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5 Business Blogging Tips

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:29:25 +0000

5 Business Blogging Tips

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you’re an internet marketer or internet business owner, you know that the quest for inbound marketing is constant. And one of the best ways to enhance inbound marketing is to constantly create and publish great content. Great content keeps readers coming back to your blog, and compels them to tell others about the insightful, relevant, timely, and witty things you have to say. It’s your best advertisement for your business. Unfortunately, given everything else you have to worry about, business blogging can seem somewhat overwhelming. Here are 5 tips to get your blogging done efficiently and easily.

Keep an Idea List. Get into the habit of keeping a small notebook with you at all times. When you have an idea that you’d like to blog about, jot it down. If you don’t write it down as soon as possible, chances are you’ll forget about it by the time you get home or get to the office. You never know when you’re going to be inspired to write—in the car, in the line at the grocery store, at a seminar, etc., so don’t assume that you’ll only want to write while you’re sitting in front of your computer. And having a list with you at all times sure beats trolling the internet for topics to write about.
Stop Obsessing. One of the major roadblocks to business blogging is the incorrect assumption that every post should be a work of literary art. Yes, your posts should be grammatically correct. Yes, you should spell words correctly. But you’re not aiming for the Nobel Prize for Literature, just an engaging, relevant, interesting post that your readers will like. Write your post, use spellcheck, leave it alone for awhile, come back and proofread it one more time, and hit Publish. That’s all the time you need to spend.
List it, Bullet it, and Number it. The advent of the internet has turned most of us into scanners. We spend a few seconds scanning blog posts to see if they are relevant or interesting and then move on. One way to visually engage the scanners who come across your page is to use lists and bullets. Listing and numbering help the reader understand from the very beginning how much content your article covers and how much they will need to absorb.
Get the Links Later. Instead of centering your blog post on one or two links that you find relevant and interesting, add the links later. Write what you want to write. When you’re finished, hunt around for relevant links to point to from your post.
Be Wise About Comments. If you want to keep your readers and engaged and returning to your blog, you have to respond to their comments. It’s the only way to keep the conversation going, and you have to keep the conversation moving if you want to keep your readers. But you don’t have to respond to every comment individually. Before you respond, ask yourself if the comment is a question about your post or your product, if it contains a misconception or misstatement about your company that you need to clarify, or if it’s from a frequent commenter or loyal customer. If the comment falls into any of the above categories, then a response would be prudent. Otherwise, let the conversation ball move along via the momentum of the commenters who engage with one another. If you have time, of course, respond all you want. But if you’re pressed for time, be choosey about how and when you respond.

Business blogging is a great form of inbound marketing and can make a huge difference in the success of your business. Don’t put off this task because it seems potentially overwhelming. Embrace the opportunity by blogging efficiently using the five steps listed above.

9 Keys for Successful Business Blogging

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:29:16 +0000

9 Keys for Successful Business Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

It seems that some business owners are reluctant to start business blogs for a variety of reasons. Some are afraid that they’ll burn out and lose followers after working hard to get them. Others are afraid that they won’t have anything to say. Still others are afraid that the time commitment will be too much to manage. If you’re one of these people, stop making excuses and start blogging! Here are 9 keys for successful business blogging.

Have a Conversation. The point of a blog is not to lecture, nor is it to push your products and services. Instead, the point of a blog is informal, informational communication in which your readers can learn more about you, your products, and all that your business has to offer them. By engaging potential customers in conversation, you give them the opportunity to learn to trust you, which increases the likelihood that they will purchase your products or services. You don’t have to be clever or cute, just honest and open.
Know Who’s Reading. What kinds of conversations will interest your readers? You need to have this information before you even write your first blog post. It’s hard to have a conversation with someone about whom you know nothing, so find out who’s reading and what interests them.
Regularly Publish. People will stop visiting your blog if you stop publishing. And even if you start back up again, chances are they won’t be following you anymore. So update your content regularly—once a week at the very least—and comment at least that often as well. You’ll do yourself a favor by publishing daily if you can hack it.
Let Them Know Who You Are. People will be more willing to share information about themselves if they know who you are, so include an “About Me” page on your blog. You don’t need to tell your whole life story, just a bit of personal background and a summary of your professional experiences.
Use Your Voice. Use the conversational style that’s most natural for you. If you’re naturally sarcastic and clever, throw a bit of that into your writing. But don’t force humor if it’s not natural for you. Readers want you to be transparent, and that means being true to yourself in your writing.
Engage Other Bloggers. Read other blogs and comment on them. This is a great way to keep up with what’s going on in your industry and to get fresh content.
Don’t Get Anyone in Trouble. While it’s important for your blog to be conversational in style, it’s also important for your blog to be professional. All of your posts should be professional and all of your comments should be professional. Never write something until you’ve thought through it first. Remember that you’re not only representing yourself, but also your entire company.
Write Well. You’re not in the running for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but you still want your writing to represent your company well within the blogosphere. Use correct grammar and spellcheck everything before you publish. Potential customers will never take you seriously if they perceive that you are unable to communicate in writing.
Follow Your Bliss. Don’t force yourself to regularly write about things that don’t interest you. Of course you’ll occasionally need to stretch yourself by writing about industry trends that may not interest you all that much, but try to stick with topics that get you fired up. You need to learn how to convince others to take interest in your industry, your company, and your product, and the best way to do that is to write with passion and integrity.

Stop trying to think of reasons not to blog and just do it. Following these 9 keys will get you off on the right foot.

5 Keys to Successful Business Blogging

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:10:21 +0000

5 Keys to Successful Business Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

One of the most difficult things to learn as a small business owner using the internet for inbound marketing is how to create good content. Business blog content has to walk the fine line between being the same old advertising spiel and still being useful for marketing purposes. Here are 5 ways to ensure that your business blog will enhance your business.

Optimize Your Content. Every post you write needs to be optimized. That’s right…every post. Start off by determining how successful your content is. How many people read your post and how long did they stay on your page? How did they get to your post? Did they comment on it? Use this data as you create future posts. It can help you discover what kinds of content people found interesting. Finding out where they came from can help you discover what other kinds of information interests them as well. This information can be invaluable as you determine what kind of content you will create for your business blog.
Engage Your Readers. When you readers are engaged in your content, they will react. They will leave their own comments and then direct others to your posts via Twitter, Facebook, or their own blogs. You need people to react because their actions vis-à-vis your posts will dramatically increase the number of people who are exposed to your blog. If the 20 people who read your post simply read it and then click on to the next site they want to visit, you’ve reached 20 people. But if each of those 20 people then tell 20 more people about what you’ve written, you’ve reached exponentially more than that!
Balance Your Content. This is where things get tricky. You need to find a good balance between content that brings readers to your site and content that results in sales. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to help you do this. You need to find the balance that works for your website and your readers using the metrics discussed in #1.
Find Your Own Style. Even if the extent of your writing experience is limited to a high school term paper, you probably still have style rules ingrained in your head. Forget them. Find your own style that works for you and for your readers. That may mean sticking primarily to bulleted content. On the other hand, it may mean using long, flowing prose. But throwing out style rules doesn’t give you license to be sloppy. Typos, bad grammar, and abhorrent spelling make you look unprofessional, not hip. Find your own style, but keep the quality of your writing top-notch.
Toot Your Own Horn. If you’re not going to toot your own horn, then it simply isn’t going to get tooted. When you publish your content, don’t stop by simply publishing on your blog. Post it to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, too. Talk about it among your social network in real life. When visitors comment on your stories, comment back. This can take some doing since you’ll be getting comments on multiple sites, but people will be more apt to come back if they feel like you care what they have to say.

Engage your readers, balance your content between information that drives sales and information that attracts readers, find your own style, optimize your content, and talk about what you’re doing. These are 5 steps to successful business blogging. And while they might take some getting used to, especially if you’re already familiar with traditional marketing strategies, they will pay off in the end with increased sales and customer loyalty. Make them work for you and watch your business grow by leaps and bounds!

5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging

admin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:17:17 +0000

5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Technorati.com recently completed its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, which contains some interesting information about the correlation between blogs and brand building. The report shows that bloggers are interested in talking about brands. So if you’re looking for ways to build your brand, make friends with some bloggers!

Blogging is, at its heart, a place for people to share information about themselves and about their lives. If people have good experiences, they blog about them. If they have bad experiences, they blog about those, too. This includes experiences with businesses both online and in real life. If bloggers encounter a product or service that they find phenomenal, they’ll blog about it. Same goes for products or services that they find abysmal. In fact, nearly 80% of bloggers talk about brands and/or products that they love or hate, and 37% of them do so on a frequent basis. Many businesses have taken advantage of this publicity. In fact, one-third of all bloggers have been asked to act as brand advocates.

This may seem silly given that anyone can maintain a blog. Why should internet users trust a blog over any other source of information? Why are bloggers any more credible that anyone else? The truth is that bloggers primarily look to blogs for information rather than to other sources. In fact, 49% of bloggers believe that blogs are just as reliable as mainstream media for getting information.

The point here is that blogs are a great resource to explore when you’re trying to build your brand. Here are 5 things to keep in mind regarding blogs and brand-building.

1. Blogs are Credible. Some marketers are concerned about the possibility of having their brand show up on a blog because they’re afraid that the blog might not be credible. Rest assured that, although they are often informal, blogs are often seen as legitimate sources of good information. In fact, many large corporations include blog-mentions among the press included on their websites.

2. Blog Discussions are Natural. If a brand or product makes an impact on a blogger, he or she will probably mention it on a blog. Some companies even ask bloggers to review products and introduce new products. Many bloggers already include ads on their blogs, so they will probably be happy to include information about your product or service as well, given that they find it worth mentioning.

3. Bloggers are Bright. As a whole, bloggers are both educated and affluent. In fact, 75% of bloggers also graduated from college and 42% have attended at least some graduate school. More than half of them are part of a household than brings in over $75,000. These are good people to know from a marketing standpoint. They’re savvy and they have a lot of money to spend. These are people you want on your team.

4. Bloggers Read Other Blogs. Bloggers get most of their information from other bloggers; so if you want to get noticed, you need to make sure that you become visible on a blog. Keep in mind that, not only do bloggers read other blogs regularly, bloggers also use blogs as their primary source of information about brands and products. This is obviously a great way to make yourself visible and to attract the attention of potential customers.

5. Your Competitors are Doing It! Since so many companies are already asking bloggers to act as brand advocates, chances are that your competitors are already among those taking advantage of blogs as brand builders. Do yourself a favor and start using blogs to build your brand or you could find yourself out in the cold!

If your image of a blogger is a pimply-faced teenager sitting in his basement writing about his latest conspiracy theory, you need to update your perceptions. Bloggers are a bright group who look to each for information. Use them in your brand-building efforts and you’ll see results!

7 Top Tips for Writing Blog Articles

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:12:22 +0000

7 Top Tips for Writing Blog Articles

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

SEO experts know that one of the best ways to promote your business is to blog. Unfortunately, many business owners are under the impression that blogging takes a lot of time, or they have seen too many bloggers who start out with gusto only to abandon their blogs two or three months later. While both concerns are legitimate, there’s no reason to let them keep you from starting your own blog. After all, business blogging is a great way to build a following and shorten the sales process.

Rare is the sales blogger who settles in a quiet room with a pencil and a pad of paper to write down his most profound ideas. Instead, most bloggers spend their time reading other blogs and interacting with others within their market niche. All this interaction makes it easier, not harder, to blog. Once you’re in tune with what everyone else is thinking and writing, coming up with your own material is a breeze.

Here are 7 ways to quickly generate your own content.

1. Interviews. Find an expert in your market niche and see if she is willing to be interviewed via email. Read other interviews to glean interesting and timely questions, and then ask her those. Most experts are willing to be interviewed because they get some exposure out of the deal, too. And the whole process only takes about 15 minutes.

2. Guest Bloggers. Hunt down an expert in your field who has expertise in an area you lack and ask him to write an article for your blog. Not only will you increase your following by attracting your guest blogger’s base, but you’ll end up ranking higher for keywords that wouldn’t normally generate a lot of traffic for you.

3. Rewrite. Read some of your old blog posts and find one whose lesson remains applicable to your situation today. You probably have additional insight now, so share that with your readers. Link to the old post and add your new insights. Thirty minutes later you have a new article!

4. Have a Contest. This provides a bonus post because you not only have to post information about the contest, but you also have to tell everyone who the winner was.

5. Ask a Good Question. A good question can ignite great conversation. Use Twitter to help build a following for your blog if you don’t already have one. The great conversation generated by your question will ensure that your readers will stick around. Everyone likes to be asked for their opinion. Let your readers share theirs.

6. Use Lists. Lists are great article-writing tools because people are automatically attracted to bulleted or numbered content. Because it’s easier to read and digest, readers are more likely to slow down for listed material than they are for material that’s written in multiple paragraphs. If you’ve found a list that you like on someone else’s blog, repost it on your blog using only the bulleted phrases and add a link to the original. Change the title of your post, of course, but always link back to the source.

7. Aggregator Blogging. Scan blogs within your market niche to find articles that you think would interest your readers. Publish one or two paragraphs from each article, link to the original, and add a sentence or two of your own to tell readers what you did or didn’t find helpful about the article. This is also a great way to start good conversations and build networks with other bloggers.

Don’t forgo the opportunity to build links, network, and shorten the time it takes to make a sale simply because you think that business blogging is too time-consuming. Use what’s already around you to make the process quick and painless, and you’ll see what a difference it will make for your business.

7 Ways to Make Your Press Release Your Next Blog Article

admin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:43:20 +0000

7 Ways to Make Your Press Release Your Next Blog Article

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Internet marketing and SEO experts agree that one of the best ways to market your business is to write regular press releases. In fact, press releases may be some of the most important information you put down on paper. So take advantage of the content you’ve already written in the form of press releases, and turn those releases into blog articles. After all, the most important thing you can do to improve your inbound marketing is to write lots and lots of great content. Here are 7 steps to get you going.

Change the Headline. Press release headlines are usually pretty dry, offering only pertinent information about the content of the release. This is a throwback to the days when press releases came through a wire service and media employees simply scanned the headlines to learn the news. If you want to use a press release to create a blog article, change the headline to something witty or catchy. Your headline should compel readers to continue reading instead of clicking on to the next site.
Take Out the Promotion. There’s no better way to turn off potential customers than to turn your blog into one big sales pitch. People read your blog to learn more about you, not to get the hard sell on your products and services. Your blog should provide information about you and what you have to offer, not become a shameless promotion.
Choose Wisely. Some of your press releases just might not be very interesting if transformed into blog articles. Others that might work are releases outlining industry trends or survey data. No one is that interested in hearing that you just picked up your 150^th customer, but they would like to know about surveys and trends.
Beef it Up. The information in your press release might be interesting, but your readers will be even more engaged if you add your own insights and understandings. Sum up the press release with three or four bullets about why the information is important, or about what difference the information made for you and your business. This will also promote readers to comment, and the more engaged your readers are, the more likely they will be to come back.
Make It Prettier. In addition to tacking on your own insights and learnings, use multimedia as well. This is very expensive when working with press releases, but you can add images and videos to your blog for practically nothing. You’ll find that you’ll want to minimize the amount of multimedia you include in your press release, but that you can enhance the information a great deal when you turn it into a blog article.
Leave Out the Boilerplate. You most likely use a standard format for your press releases that includes contact information for your company at the bottom. Leave this out when you create a blog article from the press release.
Remove Quotes. Press releases typically include a quote or two from members of your company that enhance the information you’re sharing in the release. These detract from the casual, conversational tone that you want to achieve on your blog, so leave them out as well.

Internet marketing experts tell us time and time again that the most important way to beef up inbound marketing is to create and publish great content. Since you’re already creating great content every time you write a new press release, save yourself some time and energy by making your press releases into your next blog articles. You’ll share relevant and interesting information with your readers, and it’s not hard to turn a dry old press release into an engaging piece of writing that your readers will want to share with others. So work more efficiently by using the resources you already have to improve your business blog and increase your business.