Web logs, or "blogs", have invaded the small business community. Just search Google for "small business blog", and you'll get over 7,000,000 results. Blogs offer an opportunity to communicate in a casual atmosphere with your customers, often for free. Once small business owners are convinced of the promotional power of blogs, they often struggle with the next step: what to write about. Or they don't blog about the right things to most effectively promote their businesses. Use the following list of topics to help guide your blogging efforts, and never worry about "Blogger's Block" again!
1. Keep an eye on what other small business owners/bloggers are blogging about, and link to related material in your own blog. Include your own thoughts on the topic, agreeing or disagreeing with the original poster.
2. Post excerpts/tips from a book or Special Report you've written (then link to where your readers can purchase/download it! That's a key marketing concept: make the customer aware of a product or service, convince her she wants it, then advise her where to get it. You can do all that on a blog.)
3. Post links to positive reviews and/or media coverage for your book/products/services.
4. Create your own version of an Editorial Calendar to combat Blogger's Block. An editorial calendar can keep your blogging on track throughout the week: pick a topic to cover for each day of the week and stick to it. That way, you always know what topic to write about on a given day. Figure out what works best for you -- choose certain topics for each day of the week, a certain category to post in, or a certain type of post format (interview, top 10 list, etc). Or if you plan to blog only three times a week, decide to blog on upcoming events on Mondays, company news on Wednesdays, and give a project idea on Fridays.
5. Post a review of the latest resource book – your "insider insights" can help position you as an expert in your field. Or consider reviewing a book that is not marketed to your industry, but has valuable applications.
6. Mention mainstream newspaper and magazine articles that relate to your field. Show how it is making an impact on general society. Provide your own commentary, then link to where readers can get more info on your books/products/services.
7. Blog about upcoming book signings, appearances, classes, workshops, seminars, articles, sales/promotions, etc. Describe what you're excited about, who you expect to see there, what topics you're going to discuss, and where people can go for more information. If you're blogging about a seminar, post a screenshot from your PowerPoint to lure people in.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Can a Blog Help Promote Your Small Business? By Lauren Hobson
You may find it a bit surprising, but blogs are turning out to be a very effective method of promoting your business on the web! Not too long ago, lots of people thought of blogs as little more than a tool for teenagers to journal every mood swing online. But today blogs have become quite mainstream, and people from all walks of life are embracing the technology and finding value in using blogs, especially for business purposes.
So what exactly is a blog, anyway? A blog (short for “web log”) is basically a simple web site with an interactive format that allows users to “post” comments and add new information (entries) to the site. This interactivity is really what differentiates blogs from other web sites. Blog entries are typically posted in reverse chronological order, with the oldest information appearing at the bottom of the page and the most recent information at the top.
There are blogs on almost every topic imaginable, and businesses are finding that having a company blog helps them communicate with customers, get better search engine rankings, and attract a much larger customer base. Here are a few highlights of how a blog can help promote your business online:
- Search engines LOVE blogs because the content is being updated constantly, resulting in higher search engine rankings for your business.
- Niche visitors are more likely to discover your business because blog entries can be very specific, often containing words that might not otherwise be in your web site text. This will attract customers that would not have otherwise found your business!
- Blogs can be organized by topic, making it easy for readers to find topics that interest them.
- Blog entries continue to bring in web traffic 24/7. Like many other forms of marketing on the web, blogs provide content and links that act like ripples in a pond – they continue to be shared, indexed, and published all over the web long after you have finished doing the work.
- Information on your blog can be easily distributed directly to your readers with an RSS newsfeed. RSS feeds automatically notify your readers whenever new content has been posted to your blog.
- You can differentiate yourself from your competitors with your blog. You may even find that your competitors don’t offer this type of interactive communication with customers, which gives you an excellent opportunity to stand out.
So if you’re looking for a low-cost marketing strategy that can help extend your reach, improve your search engine rankings, and give your business an edge with customers, then you may want to consider a blog!
So what exactly is a blog, anyway? A blog (short for “web log”) is basically a simple web site with an interactive format that allows users to “post” comments and add new information (entries) to the site. This interactivity is really what differentiates blogs from other web sites. Blog entries are typically posted in reverse chronological order, with the oldest information appearing at the bottom of the page and the most recent information at the top.
There are blogs on almost every topic imaginable, and businesses are finding that having a company blog helps them communicate with customers, get better search engine rankings, and attract a much larger customer base. Here are a few highlights of how a blog can help promote your business online:
- Search engines LOVE blogs because the content is being updated constantly, resulting in higher search engine rankings for your business.
- Niche visitors are more likely to discover your business because blog entries can be very specific, often containing words that might not otherwise be in your web site text. This will attract customers that would not have otherwise found your business!
- Blogs can be organized by topic, making it easy for readers to find topics that interest them.
- Blog entries continue to bring in web traffic 24/7. Like many other forms of marketing on the web, blogs provide content and links that act like ripples in a pond – they continue to be shared, indexed, and published all over the web long after you have finished doing the work.
- Information on your blog can be easily distributed directly to your readers with an RSS newsfeed. RSS feeds automatically notify your readers whenever new content has been posted to your blog.
- You can differentiate yourself from your competitors with your blog. You may even find that your competitors don’t offer this type of interactive communication with customers, which gives you an excellent opportunity to stand out.
So if you’re looking for a low-cost marketing strategy that can help extend your reach, improve your search engine rankings, and give your business an edge with customers, then you may want to consider a blog!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
How a Business Blog Can Boost Your Credibility Factor By Denise Wakeman
When creating a business online it is extremely important to build and market your online brand. In fact, if you have a business, it is a necessity in this day and time to be online with that business, no matter what your business is, because that is where people are going to find information. And the first step in marketing your business online is creating your online brand. This is what starts you off on the right foot in gaining credibility.
One of the best ways to create and to monitor your online brand is by creating a business blog. What it does is it helps you establish your credibility by demonstrating your expertise, and it helps boost your visibility in your niche, which helps you become known. And the more visible you are, the more credibility you actually have, because when people see you everywhere, they think: oh, this person knows what they're doing; they're an expert in what they're doing, so I believe them.
Now of course, it does boil down to what you're putting out there too. You have to make sure that what you are putting on your blog is excellent content, that it reflects what you do for a living, and you are providing ways for people to contact you and get more information.
Keep in mind that a blog is a place to share and to go deep into what you do so people get a better sense of who you are. And by doing that you're constantly demonstrating your expertise, you are establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field. This helps build trust with that community of readers who then very often become fans of what you do.
A fan is much easier to convert to a client or a buyer, so you want to make sure you're controlling the conversation about you, and the best way to do that is on a blog, because it's your content put out on your schedule about your expertise, and all of that is going to build this body of content that gives you massive visibility and credibility.
It is a process and yes it can take some time to complete and begin seeing results, but once you do you will continue to reap the benefits in your business for years to come. One of the pros of the Internet being a "forever" forum where information is permanent once put out there is that you can benefit from your information being available for all time. This will help to strengthen you brand and build your business in the long term.
One of the best ways to create and to monitor your online brand is by creating a business blog. What it does is it helps you establish your credibility by demonstrating your expertise, and it helps boost your visibility in your niche, which helps you become known. And the more visible you are, the more credibility you actually have, because when people see you everywhere, they think: oh, this person knows what they're doing; they're an expert in what they're doing, so I believe them.
Now of course, it does boil down to what you're putting out there too. You have to make sure that what you are putting on your blog is excellent content, that it reflects what you do for a living, and you are providing ways for people to contact you and get more information.
Keep in mind that a blog is a place to share and to go deep into what you do so people get a better sense of who you are. And by doing that you're constantly demonstrating your expertise, you are establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field. This helps build trust with that community of readers who then very often become fans of what you do.
A fan is much easier to convert to a client or a buyer, so you want to make sure you're controlling the conversation about you, and the best way to do that is on a blog, because it's your content put out on your schedule about your expertise, and all of that is going to build this body of content that gives you massive visibility and credibility.
It is a process and yes it can take some time to complete and begin seeing results, but once you do you will continue to reap the benefits in your business for years to come. One of the pros of the Internet being a "forever" forum where information is permanent once put out there is that you can benefit from your information being available for all time. This will help to strengthen you brand and build your business in the long term.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Increase Blog Traffic - Are These 3 Video Mistakes Stunting Your Blog Traffic? By Keith Goodrum
Videos have become an important blog traffic strategy, and shows no signs of slowing down. There is a lot of people flocking to online video sites like YouTube, Revver, Google Video and bloggers have taken noticed. In fact, YouTube has become the 3rd most visited site on the Internet today.
You can and should include videos in your blog and take advantage of the huge amount of traffic these site attract. This has become too important of a medium to ignore. So, get in there and grab your share of the traffic pie.
But, before you jump in and start throwing your videos all over the place; you should check out the 3 biggest mistakes being made by some bloggers. Here are the mistakes, and what you can do to correct them:
Only placing videos in one or two sites - Many people only use the grand daddy of these sites... YouTube. Now it is smart to be there, considering how many people visit this site everyday. But, many ignore all the other sites, and the traffic they could provide.
What to do to correct this - There are several sites out there that will distribute your video to many video websites at one time. The free version is Tube Mogul and the paid is Traffic Geyser. Traffic Geyser will charge you a monthly fee to use there service. But, if you are on a budget Tube Mogul will upload to most of the major players.
Using only screen capture recordings - Many people like to use screen capture recordings. It is a great way to demonstrate things your are doing on your computer screen. The problem comes is when this becomes the only way
What to do to correct this - Get your face on camera. It's important to get your face on camera. People are use to watching talking head, and like to connect a face to the voice.
Leaving out contact information - If you watch enough videos you will notice many people leave out contact information. It's not easy to find their websites, usually requiring you to look long and hard. Sometimes, you can't even find this information. This make is tough to attract traffic to your blog if you are missing this information
What to do instead - Get your blog URL in as many places a possible. Add it to your profile page, subscriber page and on every video. One place many people over look to add a URL is in the description page.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Goodrum
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