Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Business Blogging Teleclass on Wednesday

Seems like we're on the teleclass circuit these days.  Last week we were invited by Kelly O'Neil to speak about blogging as a pre-event for her UpLevel Intensive at which we'll be presenting in a couple of weeks. 

This week we are guests of Jeff Herring and Build Your Ideal Practice.  And guess what we'll be talking about??? 

How to Blog for Fun, Prospects and Profits
Led by The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman
For Build Your Ideal Practice, October 4, 2006, 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT)
FREE! Register here to get call-in details.

Build a Professional Blog That Gets More Traffic to Your Website and Turns Prospects Into Paying Clients..."

Feedburner Feedflare on TypePad

I finally got around, thanks to Patsi bugging me, to checking out the integration of Feedburner's Feedflare with TypePad.  Now that you can connect your Feedburner feed to TypePad, you can also optimize the feed to include links for your readers to be able to email to a friend, add to del.icio.us, track comments, digg your post and much more.  Here's what FeedFlare is all about:

FeedFlare
Give your subscribers easy ways to email, tag, share, and act on the content you publish by including as many or few of the services listed below. FeedFlare places a simple footer at the bottom of each content item, helping you to distribute, inform and create a community around your content.

There are a few steps involved so I'll create a how-to video in the next few days.

Misconceptions about Biz Blogs

This list of 10 myths about small business blogs are common. So many professionals hesitate to get into blogging because of not really understanding the true impact of not doing a blog. Brian Brown from Pajama Marketing posted this list last week:

1. Blogs are for teenagers, not for professionals
2. My business doesn't need a blog
3. Blogging takes too much time
4. Creating a blog is hard
5. Writing a blog is hard
6. No one is going to read my blog
7. Blogs get companies into trouble
8. Negative comments will ruin my reputation
9. A blog informs my competitors
10. Blogs are a fad

If you remember, you may have had similar feelings about doing a web site for your business. Now days, everyone is expected to have a web site. Yet the results from most business web sites are appalling.

Think of a blog as a web site on steroids. Your blog, when done professionally and optimized for business, will do the job you dreamed your web site would do: pull in pre-qualified leads to you.

Of course the key here is to make sure you optimize your blog for business. If you have a lackluster blog, then maybe you need to call in The Blog Squad for an extreme makeover!

How to get quoted in the New York Times

Need another reason why you or someone in your business should be blogging?

BECAUSE REPORTERS ARE READING BLOGS. To get backstories, quotes and other info for their stories.  Why shouldn't you and your business be part of the story?

Here's a real life example of someone who was quoted in the New York Times because he is considered an expert in his field and he blogs.

Small Biz Media Attention from The WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports about ways small businesses can get media attention, including using blogs. They seem to echo what The Blog Squad and publicity expert Joan Stewart shared on a recent teleclass on "How to Pitch Bloggers."

You can read this interesting article here.

How to Get Attention In a New-Media World by Gwendolyn Bounds. The rules of the publicity game are changing. Here are ways to claim the spotlight for your business.

Here's a brief excerpt:

There have never been more avenues to reach the public for small businesses, particularly given the Internet's rise. But with so many attention-seekers, it's critical to get the message right in any forum. Some tips:

• STORY WRAPPING Find a broader context or news hook for your product or service (for example, higher oil prices, elections, the war) and show how your company fits into it.

• KEEP IT SHORT AND PERSONAL When reaching out to journalists, a few quick emailed sentences absent of industry jargon explaining who you are and what your business is usually will suffice. Try to keep the first email readable without having to scroll down. Also, referring to past works by journalists shows you understand their area of coverage.

Poll: How often do you post on your blog?

Blog Posting: Always on Sundays?

Neil Patel posted a worthy article on Making your Blog Popular through Content over at the Pronet Advertising blog on Sunday.

I found his tip about posting on the weekends interesting. Although most people would not publish a press release on the weekend, or a professional ezine, it may make sense to post to your blog on the weekends when people have more time to catch up on blog reading.

What do you think?

Of course, if you were to really optimize your blog for traffic and biz, you'd be posting almost every day.

Maybe we should do a survey: How often do you post on your blog?

How much do you know about blogging?

This is almost embarrassing to admit...how could I miss 2????  What's your score?

You Know a Lot About Blogging

You got 6/8 correct! Your not a total blogging geek yet... give it time.

How Much Do You Know About Blogging?

How to Be Findable on the Web: Free Blog TeleClass

When was the last time that you attended an event so transformative that you left knowing - without a doubt - that you could create the business and life of your dreams?

Patsi and I have been invited to be guest presenters at Kelly O'Neil's annual 3-day UpLevel Intensive in October.

To prepare for the event, Kelly is hosting a series of teleseminars featuring each of the speakers.  The Blog Squad will be featured on Wednesday, September 27 and you're invited to attend.

Boost Your Business with Blogs: How to be Findable on the Web
September 27, 2006, 8:00 p.m. ET

The teleseminar on Wednesday is free, sign up here to get the call-in number:
http://www.uplevelintensive.com

Here's a message from Kelly about the UpLevel Intensive...

Pitching Bloggers: 10 Things That Make Bloggers Angry

Following is the second of our articles on pitching bloggers...

Pitching Bloggers: 10 Things That Make Bloggers Angry
©2006 by Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D. and Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

If you have a product, book or service you want people to know about, pitch bloggers!. They know how to create buzz, especially about cutting-edge stuff. Bloggers pride themselves on knowing who is doing what, and love to be first to post about new ideas, products and events.

In fact, some publicists and PR professionals are now going straight to bloggers instead of to journalists for creating media attention. Several books were launched into best seller status before they were published because review copies were sent out to leading bloggers: Freakonomics and Call to Action are prime examples. These books got plenty of buzz on the Web from bloggers with huge audiences, and others blogs linked to them: the news spread like wildfire.

But don't make mistakes when you try to pitch bloggers or your publicity explosion will burst in your face. When bloggers get angry they will not quietly toss your product or book into the round file. They will tell everyone what they didn't like and what you did wrong.