Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Blog Tag Lines: What to Put in the Header

Next to naming your business blog, you should have a tag line that does three things:

1. Defines who the blog is for, who are the targeted readers
2. Tells readers what they are going to get from reading the blog
3. Tells who you are, you name and what you are an expert in

Here are some examples: Coach Ezines : Notes, & quotes for writing great ezines & blogs for coaches, consultants, and those who want to improve their online communications by Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

Thinking Home Business: Des Walsh blogs on practical business blogging, social networking and home based business

Now, not every blog has a tag line in the header, but let's face it: If you are new to a blog site, don't you want to know what's in it for you?

Top 5 Reasons to Start a Blog for Your Business

…and Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Start
©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

Unless you’ve just come online and are new to the way business is done on the Internet, you know how important blogs are… or do you? Here are five reasons you should start a blog for your business now – or maybe they are a reminder of why it's important for you to take your business blog seriously.

1. A business blog is a sure-fire way to get found by people searching for your type of product or service.
2. Search engines index blogs more frequently than static websites.
3. A blog shows your personality, your expertise, and your character; people will hire or buy from you when they feel they trust and like you.

2000 Bloggers: Face of the Blogosphere

Last night in my Google Alerts I ran across a post by Andrew Wee, about a project one blogger is doing to post the pictures and links to 2000 bloggers.  I have no idea if he's reached that goal yet, but you may want to check the site out for 2000 bloggers.

I requested mine be added, but it hasn't shown up yet.

Viva La Blog Squad! Fame & Glory in Ajijic, Mexico

As many of you know, I've been down at my other home this week near Guadalajara, Mexico. As I was coming out of a meeting at the local Lake Chapala Society here in Ajijic, a woman approached me..."I know you," she began. "I recognize you from your photo on the Internet...Aren't you The Blog Squad?"

Imagine my surprise. Elliot Joachim is a transplanted American ex-patriot living in Ajijic. She thanked Denise and I for all our help in getting her blog up. She has a fun blog all about life on Lake Chapala called Life Style Refugee, where she talks about her move from Washington DC to the little village called Ajijic.

As she explained to her friend Georgette what a blog was, a smile crossed my face. She chanted the Blog Squad Gospel with enthusiasm. My chest puffed up like a proud mama bear! What fun to hear that The Blog Squad is helping good people everywhere.

Blog Power: Chinese Style

If you want to see the power of the blogosphere in action, check out this post about the Chinese blogosphere and the influence they are wielding over a Western business. Look out Starbucks!

Amateur Turns Pro Blogger

An interesting story was brought to my attention today by blogger John Easton.  A popular fan blog devoted to all things related to moleskine notebooks and journals, was recently purchased, turning the blogs creator and author into a pro blogger (vs. it being a hobby blog). 

There's a good interview on the Church of the Customer Blog with the blog's (former) owner, Armand Frasco.  Here's just one of the intersting points made about the distinction between being a fan and the company and how that can affect the nature of the blog:

It's interesting that a fan site is acquired by a company associated with that fan's object of evangelism, but how much does it change the idea of amateur fandom and its authenticity?

A:  Simply put, it was a tradeoff between survival of the blog and the dreaded "selling off". Fortunately we have a happy compromise with Kikkerland CEO Jan van der Lande. With a company that deals with designers and other creatives all the time, Jan is committed to respecting the independence of the blog much like Modo & Modo (Moleskine's previous owner) co-founder Francesco Franceschi. Believe it or not, I don't keep mailing lists and addresses and they have not required me start keeping them either.

As in any other dealings in life, as long as there is honesty (disclosure of ownership and purpose in this instance) mutual trust and authenticity will remain. Our audience is among the most creative people I've met and I don't see anything that would keep them from expressing their art and opinions in our blog and affiliated communities.

Just goes to show what can happen when you blog about something you're truly passionate about and build up a loyal community.

Blogging Links: Some good stuff to check out

I hate to say it, but with the Blogging and Beyond radio show, the Mentor Program, and preparing for the SCBWI Retreat that we're presenting at about blogging next week, keeping up with posting on our blogs has been difficult.  That doesn't mean though that my antennae aren't working.  Everyday I see great content I want to share with you.  However, I just don't have time right now to add my own commentary.  So, with your permission, here are links to a few blog posts that have caught my attention and from which you may benefit:

Your Blog and the Internet You - John Agno writes about how to protect your reputation on the Web through you blog.

Why Linking to Other Blogs is Critical - an excellent article, as usual, by Brian Clark.  Get over your fear of linking to your competitors.

The Importance of Good Blog Entry Titles - an instructive piece by another one of my favorite bloggers, Dave Taylor.

How to Market Your Blog in 2007 - B&B Mentee Bea Vanni sent this link to me.  Problogger Darren Rowse offers 41 ways to attract more attention for your blog.

Social Networks Can Help Get You Published

Via a post at Blog Business Summit, we've learned about a competition at Gather.com called First Chapters.

Folks submit the first chapter of their manuscripts and the audience votes. Then the next round, the surviving writers submit their second chapters. And so on, and so forth.

The winner gets a publishing contract from Touchstone/Simon & Schuster and a $5,000 prize from Gather.com.

Get the contest details here. The first round, where authors submit their first chapter is open until March 15.  This is a great way to get more exposure, involve your potential book readers and leverage the Internet and all the remarkable social networking tools that are springing up everyday.

This is was also the thinking behind our Ideal Client Contest that we ran for our Blogging and Beyond radio show.  Get people involved and they invest themselves in your project and stay tuned to see what you're up to.

If you know of other similar contests or projects using social networking sites, please post them in the comments here.

TypePad adds new features

If you have a TypePad blog, you may have noticed some new features add this week.

First, if you use a standard template, or theme, for your blog, TypePad has added 8 new options.  More choice, more better in my opinion.  Not that I use a template, but for many people it's a great option so you can have a professional looking blog.

Second, blog entry titles are now linked to the permalink for the post.  That is really cool and makes it even easier to get the specifc URL for a post.

Third, you can now add headers for your category pages:

...add page headers to your date-based and category archives.  If you get readers who come in from Google and wonder where they heck they are, now they'll know where they are -- your archive page will have a message saying that the page has "26 entries from January 2007," for example.

If you click on one of the Category links on this blog (on the right sidebar), you'll see what I mean.  To add this, you click on the Design tab, then Content Selections and there are two drop down menus so you can choose the way you would like the header to appear.

Finally, TypePad has also redesigned the Design module so it's easier to navigate.  That's why I love this platform...they are always adding new features and upgrading the software to be easier and easier to use

Blogging Isn't IT!

The Blog Squad revealed why having a great blog isn't enough on our inaugural Internet radio show Blogging and Beyond yesterday on the VoiceAmerica channel. If you missed the show, you can listen to the audio file over at our Blogging and Beyond blog. That's where you can subscribe to get updates on all our show.

We're taking listeners on a 13 week tour of what is needed to put a strong Internet marketing system into place for your business, with a small budget and a very few tech skills. Besides having a blog for your business, you need a database management system, autoresponders, an ezine, and informational products.

Of course, if you really want to follow along with the show and get Blog Squad mentoring, our Mentor Group is still open. Visit www.blogsquadcontest.com/mentor for information.