Blogger Stories: Sybil Stershic

For Sybil Stershic blogs touch her life in several ways. Her thought leadership, blog on internal marketing & communications, helps keep her focused on her brand and the  marketing book she's writing. She's also found the networking benefits to be as important as the business aspects. Sybil is a natural "teacher" as is evident in her story.

Blogger Story Teller: Sybil F. Stershic, Quality Service Marketing

I’m a marketing & organizational advisor who specializes in internal marketing, customer-focused training, and marketing/strategic planning for corporate and nonprofit clients.  I’ve been in business as a “solo-preneur” for 18 years (i.e., I get  to take myself out for both “Bosses Day” and Administrative Professionals Day”).  I’m also technologically-challenged, which makes my blog story even more incredible!

I launched the Quality Service Marketing blog in February 2005 in lieu of having a professional website.  And my blog has evolved to become a critical extension of my brand.

Stepping back to view my blogging experience, I find my postings can be categorized in one or more of three categories:

1.    Thoughtful posts – sharing content on my professional passion for internal marketing & communications.

2.    Strategic posts – citing a specific link or responding to another blog when I want to establish or reinforce a relationship with someone.  For example:
a.    citing an organization’s “best practice” and initiating contact (before posting) to see if the practice is still relevant
b.    contacting another professional for permission to quote him/her in a post
c.    re-connecting with colleagues to let them know about a post that may be of interest to them.

3.    Reactive posts – responding to a current event, situation, or article (spreading positive or negative word-of-mouse).  Note: I’m very careful about sharing negative experiences and try not to use names, unless I’m really upset.

I’m most gratified with the first two types of posts, although the last one is also beneficial as it can be cathartic.  I’m thrilled to hear from others (via e-mail, comments & track-backs) who share my ‘employee-first’ philosophy: “Take care of the employees and they’ll take care of the customers.” And I’ve been able to “meet” some great folks in the blogosophere and re-connect with former colleagues – thereby expanding my professional network.

To be honest, I sometimes have mixed feelings about my blog given the incredible amount of commitment it entails.  However, my sense of dread and feeling the pressure to maintain the blog is usually offset by the exhilarating relief of having a few posts written & ready to go.

And while I may never be able to accurately measure how many people out there are connecting to my blog, I am able to leverage it from a marketing perspective.  For example, I can send a permalink of a relevant post to a prospective client or distribute reprints of selected posts at my various speaking engagements and workshops.

Overall, my blog keeps me focused on my brand and is helping me with the internal marketing book I’m writing.  I’ve also found the networking benefits are as important as the marketing ones – the support and encouragement from my blog mentors & fellow bloggers has been tremendous!

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