Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Rok Hrastnik and RSS

Last night we had a great conversation with Rok Hrastnik, author of Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS.

Most unfortunately, we had a technical crash and the audio from the Conversation was lost.

If you missed the call, I strongly recommend that you download and read Rok's free report on "The Business Case for RSS."  This was the basis for the interview last night and covers much of what we discussed.

You can download it here.

If you've read the Business Case and want to know more, then get Rok's comprehensive (and that's putting it mildly -- it's over 500 pages!) ebook on marketing and publishing with RSS.  You'll get every detail you can possibly imagine about  why you should use RSS; how to use RSS; how to create RSS feeds; how to promote your RSS feed, and much more.  You can get the details here.

Technorati Tutorial

If you've been as confused as I've been about the blog search directory Technorati, and how to effectively use it, please read this post by my colleague Paul Chaney. At my request, Paul very kindly wrote up a clear explanation about Technorati, and why and how to use tags.

Typepad Introduces Text Ads

Typepad has an announcement on the log in page that they are now offering the ability to earn revenue on your Typepad blog.  If you have a Pro account ($14.95 per month), you can easily set up to get ads on your blog and earn revenue on the click throughs.  This is similar to Google Adsense.

The More Productive Blogger

Not many bloggers out there who talk about how to write really good content for your blog, so check out Keith Robinson's To-Done Blog, and then his new blog called Successful Blog.

This is his second post on how to be a more productive blogger and it is great. He urges you to:

• Tell a story
• Break longer posts up into several smaller posts
• Write lists, lists, and more lists
• Make good use of your drafts
• Quote liberally and be sure to tip
• Respond to feedback on your blog

• Don’t obsess over your stats

His first post on how to be a productive blogger is really good too. Too bad he doesn't have a Bloglet subscription form on his blogs, because I'd love to get  notifications whenever he posts.

Hmmm, now there a reason to sign up and get RSS feeds. If I had an RSS feed installed, I could stay up to date with all of his blogs, which seem to be good. But my previous experience with an RSS feed resulted in a bad case of information overload and I had to stop.

Another good reason to listen in on our Conversation with Rok Hrastnik about RSS Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET...

Hope to 'see' you on the call; it's free but you must register.

MIT Blog Survey

MIT is conducting a survey of the general blog community.  The goal is to understand the social and communication aspects of blogging and they are requesting anyone who has a blog to participate.  It takes about 15 minutes.

This is an opportunity to get your blogging voice heard.  Take the survey and let other bloggers in your network know about it.

Source: Paul Chaney

Conversation with Rok Hrastnik: The Business Case for RSS

The Business Case for RSS   
Wednesday, June 22, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET - FREE
Guest Expert:  Rok Hrastnik author of the "Unleash the Marketing Power of RSS" 

E-mail marketing and publishing, search engine marketing and optimization, business blogging, internet advertising, digital public relations, branding, e-commerce and others … all key elements of a strong marketing mix, and all can be powered by RSS. Misunderstood by most marketers, overlooked by many end-users, it has the potential to power the entire internet marketing mix. It is not the solution to all of our problems, but it is the one tool that can have the most profound affect on our internet marketing and business results in 2005 and beyond. Find out more at the teleconference ...

Rok Hrastnik , the author of the »Unleash the Marketing Power of RSS« report, is currently serving as the E-commerce Manager at Studio Moderna, managing their corporate and brand internet marketing operations. Studio Moderna is the leading direct marketing company and network in Central and Eastern Europe, present in 19 European countries.

Register:  http://www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

Best Marketing Blogs of 2005

Marketing Serpa holds annual Readers' Choice Awards for Best Marketing Blogs. This year's winners include several people who were interviewed in our Build a Better Blog System ebook.  Congrats go out to all winners, especially our friends who helped us create a wonderful resource guide for bloggers.

Michele Miller of WonderBranding for Best Blog on Niche Marketing

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends for Best Blog on Small Business Marketing (honorable mention)

Yvonne DiVita of Lipsticking for Best Blog on Niche Marketing (honorable mention)

All the winning blogs are worth reading and reviewing to see what makes them excellent.  Plus you'll learn a thing or two!

You REALLY Like Us...Ah Shucks!

We just love it when someone appreciates our hard work...who wouldn't! So just gotta share this email just in from Liz Vasti...

Wanted to also let you know...  I'm only half-way through reading your blogging book (in much detail and implementing as I go along).  I've spent my life in education and doing instructional design work -- ran eLearning for Oracle Corporation in Silicon Valley -- so appreciate good educational materials!  The book is extremely helpful and I can tell that I am saving WEEKS of time by following the instructions and tips (instead of learning the hard way).  Since I posted the blog the other day... I've added a lot of things... and am only on page 107 or so!  (Feedburner and Bloglet -- very helpful and I know lots more to do as I continue.)

I can see how I will likely eliminate my existing websites in the future and redirect everything I do to blogs.  Great stuff! (And I think in the longrun, this will end up saving money as well!)

Just wanted to thank you again now that I'm further into the process! Invaluable advice and guidance.  Thank you!

Best,
Liz

Liz's website is: www.coachingteam.com
Blog: http://coachingteam.blogs.com/newsletters/

Thanks, Liz, and good luck.

And for all you readers out there, could your blog use a makeover? Buy the book, and see what features are available to you on Typepad that you aren't using...and could, if you only knew they were there! You will be amazed, simply amazed...

Andrea J. Lee: Business Models Made Marketable (Audio)

The 10th in our series of Conversations with Experts, Andrea J. Lee of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, shared her experiences working with 6 figure professionals to grow their business to 7 figures. She talked about several ways to monetize your business by turning your expertise into high end products that generate revenue over and over vs. doing one on one coaching or consulting (selling your time for money.)

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

UPDATE:

Due to rising costs to record, edit and stream the audio from the calls, we are no longer giving free access to the audio.  We invite you to join our NEW Conversations Club and get access to the audio on our private blog.  The membership fee is $9.95 per month for access to 4-5 interviews each month plus access to all previous Conversations.

You are also welcome to purchase individual audio  programs for $4.95.

Join the Converations Club here

As always, attending the LIVE Conversations is free and we remind you the live call will be your only
opportunity to hear the Experts unless you purchase access to the Conversations Club.

40 Questions (and Answers) about Blogs

Andy Wibbels of Easy Bake Weblogs has just published a post on 40 questions and answers about blogs.  Many of his Q&A are addressed in the Build A Better Blog System ebook and the Build a Better Blog blog, and you may want to check out Andy's post (he has a great sense of humor!).