Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

Can Google+ Help You with Your Business Blogging?

I'm still working on an answer to the question about how blogging and Google+ can work together. 

The most obvious "yes" answer is that you can post a link to your blog posts and share with your contacts. I'm seeing reports that some bloggers' traffic has dramatically increased after sharing posts on G+. I'm not sure if there's a way to automatically syndicate your blog feed to your G+ account yet (if there is, please post the info in the comments), but no doubt there will be soon.

Another fairly obvious "yes" is in finding outstanding content by following thought leaders in your industry and by using the Sparks feature.

There's been a plethora of content written about Google+ (get 101 articles and tutorials here), and one I found today about managing Circles (how you organize your contacts) made a lot of sense to me.

Thinking about Circles, I created two Circles that will focus specifically on sharing info about business blogging and online marketing and visibility. You are welcome to be included in these circles. Essentially these will be outbound (I'll be "pushing" content to you) spaces that will get very specific content.

This is an experiment. My understanding is that when I add YOU to a Circle and then post info to the Circle, you will see it (if you're on G+). Only the people in that Circle will get the info. If you're online and checking in to G+ then it will show up in your stream. You can share, comment, question and +1 the content.

If you'd like to be in one or both of the Circles, please fill out this simple form. You will need a G+ account to participate. If you need an invitation to get into G+, post your request in the comments below.

OK, let's play and see what happens. Let me know what Circle(s) you want to be in!

Be sure to add me to one of your circles too...

POLL: How do you feed your blog posts to Facebook?

An important source of traffic to your blog is Facebook. I've observed a trend in social media. About a year ago, most of my social traffic was from Twitter. Now, it's overwhelmingly coming from Facebook.

So, it's a darn good idea to make sure your blog posts are showing up on your Facebook Page (and profile if you use your profile for business purposes or if you have a personal blog). I'm in the "automate" school and have been experimenting with the various applications that pull the RSS feed from my blog onto my page.

I'm curious to know which application you use and why. The poll below does not cover all the options so if you don't see your preferred method listed, please enter it in the "Other" field and tell us about it in the comments.

TwiTip Challenge: Top 10 People You Follow

On TwiTip today there is a challenge to list the top 10 must-follow people in your niche. Last week I posted a list top blogs I regularly read so this seems like a good opportunity to list a few of my favorite tweeple.

I use Tweetdeck to organize my tweets and the people I follow. One of the best features is that you can create groups so you don't have to scan through thousands of tweets to find out what the influencers are talking about. I have a group called "Peeps to Follow", a group for members of my mastermind, and a group for students in a program we teach.

Though I follow way more than 10 terrific people, here are the ones who are active and I often learn something new from, in no order of importance:

Mari Smith @MariSmith
Liz Strauss @lizstrauss
Chris Brogan @chrisbrogan
Darren Rowse @problogger
Jeff Herring @jeffherring
Dave Taylor @davetaylor
Deborah Micek @CoachDeb (co-author of Twitter Revolution)
Dave Lakhani @davelakhani
Sherman Hu @shermanhu
Paul Chaney @paulchaney

Remember, this doesn't even scratch the surface of the number of people I follow (2,401 at the moment) or the people who follow me (3,292) with whom I have daily conversations.

If you're new to twitter, you can't go wrong following any of these folks and learning from them: what they tweet, how they converse, how they add value, and how they promote.

Who are the top 10 tweeple you follow?

Related Post
TwiTip: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Twitter

How to Protect Your Creative Assets

In September Patsi and I interviewed attorney Jay Hollander about how to protect one's creative assets when doing business online. During the course of the interview we realized there was a whole lot more we need to know about this important subject for entrepreneurs and bloggers. So we did something about it...

On October 30, we are presenting a teleseminar with intellectual property rights attorney Jay Hollander. Every business professional who wants to do business online should know the basic facts about intellectual property on the Internet in order to protect their brands and creative works against legal liability.

While dispelling many common myths regarding intellectual property, Hollander will help professionals understand how to handle these five key issues critical to online businesses:

1.    How should one select and protect a trademark?

2.    How does one identify copyrightable creative works and use copyright law to protect their work?

3.    How do you identify and protect company trade secrets?

4.    How do you secure legal ownership and property rights to websites created for you by others?

5.    How do you reduce the threat of being sued for intellectual property infringement by you or those who contribute to your blog, website or information products?

To get more information, and to register, click here. Even if you cannot attend, when you register you will get a CD of the audio program and we pay for the shipping!

Save Money with Open Source Software

Open Source Software: Is It Right for Your Business?
September 20, 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: James Gaskin, Technology is Broken

Business in the 21st Century requires use and some knowledge of technology. But how do you know what's right for YOUR business and how can you avoid spending unnecessary money on the wrong software? James Gaskin will reveal the secrets of open source software and how you can get the right software for your business at little or no cost.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on September 20.

Technology and Your Business: Live Webcast on August 15

Learn how to leverage technology to help your business succeed.

That's the topic of a webcast event produced by Wells Fargo on Wednesday, August 15 at 2 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT). It's free to attend, but you must register to view it and ask questions during the live broadcast.

I'm honored to be a participant on the panel with four other savvy professionals: Robb Boyd, Moderator and host of TechWiseTV, James Gaskin an expert on tech stuff and saving money with low cost tech tools, Russell Morgan, founder of the Information Technology Solution Provider Alliance, and Debra Rossi, EVP Wells Fargo Merchant Services.

This webcast will feature advice from industry insiders on a wide range of business and technology issues including:

• Making Technology Work for Your Business
• Doing Business Online & Tech Trends
• Maximizing ROI on Your Technology Spend

Ask the panelists your questions during one of the live, interactive Q&A sessions.

Hear technology success stories from small business owners — just like you.

Register today and then tune in online on Wednesday.

FlushTV: How to use video for your business...

...any kind of business.  Thanks to James Gaskin for introducing me to FlushTV.com, a vlog (video blog) for a plumbing company in Detroit.

This is a fine example of how ANY type of business can use social media tools like blogs and video to engage their customers and most likely attract new customers.  If you live in Detroit and watch these videos, I'm willing to be the next time you need a plumber, you would call Levin & Sons.

I've heard Robert Scoble (Naked Conversations) say, more than once, that even plumbers can benefit from blogging. And here's the proof. The videos are funny, informative and engaging and I didn't encounter any overt advertising of their services. There's even an element of suspense to a couple of videos about the company's trucks being broken into and what it means for their business.

Watch the videos and then consider how you can use video to demonstrate and reveal the character of your company.

TypePad Page Examples

In the course of doing some research for a teleseminar on  new TypePad features for our Blogging and Beyond Mentees, I was looking for some examples of how people are using TypePad pages.

Here are a few I found:

http://ideaseller.typepad.com/idea_sellers/
http://lutheranzephyr.typepad.com/main/
http://www.kirstenfarris.com/2007/06/you_can_build_a.html - This is an example of how Kirsten Farris built a simple 5 page web site with TypePad pages.

Pages are not dated and there is no interactivity like comments and trackbacks.

Ideas for TypePad pages:
Create a multi-page web site
Contact page
Disclaimer page
Info about your business
A sales page
Newsletter sign up page

Related Posts
TypePad Pages: How are you using them?
TypePad Pages as Sales Landing Pages

Beach Walks with Rox: Clue #3

Today we have the third in Roxanne Darling's video blogs with the clue you need tomorrow for the Blogging and Beyond show.  I hope you're getting a sense of how video blogging can work for you. It's a different animal than text blogging, and can be very powerful. Tune in on Thursday to learn more about video blogging from Rox!

Beach Walks with Rox #427 - 80-20 Rule Revisited

Beach Walks with Rox: Clue #2

Here's clue #2 that you need before our interview with Roxanne Darling of Beach Walks with Rox, on Thursday. Rox is giving clues for a contest in her daily video blog which will be revealed on Thursday during the show. The person who calls in first with the correct answer wins a box of Hawaiian goodies.

Beach Walks with Rox #426 - Survivors Letting Go