Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

The True Meaning of Blogging: Have We Lost It?

Someone with a pseudonym of "Xxypher" posted a rather strong comment on an old post this week. I wanted to delete it immediately since I thought he was full of cr*p, but then I thought what if he's right and we're wrong? What do you think about this?

(The post is about etiquette when leaving blog comments...Please excuse his grammar!)

This is absolutely ridiculous, I blogged for many years now, and I never needed a guideline on which to base my blogs off of. Blogging isn't some sort of book or reference you need to type perfectly without a single flaw. Blogs are internet communication styles, like conversation with a friend or discussing a normal topic.

You have totally lost what the true meaning of blogging used to be, an online journal where you discuss your life with others. Have you ever used guidelines to say hello to someone? Have you ever signed and addressed a goodbye to a friend leaving? No you haven't, because it is unneeded.

I would type more, but I have an essay to write about the disadvantages of blogging etiquette. This isn't just a comment towards this very blog here, this is a comment towards most of your blogs discussing "how to blog right." There is no way to blog right.

What do you think? Are we making things up when we talk about smart blogging and "doing it right?" Should we leave blogs to the domain of online diarists to spontaneously discuss their lives with others?

We've always been clear that our advice is for business bloggers, professionals and small business owners who want to use a blog as a marketing tool to get found, get known, build trust and convert readers to clients.

We are not the blog etiquette police. The only reason to learn best practices is because it makes sense for business. The only reason for good spelling and grammar is to avoid misunderstanding.

And, the only reason to follow any guidelines of etiquette anywhere, including your blog and blog comments, is to respect your readers. Your thoughts?

33 Best Marketing Books to Read

I love "best books" lists and this is a good one for anyone who's trying to do business on the Web, either solo or not. Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing provides us with a list of the very best books you need to read for general marketing, Internet marketing, copywriting, SEO, design and usability, web analytics and email marketing.

Yes, I know, there are a lot of topics, but you need to know at least some essentials in each one if you're going to get found, get known, and make a profit online. Happily, this reinforced my previous reading and encourages me to re-read some of them.

Here's where you need to go to get the list of 33 Books An Internet Marketer Must Read.

Using Your Blog as a Promotion Tool

This past week I was interviewed for an article about how to use a blog to promote an information product. At this point I can't say anything about the article or the type of info product but when it's published, I'll share the link.

I use the term "info product" as a generic term for ebook, special report, white paper, e-course. The author wanted to know how a business blog can be used to promote this type of product and identify the process. I figured this would be a good blog post topic too!

A blog is a content marketing tool so it’s the ideal vehicle for promoting any kind of info product which generally are based on content.

Here are a couple of ideas I shared: