Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Stop Blogging?

An article on WebProNews quotes an article on Wired that it's time to stop blogging -- that somehow blogging has run its course, it's too impersonal and other tools have made it unnecessary.

They contend that using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, makes blogging unnecessary. I don't agree.

I believe your blog is the hub and foundation of your business communication.  It's where you drive people from your social networking sites so they can go deeper and more intimately with you.

Once people arrive on your blog, you have the opportunity to deepen your relationship, beyond the 140 characters available on Twitter.  The blog is where you educate, entertain, engage and enrich your reader.

From there, your reader begins to know, like and trust you and barriers are dropped. Readers are more likely to subscribe to your newsletter list, register for your teleseminars, buy your products.

Out of curiousity, I put this question out to my Twitter followers and got a few vehement responses:

Content into Cash: 5 Steps to Blogging Profits

Let's talk turkey: How do you turn blog content into cash?

On our Massive Online Visibility teleseminar last week we got a lot of questions from the 600 people registered for the call. What came up frequently is how to increase traffic to a blog. But what's that about, really? Traffic is only an indicator of numbers of eyeballs. What really counts is action and sales.

I believe that underlying that question is the desire to unravel the mysterious link between content and cash. As one caller put it, what are the "5 most important things a person new to blogging, article writing, ebook writing, etc. should do, and in what order, what would they be?"

Here we go:

1. Make a list of keywords you will be writing about in your niche. This may be similar to your categories and your cornerstone content. What do your ideal clients most want to know? Do some keyword research to find out how exactly people are searching for information (www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com)

Blog 'Blink' Test: Is Your Business Blog Well Branded?

Let’s discuss how branding ties in with your blog.

Your blog must pass the “blink” test: It must be immediately recognizable and memorable.

Branding goes beyond finding a clever name. Your blog should of course be appropriately named for your business. And it must include these elements for good branding:

1. Naming your blog is critical. If you’re just starting your blog: are you branding YOU, your business, your book? Know the purpose of your blog so you can name it appropriately.
2. Tag line following the name of your blog:   
   
   • Who is the blog  for
   • What are the benefits for your readers
   • Who you are, your name and your expertise
3. A customized banner:   
   
   • Ties in with your brand, your website or logo
   • With your colors
   • Extends the look and feel that represents you, your values

TypePad Celebrates its 5th Anniversary

This month marks the 5th anniversary of the TypePad blogging platform, owned by Six Apart. As many readers know, The Blog Squad's blogging odyssey began in September 2004. You can read my account of our story here.

TypePad is sharing blogging success stories on their anniversary page. There are many inspiring tales about how blogging has changed the lives and businesses of many, many people. If you're a TypePad blogger, be sure to submit your story. You never know, you may be featured on TypePad's site!

How to Have a Poorly Branded Blog

As The Blog Squad, I like to joke we roam through the Blogosphere looking for great business blogs, and we swoop down and do an extreme blog makeover whenever we see a boring blog.

What we see going on in the Blogosphere is:

• Many business blogs are languishing

• Some haven’t been posted on in weeks or months

• Some are all over the map with their content

And it gets worse! Here’s a common mistake we see being committed on business blogs. We see blogs that have:

Little or poor brand recognition

Here’s what we mean by that; When visitors land on your blog, in a blink of the eye, they should know:

1. Who the blog is for
2. What the blog is about
3. Why they should stick around and read your content
4. Why they should subscribe
5. Who you are and why they should believe what you have to say
    

Without following best practices that address these points, a business blog is:

How to Reverse the Client Chase with Massive Online Visibility

With a massive online visibility strategy, people come to you, read what you have to say, and feel instant connection with you. You want these people to pick up the phone and call you, already convinced they want to work with you.

If your goal is to transform people's lives doing what you love, then you need to create massive visibility online so more people chase you, instead of the other way around.

You're invited to join The Blog Squad in a free teleseminar Thursday October 23, 2008. You'll learn a few online marketing tactics that will:

• Get you massive visibility so your ideal clients can find you

• Reverse the client chase, to attract your ideal clients online, spending less than 30 minutes a day and $10 a month.

• Tap into the pool of 1 billion people in the world who are connected to the Internet and looking for information and solutions…some of them are your ideal clients

• Connect with ideal clients in a more intimate way so they are driven to contact you, already pre-sold to buy your products or services.

Learn how to harness the power of your business blog and social networking sites without wasting your time. It's easy and fast, once you learn how to do it.

Please join us:

•     What: How to Create Massive Visibility

•     Who: The Blog Squad: Patsi  Krakoff, Psy.D., & Denise Wakeman

•    Where: At your home or office: on the phone or on the web

•     When: Thursday, October 23 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time

•     Why: To learn how to create a system that attract clients to chase YOU!

• Investment: Zero - It's free to attend the live event.

Register Now to Get Access to the LIVE Event! Go to www.reversetheclientchase.com.

Related Posts:
Visibility: 4 Ways You Need to Shine Online
Massive Online Visibility: Everywhere you go, there you are...
Massive Online Visibility: Website or Blog?

Massive Online Visibility: Website or Blog?

As the Blog Squad™ we get asked this question all the time: should I do my website first and then a blog? Do I need a website if I have a blog? Which is best for online visibility?

When I first went online in 1999 to market my newsletter business, I learned that getting traffic to my website was key. But I didn’t know squat about traffic, website analytics, keywords, or search engines.

I understand all that better now, but at the time, and for the first few years, I just focused on how to:

• get visitors to land on my website
• then read it
• then buy what I had to offer

I put a lot of time and energy into building up traffic, but it never seemed to work.

What I Learned From Having a Low Traffic Website…

Visibility: 4 Ways You Need to Shine Online

There's more than one way to gain massive visibility online. And we're not just talking about a website or a blog. That's just the start of what we call an "online visibility plan."

I believe business owners and professionals who want to use the Internet to attract more clients are beginning to get the picture. Each time we present at conferences, we ask how many have a blog and the numbers are rising.

As The Blog Squad, we've been beating that drum for almost 4 years now. But the drum beat is beginning to sound more like the percussion section of a philharmonic orchestra - not louder, just more complex. Because there's more to effective Internet marketing than just "the blog."

From our own experience and those of our clients, you need the following  four elements in order to get massive visibility and gain the trust of online visitors in your niche:

1. A business blog (where you communicate in a conversational tone)
2. A brand (where you use design to help people to remember you)
3. Valuable, relevant content (to educate and engage with readers)
4. Participation in Social Networking sites (where you become easily accessible)

Massive Online Visibility: Everywhere you go, there you are...

Sooner or later, customers go online to find out more about your business and your reputation. What do they find when they search for your name, or your company? How visible are you?

It’s no secret that successful business owners and professionals can now have a strong Internet presence with little cost and without hiring tech staff.

So what do your potential clients find when they “Google” you? Have you checked lately?

Hopefully they find more than a static brochure-style website full of industry jargon, company kudos, and marketing hype.

Think about it in terms of what prospects really want to find out when they research you and your company… Here’s a big clue: what they want to know is: can they trust you?

The Blog Squad Makes the Lists: Most Influential Women and Coolest Social Media Marketers, too!

Congratulations are in order... we're on two lists of coolest and most influential social media marketers, plus we've been nominated for Best Blog about Blogging by The Bloggers Choice Awards.

Excuse me, while I reach over my shoulder and pat our Blog Squad back...and I'm throwin' in a little fist pump there too. Whoo-hah! Always nice to be recognized for our online efforts especially coming from two extraordinary professionals who are pretty top-notch themselves, Lorrie Morgan Ferrero and Ron Hudson.

First, Lorrie posted over on her Red Hot Blog her list Lo’s TOP 50 COOLEST Marketers, where we were on a list of 8 others in the category of Social Networking, in good company.

1. Nancy Marmolejo
2. Mari Smith
3. Sandy Grason
4. Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman