Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Beauty Supply Stores Need Blogs Too

Today I was interviewed for an article in a trade magazine for beauty supply store owners. Last year the same writer interviewed me for a similar story that was published in Pool and Spa News for owners of pool supply stores.[Just reread the article and there's good info, if I do say so myself!]

Apparently, most beauty supply stores are what the writer refers to as "mom and pop" retailers. One or two stores, usually in malls and located near a nail salon (that's my observation). At least here in Los Angeles, it seems like you'll almost always find a beauty supply store near a salon.

While we talked mostly about why a blog is a great marketing tool for small business owners, we did also touch on social media. I was informed that most of the smaller store owners have been slow to come to the Web and don't have much (brochure style website) if any web presence.

21 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog or Website

At the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing System event, I had the honor of sharing the stage with the amazing Willie Crawford, a legend in the Internet Marketing world. We did an informal presentation about how to drive more traffic to your sites.  While Willie was doing a presentation on list building, I made a quick list of 21 ways to drive traffic.

We used my list as a starting point and had a great discussion that went nearly 90 minutes (you can get the audio of this session and all the other awesome speakers for only $97). After the presentation, the audience asked for my list. Since it was scribbled on a couple of index cards I promised I would post the list and here it is...

21 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog and/or Website

1. Email - send an email to your list when you have a great blog post you want to share.
2. Include a subscription form on your blog - this is for people to subscribe to get blog updates so they return over and over when you publish new content.
3. Twitter - use a plug-in or an application like Twitterfeed.com to syndicate your new content to your twitter stream
4. Facebook - use the Notes application to pull your blog feed into your profile and/or Fan page
5. Video - Distribute your videos on all the video sharing platforms. Include a link back to your blog home page or specific blog posts that are relevant to the content in your video
6. Email courses - include a link to your blog in and invitations to subscribe in your autoresponders for ecourses.
7. Google profile - you MUST set up your profile on Google and include links to your blogs and web sites
8. Article marketing - include a link to your blog in your author resource box.
9. Pay attention to the headlines (blog post titles). Using numbers (see title of this blog post!) usually generates good traffic.
10. Media releases - post releases around the web and include a link to your blog or specific post.
11. Retweet button - include the retweet button from Tweetmeme so it's super simple for your reader to click and share.
12. Share buttons - there are many plug ins and addons to add buttons to share on twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Stumbleupon - find the style that suits you and add it to the footer of your blog posts
13. Guest posting - writing on other people's blogs can attract new traffic and readers to your blog.
14. Bookmarking - use sites like Stumbleupon, Digg and Delicious to share your content - when you have a particularly great post, ask your readers to stumble, digg, etc.
15. LinkedIn - make sure you blog posts are linked to your profile with the blog link application
16. Include a link in your email signature file. If you use web-based email, like Gmail, add Wisestamp so you can include your blog's RSS feed.
17. Comment on other blogs.
18. Submit your blog to directories.
19. Contests can generate a ton of new traffic (see example here)
20. Surveys and polls. People love to give their opinion. Use Polldaddy or SurveyMonkey to ask your readers what they want or their opinion.
21. Last and definitely not least...publish as frequently as possible. The more frequently you post, the more traffic you get because the search engines are indexing your content more frequently.

A lot of other tips and suggestions were discussed in the presentation. I'll be listening to the audio when it's available so I can cull the tips that were not on my list.

And, I would love to get your tips as well. Use the comments below to share your favorite, best tips for driving traffic to your blog or website.

Related:

Many of my Online Visibility Tips focus on how you attract people to your sites. Read. Watch. Implement.

Blogging Hot Seat - Submit Your Blog for A Quickie Blog Review

Want to sit on the blogging hot seat? I'm prepping for my business blogging presentation at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System event on Sunday. First I'm giving a presentation about blogging, then I'm conducting a one hour blogging hot seat where I will review 2-3 blogs (22 blogs were submitted for consideration by the participants!) and demonstrate how they can be improved and what makes an effective, optimized blog.

You'll be able to "watch" vicariously if you follow the #NAMS twitter stream 10 am - 1 pm ET.

Then I got an idea (actually it was inspired by a conversation with my colleague Rachna Jain) to offer Build a Better Blog readers a gift -- an opportunity to get a quickie blog review... I guarantee I can find 3-5 things on your blog that can be improved so you get better results.

Here's the deal.

If you would like to be considered for a quickie blogging hot seat review, post your blog URL in the comments section and tell me in 1-2 sentences why I should consider choosing your blog.

I can fit 2-3 blogs into my schedule.

I will do a 5-10 minute screencast video of the blog review.

One condition: You must agree to let me post the review on this blog and share it on video distribution sites so I can demonstrate for others how they can also improve their blogs. Without your permission to use the review in public, your blog will not be considered. I think think that's fair, don't you? After all, the investment for a one on one 75 minute blog review with me is $497 and I'm going to gift you real, usable feedback for free!

Plus, the blogs I review will get a lot more visibility which may give you a boost in traffic and the possibility of attracting new readers.

OK, wanna play? I will make my selection next week when I'm back in the office after my Atlanta trip. I'll notify the bloggers I select and confirm your agreement to let me share the blog review in public and then I'll schedule and let you know the next steps.

Submit your blog now!

[FYI - Comments are moderated so your submission will not show up immediately. Patience. :-) ]

Drive Quality Traffic to Your Blog - Audio Program Going Out of Circulation

Heads up! My popular free program, How to Drive Quality Traffic to Your Blog, is being taken out of circulation. I’m going to be adding new content and then repackaging the product for sale. 

After nearly 2,000 downloads in the last couple of months, it’s disappearing at midnight on Sunday, November 29. If you haven’t claimed your complimentary copy of this program, you better do it now. Blog on!

New Trends: Twitter + Blogging = Happy Traffic

David Tokheim, general manager of Six Apart Media, aka Typepad blog services, discusses new blog trends in an interview with eMarketer.

Key take-away:

"Twitter is bridging that gap between blogs and social nets and allowing bloggers to be able to have a good distribution vehicle to publish and instantly connect with an audience."

It seems that Twitter and business blogs are a marriage made in heaven. Live well, blog well, and Tweet often.

Put Down Your Twitter Toys and Get Back to Blogging

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.

Blogging demonstrates true commitment and passion to your industry that you really can’t fake long-term.  Most won’t be able to sustain it over long periods of time with frequency, but those who do so are rewarded in spades and stand out from the crowd.

Twitter is in a sense social sticky notes... It’s snack-sized content. Are you or your business interesting enough to provide the full course?  It’s telling who engages deeper vs. those who simply choose to engage 140 characters at a time.

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.

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Funny Blog Authors Laugh all the Way to the Bank

 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:

• Postcards From Yo Momma 
• This Is Why You’re Fat 
• I Can Has Cheezburger?
• Stuff White People Like 
• Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves

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?

Business Blog Content: Telling Beats Selling

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.

Chris says, "Seth Godin has a great line about websites being for facts and figures and business blogs being for stories.

Is Your Blog Mobile Friendly? Poll

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.