David Tokheim, general manager of Six Apart Media, aka Typepad blog services, discusses new blog trends in an interview with eMarketer.
Key take-away:
It seems that Twitter and business blogs are a marriage made in heaven. Live well, blog well, and Tweet often.
I am looking at the Twitterverse and shaking my head. So much going on there, so much noise. And like a kid with a new toy, some of you are abandoning your old stand-by business blogs in favor of quick updates on Twitter.
Tsk, tsk. Put down your Twitter Toys right NOW! Here's an important post I want you to go read: 19 Reasons You Should Blog And Not Just Tweet by Adam Singer over on The Future Buzz.
Isn't it time we get back to writing meaty, useful blog content instead of just poking our heads in and retweeting something? Now, don't get me wrong, I love Twitter. But I also enjoy good business blog content that educates, entertains, and grabs me where I feel it.
If you're not reading Biz Tips Blog, I want to make sure you don't miss this big announcement...
Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are transforming businesses by providing amazing exposure, tons of traffic, partnership opportunities and quality leads. Do you know how to market your business with social media?
The great news is you don't need to be a techno-geek or twenty-something to use and benefit from social media. Discover precisely how to use social media to grow your business during this economic slump at Social Media Success Summit 2009 -a professional development conference for marketers and business owners.
Leading experts Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library TV), Darren Rowse (Problogger), Mari Smith (Facebook guru), Jason Alba (wrote the book on LinkedIn), Ann Handley (MarketingProfs), Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Chris Garrett (Authority Blogger) and me have joined forces to share our closely guarded secrets to social media success at this LIVE online summit.
No travel required. This online summit allows you to attend sessions, meet the experts and network with peers, all from the comfort of your home or office. This event is sure to sell out quickly.
Learn how to qualify for a $200 savings (expires May 14th) and lock in your key to success. Visit and get an immediate gift valued at $39 entitled "Achieving Social Media Marketing Success (Secrets From Three Successful Marketers)."
P.S. In the first few hours that registration was open, over 80 seats were sold. That's pretty darn good for an event that doesn't start for over a month! So you know this is a hot ticket.
I had a good time this weekend looking at some pretty silly blogs...and guess what. they are ones that have landed big book deals with publishers. So don't scoff. These blog authors are laughing themselves all the way to the bank. The kicker is that most of them get their content from blog readers...they don't even write original stuff.
Thanks to this NY Times article, I had a few chuckles with these sites:
Apparently certain themes attract millions of eyeballs and publishers are betting they will love the material so much they'll shell out a few bucks to buy a printed book. Who says we're in a recession?
The evidence keeps adding up by market researchers: content marketing wins over readers more than advertising. This means business bloggers have the clear advantage since blogs are the best way to communicate stories.
According to an Adfusion survey, article-based advertising is preferred by 51% of respondents who are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to read and act upon the material.
The survey asked respondents to rate their likelihood to read and act upon five types of online advertising: banner ads, pop-up ads, e-mail offers, articles that include brand information, and sponsored search engine links. By ad type, respondents said they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to read and respond to:
* Articles that include brand information: 51%
* Email offers: 47%
* Sponsored search engine links: 39%
* Banner ads: 25%
* Pop-up ads: 13%
Thanks to Chris Baggott from Compendium Blogware for the heads up on this survey.
Continue reading "Business Blog Content: Telling Beats Selling " »
I recently ran a poll asking if readers subscribed to blogs by getting text alerts, implying that they would be reading blogs on their phone. I didn't phrase the question well. The question should have been "do you read blogs on your phone (mobile device)."
Overwhelmingly, respondents do NOT subscribe to text alerts for blog updates, but they do read them from time to time by following links in email or on other sites.
That leads to my next question:
On Thursday, April 9, I'm interviewing mobile marketing expert, Kim Dushinksi, about why you need to pay attention to the mobile marketing trend. She's going to focus specifically on why you need to care if your blog is mobile-friendly and how you can easily adapt your blog to be mobile ready.
If you have comments or questions about blogging and mobile marketing, submit them in the comments section below and register for the free program with Kim Dushinski on April 9.
The world of digital content is changing the way we do business and
market our businesses. It's just the beginning of a tsunami, and right
now the wave is navigable. You need to get your boat in the water.
You need to understand what is happening world-wide... how did we get here and where are we going? How is this content evolution going to affect you? How will you change the way you deliver your messages? How can you make your business blog an important participant in the digital content revolution?
Do you want to become your own media, engage, share, participate, and make your voice heard? Then get yourself over to Content Nation and read this collaborative book brought to us by John Blossom.
This book is vital to understanding how small businesses and professionals everywhere must change their approach to not only marketing but the way they deliver services. That includes us all, even small businesses and independent professionals.
Continue reading "Business Blogs: A Vital Part of the Content Nation" »
"Content Marketing" is the Buzz-du-Jour among marketers everywhere, both on and offline. Both Denise and I have encouraged you to write content on your business blogs that provides great information, builds relationships, and converts readers to clients.
But here's the thing: how do you do all that when you write a blog post? Many business bloggers are using their blogs like e-newsletters. They write an article on a topic and post.
In fact, many of the smart clients The Blog Squad has worked with to set up their blogs and train them tell us, "Oh, content isn't a problem for me. I've written dozens of articles. I'll just copy and paste them into my blog."
Wrong. Blog posts are meant to be conversations, not one-way information vehicles. It's not a lecture, or a newsletter. It's somewhere in between.
Content marketing on your business blog means you must do all of these things:
Continue reading "Content Marketing on Your Blog: How to master Better Business Blog Writing" »
The following article is by guest author Michael A. Stelzner, founder of WhitePaperSource
Social Media Marketing: Time Trap or Opportunity Magnet? New Study Reveals the Answers
Report exposes best tools and benefits of social media marketing
A surprising 64 percent of marketers are spending five or more hours weekly using social media sites like Twitter, found the just-released Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses.
Social media marketing is an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales and the real shocker is that experienced folks are investing more than 20 hours each week with social media."
Businesses of all sizes are leaping into the social media pool--and many are well-known brands. Computer giant Dell recently reported a million dollars in sales by issuing coupons on Twitter. Even Ford is using social media to interact directly with its customers.
"Social media has helped Ford quickly achieve its goal of being a top social brand and has broken down the more conservative communications processes that were in place," said Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford.
However, for most marketing pros, social media marketing is a fresh new phenomenon--and it's not just for the young professional. Among the 880 marketers surveyed, 72 percent have been at it for only a few months, and the median age was 40 to 49. This is a story nobody else is telling. Most marketers know the future is social media, but they aren't sure how their competitors are playing the game.
The big questions marketers most want answered about social media are also revealed in the comprehensive report. Knowing where to start and if there is real money to be made were among the top questions pros want answered.
The leading benefits experienced by social media marketers included:
#1: Generated exposure for the business (81%)
#2: Increased traffic and subscribers (61%)
#3: Established new business partnerships (56%)
The report also takes a close look at the social media tools used by marketers. It's intriguing to see which sites the pros focus on compared to the newbies. Twitter is the big winner among all marketers, with 86 percent regularly tweeting.
Packed with 30 color charts and diagrams, the report is sure to be a quick digest for any newcomer or time-starved executive.
What do smart professionals do when they decide to start a business blog? They call The Blog Squad to set up their blog, and learn how to use it for business results.
However, you won't be able to do that after March 31, 2009.
This month, until March 31, 2009, will be the last time you can get blog set up and training with our personal attention. The Ultimate Business Blog Set Up Program is being taken off the market. That means you've only got a few more days to get your blog with our help. After that, we're outsourcing to other resources.
If you're smart, you'll take advantage of this last special offer, a 25% discount for this service. You'll save $500.
Even if you already have a blog, and especially if you're not getting results with it, you should read more about how our special coupon can be applied to an Extreme Blog Makeover as well:
Continue reading "The Blog Squad Bailout... How to save money and get business blog results" »
Recent Comments