Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

What's Your Burning Blogging Question?

Las Vegas, here we come! Patsi and I are attending BlogWorld and New Media Expo later this week in Las Vegas.  I'm also on a panel about How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog for Small Business (Saturday at 2:45 pm PT).

We'll be connecting with friends and colleagues, meeting some for the first time face to face. We're both bringing our Flip Videos and plan on interviewing the blogging pros like Darren Rowse of Problogger.net, Dave Taylor of AskDaveTaylor, Coach Deb the Twitter Queen, Mari Smith, the Pied Pier of Facebook, Rohit Bhargava, author of Personality Not Included, and the list goes on. I think there are over 200 speakers - check the list!

So here's what I want to know...WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW from these gurus of blogging and social media?

What's your buring question about blogging and/or social media, social networking, podcasting, vidcasting, Facebook, Twitter?

Post your question in the comments below and we'll take the list and get your burning questions answered on video.

PicApp: Photo tool for bloggers

One of the benefits of attending conferences, trade shows and seminars is that sometimes you get freebies! And I love free stuff, especially when it's something I can use for my business.

As a result of going to and speaking at Blog World and New Media Expo this coming week, I got an email today from PicApp, a site that provides high-quality, free stock photos you can use on your blog.

PicApp is an online blog tool for adding high-quality, current, and creative images to blogs and websites – without the copyright or licensing worries. Registration (optional) is free, and PicApp members have legal access to the best and most current stock photo collections on the web.                                                                                             

If you read Patsi's blog Writing on the Web, you know she does a great job of using images to illustrate her content. I'm a little lazier and don't often spend time looking for the perfect graphic image.

I've signed up for a free PicApp account, but the site is sloooooow. I've tried searching on "concept" terms like "blogging," "business," and "marketing" since that's what I frequently write about (vs. current news events) and nothing is coming up. I keep getting a message saying to try again later. Maybe they're having server problems. Good reason to find their booth at BlogWorld and find out what's up.

If you've tried PicApp, let us know about your experience. Are you getting appropriate images for your search terms?  Have you found it user-friendly?

Content Marketing Series on Writing on the Web

Content marketing is what it's all about. After all that's what you're creating every time you write on your business blog, right? You're writing content to market your business, not to mention engage, entertain, educate and enrich your readers.

Patsi has started a series about content marketing on Writing on the Web.  In a stroke of brilliance she decided to interview successful coaches and consultants about how they're marketing their services with content. You don't want to miss this series.  There's a lot to learn not only from Patsi but many other savvy professionals as well.

The first post is a primer about content marketing for professionals:
Content Marketing: a primer for business people who want to get found quickly on the Web

Next, read the interview with successful business coach, John Agno.

And stay tuned because Patsi used Twitter and LinkedIn Answers to put out a request for coaches interested in answering our interview questions.  The interest has been overwhelming and the requests for the email interview have been flooding in.

Subscribe to Writing on the Web so you don't miss a single interview.

Blog Writing Tip: Write a good feed

Quick blog writing tip: Make your first sentences compelling & meaty. Deliver right away instead of meandering.

Here's proof why this is important. I just got a Google alert for blog posts about writing skills. This is what shows up in the feed...

How to Improve Your Writing Skills

Recently, several people have asked me various questions about how to improve their writing. I love writing and I encourage anyone who wants to write to try. Many of you have amazing stories, valuable information to pass on to others, ...

Folks, these are wasted words that don't capture most reader's interest or cause them to be compelled to click through to read more. Yes, there is some mystery, because the headline promises to tell us something important. But it's a big disappointment when the author goes on about loving writing, etc.

Better would be to hook our attention on an important writing improvement tip right from the get-go. This ensures more people actually click through to read your entire post.

Get started blogging...it really is simple...

...but don't take our word for it. The day after our presentation about Blogging and Branding at Speak Your Way to Wealth, Collette Swann made a point to let me know she started a blog THAT night. Whoo hoo! Music to our ears! It really is easy to get started.

Get our free report on Better Business Blogging: 4 New Concepts to Get Spectacular Results.

Related Videos:
Sherri Messinger Talks to The Blog Squad (Video)
Arlene Dyer Speaks About Blogging
Blogging to Promote Your Book
Dave Lakhani Interview with The Blog Squad

Shari Messinger Talks to The Blog Squad (Video)

The Blog Squad met Shari Messinger at Speak Your Way to Wealth. Shari is having a business blog created to support her business Resolutions Two, so she can positively impact more women's live by turning victims into victors.

BlogWorld and New Media Expo - 20% Discount Extended

This just in... I got an email yesterday from the folks at BlogWorld Expo that the 20% discount on registration has been extended to September 15.

BlogWorld and New Media Expo, in Las Vegas September 19-21, promises to be a first class event covering all things blogging and new media.  If you're planning to be there, let us know...we want to meet you in person!

If you plan to attend, you can save 20% on your registration. Simply leave a comment and I'll send you the discount code. Actually, why waste time...just use this code: DENV1PWA

Related Post:
Blog World Expo Returns to Las Vegas in September

10 Blog Design Tips for Branding & Building Trust

Here's a review of important business blog design tips we shared on a call with The Master Business Building Club today.

(As a side note, The Master Business Building Club has some pretty amazing resources for anyone who wants to use the Internet to make money. One of our participants on the call had been up until 2 a.m. using the members'-only site to learn for her business! You can do this for a free 30-day trial membership yourself.)

Anyway, getting back to our blog design tips...

Here's a list of design elements that you should be using for branding on your blog:

Let's Talk Blogging This Week

Heads up. The Blog Squad is talking business blogging on two programs this week...

Wednesday, September 3
1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT)

How to Get the Best Out of Your Blog
Monthly class for members of
The Master Business Building Club

This month we're talking about blog design and essential elements you must have on your blog to make sure you get the results you want.

This one hour program includes 30 minutes of Q&A so you get your questions answered.

If you're not a member yet, check out the Master Business Building Club now. You get a free 30-day trail PLUS over $900 in bonuses.

The team of experts on the faculty is truly impressive.

Sign up for your free trial membership and attend our class on Wednesday

Thursday, September 4
9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT)

We'll be talking blogging and branding with our mentor, Tom Antion. This is a preview call for his 3-day Fusion Seminar in October where we'll be sharing the stage with Jeff Herring, Mike Stewart, Jeff Hockings, James Malinchak and none other than the guru of teleseminars, Alex Mandossian.

Join us on Thursday day night (free) to get a taste of what you'll learn from both The Blog Squad and Jeff Hockings* -- he produces 30 minute talk show style videos for professionals. You know we always deliver value so don't miss this call.

* Check out the video we did with Jeff Hockings.