Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

The I AM Foundation Starts Blogging for A Million Books for Kids

The I AM Foundation, dedicated to raising a million dollars and a million books for kids, has been gifted a professional blog to start communicating their world tour book contributions.

(PRWEB) November 22, 2005 – Over 380,000 books and music products have made the lives of children happier, thanks to the I AM Foundation. The La Jolla, CA based charity has started communicating their efforts with a new blog, www.millionbooksforkids.com, gifted by two blogging experts, Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. of The Blog Squad.

“This blog is a place where we can all come together and celebrate in the gifting of books to children around the world,” says Steve Viglione, founder of the I AM Foundation.

The Blog Squad team of Wakeman and Krakoff wanted to contribute more than money and books. “Setting up a blog for Steve and his people at the I AM Foundation seemed a great way to spread the word about the good works of this group, especially since they were heading off to Sri Lanka to contribute $25,000 to the children affected by the Tsunami,” says Krakoff, a retired psychologist and blogging expert. “Steve can now blog from Sri Lanka when he’s there, and even post photos of the children on the blog.”

Blogs and Advertising

An article on Cnet from the NY Times discusses how the blogosphere is changing with the advent of corporate America seeking out blog on which to advertise.

Ad dollars threaten bloggers' rebel reputations

Businesses have noticed the growing readership and influence of these Internet postings and are spending $50 million to $100 million this year on blog advertising and marketing, said Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research, a company that looks at the impact of technology on business and consumers. Recognizing that blogs have become more mainstream, companies are paying for advertisements or mentions on blogs, courting blog writers with public relations efforts and inviting writers to come blog on one of their corporate sites.

As mentioned many times before, I have been testing the effectiveness of ads on my blogs and though I'm not getting rich, they do provide an additional source of revenue to help offset the costs of hosting a blog.  And, to date, no one has complained about the ads.

Web logs also give advertisers the chance to aim at specific readers. If you want to advertise to New York Mets fans, for example, you can easily find blogs that cater to those readers, Clark said.

I also place ads on other blogs, particularly when we have a new product to introduce.  As you see from the quote above, blogs provide a very targeted way to reach your prospects.

SNEAK PREVIEW

Stay tuned for Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger...
The steamy saga of how one blogger went from
Boring to Brilliant in 30 days. Coming to a computer
near you, it’s hotter than Desperate Housewives!

John Trosko Testifies

Time for a little shameless self-promotion.  I recently worked with my dear friend and colleague John Trosko of OrganizingLA to create a blog for his business.  I received this letter from John about our work together.  Be sure to check out John's blog -- he's a great writer and has tons of great organizing tips to share. (Note his terrific blog header too -- designed by my pal Heidi Frieder at ArtHead.)

Dear Denise,

My business and life have been transformed.

Thank you for your tremendous support you’ve given me and the creation of the “OrganizingLA Blog.”  If anyone ever reads our story, they won’t believe it.  It’s not a fairy tale, but it’s a tale of hard work, answering readership needs by providing relevant, professional content, and using the power to leverage more out of a business.  Because of you, I am well on my way.

I know, I know, you told me so.  But I was really worried.  I had deep concerns for over 6 months that prevented me from taking action.  Questions like “Could I really do that good of a job if I’m not a writer?”  “Do I have enough time to write 2-3 times a week?” “What the heck’s a business blog?”

Blogs From the Road

Today's NY Times has a fun article on how blogs are being used by travelers to keep in touch with family and friends by posting about their travels. 

Wishyouwerehere.com: Blogs From the Road

Blooks: Blog to Book Publishing

Blooks - More choice for readers; more opportunity for authors
Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET - FREE
Guest Expert: Tom Evslin, Hackoff.com

Book publishing is undergoing the same Internet-induced disruptive change in  marketing, promotion and distribution that has confounded the traditional music industry.  Readers benefit from increased choice and online access to content including fiction; authors will benefit from reduced barriers to publication.

Blogs are both a new distribution platform for fiction and a new marketing and promotional channel.  Although some readers will always prefer a book they can hold in their hands, online books can have interactive features which traditional books don’t including reader interaction, subscription by email or RSS feed, and linked online support material.

hackoff.com: an historic murder mystery set in the Internet bubble and rubble is written by Tom Evslin, the exCEO of an Internet company who is a well-known blogger.  The blook (book on a blog) includes a faux company website, an online store, a wiki, and a user forum. Although the book will have a hard-cover edition, the Internet is its first distribution platform and the basis for its publicity campaign.

Tom Evslin was founder Chairman and CEO of ITXC Corp. The NASDAQ-listed company grew from startup in 1997 to the world’s leading provider of wholesale VoIP. Evslin conceived, launched, and ran AT&T’s first ISP, AT&T WorldNet Service. WorldNet popularized all-you-can-eat flatrate monthly pricing for Internet access. Evslin has been blamed and praised for this ever since. He is unrepentant. At Microsoft, Evslin was responsible for Microsoft Exchange and for overcoming the lead Lotus then had with cc:mail and Notes.

Evslin’s software company, Solutions, developed the first commercial EFT software.  Solutions was the first developer of commercial communications software for the Macintosh and developed Glue (a predecessor of Adobe Acrobat). blog.tomevslin.com is a popular read.

Register:  www.ConversationswithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

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

Chinese Bloggers

In the NY Times on Thursday, there's an article on the explosion of blogging in China. 

Common estimates of the numbers of blogs in China range from one million to two million and growing fast.

While not about business blogging, that cannot be too far behind.  My advice would be to get on board the blogging train NOW to get established and start building your community of prospects, clients and readers.

Blogger Holiday Gifts

Looking for gift ideas for your favorite blogger?  How about a bumper sticker that says "Born to Blog"?  That's one I may have to get for my car!

Books more your style?  Two new, long-awaited blogging book are about to hit the streets.

Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will be published in January.  This much anticipated book was created in large part on their blog.

Jeremy Wright's Blog Marketing arrives on December 1. 

I've put both books on my Amazon Wish List (my way of keeping track of the books I want to purchase).

Thanks to Blog Business Summit for the blog gift ideas.  They have others in their post.

11 Mistakes Small Biz Bloggers Make

Got an email from fellow blogger Rich Brooks:

Patsi,

I've enjoyed your blog for a while and your eBook, the Build a Better Blog System. Thought you might be interested in a new free article I just posted called The 11 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make. It's a free download from my site when you subscribe to flyte log, our free email newsletter.

If you want to share it, feel free to direct friends and family to the post: or to my home page where it can be found as well.

Thanks, Rich. Good reminders on better blogging tips!

Are Blogs A Meaningful Tool for Small Business?

A new site is now online at SmartBiz.com.  One of the features of the site is a column called Smart Answers. The debut column asks: Are Blogs A Meaningful Tool For Startups and Small Businesses?

I was asked to provide an "expert" answer and I see that I'm in good company.  Other experts answering the question are corporate blogging guru, Debbie Weil, our first Blog Squad MakeOver victim client, Suzanne Falter-Barns, John Cass from Backbone Media, and Wendy Maynard of  Kinetic Ideas. 

Check it out!