18 Blogging Thoughts From The Netherlands

BlogAdMonkey conducted an interview with Robbert van den Heuvel from Heuvel Marketing from the Netherlands.

Read here what Robbert van den Heuvel has to say about blogging and social media.

1. BlogAdMonkey: Tell me a little bit about your self, your background, where are you from, etc.

Robbert: I am Robbert van den Heuvel, born in 1971 and living in Nijmegen, together with my girlfriend Femke, who is a school teacher. We both like to travel and are regular visitors of the United States. While at home, I like to run 15K races and playing indoor soccer. Also I like to watch my favourite team PSV Eindhoven.

2. BlogAdMonkey: Let’s talk about your work. Please tell us about your business and your industry.

Robbert: I finished my Business Degree at the University of Groningen in 1996 and had a few jobs in sales and marketing after that. In 2008 I started my own company Heuvel Marketing, because I was tired of working for a big company. Also I couldn’t apply my interests and knowledge of online marketing in my job. My main interest is inbound marketing. My challenge is to reach my customers potential clients, without interrupting them.

3. BlogAdMonkey: What is your involvement in the international arena? What is your strategy to target markets abroad?

Robbert: I offer lead generation programs to international customers. I acquire my assignments via ELance.com. Currently I’m running a lead generation program for a Denver-based IT consultant. You can find his e-course on http://www.it-services-denver.com

4. BlogAdMonkey: How do you see the future of your industry?

Robbert: Inbound marketers, like us, have a very bright future as traditional marketing philosophies gradually will be exchanged by an inbound mindset. The main challenge is to stay ahead of the pack and keep offering innovative services.

5. BlogAdMonkey: Do you find that your industry has been hit by the down turn at all?

Robbert: As my company is relatively young and growing organically, I cannot make comparisons with the times before the credit crunch.

6. BlogAdMonkey: What was your reason to start blogging?

Robbert: I want to practice what I preach: I want to offer relevant content to my potential customers (small biz owners) and grow my following in an organic way.

7. BlogAdMonkey: How long do you blog?

Robbert: My company blog only started last summer and it’s getting a momentum bit by bit now.

8. BlogAdMonkey: What are the topics you blog about?

Robbert: All topics I blog about are written for small business owners, that are looking for innovative way to generate leads via internet, by getting found. So almost all blogposts are related to the inbound marketing philosophy from Halligan and Shah.

9. BlogAdMonkey: Which blogging platform do you use?

Robbert: I use a selfhosted version of WordPress

10. BlogAdMonkey: How do you promote your blog?

Robbert: I promote my blog in all my online activities (even more than my company website): Twitterfeeds, Linkedin-updates, business networking websites, e-mailsignature, my blog is connected to a few blogging “gathering websites”.

11. BlogAdMonkey: What is the post on your blog that has had the most traffic in the last 12 months?

Robbert: I wrote a post about how to write a white paper, with exteral links to a few helpful e-books.

12. BlogAdMonkey: Where did the traffic mainly come from?

Robbert: Mainly via Linkedin and organic traffic.

13. BlogAdMonkey: Did you do anything extra to market or promote this post or did it just happen organically?

Robbert: I used my normal routines.

14. BlogAdMonkey: What can we as bloggers learn from your success of this post?

Robbert: A post has to provide real value and deliver relevant content.

15. BlogAdMonkey: Any tips about doing business in your country? (Our readers are from all over the world). Any dos and don’ts?

Robbert: I think the dutch inbound marketing landscape is pretty under-developed. Main focus is on SEO, without caring too much about converting visitors from leads to customers. Dutch business owners are usually not too risky when it comes to rely on new techniques and are not very willing to change their marketing mindset in a radical way. I think we are lagging behind at least 3 years when it comes to online b2b marketing.

16. BlogAdMonkey: Now a few questions about another point of interest: What would you recommend to someone wishing to start a blog? blogging Any tips on “good blogging”?

Robbert: When you start a blog you’ll have to have a real focus on the audience you intend to write for. Also you need to publish in a regular pattern. So once every week or once every day, but don’t vary too much with intervals between posts.

17. BlogAdMonkey: What is the future of blogging according to you? What is at stake for companies and the business world?

Robbert: I am sure that companies that are willing to invest effort in their company blog, venetually will reap the rewards: a loyal audience, interaction with their potential customers and perceived thought leadership.

18.  BlogAdMonkey: we are focused on helping bloggers to monetize their blogs and to help advertisers to sustainable aWith BlogAdMonkeynd cost effective reach their targeted audience. Tell us your vision from outside the industry: what is your perception of content/ blog monetizing, blog ad networks, etc?

Robbert: I think it offers blog owners a nice opportunity to earn an extra buck. However they must be very thoughtful of keeping their credibility high enough by keeping to write relevant articles for their target audiences. When this is done in a proper and honest way, I’m convinced this is a bonus for
bloggers! http://heuvelmarketing.elance.com

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