I work with clients on content creation continuously when they sign up to use the Innoblogs Business Blogging Platform. There are 3 main stages that we go through.

1. Implementation planning
2. Implementation/content building
3. Continue content creation and blog maintenance

During the implementation planning stage we discuss the the goals of their content and blog. Also, we discuss the voice they will use to accomplish these goals. These two building blocks lay the framework that we’ll use to be successful with this tool, and not to get lost from where we originally wanted to go!

Implementation and content building is the time where we build up some content for the launch of our blog. The developers are quickly putting the nuts and bolts together so we have time to prep. Since we know our overall goals and … Read More »

Blogging for business is not a new subject. In fact, you can find thousands of articles discussing the benefits, downfalls, and process to blogging for business. In this post we’re simply going to discuss one issue…

Can you build an audience while writing for SEO?

Yes! You just need to understand how to inject quality SEO into a post that is helpful and relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach!

1. Identify a problem/issue your audience is facing.

2. If you have domain knowledge and can speak to this, then move to step 3. If not, do your research to find a solution or come to a conclusion you believe.

3. Write an article as if speaking to an individual in which you’re invested enough to share your true thoughts and feelings. How would … Read More »

Mark Henson is the Chief Imagination Officer at Sparkspace, a company that sparks new thinking with its unique conference space and inspirational programs for teams. Mark spoke recently at the Columbus American Marketing Association B2B Special Interest Group on the topic of business blogging and how to use blogging for your business. This is near and dear to my heart at Innogage because we love our Innoblogs business blogging software used by many companies. Innogage is also the official Sponsor of this Columbus-chapter of the AMA.

All blogging should be designed such that it drives business to you. Of course before you even go down the blogging path, you need to determine if a business blog is an appropriate digital marketing tool you should put into … Read More »

Does your business blog have social share links for easy social distribution of your content? If so, GREAT!

Does your business blog expose how many people are sharing… or more likely NOT sharing your blog posts?  Hmmmm – not so great.

The fact is, most business blogs do not get shared a lot. Why would you expose that fact to readers who come to your blog? It’s like hanging out a banner that says “Our blog sucks and has no credibility! Please leave without reading.”

You work for a business that sells products and or services to other businesses… I get that. After all, that is what Innogage Digital Marketing is! We sell Digital Marketing Consulting and Business Blogging Technology to help businesses improve website traffic, content marketing, conversion, ROI and more.

Your blog gets traffic but not insane traffic and most readers do … Read More »

I am sitting in a session at Content Marketing World by Jason Falls listening to him tear it up on content marketing and specifically on marketing through business blogging.

Many businesses blog but not many really know why or understand how to make it truly valuable.  If you are thinking about blogging or are blogging (but not sure why) then ask yourself this simple question:  WHY should you be blogging. Each time you come up with a reason, ask the same question “WHY” again.  Continue to ask yourself that question until you get to something measurable. Answers such as “because everyone else is doing it” are not acceptable and are also not measurable. You need a reason to blog and that reason needs to be strategic.

[editors note: Jason reviewed our Read More »

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) today released a whitepaper / presentation on 8 amazing content workflow technologies which greatly enhance your content production efforts. We are very proud that the Innogage collaborative blogging tool, Innoblogs, was included in that list of eight. In fact, Innoblogs was THE ONLY CONTENT TOOL recommended under the category of Blogging Workflow Tools!!

The other categories covered were Content workflow tools (4 recommendations) and Content workflow tools combined with writer networks (3 recommendations).

This report covers information about Innoblogs, what it is and what kind of customer stands to benefit the most from the powerful blogging workflow tools inside our technology. It also gets in under the hood to tell you exactly what you get in the areas of workflow, search engine optimization, and customer conversion. It even covers cost and who some of our … Read More »

Organizing a blog that has a number of contributors is not an easy task. There are a few keys you need to have in place before you can be truly successful.

When I first was assigned the task of organizing employees to write content for a blog it reminded me a lot of coaching. As with coaching, you must be organized, have a plan, and bring energy to the task at hand. It isn’t easy writing each week for your employer, and one tip is to really align your team with their passions. It will be so much easier  for you to do your job around creating content if you employees are excited to write. Here is a list of organizational “must-haves”!

List of Topics - I have seen the most success when the blog team meets and builds this together at … Read More »

Comments are a conversation I have with every client when they start a blog. There are always two states of mind.

What if they say something bad or inappropriate… I’m not in control!
What if they discredit me… I’m not in control!

Ok, really most of the blogging clients I have worked with have worries that stem from the lack of control when it comes to all the possibilities that people could say. However, my response is always “it is NO different then having a conversation with a group of people”

Think about it…

In a group of people, an individual could object and make a point against you
In a group of people, an individual could say something bad or inappropriate

It is no different!

Here are three things you can do to create an environment that fosters good conversation. Having a dialog … Read More »

I heard a great debate today at a client site between to executive team members about their blog.

What is better… an RSS subscriber or an email subscriber?

The battle between the team members was one I have heard before. It reminded me of something I read from Michael Hyatt. A subscriber is a subscriber, right? Wrong…

Email subscriptions in the blogging world are the creme de le creme. It is your list, your asset, your gold that you should place into Fort Knox. With an email subscription list you have total control over the messages sent to your readers.

Here is a quick email benefit list:

You can send a message to readers whenever you would like… with RSS you must write a post!
Email in-boxes gain you a higher level of trust with your readers
Email lists can be … Read More »

In my last post I discussed keeping your blog consistent against all the pressures of work we already face.

This week I want to share 3 content creators that should always be in your mind as you go through your day. They might be a form of “zen motivation”… or just quick way you can get your thoughts out to a world that can benefit from them.

News and current public events – This is a “no-brainer”… Grab a newspaper in the morning, turn on the today show while you eat breakfast, or scan your favorite blogs through an RSS feed to find and connect what is currently effecting the world to your blog and business. I have seen great jumps in google activity when you hit on something that is … Read More »