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This Book is Only the Beginning! Online Seminar Series Coming! ................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Remarkablogger Workbook: How to Start a Business Blog .......................................... 6 Who This Book is For..................................................................................................................... 7 What You'll Find in How to Start a Business Blog ............................................................. 7 Who is Remarkablogger? ............................................................................................................. 9 Why am I giving away all my best ideas in a free book? .............................................10 11-Step Process to Starting a Business Blog ....................................................................11 Step 1: Understand Blogging in General .............................................................................12
You Don't Know What a Blog is? You're Kidding, Right? ................................................... 12 Practical Definition of a Blog and Blogging ...................................................................... 14 How Blogs have Changed Recently .................................................................................. 15
Workbook Exercise: Understanding Blogging in General .............................................17 Step 2: Know the Benefits of Blogging for Business ......................................................19
Why You Should Have a Blog ........................................................................................... 20 Blogs are Easy ................................................................................................................ 20 Blogs are Cheap ............................................................................................................. 21 Choice of Designs........................................................................................................... 22
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Blogs are Easily Extensible .............................................................................................. 22 Wealth of Help and Resources ......................................................................................... 23 Better Search Findability ................................................................................................. 23 Blogs Encourage Interaction ............................................................................................ 24 What if You Already Have a Website? ............................................................................... 24
Exercise: The Benefits of Business Blogging .....................................................................26 Step 3: Understand Who You're Blogging For ...................................................................27
Your Ideal Customer ....................................................................................................... 27 Why Bother? ................................................................................................................... 30
Exercise: Create a Portrait of Your Ideal Customer ........................................................31 Step 4: Determine the Purpose and Goals of Your Business Blog ...........................32
Purpose .......................................................................................................................... 32 Goals ............................................................................................................................. 33
Exercise: Determine the Purpose and Goals of Your Business Blog ........................34 Step 5: Determine the Authors of your Business Blog ..................................................35
Choose the Willing.......................................................................................................... 36 Get Samples ................................................................................................................... 36
Exercise: Choosing Authors for a Business Blog .............................................................37
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Step 6: Determine the Business Blog's Policies ................................................................38 Exercise: Draft a Company Blogging Policy .......................................................................40 Step 7: Determine Blog Platform and Blog / Website Integration ...........................40
Blog Platforms ................................................................................................................ 41 What if You Already have a Website? ............................................................................... 42
Exercise: Working Through Blog/Site Platform/Integration .......................................44 Step 8: Design Considerations ................................................................................................45 Exercise: Deciding Factors for Blog Design .......................................................................48 Step 9: Choose Blog Categories and Tags ..........................................................................49
Categories ...................................................................................................................... 49 Tags ............................................................................................................................... 50 An Example of Categories and Tags ................................................................................ 51
Step 10: Write the Initial Content ...........................................................................................52
Conventional Wisdom ..................................................................................................... 52 How Much Initial Content? .............................................................................................. 53 Should You Backdate Your Initial Content? ...................................................................... 54
Exercise: Draft Initial Content Ideas .....................................................................................54 Step 11: Draft a Comment Policy............................................................................................56
........................................60 If a Crisis Hits Before You Have a Blog ............................................................................................... 56 Comments and Blogging Go Together . 65 The 10 Types of Freelance/Business Blog Posts ................................................... 68 5... Now What?....................... 66 2...................................................... 66 3.................. 68 ...........64 Posting Frequency .............................................................. Product or service tips and tutorials ..........Page 4 of 81 To Comment or Not to Comment ............................................. 64 Future Publishing ......................................................................................................... 61 Exercise: Draft a Crisis Management Plan ........................... Request feedback from customers ......................................................................................... Upcoming products or services information ..................... Customer success stories .....................................66 1...................................... News and announcements ........................................................................................ 61 Creating a Blog Crisis Management Plan...................................................... 57 Craft a Comment Policy .................................................................................. 67 4....................................................................................... 56 Problems are Opportunities ...................................................................................................................................... Congratulations.............. 65 What the Heck Do I Blog About? ...........................................................................................................................................................................63 You Have a Blog.................................................................................. 57 Step 12: Develop a Crisis Management Plan ...................................
...........................Error! Bookmark not defined.................................................... What to watch out for from… ........ Glossary ............. 69 8................................................. 70 9.. or process explanations and stories .......................... 70 An Introduction to Gateway Blogging ..................................................................................................................... What to look for in a… .... 68 7..........................................Page 5 of 81 6.................. Related interests....... Product.....72 Your Business Blog is a Gateway ..........................................................................................................74 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 70 10.... service....... Industry news ................
I wanted to make this book something different – something. If you're interested in this book. I also wanted it That's why I'm calling this a workbook. have some real meat on the bone. that means that you are blogging currently for your business or you are considering it. It really works well if you print it out and scribble on it and mark it up. well. but hey: books have their advantages. There are plenty of ebooks out there that are more fluff than stuff. There are plenty of hyperlinks and proper features in the PDF margin of each page and exercises you can complete to help you plan or (such as bookmarks) that make the on-screen version easy to navigate and use. . I know. It features a notes area on the right improve your blog.Page 6 of 81 NOTES How to Start a Business Blog Businesses of all stripes and sizes are taking the plunge into business blogging. compared to many others. Business blogs need to be treated differently than personal or sometimes referred to as pro blogs or money blogs). Not only did I want this book to become a real tool that you could use to implement the ideas contained within it.. remarkable.. That's pretty old-school. professional blogs (where the blog itself is the revenue-earning vehicle.
Page 7 of 81 NOTES Who This Book is For This book is written for the freelancer or business person who is looking into creating a blog as a marketing tool for the business. What You'll Find in How to Start a Business Blog • Plain English explanations of blogging and other terms defined from a business viewpoint. • Thorough. Guides for how to stay on track with a business blog and create content that takes into consideration the unique aspects of business blogs. as well as an unflinching look at their issues and problem areas A step-by-step guide for setting up and managing a business blog. people who know there is value to be found in having a strong web presence. This book is also written for a freelancer or business person who already has a blog and wants to dramatically improve its performance and its ability to meet its objectives. It is aimed squarely at but need to cut through all the buzzwords and marketing crap to get the straight info on the what. . • • blogs. and how of business blogging. easy-to-understand listing of the advantages of business for business. why.
Page 8 of 81 NOTES • blog. called Gateway Blogging. • Exercises and questionnaires to help you think through and plan your An introduction to a better way to frame and understand the function and purpose of a business blog. A glossary of blogging terms • .
and managing a business blog. . software trainer. blogger. You can learn more about me and read my blog at http://remarkablogger. planning. a long-time web designer. setting up. I can help you purpose. and help it fulfill its intended You can reach me most effectively by email at: michaelmartine@gmail. internet consulting and coaching for individuals and companies.com. name of my one-man consulting company.Page 9 of 81 NOTES Who is Remarkablogger? Remarkablogger is Michael Martine. and strategist.com You can also call me at 1-802-465-4242. Remarkablogger is the I help you wade through the blizzard of options and choices when it comes to or your blog has stalled or not delivered the expected results. If you're new to blogging start your blog right or take it to the next level. I offer blog entrepreneur.
would you be likely to hire me? I can provide all the general information I want. customized strategies and help for your blog. it's still just general information. competence. Nothing beats personalized. and insight unless you can take an extended "test drive" of my thinking? And without the trust that is established from that. more about what I can do to help you succeed with your blog. but until you and I are talking about your needs and your blog. How can you judge my experience. straightforward business reason: because it brings me business. But I am giving away enough of my ideas and experience on business blogging for one simple. check out my .Page 10 of 81 NOTES Why am I giving away all my best ideas in a free book? I'm not! Not even by far. To see consulting services.
Sometimes the exercises will help you clarify your thinking. What follows after this is an step-by-step process for how to start a business . and other times the exercises involve writing or creating actual material in the set-up and launch of a business blog.Page 11 of 81 NOTES 12-Step Process to Starting a Business Blog blog. After each step is an exercise to help you complete this step in real life.
Most blogs usually show Usually.Page 12 of 81 NOTES Step 1: Understand Blogging in General A business would be ill-advised to start a blog without understanding what blogging is all about. and may not care about blogging. chances are you already know about blogging. with the remainder stored in accessible archives. clicking on a post's title will take you to a page where that post in its only the most recent posts. A post is the basic unit of content in a blog. The newest post is the first one at the top. and have personal blogs. Many people still don't really know what a blog is. Right? You mean in this day and age. The main feature of blogs that sets them apart from other kinds of websites is that the site's content appears mostly on one main page in the form of posts. and the next most recent post comes after the first. blog. Others simply haven't a clue. You may need to help others understand what is a blog. is short for web log. and why you should have a blog. You Don't Know What a Blog is? You're Kidding. The word itself. . If you're traditionally-inclined businessperson. you don't know what a blog is? Relax! You're not alone. Some people in the company might contemplating a blog for your business. Blogging might seem strange and foreign to a more know about blogging. read blogs daily. and so forth.
and you can click a link if you're interested in reading the rest of the post. Whenever I write a post about something related to Google services and products. blogs are very easy to update. and it is often these Categories are a way to classify and group blog posts. By contrast. It was difficult and timeconsuming to make changes to a website. at features that perplex people. Many home pages of blogs feature only the first few words of each post (an excerpt). but most are only a few hundred words in length. this post format was something new—most Blogs have certain common features other than posts. Blogs can have pages. I assign it to the Google . like a "normal" website. Remarkablogger I have a category called Google. thanks to advances in the proficiency of the underlying technology. but their primary feature is About eight or nine years ago. Your email inbox does the same thing. like how a table of contents points to pages in a book. NOTES The listing order of blog posts meets the needs of people who want to keep up with the latest news. Can you imagine how exasperating it would be to have to scroll to the bottom of your inbox just to see the latest email you received? This is why blog posts are listed newest first. websites consisted of a series of pages linked to from a "home" page. a series of posts. Two such features are categories and archives. For example. too.Page 13 of 81 entirety is the main content on the page. Sometimes posts can be long.
Using a blog involves creating written content (and. Writing blog posts is most often done in a web-based form log in to the admin area of your blog with a username and password. The archiving of old posts Practical Definition of a Blog and Blogging In practical terms. If you click Google. A team blog has multiple authors. (somewhat like writing an email) in the administration pages of the blog. There is often a list of NOTES categories on a blog page. A blog is just about the easiest way going to have a website. Links to a blog's archives are also usually in a sidebar. either in the left or right column. you will see all my posts on Google collected in one place. so that it can be retrieved and displayed in many different ways by your blogging software. if applicable). If all that organization of material seems like a lot of work.Page 14 of 81 category (and to other categories. You can click on any category to see all the posts which are assigned to that category. a blog is an internet publishing platform that's relatively easy to use and manage. each with their own usernames and passwords. Archives are past posts collected into groups by month. which is a happens automatically as a function of the blogging software. audio and video). You . computer program that runs on the web server. it isn't! That's because what makes this possible is that all of a blog's content is stored in a database. more and more.
The ability for visitors to leave comments. How Blogs have Changed Recently I know there are many articles online defining what a blog is. Other the video blog. assign them to categories. essentially. Flash media in the form of embeddable advances in technology alongside flash video have brought about the rise of . This is the reality of doing business today. loyal commenting visitors can form a community based around the blog. you have to put some effort into staying caught up. You write posts. create a list of links to left by visitors. and respond to comments to respond to those comments. new levels of interactivity to blogs. The ease of use and features keeps improving with each new version of blog software such as WordPress. Blogging evolves at a rapid pace. is one of the hallmark features that makes writing. The advent of a combination of technologies collectively known as AJAX has brought about video players has revolutionized how people watch video online. and if you want to stay current.Page 15 of 81 Even if you publish more than one form of media. For many blogs. but many of them are getting old. and for blog authors blogs different from a "regular" website. blogging is. NOTES other bloggers you like (this is called a blogroll).
the most recent trend is microblogging from mobile devices. A widget is a little window or box of content that is fetched from someplace else. posts from a mobile device to a service which broadcasts the posts to people .Page 16 of 81 The rise of tags has had a big impact on blogging. such as Twitter. Microblogging is when you text short who are interested in receiving them from you. A tag is a descriptive word a context with other blog posts that use the same or similar tags. and the tools that facilitate it. but it's finally catching on with a mainstream audience. Finally. NOTES or short phrase attached to a blog post so people can find it and so that it has Podcasting. or using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to send audio and video to subscribers. has also exploded in popularity. RSS itself has nearly always been associated with blogs. Many social and community-based services offer some kind of widget you can put on your blog to show your participation in that community.
1. What is the one primary defining characteristic of a blog compared to a non-blog website? 2. go back into the previous pages and see if you can find the answer.Page 17 of 81 NOTES Workbook Exercise: Understanding Blogging in General Test your knowledge about blogs by answering the following questions. If you find you don't know the answer. Write your answers in the spaces below each question. What is the name of an article you write on a blog? .
Page 18 of 81 3. What is the difference between a category and a tag? NOTES 4. What is a blogroll? . What are blog archives? 5.
But every day. People who read blogs generally spend more • Provides your existing customers with a new window through which to see you–and through which you can see them.Page 19 of 81 NOTES Step 2: Know the Benefits of Blogging for Business Blogging offers some compelling advantages for business. Blogs constantly churn out new content full of keywords your . and yet also lets you bypass directly to your audience. nobody else would be doing it. more and more businesses have blogs. If it didn't. Helps you answer the question: where are my next generation of customers coming from? has previously serviced. • Provides an additional tool alongside more traditional marketing traditional news media so that you can speak in your own voice Increases your company's presence and placement in search methods such as press releases. results. via visitor statistics and/or comments. • Puts a human face on an abstract entity such as a company. • potential customers will using to search online for products and services related to your company. Here are some of the benefits: • Attracts new customers from new demographics than your company money online than people who don't.
By this time. customers. right? Just kidding. better marketing all around. Less expensive and more effective than traditional methods of NOTES • • marketing and public relations. because there are real benefits to blogging. Many more people are blogging now than ever before. As a platform for websites. Why You Should Have a Blog Why should you have a blog? Because everybody else does. and better positioning and branding Blogs are Easy A major advantage blogs have over other forms of website is that they are so easy to work with! I've seen a few other Content Management Systems (CMSs) . blogs magnify those benefits tremendously.Page 20 of 81 Provides your company with the best possible crisis communications channel available. better communications with your for you in the marketplace. the benefits of having a website are undeniable. delivering on them better than a non-blog website can. How? Better search engine optimization. and you want to be cool.
there are plenty of great .blogservicename. Write a title. as are many other blogging your own domain name. it can get expensive. and nearly all of them are waaaaaaaay more complicated to out there. but blogs are Blogs are Cheap Bang for your buck. Joomla and Drupal are free. Blogs aren't that much NOTES work with than Blogger or WordPress (I know there are other blogging systems harder to work than your email once they're set up. repeat. While it's usually better to host your own blog. Blogger and WordPress offer free hosted versions. the more complicated things can get. The more you want to nowhere near the complexity of CMSs like Joomla or Drupal. The cost of entry is very. customize your blog.com Domain names and web hosting are dirt cheap. rinse. cheap. Domain names for the free hosted blog services are can be downloaded for free and then installed on your own web server using as: http://yourblogname. If you need to hire help for your site. write your post. then it might make you feel better to know that even though self-hosted blogs are preferable. and WordPress free? Blogger and WordPress are both free. hit the publish button. but these two are the easiest I've seen). cheap! How cheap? How 'bout platforms. if you are on the absolute tightest of budgets. very low. like this: http://yourblogname. blogs are cheap. but their complexity is often beyond the skills and experience of a beginner.Page 21 of 81 over the years. Lather.com which isn't as desirable anymore (often only a few dollars a month).
often quite easily. Many blogs use plugins. such as the bookmark/email post feature at the bottom of each post. or gadgets… whatever you want to call 'em. but if you're running a business. Choice of Designs There is an incredible selection of freely available WordPress themes to choose from when deciding on a blog's appearance. Custom WordPress themes can be purchased at very fair prices. The contact form on my blog email when you leave a comment is also powered by a plugin. sheer magnitude of themes available out there just numbs the mind! There are Blogs are Easily Extensible Plugins. widgets. You need a professional image and you need control over your site. There also are themes that cost money. you can extend or add extra functionality to your blog.Page 22 of 81 blogs that are hosted on free services. is powered by a plugin. The thousands of them. such as helping my posts and pages . Both Blogger and WordPress feature NOTES them prominently. Your ability to subscribe to follow-up comments via or the listing of recent comments in the sidebar. There are plugins doing things that you can't see. in that's causing you to consider blogging. I'm not presuming what kind of endeavor you're engaged you should host your own blog and not use a free service.
There are free scripts for sites other than blogs. Better Search Findability There is much about a website's design that can either help or hinder that website's search findability. Extensibility makes your life as a content producer easier and more fruitful. but the enormous selection and ease of use of plugins or widgets is another factor that makes blogs an ideal choice as a website platform. and that there is a wealth of often about subjects or commercial interests that aren't as helpful to a information in hundreds of well-written blogs. If you're not a programmer.Page 23 of 81 be more search optimized and fight spam comments. Web designers must also be search engine optimizers at the design level. but help is more likely to be found in diverse discussion forums rather than blogs. Sites that use other CMSs are blogger. There are strong communities around these other platforms. Wealth of Help and Resources In addition to the official help documentation for WordPress or Blogger. you will find that bloggers like to help each other. you could never hope to have functionality like this in a non-dynamic website. or SEO. The biggest . Optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search results is known as search engine optimization. Nearly all such NOTES extending functions are freely available.
and that's good for search ranking. There are a variety of add-ons or plugins for some blog platforms (WordPress. Blog comments are nowhere near as complex as a discussion they respond to each other as well as to the post content. As the blog author. but . especially) that will NOTES help your SEO considerably.Page 24 of 81 factor in better SEO is better content—content that is naturally full of the same keywords that people would use to search online for related information. Blogs Encourage Interaction One of the primary features of blogs that sets them apart from other platforms is commenting. you can participate in and help foster the discussion. Readers can leave comments at the end of blog posts and pages. Often What if You Already Have a Website? Do you have to scrap your existing website in order to have a blog? Certainly not! You can integrate your blog into your existing website with either Blogger the version you must install on your own server at wordpress.com. A blog about a single subject or niche is regularly pumping out new content that contains keywords. forum. and there are some WordPress themes which have been carefully designed for better SEO. But here's something to consider: why not bring the ease of blogging to your entire or WordPress (not the free hosted version of WordPress at wordpress.org).
A and edit pages in WordPress as it is to create and edit posts.Page 25 of 81 website? WordPress. specifically lets you create pages. If it's been a while since you last redesigned your CMS for your entire site. you might want to freshen things up a bit by using WordPress as the . for example. In most NOTES particular page can be set as the site's home page. website. It's just as easy to create WordPress themes. adding a new page automatically adds links to that page in the theme's navigation.
and why? . What do you feel is the most compelling benefit to having a business blog? 2. Which benefit listed above are you the most skeptical about. 1.Page 26 of 81 NOTES Exercise: The Benefits of Business Blogging Answer the questions in the spaces provided below.
Your ideal customer will have certain traits that will make her or him predisposed to do business with you. such as: • • • • • • • Median age Median income Education level Political views Marital status Number of children Rent or own home . It's a mistake to assume that your clients or business and a new blog. And if they're not like you. it's that they don't have a clear understanding of customers are going to be people like yourself.Page 27 of 81 NOTES Step 3: Understand Who You're Blogging For If there's one common mistake people make when they're starting a new who their market really is. how can you know what they want or need? Your Ideal Customer You can create a portrait of your ideal customer. You can put together a list of details about your ideal customer.
name your ideal customer's strongest desire. technographics. these are "nothing more" than marketing demographics and you're looking for as your customer/blog reader? The answer is not things to all to people." The world is too big and you won't reach anybody trying to be all Let's take it a step further.Page 28 of 81 Employed or self-employed (or even perhaps unemployed) Sex (majority are male or female) Computer/internet usage Operating system Monitor size/resolution Web browser Location NOTES • • • • • • • Of course. but have you sat down to figure out what kind of person "everybody. Consider the following points and questions: • In one word. It may one of the following: Achievement .
Page 29 of 81 Belonging Efficiency Productivity Reach Safety Savings NOTES • What does this person most fear? Being a copycat Being attacked Being ignored Being outmaneuvered Being undersold Disapproval Falling behind Losing customers Operating in the red .
They might read your blog. and the like. internet demographics of information on these subjects. anyway. If you hone and craft your blog's content to your ideal customer. You can delve quite deeply into this subject by studying things such as census data. them.Page 30 of 81 Rejection NOTES These represent only a starting point. Why Bother? Why should you do all of this? Because if you waste all your time and money not buy from you. personas. Others will find the content of the blog does not appeal to anything. And that's good. you need to know who you want to talk to. your blog will not appeal to anyone but people who match your description of the ideal customer. The wrong people will customers. Note that I did not say that you need to know who you are talking to—I said you need to know who you want to talk to. studies. because they weren't going to buy . Quick searches online will reveal an abundance The point is. your business will fail. and they will leave. but they won't become focusing on the wrong people.
Page 31 of 81 NOTES Exercise: Create a Portrait of Your Ideal Customer Using the points above as a framework. . draft a short written document that is a portrait of your ideal customer.
Hammering out the purpose of a business blog is one of the most important early steps in the process of starting a business blog.Page 32 of 81 NOTES Step 4: Determine the Purpose and Goals of Your Business Blog One way in which business blogs are unlike personal blogs is that they're is personal. Business blogs need to fulfill a business purpose. Or. A business has a purpose beyond just earning money. the purpose of my Remarkablogger blog is to get me sell more products and increase customer loyalty and satisfaction regarding those products. personal. Earning money is simply the result of a business fulfilling its greater purpose. If I sold products. if you not… well. consulting clients. the purpose of my blog might be to help . A business blog helps the business fulfill its greater purpose. Purpose The purpose of a business blog should be summed up in one simple statement. but they're not personal like a diary turn it around to face the customer: a business blog should meet customer needs. For example. They are personable.
Page 33 of 81 NOTES Goals Goals are what you need to accomplish in order to fulfill your blog's purpose. . and authority in a niche or Provide helpful tips and info on getting the most from company services or products. I've listed some non-mutually exclusive overarching goals a business blog can strive towards: • • • • • Convey company news and events. What I've written above could just as easily apply to a business of one as to a Fortune 500 company. passion. industry. Pass along success stories from customers about how your business has helped them become more successful. expertise. Dominate a niche or industry in search results (hence market and mind share) by becoming the authoritative source for information on a subject and using good SEO. I'm not specifying any size of business. • Become a resource for the media and cottage industry about your business' market. elevating your business' position and brand. To help you choose a direction. Demonstrate knowledge. When I speak of a business blog.
Page 34 of 81 The points above can be combined in any way: all of them or some of them NOTES can be the goals of a business blog. Exercise: Determine the Purpose and Goals of Your Business Blog Write your business blog's purpose: List the goals your business blog needs to meet in order to fulfill its purpose: . everyone else yawn as we reached for the back button. They aren't exhaustive. The first one alone would make me and either.
there are also many possibilities. as they will essentially become the spokesperson for the company. who is articulate. • negative connotations for some people. who often already have business blog authorship possibilities: • plenty to do without adding blogging responsibilities. The choice is up to the author. and who can act as company leader (such as GM's Bob Lutz) or a more front line individual Multiple company employees. With business blogs. ranging from a single author to a team. who can write well. an author can choose to go it alone or join with others as a group blog. The word ghostwriter may have Ghostwriters. but there are many professional company on the company's blog. Choose someone who is a a bridge between customers and the company. This person can be a (such as Robert Scoble was for many years at Microsoft). Business bloggers are not necessarily company employees. Below is a list of some Single company person. who do not work at the company. but blog for the . • people person. who share a common general company blog or who can author multiple company blogs according to the company's different service and product groups. who becomes the public voice of the company. This person must be chosen with care.Page 35 of 81 NOTES Step 5: Determine the Authors of your Business Blog With personal blogs.
There is nothing wrong with hiring ghostwriters to help busy high-level executives blog. and will harm the company's image. Choose someone whose writing sounds . A plain-language disclaimer page is all that's needed. not enhance it. The whole point NOTES behind ghostwriters is that they don't take direct credit and are unknown. Which option is best depends on the size of your company and whether or not company people have the skills or time to blog. either. Choose the Willing Only choose people who are already blogging on their own or who really want to do it. Don't choose someone who sounds like a commercial or a lawyer. The unwilling and skeptical will make for lousy bloggers. This applies to employees just as much as it does to ghostwriters. You don't have to hide it. You can always begin with just one person and grow from there as needed. There's no reason why the second and third options couldn't both be employed. Get Samples Ask for writing samples from your prospective bloggers. but you don't have to draw undue attention to it.Page 36 of 81 ghostwriters who do excellent work.
NOTES Exercise: Choosing Authors for a Business Blog Answer the questions below in the spaces provided. Would you consider hiring a ghostwriter? Why or why not? . 1. Who will be the author(s) of your blog.Page 37 of 81 like they're carrying on a conversation with another human being. and why? 2. like they're just being neighborly.
And when I say "clear." If you're going to join the 1700s.Page 38 of 81 NOTES Step 6: Determine the Business Blog's Policies clear blogging policies and procedures is essential. the blogosphere. customer service issues that may arise through the blog if the blog allows comments. not "clearly this was written by lawyers and you have no hope of understanding it. Clearly state what is unacceptable or out-of-bounds. after all). but that may not be the best thing to do–risk does have • • • • Provide a mechanism for review and approval of gray area topics. Clearly state what should be done if there is any doubt whether or not a topic is acceptable (most of you might take that to automatically mean its rewards. don't publish it. State expectations for posting frequency and length. Clearly outline the bloggers' authority. having mean: plain English that anyone can understand. Explain the business blog's commenting or no-commenting policy." I For a business of more than one person with a blog or multiple blogs. and procedures for . capacity. don't go writing something that sounds like a contract from Business Blog Policies should: • • • Clearly state what the blog topics are to be.
Many business blogging. McDonald's. there is more to this than you might first think. and Stonyfield Farms. and so far the experiences of real businesses that are blogging are bearing blog policies. this out1. can be expensed. Dell. etc. images. and audio/video equipment. (information.). computer. Businesses not in the . obligations: who they should contact and what will be done (skip posts For ghostwriters or professional company bloggers.Page 39 of 81 NOTES • List what company resources the blogger has at her disposal etc. Businesses such as Microsoft. • Outline what should happen if bloggers temporarily cannot fulfill their or employ a guest blogger.) and what. and Google all have blogs. Use the framework above to draft some common-sense business decision-makers are coming to understand the power and benefits of The above are policy points for company blogs–not for employees' personal 1 computer/internet/software tech industries that have blogs include GM. blogs. explain the pay As you can see. but are afraid of the risks. I think the benefits far outweigh the risks. • package and payment schedule. if anything. printers.
static sites Multiple domains or subdomains. deciding to blog opens the doorway to many possibilities and questions. dynamic site platform Multiple domains or subdomains. Some of these possibilities mean taking a hard look at the way way that better serve the company's future. Step 7: Determine Blog Platform and Blog / Website Integration For a business. write a company blogging policy in a word processor. with an eye towards doing things in a new There are several business website configurations. likely conform to one of these: • • • • things have been done in the past. static site Single domain. dynamic sites all on the same .Page 40 of 81 NOTES Exercise: Draft a Company Blogging Policy Using the guidelines above. and your business site will Single domain.
Company employees can add and modify website content using the dynamic. such as finances. By "platform." I mean any kind of software or service. Blog Platforms There are a great many blogging platforms. and many are still static sites. markup language) by a person. page by page. regardless of where that software is located (your . CMS with little to no technical skills.com or products.yourcompany.com. Subdomains are a way to have multiple sites on a single address. such as yourcompany.yourcompany. dynamic sites all on different platforms Domains are the website address names. This is how all websites were Dynamic sites store all their content in a database. Static sites are comprised of web pages written only in HTML (hypertext once created.com.Page 41 of 81 NOTES • Multiple domains or subdomains. Software on the web server called a content management system (CMS) puts the content together as HTML and sends the dynamically generated web page to a visitor's web browser. Most new websites created now are Blogs are the dynamic type of website.
They are: • • • • WordPress TypePad Moveable Type NOTES Blogging add-ins for other CMS's. so that your company blog is taken seriously. This is due to their capabilities and their widespread support by extensive. Some of TypePad blogs into the site.Page 42 of 81 company's servers or hosted by a third party). these are native to the CMS. Create a blog as an entirely separate site on its own domain. However. knowledgeable communities. It's important to go with a winner in business blogging just as in many other endeavors. others allow for integration of WordPress or What if You Already have a Website? Another issue to consider when starting a business blog is what do with the existing site. Here are your choices: • This allows you to have a different look for the blog compared to the off" since it never was deeply intertwined with the main site. you can easily "cut it Disadvantages are that your online presence just got a split personality . main business site. If the blog doesn't work out. there are really only a few that you would want to go with. such as Drupal or Joomla.
though. from blogger. if that's your preference. to company. You'll have to figure out how to making it look like you duct-taped your site. it's not 2001. • Create a blog as a subdomain or directory of the existing site. . You'll want visual consistency add links to the blog from the main site where appropriate without and for good reason: it makes sense from all points of view. You'll have to get the blog and the main site to play nice with each other. but your company's entire website doing this: with only a few tweaks. anyway (hey. and you still have to figure out a way to link to the blog from the main site. • Replace your current site with the blog's CMS.Page 43 of 81 which may confuse some customers. The management system. NOTES customers will appreciate. You don't even have to have the blog on the home page. The win-win in this situation is just got insanely easier to manage. makes an excellent content probably needed to be done. which your blog-savvy This option gives you the chance to do that redesign of the old site that WordPress blog system. This shows a greater dedication to blogging. in particular. to visitor. This is a common option. anymore). your new WordPress-powered site will probably be far more optimized for search engines than your old site was before. between the blog and the main site. There's even a secret bonus for that not only did you get blogging.
Who would you consult with in order to decide what blog platform to use and how to deal with your current website? 2. making it even more powerful in future releases.Page 44 of 81 As you can probably tell. The people NOTES WordPress' CMS capabilities. I'm strongly in favor of the last option. behind WordPress have plans to continue ah… pressing forward (sorry!) with Exercise: Working Through Blog/Site Platform/Integration 1. What are this person's qualifications for dealing with blogs? .
shoutboxes 3. but nearly all of these things have no business being on a business There is still a large percentage of the general population who may be your ignore that which they don't understand. personal. advertising. It's one of the things that makes personal blogging blog. and all other kinds of junk. People tend to generally need are the following: • • items and focus on the content and fulfilling the purpose of the blog. A shoutbox is a small box on a web page in which visitors can type short public messages 3 ("shouts" or "shout outs") that appear in a running list of messages in the box. All you Subscription tools for visitors. Categories 2 A blogroll is a list of links to other blogs the blog author likes or reads regularly. music lists. blogrolls 2. . overflowing with widgets. phases of the moon. both RSS and Email. with the email more visible and prominent than RSS. Leave out all those blog-specific customers that do not know what a blog is when they see it. Personal blogs are like kitchen junk drawers.Page 45 of 81 NOTES Step 8: Design Considerations One aspect of personal blogging that doesn't translate into business blogging is blog design.
" If you're redesigning your entire site to use the blog CMS.000 for a good one. have your theme professionally designed. and not just as a light CMS. It's somebody else.Page 46 of 81 NOTES • • Archives About or author information customize a free theme enough to "make it yours. . Expect to pay well over $1. A WordPress custom theme design doesn't cost any less than any other are plenty of good designers out there. Have your blog Make sure your business blog carries your brand. or for goodness' sake at least shelf or free template. Firefox. There Explorer 6 and 7. Make sure your blog looks great in all common browsers: Internet If you're going to really use it as a blog. Do not just get an off-the- professional web design. prominently at the top. and Safari for the Mac. make it clear that it's a blog. Use the word "blog" or "weblog" theme or template professionally designed. That's not you. Some final tips: • • • Pay for a good stock photography and let your blogger(s) use it to add visual interest to posts.
Because old posts "fall off" the home page of a blog and go into the archives. thus permalink was born.Page 47 of 81 NOTES • Consider using non-bloggy terms. a term that communicated the idea of an unchanging link to a post had to be created. the permalink for it will still work. Trackback links to these posts often appear along with comments in a blog. 5 Permalink is the permanently available hyperlink to dynamically generated content stored in a inspiration for their post. Trackback is when another blogger links to one of your posts or cites one of your posts as the . When a post enters the archives." 4 blog's database. like "permanent link" instead of "permalink 4" and "links to this post" instead of "trackbacks 5.
Page 48 of 81 NOTES Exercise: Deciding Factors for Blog Design 1. Is your current web designer knowledgeable and experienced in designing blogs? 2. how will you find out? . How web-savvy do you consider your customers and audience? How do you know? If you don't know.
Business blogs should have categories. You can leverage your knowledge of that perception in the market . Even for specific products or services. you'll need to decide what they are.Page 49 of 81 NOTES Step 9: Choose Blog Categories and Tags Categories Nearly all blogs have categories and/or tags as a means of organizing and your blog's content. you see what kind of traffic and comment activity your blog gets for certain perceived. you will have a greater understanding of how your business is to strengthen and build on your position. When categories. you only would want categories for the ones that warrant it. and at some their content into the following general categories: • • • • Company news and announcements classifying blog content. with one category for each particular product or service Customer success stories Relevant industry news and opinion A business blog doesn't need a lot of categories. Categories are high-level general classifications of point. Most business blogs seem to divide Tips or information on specific product/service lines.
One of the primary tenets of book The Cluetrain hierarchical system is critical to finding what you want in the material.Page 50 of 81 Another reason to keep your initial list of categories small is to give it room to grow over time. where everything is only a click or a search away. hierarchies are rather than "top down". and people can still find what they need. with tags. make sure to have your web people redirect the old addresses to relevant new ones. Tags Tags are a more recent method for labeling blog posts. You really shouldn't remove any NOTES categories. It's true: in physical media a and granular than categories. But on less valuable. You can think of categories as quasi-hierarchical. but tags are "bottom up" the internet. New products and services will go online and might need their own categories. That doesn't mean you should put any forethought the same tag. each tag acts like a little doorway to grouped information into tags on your blog. things can be quite disorganized and messy. Significant events (for good or ill) may occur in the future and might warrant their own categories. Tags are more specific Manifesto is that hyperlinks subvert hierarchies. Because every tag is a hyperlink to the other posts with . In fact. It's very likely you'll add some new categories down the road. but if you have to.
Page 51 of 81 NOTES An Example of Categories and Tags Say you're an organization coach – you help people organize their workspaces. You also mention that not making immediate decisions leads to on your desk. and their lives. you have written about tickler files before and tagged those posts in which tickler files are mentioned with the tag "tickler . you write about not having a "tickler" file allows for things to pile up on your desk. so you assign the post to that category. But for tags. That's a broadly defined bucket to put the post in. their homes. so you describe a fast way to make a decision about any thing you put If. You have a blog category called Office Organization. In the post. On your blog you write a post called "Top Ten Tips for Keeping Your Desk Clean". on your organization blog. Your primary web vehicle is your blog. any or all of the following could apply: • • • • • • Top ten Tips Procrastination Tickler file Decision-making Reducing clutter clutter.
then when you announce the launch of your blog. and learn more about tickler files. the standard good advice management. really is pretty good: there had better be something to read. so there had better be Many companies have one foot in the old-school world of business empowerment and its consequences. then this isn't as crucial. A good old-fashioned press release can something of substance there to create a good first impression. . If you're not going to make a big noise about starting a blog. But if you're an established business with a bit of longevity and presence in the market. and the other foot is testing the waters of technological drive an initial surge of traffic to the new blog. a reader who hasn't heard of a tickler file before can click on the tag. NOTES Step 10: Write the Initial Content Conventional Wisdom It's been given out as good advice that a blog should have something more than a few measly posts for people to read if you're going to make a big production out of announcing the blog's existence.Page 52 of 81 file". see the other posts with the same tag.
How Much Initial Content? How much initial content should your blog have? There's no single answer to this.Page 53 of 81 What are you going to offer your new readers that will impress them and NOTES convert them into RSS subscribers and long-term readers? Many other great bloggers have written plenty of excellent material on creating initial content for a blog. But think about how much content you'd want to see at a blog before you would ever consider trusting it or subscribing to it. But you can answer a question for yourself: when you visit a blog and see there's hardly any posts older than a Skelliewag) didn't have much content when starting but what was there was month. what's your gut reaction about the blog? It depends! Some blogs (like great and the newborn status of the blog didn't matter. Chris Garrett calls it flagship content. it needs to be written before the blog launches. Whatever you want to call it. My own personal threshold for this sort of thing is usually more than a couple months. There's no formula you can apply. Yaro Starak calls it pillar articles. but compelling content can make for an exception. .
Some bloggers are tempted to backdate posts on a new blog to give the appearance of longevity. Recruit them. Use some or all of these as a basis for creating the initial content for your blog: • Why we're starting this blog . Some of your customers might naturally discover the blog before you've launched it officially. And then what kind of business relationships is that going to make for? Don't do it. it's a simple matter to give your posts date/time stamps from earlier than when they were written and posted. think of these people as allies to help you get started. thing can easily be exposed on the internet. so don't even think about it.Page 54 of 81 NOTES Should You Backdate Your Initial Content? In blogging software. Write them personal emails thanking them for you show yourself to the world officially. This sort of Instead. do a soft launch. A soft launch is when you make the blog public and you begin posting. That's fine. You will be found out. Once you've built up some material then Exercise: Draft Initial Content Ideas Here are some initial content ideas to help you get started. any feedback they might care to give. You cannot fool people by backdating your content. but you don't blare the trumpets from the mountaintops about it.
and how? (Write it like a manifesto) A list of links to frequently searched-for pages on the main website Industry news... but with your spin on it Why people need a (your product or service) What to watch out for in a (product or service in your industry. The list above should give some ideas on how to get started. Even if you don't have a blog. you had better know!) Little-known killer uses for your product/service NOTES • • • • • • • • • You get the idea. yet. you can fire up the ol' word processor and start writing. .Page 55 of 81 Write the About page The number one piece of advice you can give to your customers Tips for getting the most out of your products/services What customers should do if there is a problem with a product/service Convey the vision of your company: what problems are you solving. use this type of post to differentiate your product or service) • • Where the company's going in the future (heh.
to allow comments at all. which will cause positive word-of-mouth and lead to increased sales and loyalty. Every customer service problem is an opportunity to prove yourself and cement your relationship with that customer further. but absolutely none (people who deliberately leave nasty comments to incite you). and they are a . The first decision is whether of them are as strong as the reasons why you should allow comments. There will be unhappy customers. I know that there are some customers who will never be satisfied. no matter what. There may be Problems are Opportunities None of these are reasons not to allow comments. there will be idiots who leave dumb comments. The thought of random people (some of whom are trolls and idiots) or even the competition showing up and leaving comments gives c-level types and lawyers hives. Yes. There will be trolls spies from your competitors.Page 56 of 81 NOTES Step 11: Draft a Comment Policy To Comment or Not to Comment One of the most hand-wringing decisions a company has to make if it's going to blog is how to handle comments. There are many reasons not to. Every one of them is an opportunity to show the world what great stuff your company is made of.
then hang up your hat and go home. and those that do–even if . Comments are a large part of what makes blogging special and appealing. that. And if you don't believe in business. It shows that you care. Craft a Comment Policy But you're going to need a comment policy. it is the lack of communication which has ruined reputations and sunk sales. A comment policy informs your blog's readers what is acceptable in comments and what is not. And if you are smart. If anything. which do not abide by the policy are to be rejected." But for NOTES the most part. don't blog.Page 57 of 81 drain on your time and resources. then you're going to allow comments. Comments you don't like what the commenter says–should be allowed. you will indeed listen and care and take some of those comments right to the bank in the form of allowing comments and reaped the benefits. Having comments shows you are fantastic suggestions and information that you would never get any other way. Otherwise. Those customers should be "fired. because you have no business being Comments and Blogging Go Together My take is that if you're going to blog. problems are opportunities to impress. Many companies have bravely entered the blogosphere listening.
And customer trust is your most valuable Trust is one of the main forms of currency on the internet (attention is the kills trust in a business.Page 58 of 81 You absolutely must allow people to say negative things about your company and/or its products! asset. or hate speech Not relevant to the subject of the blog post Contains excessive links 6 approved or rejected. Only allowing pleasant and praising comments or no comments at all What does a comment policy look like? You can use the one below as an Comment Policy All comments are moderated 6. Comments will be rejected for the following: • • • • • Spam Blatant self-promotion Contains foul language. nobody will trust you. Moderated means that comments are held until they can be reviewed by a blogger and . example: NOTES other). inappropriate sexual content. If you don't.
Moderated comments do not appear on the blog until someone approves them. If your company already has service and billing methods in place. The last point about customer service and billing requests/issues is something that is specific to a business blog. hate speech. and self-promotion are included in the policy. then you don't want the blog to be used for those available and easy billing resolution (see how blogging helps everything?). this blog is not a customer service center.Page 59 of 81 Is a customer service request or a question about your bill NOTES • While you are welcome and encouraged to comment on the blog and we value for customer service issues and billing. You can check out the FAQ or go to our help site for customer service issues. If you're going to blog. Note that the above sample comment policy states that comments are your participation. We have avenues moderated. The usual points about spam. you had better have decent customer service . purposes. This gives you an opportunity to screen comments for violations of your policy before they appear on the blog.
hoping for the latest information freshly posted only minutes ago just A company blog is probably the best crisis management tool you will ever have. your company will experience a crisis. During any kind of crisis. not by their badly designed bike locks. channels are going to hurt you. Dell learned this the hard way when Kryptonite bike locks learned this the hard way when it was discovered that their locks could be compromised with a simple ball point pen. Stony silence and traditional communications they started handing out grenades cleverly disguised as latptop batteries. Big time. tell me: where will people go in order to learn what's going on? That's right: your website. It could be a natural disaster in your website. And what will they see when they arrive at your like they get on so many other websites? service crisis. It could be a customer region. Kryptonite's response was to shove its collective head further into the sand.Page 60 of 81 NOTES Step 12: Develop a Crisis Management Plan Sooner or later. It could be a financial crisis. people will eagerly wait for every post that updates them on the situation. Whatever it is. Their reputation was ruined. but by the way they so poorly handled the crisis. . and video of it spread across the internet.
Page 61 of 81 NOTES If a Crisis Hits Before You Have a Blog Even if your company has never had a blog before. through to the end. Manage the crisis your site. If you want your multiple bloggers to cover the crisis. I'm adverse to bringing lawyers into anything about blogging. If your company has multiple bloggers. what Normally. just as importantly. then have the other bloggers link to the main source of crisis information and then defer to that source. Put a big fat link to it from your home page. Set up a central information hub for your bloggers through email or RSS. Especially if their advice will . That doesn't mean it will be any good or that you have to follow it. and then you can figure out what to do with the blog and Creating a Blog Crisis Management Plan • Decide who is going to do the crisis blogging. if a crisis hits. you're not going to say. • Decide what you're going to say and. but in a crisis you may want their advice. but you want only one voice to be the official source during the crisis. whip through the decisions I'm going to outline below and set up a blog immediately. then make sure they have access to information so that nobody is posting at cross-purposes with each other or with the company.
you customers how awesome you can be by how you respond to and handle biggest chance to impress. time and manpower being two of them. When the shit hits the fan is your suggest you take that chance. The most important NOTES thing is to talk to people through your blog like you are a human being and your audience members are. be polite but firm and ask Decide whether you're going to allow comments during the crisis. However. Depending on the nature of the crisis situation. too. Inform your traditional media contacts that crisis information will be available from the blog. to win them for life. I Use traditional media to your advantage.Page 62 of 81 cause you to lose customers and create an even worse public relations nightmare. If someone pushes you to speak for their understanding and patience. you may want to temporarily turn off commenting. If you really get blogging. get new lawyers who understand the internet and the new rules. and that they can treat each post as a press release. There may be perfectly good will be missing out on the greatest opportunity to really show your comments on crisis blog posts. If they tell you not to say anything at all. • to something you've decided not talk about. you will of course allow comments on your company blog. . • reasons to do so. to win people over.
. resist the urge to write a crisis management plan that locks down communications. Most importantly. Make sure you're prepared: upgrade your hosting service or your own equipment if you maintain in-house. I have one word for you: Mattel. and silence is your enemy. Exercise: Draft a Crisis Management Plan Write your business blog's crisis management plan according the guidelines above. contact them know they'll need to be able to handle a spike. Mattel can't. NOTES • You may not have had all that much traffic before. but a crisis can send a tsunami of traffic that will crash your web servers in no time flat. Don't you feel safer If you think all of this sounds overly serious. your hosting representative immediately when the crisis starts and let already for your kids? Me neither. Doing this often forces people to think about things they don't want to. Here is their recall page. What a bunch of corporate crap. It may seem counterintuitive. If you pay for hosting.Page 63 of 81 Make sure your web servers can handle the traffic surge. Can you imagine how powerful a blog would be for this? How it could win people's trust back even stronger than before? Apparently. Ride the discomfort—it won't last long. but open communications during a crisis are your friend.
Now you have a blog Posting Frequency You or your bloggers keep writing. Go for quality. you should expect them to post as often as your particular bit of heavy lifting yourselves. What next? but that too much like quitting something. not starting!). the more frequently you need to post. posting every day may not be possible.Page 64 of 81 NOTES You Have a Blog. but a small one can usually only offer one or the other. You could get away The stronger the online component of your business is. but three times a week would be much better. with once a week. . It's best if you can post every day. contract with them specifies. If you have hired professional bloggers. If you and/or a few compatriots are doing that A big team blog can offer quantity and quality. the less frequently you need to post. Now What? You've followed the 11-step plan (there were originally going to be 12 steps. Congratulations. Keep blogging. The stronger the offline component of your business is. if necessary. with some initial core content.
your blog relies heavily on current events and timely news.. keep reading. If you'll be using much. .. which just so happens to be the next section. this isn't an option What the Heck Do I Blog About? This is so important it gets a whole section. holidays.Page 65 of 81 NOTES Future Publishing Some blogging platforms (such as WordPress) offer the ability to write a post and publish it at a predetermined date and time in the future. so please. or even during the blogger's vacation. This way. you can publish on weekends.
Page 66 of 81 NOTES The 10 Types of Freelance/Business Blog Posts Business blog posts generally fall into one of 10 types. the customer success story. or cheaper than without you. you and others in your company are the foremost experts on your own products or services. business faster. or cheaper. because it sells without the "hard" sell. So you want to tell stories about how your 2. When you're trying to write for your business blog and you feel a little stuck (or if you're new to posts to use as a guide. better. you can just pick one of these 10 types of business blog 1. Customer success stories One of the most powerful types of posts you can write for a business blog is other people are concerned. business blogging). You . you are in business to help them. better. you could go as far as to say that your business helps others do their business has helped others do their business faster. Product or service tips and tutorials Keep your customers informed with your blog. As far as In fact. Chances are.
we can look to Microsoft as an example. Before Office 2007 was publicly available. lately. Customers very well be early adopters of your company's products or services. It helps reward loyalty and spread your marketing message and brand at the same time. 3. These are people whom Seth Godin calls "sneezers". of mouth marketing without even being asked to. It Microsoft has become very good at this. developers at Microsoft previewed the new interface and new functionality. They spread your "ideavirus" Providing some information on upcoming products and services makes your business blog a place of excitement and anticipation. Office 2007 which helped to build buzz about Office 2007 before it was released. informed.Page 67 of 81 want your customers to be loyal. teasers. and prone to brag about you. also helps you create scenarios in which customer success stories can happen. focus group/survey invites. Again. Upcoming products or services information Use your business blog to provide your readers with sneak previews. NOTES Keeping them educated with constant tutorials and tips helps you do that. . and other buzz-builders. it was available as a beta (test) version. They are the ones who can do word to others. who frequent your blog — especially those who frequently comment — may beta invites.
Page 68 of 81 NOTES 4. place it high on the list. People who feel strongly enough to take the time to leave a comment (good or bad) are a precious resource for your business. Request feedback from customers Your business blog is a much better avenue than surveys and focus groups for getting feedback. News and announcements Reporting news and announcements is often the first type of business blog post that comes to most people's minds. and that's why I deliberately did not and get you thinking about them. Industry news Position yourself as a leader in your industry by relating industry news to your customers. 5. because it costs nothing to get what may be the most intelligent. but likely your most valuable insights will come from comments to the post. valuable feedback you can have. I wanted to you get some exposure to other post ideas 6. You can use blog polling services or plugins to provide some graph-able structure to the feedback. Tell them why it's important for them to know this. how it affects . Why? Precisely because of the reasons most people would say "no way" to such an idea: it's messy and impossible to graph.
If you sold with your unwanted "marketing messages") puts them in control of a purchase aftermarket performance parts for cars. What to look for in a… This is a classic educated customer type of post. Objectivity is not possible and most people know this. the smarter your educated customer is our best customer. You need to show modesty and humility and NOTES posts. In the so-called information age we decisions will be. With type of post. Educated people who are experts. sell themselves on your products because you deal with them more as equals .Page 69 of 81 them. and don't sell in these want your readers to trust you. Educating your customers (as opposed to bombarding them process that engenders confidence by being knowledgeable. Don't go for the hard sell. you can't sell to someone who doesn't understand what's so great about your products unless you can educate them about performance and quality. 7. but remember some important points: don't bash your competition — say nice things about them. That helps reinforce the notion that they made the right decision by going with your products or services. but trust is. being opinionated is okay. the better-educated you are about something. Your customers want to know that you are aware of the big picture and that you're looking out for them. There's an old saying: an live in. You refrain from bragging or selling.
you cold write a post called "What to Watch Out for from Cheap Parts Computer Companies. Related interests If you sell outdoor gear then you should blog about trips you take. This is part of the new . You will see this type of post from 9.Page 70 of 81 NOTES 8. or process explanations and stories Consumers want to know your process because they want to trust you. Helps to build trust because you're looking out for your customers. service. Product. They really do. because its effect quickly wears off with repetition. You can only use a post of this type occasionally. 10." look like you're just fear-mongering. For instance. custom-built computer workstations. if you sold expensive. If you sell diapers then you should blog about parenting and your own experiences as a parent. and they will if you give a reason. You're relating to your customers by blogging about related interests you have in common with them. This is a benefit you get when you target a niche demographic rather than just a niche product. and you will someone who sells higher end products and services. What to watch out for from… Used judiciously. this type of business blog post implies that you're not doing these things — and others might be.
Page 71 of 81 transparency and openness in business. Consumers want to know where what they buy comes from and how it's made. Tell your customers where your materials come from, how things are made,
how your service processes are structured. Inform, inform, inform. Educated the story and anyone will "see" increased value in the product or service.
customers really are the best customers. And yet, you can do a great job with For example, I could show you a plain spice jar labeled Cinnamon. And I could show you an unusually shaped and designed jar that contained Moroccan cinnamon from a particular region where the soil is the best possible for family for generation after generation and blah, blah, blah. growing amazing cinnamon and this cinnamon is processed by the same Which one would cost more? Nearly everyone would say the second jar would cost more. How do you know the first jar didn't have the same kind of cinnamon in it? It depends on the story I tell. Now, I am not suggesting for
even a moment that you make things up that aren't true. Think about it this way: if your products or services don't have any good stories behind them, maybe there's something else deeply wrong with your business that a blog to tell the best stories about your products. And here's what is especially comments and in some cases even on their own blogs.
ain't gonna fix anyway. But otherwise, a blog is one of the best ways you have amazing about this: your customers will tell great stories, too, in the form of
Page 72 of 81 The previous 10 types of business blog posts will serve you in good stead for a long time. You can literally just pick one and start writing. It's a formula for always having something to blog about.
But to really make your business blog do what it was designed to do, which is way that recognizes the differences between business blogging and other kinds of blogging and that serves the needs of a business blogger. To do this, I have coined the term Gateway Blogging.
further your business, we need to reframe how business blogging is done in a
An Introduction to Gateway Blogging
activities so that the blog supports the business, and not the other way around. Gateway blogging is a term I created that helps to frame business blogging
and the like are more likely to have a blog as our main website than larger
Those of us who are running small companies, micro-businesses, micro-ISVs 7,
companies. We understand the importance of blogging generally, but it's easy
to get lost in the minutia and distractions of blogging. We forget that the blog
a handful of people at the most) who develop custom software solutions for their clients.
Micro-ISV is a micro independent software vendor, which is a very small company (often only
Page 73 of 81 is really the tip of a wedge of paid products or services. Because directly nature of blogging lead us away from the purpose of the blog.
selling or pushing product on the blog is a turn-off, it's easy to let the indirect
Page 74 of 81
When blog posts go below the cutoff threshold for being
displayed on the home page (usually 10 posts, but the number can vary) they are automatically placed in the archive. Archives are often grouped by month.
chronological order.
A web publishing platform that displays content in reverse
One who blogs. Also, a blogging platform owned by Google at http://blogger.com.
Writing on a blog. Can be used as a substitute for the word about our new product."
"writing" when applied to a blog. For example, "I'm blogging
The world of blogs and bloggers. For example, commenting is a common occurrence in the blogosphere. Another example: transparency and openness are highly valued in the blogosphere, and was all the buzz. blogosphere. Another example: the news shot across the
A list of links to other blogs a blogger reads or admires.
Clicking on a category takes you to a page that collects all the CMS Content Management System. . advertising or affiliate sales content which is unrelated to the Comment spam Comment troll A person who deliberately attempts to incite anger or a reaction from the blogger in comments. A program on a web server that uses a database to store website content and information. and attached to the post so that all of a post's comments come aspects of blogging that makes blogging different than other Comment moderation Submitted comments are held until they can be reviewed by a blogger and approved or rejected. Comment policy A set of guidelines for what kind of comments on a blog are acceptable and what kind of comments might be disallowed. Comment A reaction or opinion written by a visitor and reader of a blog. Comments left by software programs or by real humans for purpose of creating links back to sites that have heavy blog post. Comments are one of the unique kinds of websites. Allows people to create and update website content themselves.Page 75 of 81 NOTES Category A broad label for the various subjects for a blog's content. after the end of the post. posts assigned to that category.
Domain Draft A website name. Drupal Dynamic site A CMS that is more complex than most blogging platforms. The most popular database system for blogs is MySQL.com. Examples of 2007. HTML Hypertext Markup Language is the computer language that web . such as blog posts and podcasts. Ghostwriter For blogging. A blog post that has been started but which hasn't been published. A website whose content is stored in a database and served via a program that converts the data into web pages and sends them to a web browser.Page 76 of 81 NOTES Database A system to store and organize information (data) electronically on a computer. Feed reader Software that receives and allows a user to consume information via RSS feeds. Allows you to write posts in advance. Google Reader. feed readers are: Internet Explorer 7. Firefox. and Bloglines. such as remarkablogger. Microsoft Outlook Future publishing Setting a blog post to automatically publish at a future date and time. a paid professional blogger who blogs as another person in a company.
and internet marketing. . the only way to link on a blog post in a way that stays correct after time passes is to link to a post's permalink. Money blog A blog about how to make money. often from mobile devices. blog's post. in fact. advertising. A newer form of blog that features very short posts. which is a very small company (often only a handful of people at the most) who develop custom software solutions for their clients.Page 77 of 81 pages are written in. The blogging software does this automatically. Because blog posts MoveableType Niche Permalink move off the home page and end up in an archive. In blogging. pingbacks. NOTES Micro-ISV A micro independent software vendor. usually online via affiliate sales programs. a niche is a very specific overall topic for a blog. Microblogging services include Twitter and Pownce. A blog software platform. Joomla Microblog A CMS that is more complex than most blogging platforms. Pingback A trackback that is created when a blogger links to another What most people call trackbacks are. Combination of the words permanent link.
paid reviews/posts. Problogger Person who earns a living blogging: Pro. RSS people who subscribe to them using special software that receives RSS updates (called feeds). or marketing. SEO Search Engine Optimization. Although media available to subscribers. RSS is a way to send updates to example of such software (see the entry for Feed reader).Page 78 of 81 NOTES Plugin A small program that extends or enhances the functionality of a WordPress blog. The act of making a post also sometimes said to be posted. the name has stuck. and blogger. Google Reader is an Really Simple Syndication. available for everyone to read is called posting. People subscribe using software such as iTunes or Google Reader. Podcasting is a way to make audio or video A combination of the words iPod and broadcasting. Comments are Pro blog Blog that makes money through internet advertising sales. Post The main unit of content on a blog. Podcasting uses RSS to send updates to subscribers (see the entry on RSS). The practice of designing websites and content to rank better in search results. . as in professional. Podcasting podcasting has little to do with Apple's iPod media player.
com or products. Tags are similar to Trackback When another blogger links back to a post on your blog and manually pastes in the URL of your blog post into the trackback .com and http://stumbleupon.yourcompany. Tag usually shows all posts with the same tag. Subdomain A way to have multiple sites on a single address. Short descriptor for content in a blog post. but are more granular in detail. Splogs are automated blogs that make money for their owners via advertising or affiliate sales. such as http://digg. The practice of designing websites to make it easy for people to spread word about content they like through various social media services.com. such as finances.Page 79 of 81 NOTES SMO Social Media Optimization. and often have stolen (scraped) content from other blogs.yourcompany. Soft launch Making a blog publicly available but not announcing it. This gives you a way to build content and get feedback from the small number of initial visitors. Clicking on a tag categories.com. Splog A combination of spam and blog. Static site Website made up of HTML pages on the server which are delivered to web browsers as they are.
in which full disclosure and a lack of any deception are the rule. A person who runs a vlog is a vlogger.com. Many people don't like the words vlog or vlogger and prefer video blog instead. Widget A small unit of content that often fetches data from another website. Learn more at http://typepad. . widgets are units of content in via drag and drop.org. Transparency A business value growing in popularity. rather than written posts. Learn more at http://wordpress. NOTES TypePad Vlog A blog software service. On a WordPress blog. the sidebar of the blog that can easily be created and managed WordPress A blog software platform. Combination of Video and Blog (itself a combination of web and log). Vlogs feature video as their primary form of content.Page 80 of 81 field.
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Star Tracks
Stefani and her little man put their heads together in Santa Monica, Calif. Plus: Natalie Portman, Ben Affleck, Katie & Suri and more
Credit: X17online
Updated: Monday Aug 27, 2012 | 06:00 AM EDT
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subset: commoncrawl


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Carson White Pages (ND)
Find People in Carson
Carson Phone Directory
Latest Phone Numbers Searched in Carson, ND. Use the box at the top to search the Carson White Pages for the owner of any phone #.
701-522-3477 - Owen Wells , 9262 56th Ave SW (19 hours ago)
701-622-3275 - Grant County Auditor , 106 2nd Ave NE (1 day ago)
701-622-3613 - Grant County States Attorney , 106 2nd Ave E (1 day ago)
701-622-3333 - Hunter's Haven , 401 Grant St (3 days ago)
701-622-3505 - West River Head Start , 302 Montana St (3 days ago)
701-622-3544 - Grant County Register Of Deeds , N Main St (3 days ago)
701-622-3422 - Grant County Treasurer , 106 2nd Ave NE (3 days ago)
701-622-3033 - Carson City Shop Building , 100 S Main St (4 days ago)
701-622-3691 - County Shop , 402 4th Ave E (4 days ago)
701-622-3677 - Hertz Brothers Inc , 211 N Main St (4 days ago)
Other Phone Numbers in Carson
Unpublished Carson Phone Numbers
The City of Carson is Located in the state of ND. We have compiled the ultimate Database of phone numbers from around the state and country to help you locate any lost friends, relatives or family members. We offer the ability to search by first name, last name, phone number, or business name. We make it easy for you to find anyone, anywhere in Carson, ND.
Area Codes in the Carson, ND Region: 701
Go Back To: North Dakota White Pages
Go Back To: North Dakota White Pages


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Classy Unit Under $200,000 Open To Offers
Hope Vale1 bedroom 1 bathroom
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Port Douglas Lifestyle Property Overlooking Macrossan St
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We have 16 apartments results matching this search today, 87 in the past week, 157 in the past fortnight and 261 in the past month.
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