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 »

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 »

Last week I put together what I feel are the first two steps to building trust when it comes to business blogging. “Purpose” gives us direction, and its connotation to me

portrays a reason why others would want to trust you. They believe in your purpose, and they are either striving to go in the direction you are creating too or would like to see you succeed in your purpose. A purpose in a business plan is something people can connect to emotionally and believe in at a deeper level.

Here is the next step…

Appear “polished” when people are looking.

How does “polish” build trust you may ask… Have you ever been to a site where you can tell they shot the images themselves? How about their headshots? Or do they not have a … Read More »

It is a simple formula… truthful thoughts + fans’ best interests = TRUST

All too often, we want the “magic pill” that will give us great blogging results without having to follow the proven path of trust. You know the magic pill… the “8 minute workout”… the “lose fat without changing anything in your lifestyle”… you know that pill…

Here two things that you must do at the start to building trust with your blog readers.

1. Have a purpose and write it down

What is the purpose of your product, organization, or service? What problem does it all solve for the user, or what problem does it help the user avoid? Write these down and use them as your guide. Write your blog to help your reader see your point of view, see your passion for how you can help, and why your … Read More »

If you are blogging for your business, chances are sometimes it’s hard to come up with ideas. I’m going to give you an idea for a blog post that will take a lot of the thinking out of the writing. It will also achieve content optimization for you without much effort. First, this will only work if you are a part of LinkedIn or some other social media platform where you are connected to an enormous number of people who are willing to answer questions for you. For the reason of simplicity, and also because I used this idea in LinkedIn myself (and it worked) I will use LinkedIn as an example for this idea.

The Idea For the Blog Post

First, come up with a question that you can post in one of your LinkedIn groups. There are many groups … Read More »

Ross Furlong of blogstar.co.uk, recently posted a great infographic about business blogging in one of the LinkedIn groups that I follow. With the post, he asked a good question: are corporate blogs an inward facing vanity project or a marketing powerhouse for customer engagement?

*Original infographic posted here: http://www.blogstar.co.uk/our-blog/

Why Do Businesses Blog?
In answer to his question, I reflected on the stats concerning “why” a business blogs. Seventy percent of the responders said that they blog to share expertise, in comparison to the 52% who said that they blog to attract new customers. While sharing expertise is a definite draw for people to read your blog, if this is your ultimate goal for blogging, you haven’t yet internalized the purpose of a corporate blog.
While sharing expertise is what we are doing when we write for … Read More »

I often have the privilege of sitting with a business owner as they ponder whether a business blog would be good for their company. You can see the argument play out in their minds, it obviously isn’t something they had to consider and the argument always seems to focused around two recurring questions.

Is it worth the investment?
Does a blog make sense for what we do?

To answer the first question you must know what the total investment involves.

Total Investment:

Money – Blogging is not inexpensive! Yes, I know you can get a blog running for free depending on what you use… but what about the Opportunity cost of using your time to blog? You may want to invest in a business blogging platform. This takes me to the next bullet point.

Time – Blogs take research, planning, and wise … Read More »

You may think there isn’t much new in the world of blogging. After all, blogging has been around for about 10 years now and everyone is familiar with the basics. However, I recently discovered a new type of business blogging technology that is not only mobile and extremely portable but includes revolutionary commenting functionality as well as Ecommerce!  You have got to watch this video – it will change your life!

Paper Blogs – Amazing Breakthrough! from TOM WILLIAMS on Vimeo.

… Read More »

Use social media and digital media channels to reach me – don’t leave a voicemail

Some people still say “social media is a fad”. In fact I have heard several individuals say they will not advertise or spend time on social media marketing because they do not think that people use it. They think it’s for teenagers to chat with each other after school. But new reports are showing this “fad” is now being seen by business and marketers as a way to influence brands and build their relationships with customers.

According to a new report from The Nielsen Company, in August 2009, 17 percent of all time spent on the Internet was at social networking sites, up from 6 percent in August 2008. And the marketers are well aware of this. Estimated online advertising spend on the top social network and blogging sites increased 119 percent, from approximately $49 million in August 2008 … Read More »