I had a meeting with a client yesterday who was getting very discouraged because he hadn’t yet received any comments on his blog. His discouragement meant that he wasn’t blogging as often as he should because he wasn’t seeing the value in it. Unfortunately, this sporadic blogging can lead to a downward spiral which will lead to a self-fulfilling failure. While blogging at first can feel like you’re talking to yourself, patience and dedication almost always pay off.
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Oct
25
2010
14 Basic Blog Measurements
Once you’ve started blogging, you want to know how you’re doing, especially if you haven’t had much interaction (yet). Starting to blog can be frustrating since there’s not much feedback right away. Like other marketing efforts, blogging will be more successful if you measure results to see what’s working (and what’s not). Here are 14 basic blog measurements to help you get an idea of how your blog is doing… Most of these statistics are available in Google Analytics.
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Aug
19
2010
My Favorite WordPress Plugins
I’ve been using WordPress for several years now — I’m a big fan. It makes it really easy to run a blog (or website) and it keeps getting better. One of the advantages of WordPress is the ability to add your own plugins to improve the functionality of your site. Here are some of my favorite WordPress plugins… (for now).
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Aug
18
2010
Just the Right Amount of SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is very important tactic for any website. After all, most people use a search engine to find what they’re looking for online. However, there is such a thing as taking SEO too far and forgetting that it’s people, not computers who actually read your website and then make a purchase decision. The right amount of SEO will follow best practices and help search engines more effectively index and catalog your site without making the text (or site) unreadable by people.
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Jan
13
2010
Your 2010 Internet Strategy – Content Strategies
A lot of businesses are using social media. And producing content. But when you take a closer look at their content (and to a lesser extend, their interactions), it’s all really thinly veiled marketing. While people may or may not mind being marketed to, it’s usually not what they consider useful information. If you really want your content to work for you, you need to take a closer look at exactly what you’re saying and how.
Nov
05
2009
Ask Sazbean – How do I make it easier for readers to share my blog posts?
Reader Sandi asked about how she can make it easier for readers to share posts on her blog (Thanks for the question, Sandi!) She noticed that I have a “Share this Article” link on all my posts and asked about how to add that to her own blog. The “Share this Article” link is added via a plugin for WordPress.
Jul
30
2009
Why RSS is So Important For Your Business That You’re Probably Already Using It
Many people I talk to don’t know what RSS is and so they’re confused about how it might be important for their business. RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, and is sometimes just called a feed, is a way for one website to send out it’s content in a way that other websites and programs can easily read. Most people are actually already using feeds, they’re just not aware of it.
Jul
02
2009
Why Blogging Is Important to Businesses
I was talking to a colleague the other day and she said she had a web developer tell her client that blogging wasn’t important for a business. Shocking. Blogging is one of the easiest ways to have constantly updated content on your website. It’s a way to show off your expertise, have an opinion, and get noticed. I think blogging is extremely important for businesses, here’s why:
Jun
05
2009
12 Ways to Get Ideas for Business Blogging
I have a lot of people ask me how I come up with ideas to blog about every day. It’s not that difficult – I just end up thinking quite a bit about various topics that can also be used for blog posts. Not all the time, mind you, but I do carry around various devices (iphone, pen & paper) to record ideas when they do hit. Here’s some ways to get ideas:
- Read – a lot – Other blogs, Twitter feeds, books. Anything related to your area of business (and some that aren’t) can spark a great blog post.
- Ask – your customers, your colleagues, your friends. What have they always wanted to know about (related to your business/industry)?
- Help – Provide helpful information, not only specific to your products and services, but related to your industry in general.
- Brainstorm – Sometimes just a regular old brainstorming session surfaces some great new post ideas.
- Spark – some controversy – Within reason, feel free to have and state an opinion related to your industry. Just do it in a friendly way, back up what you say and invite others to comment.
- Converse – with other bloggers. Post your thoughts on what others are blogging about.
- Share – links to other sources of information. Feel free to add your thoughts and comments.
- Review – products and services of interest to your readers. Skip your own (and probably those of your competitors).
- Support – take a look at questions your customers are frequently asking. If you have a FAQ (frequently asked questions), take the time to expand on them in various postings.
- Inform – Keep your readers aware of various events, industry happenings and news of interest.
- Create – If you’ve been able to gather some information or data that may be of interest to your readers/customers, create white papers and supporting blog posts to share your findings.
- Reuse – Take old posts and update them. If you do list posts like this one, take them and expand on the individual items in larger posts.
For tips on how to get started, check out today’s post over on Insights Group – Blogging, Are You?
How do you get ideas for business blogging?
(photo by apesara @ Flickr CC)
Technorati tags: content strategy, blogging strategy, blogging, content, strategy, business, marketing
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Related Articles:
- Do You Have a Blogging Strategy?
- 11 Tips for Getting Readers for Your Business Blog
- Business Blogging – What to Write
May
28
2009
Set Your Content Free
I’m still amazed by how many businesses have only partial RSS feeds from their blogs or websites. A partial RSS feed usually just has the title and a excerpt with the hopes that it’ll entice you to click to the website to read the rest of the post. We’re all busy people. I read my RSS feeds in Google Reader because it allows me to catchup on lots of different sites without having to spend the time visiting them all. What makes your content so different from TechCrunch or the New York Times that I should bother visiting your site to read it?
With the proliferation of various mobile devices – smartphones, the Kindle and others yet to be released, it’s important for people to get to your content as easily as possible. One of the easiest ways to create a mobile website is to use a service such as MoFuse or Unity Mobile and provide them with your RSS feed. If you only have a partial feed, people on the mobile devices will have to click to go to your website. Is your website optimized for mobile visitors? Why make people click from one place that’s made for their device to another that many not?
Unless you’re selling your content, why be so protective of it? If you set your content free and allow people to view it however they want, they’ll be more likely to read it, and more importantly, share it. It makes your content easier to view on many different devices and platforms. And it doesn’t annoy people who you want as your customers. Most businesses are selling something other than their content. By freeing your content you get your name and brand and reputation out to a much larger audience, which is much more productive than forcing people into a funnel. Even if you do happen to sell your content, or sell advertising on your blog, there are ways to advertise via RSS or other methods. By freeing your content, you are giving readers a reason to trust you. Which will make it much easier to sell them something later – an ebook, study, webinar, whatever.
Free your content. Connect with your readers. Allow them the freedom to share, read, comment and repurpose what you write. You’ll build trust and reputation and your message will spread much further.
(photo by Shahram Sharif @ Flickr CC)
Technorati tags: content strategy, content, business, marketing
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