“You have 15 seconds. Ready… go.”

I was in a Rich Dad seminar, and a young man had been selected from the audience to come on stage for the chance to pitch his business idea to Rich Dad advisor Blair Singer. He would be rewarded $100 if he can convince Blair that his idea is good.

To simulate the real world, he was given 15 seconds.

I cringed as the poor chap tried to talk to Blair but got hammered back with rejections like “Who are you? What do you want? Why are you talking to me?”

Before he could even talk about his idea, the 15 seconds was up. So Blair gave him a second chance.

He failed again.

The young man received an encouraging applause. But for all his bravery and enthusiasm, he failed to sell his idea to get the $100 reward (though he was rewarded with Blair’s audio course on sales presentation.)

Blair Singer was teaching us a valuable lesson. No matter how good we think our product or business idea is, we won’t get anywhere if we can’t convince anybody to buy it. In other words, your ability to sell is more important than your idea.

Now think with me for a moment – isn’t that true for blogging as well? No matter how good we think our content or ideas are, we won’t succeed in getting readers to our blogs if we can’t convince anybody of their value.

Our ability to persuade and influence our readers is just as important as the content itself.

Robert Kiyosaki then came up on stage and pointed to the Communications part of the B-I triangle, which is the Rich Dad version of a solid business model. “Next to cashflow,” he continued,

“The #1 skill in business is Communications.”

In the B-I triangle, the 5 functions in the business are ranked in terms of importance from bottom up.

Cashflow forms the base, because without cashflow the business collapses. Then you have Communications that is the second highest priority.

Communications is everything you say and do. Sales, Marketing and Branding are all part of communications. The key goal is persuasion – to persuade people to do business with you.

Rich Dad says in business, Cash is King. But if you think about it, in the blogging business, cashflow is not a problem since the costs are so negligible.

This brings us to the next highest priority – Communications. Taking Rich Dad’s idea and applying it to blogging, this means for us bloggers…

COMMUNICATION is KING

Our ability to communicate our ideas and information effectively is every bit as important as the information itself, if not more important.

Because even if you put out what you think is the best content in the world, it won’t draw any readers to your blog if nobody is convinced of its value.

Just like the young man who had a great idea and tried to sell his idea on stage, your ideas won’t help if nobody is convinced of its value.

Then why do many bloggers say that ‘Content is King’?

I, for one, am strongly against the idea that content is king. In fact, I almost think it’s B.S. But I won’t get extreme here, so let’s just say it’s misleading.

Why is it misleading? Because it implies that the information itself is the most important thing in blogging.

But in reality, how you communicate your idea or information is every bit as important as the information itself, because nobody gets value from your content without being convinced of its value in the first place.

And if you ask me, I think your ability to communicate the value of your information is more important than the information itself. In other words,

It is not just WHAT you say. It is HOW you say it.

As I compare blogs with different levels of readership, I have observed that the bloggers with the most readers are always the ones who write best.

And I don’t mean the kind of top-grade first-class writing that wins awards in literature. I’m referring to their outstanding ability to communicate their information that connects and bonds with their readers, thereby influencing them.

Just look at the top blogs – Problogger, Entrepreneur’s Journey, Copyblogger, JohnChow, Shoemoney, etc. All the bloggers behind them have uncanny ability to connect with their readers through their superb writing skills.

That’s why you have John Chow fans and Shoemoney fans. They don’t say they are fans of the blog information. Readers are attracted to the blogger and not the blog; the person and not the information.

Information is impersonal and it’s freely available anywhere. Once the reader gets what he wants, he leaves. Information alone does not get repeat readers to the blog.

Remember that a blog is primarily a social media tool, a platform to build relationships. The real reason why readers come back to the blog is due to the perceived bonds they had formed with the blogger.

It starts with the reader liking what the blogger says, then becoming convinced of its value. He subscribes to the blog and returns to hear more. He starts commenting and engaging with the blogger, all the while receiving more of what he perceives as value. Gradually he gets more and more influenced by the blogger’s ideas until he becomes a follower and a supporter.

So you see, it’s the blogger who influences, not the blog information. (That’s where you get the term ‘influential bloggers’.)

The only exceptions where this does not apply are news blog (where speed of new information becomes the main factor). For most kinds of blogs, your ability to write persuasively is fundamental to your success.

Another Problem with the ‘Content is King’ mindset

By saying Content is King, many people think of their blog information as their product. They think it’s the most important part of their blog. I used to think the same way too. But I now realized this is a BIG mistake.

Looking back at the B-I triangle, the Product is only the “tip of the iceberg”. It’s the least important aspect of the business.

This is because a world-class product is useless if the company is weak in the Communications functions of sales and marketing. No sales, no cashflow, and the business collapses.

Thousands of book authors write far better than Robert Kiyosaki. But he beat them all and his Rich Dad book was the New York Times bestseller for 6 straight years. (Notice it is best-seller, not best-writer). And the Rich Dad company is still selling more books everyday.

In the same way, I have come across blogs with articles written in impeccable English worthy of the Pulitzer price. I have also come across blogs with extensive information that is unbelievably well-researched. But they have few readers, simply due to the bloggers’ inability to engage and connect through their writing.

In contrast, a blog written in simple English coupled with an engaging conversational tone attracts a huge following, because of the blogger’s ability to communicate and influence his readers.

The Difference between Yaro and Charles

Looking at Yaro Starak’s blog, I’m thinking “Hey I know a lot of what he knows too.” But right now, my blog is not as well-known as his (though it will be in a few years time ).

The key difference between him and I, besides the four years head-start to build his readership, is his superior written communication skills. He can express and communicate his ideas and information in much more interesting, engaging and persuasive way that readers go “Wow, great post!”

I am in awe of his writing ability. But I’m training hard on mine and will catch up to him . Which brings me the next point -

Practice to Get Better in Communications

Just like sales or giving presentations or even talking in general, blogging to communicate with your readers is a skill that can be learned and improved. It comes by constant practice – the more you write, the better your ability to communicate.

As a matter of fact, by blogging regularly, we are already practicing to improve our writing.

But here’s where many people get it wrong. They practice with the wrong focus – how to write better information. So they work hard to research, accumulate and produce content. But all the while, they are really just brain-dumping and not communicating.

The right focus should be how to communicate better. More than just producing better information, it’s about expressing our ideas better and communicating more effectively. We should focus on practicing how to write in a more engaging, compelling and ultimately more persuasive way.

And the better you get at writing persuasively, the more fulfilling your life as a blogger. Because now you are in the position to add more value to more people.

More readers are engaged with your words. More people are convinced of your value. More followers are influenced by your ideas.

The stronger your ability to communicate, the larger your following.

That is why Communications is King.