the blogging workshop client when I asked her to write a blog in her own voice, and not as if she was attempting to write a piece of magazine PR copy.

The blog copy flowed easily, naturally, and was engaging to read, too.

Are you scared to find and use your voice on social media? What have you got to lose by – simply – being yourself? Try it.

Effective blogging delivers a number of different returns on the investment given, and over different time periods.

Today, I was reminded of one of the simplest facts of truly consistent blogging – it delivers cash in the bank. Simple as that.

In the past, I’ve talked about some of the more subtle, longer-term benefits of maintaining a well-written, professional, informed and educational blog as a lynchpin within an overall content marketing strategy in Bristol.

These benefits should include:

* Thought leadership

By consistently getting your thoughts, unique ways of delivering in business, brilliant ideas and concepts in your commercial sector out there via your own blog, you’re paving the way to effective thought-leadership in your marketplace.

* Google Juice

By utilising the power of Natural Search, integrating keywords and popular search terms into your blogging content, your blog can be a powerful part of dominating your commercial niche online.

Google ‘proven social media consultant’ now and see what you find at No.1.

* Relationship-based marketing

A truly effective blog with a legacy of content helps to introduce you to new clients. I often find that by the time a potential client gets in front of me, they already know what to expect, having been through my blog. A good blog oils good business.

There is another return which is not talked about too often, but consistent blogging can – and should – deliver it. And it is? Cash. Cold, hard, cash straight into the bank. Or are you just blogging as a personal hobby? Thought not. Me neither.

* Blogging for cash benefits

I had an example today, which really got me thinking about the cash ROI of social media engagement.

A digital marketing agency in Bristol met me recently, having been perusing my extensive blog – I say extensive, as I’ve been blogging for myself and clients since 2005. Which, on paper, makes me the longest-established business blogger in Bristol.

That’s not an accolade I parade around, as I’m a firm believer in the fact that you’re only as good as the quality of the last paying client testimonial.

However, this digital marketing agency had checked and liked the blog. They called me in for an informal meeting, liking what they saw and heard in person. Why? Because it was consistent with what they had read on the blog.

From that meeting, we’ve confirmed the following project work:

* Delivering social media content for the agency itself

* Workshops and training for the internal agency staff

* Preparing a social media services offer for the agency

* Assisting with social media proposals to their client base

* Advising on client projects, such as SEO copywriting

* The potential to get the agency into bigger client doors

The immediate cash-based ROI of the blog, as confirmed today with a significant additional SEO copywriting project over-and-above the existing agreed consultancy, means that my blog has delivered a return of nearly £6K from that one agency alone.

From simply writing consistent, positive, useful and professional blog content regularly.

Is your blogging consistent? Is it delivering a number of returns to you? Or are you still writing a ‘flog blog’ and failing to secure trust, attention and sales?