Entries Tagged 'bloggers' ↓
November 21st, 2008 — audience, bloggers, public relations, reputation, writing style
The first two part of this series discussed a semi-recent post made by Matt Cutts, that covered a few things that corporate bloggers need to know. The last point that we’ll cover in this series is what Matt had to say about blogging angry. There is some very powerful information and insight in his post, and we felt it deserved to be expanded upon in greater detail.
Business owners and corporate bloggers are human, and as such, we are subject to emotions. It is easy to get angry and fire off a few heated blog posts. What is not easy is to undo the damage that has been done. While you may be able to delete a bad post off of your blog, you’ll never be able to delete it from your reader’s minds. Posting angry is something that many of us have been guilty of in the past, but few stop to think about how this can affect them in the future.
The urge to vent to your audience and receive a few pats on the back can be very strong, especially when you’ve had a bad day. Whether you feel you have been treated unfairly, or a competitor is giving you a hard time, it is all too easy to lash out on your blog. This rarely works out the way that you plan however, and unless you want your blog to be associated with your rants, there are a few things that you need to do first.
1. Think before hitting the publish button.
As Matt suggests, never fire off a post and hit publish right away. You need to walk away from the situation for a few minutes to get a better perspective. In fact, after you cool down, you may wonder why you got so upset in the first place. If you haven’t hit post, no one will be the wiser to your problem or your outburst.
2. Think about how your readers will react to your post now - and how future readers will react to it.
You’d be surprised at what gets indexed by search engines. Let’s say that you fire off an angry post, and then forget about it. Six months from now, someone searching for information about your company stumbles across this post in a search. The first thing they see about your company is an ugly rant - what impression do you think that will give? You’ve got to look at the big picture, which isn’t easy when you are upset. That’s where the first point comes in.
3. Will the post tarnish your image, or the image of your company.
It’s one thing if readers think you are a blowhard, but how will that trickle down to your company? You are representing the face of your company through your corporate blog. Do you really want the public to see that face when it’s angry? Think about the consequences before you post, and remember that you are responsible for how others view you in many cases.
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November 19th, 2008 — RSS Feed, bloggers, blogosphere, comments, social bookmarking sites, web traffic
Whether you are just getting started in corporate blogging, or you haven’t been paying much attention to other bloggers, the so-called “blogosphere” can be a little confusing. There are literally thousands, if not millions of blogs out there, and if you’re trying to network through them, the task can be a bit overwhelming. There are a few tips however that can help you learn to navigate successfully through the blogosphere.
What is the blogosphere?
It is a term that was coined to describe the intertwining of blog sites, the general atmosphere of the community and the fact that bloggers are really in their own little world. You can become a member of the blogosphere just by becoming a coporate blogger, but you’ll need to know a few things before you get started. Otherwise, your best efforts may just be shooting yourself in the foot.
The first place to start is understanding RSS feeds, and social networking sites. If you don’t have the basics down for these two very important items, everything else may be more complicated than necessary. Take some time to go through places like Digg.com, Technorati, and Twitter to see what is going on. Chances are, you’ll be able to come up with some great ideas for your own blog during this process.
Next, you’ll want to start thinking about setting up some great relationships with other bloggers. This has many added benefits, such as being able to write a guest post for another blog (or having someone do the same for you) and you’ll be building up some strong contacts that will help you increase your traffic and your exposure. Take the time to hunt down other blogs in your niche and start by leaving thoughtful comments in their blog section, making sure to leave your URL.
This is quiet marketing, but it can be very successful. Once you have your own little network built up through your contacts, you should find that your traffic increases as a natural result. This is particularly true if you are utilizing social networking sites to promote your blog.
Remember, you don’t necessarily have to promote just your blog. You can develop a reputation as a valued contributor by sharing good links with your network and involving them in your blog. Try to keep your promotion efforts as quiet as possible, to avoid being labeled as a spammer. People in the blogosphere have a very low tolerance for behavior like this and you can quickly develop a reputation that is very hard to shake.
Taking the time to become a valued member of the blogosphere is time well spent. This is your opportunity to develop yourself as an authority on your subject of choice, and to build up real relationships with your readers and with other bloggers. By reaching out to them and becoming an active participant in social networks, comment sections and forums, you can start to grow your corporate blog very quickly and with little extra effort.
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November 17th, 2008 — bloggers, content, news, public relations, reputation, web traffic
In part one of this series we discussed a post made by Matt Cutts on corporate blogging. We went over the first point he made in his post, regarding leaving yourself wiggle room on deadlines. Now, let’s go over the second point, about how to handle yourself when dealing with or talking about a competitor. As Matt put it, never trash talk a competitor - but what does that really mean?
Most corporate bloggers are savvy enough to understand that trash talk has no place in a blog. Even if you are riding high on success and you have the world at your feet, there is no need to even mention your competitors. Trash talking them will actually end up hurting you more than them and once you leave a bad taste in your audience’s mouth, getting rid of it is nearly impossible. Let’s illustrate this point with a scenario.
Let’s say that Business Owner A has a corporate blog that gets a good deal of traffic and covers company news, as well as a few other topics. On Monday, Business Owner B decides to start an ad campaign that will directly effect the revenue of Business Owner A. The first reaction for many is to lash out and belittle the efforts of Business Owner B.
So, that’s exactly what Business Owner A does. They devote several posts of their blog to trashing B, and their product or service. Instead of getting the attention away from B’s ad campaign, all that A has managed to accomplish is giving them more traffic from readers that want to see what all of the fuss is about.
The second effect is that Business Owner A now seems a bit whiny and definitely unprofessional. Competing ad campaigns are common and their readers are savvy enough to figure out that the posts are being fueled largely by sour grapes. The overall image of Business Owner A has now been tarnished, and readers leave the blog as a result.
Now, instead of circumventing the ad campaign launched by Business Owner B, all that A has managed to do was to hand them new visitors on a platter. They managed to hurt their own business and will forever be remembered as poor sports. All of this could have been avoided by simply never mentioning Business Owner B in the first place.
No matter if a competitor is trashing you, dragging your company through the mud, or competing aggressively against you - never trash them in the public eye. The only one that will end up wearing egg on their faces is you. Remember to take the High Road, no matter what - and you’ll end up reaping the benefits. Readers are not stupid, and they do understand more about your business than you think they do.
Don’t give your readers the chance to see you in a bad light. Remember that professionalism is key if you want to establish yourself as an authority. Whining, complaining and trash talk have no place on your corporate blog.
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November 12th, 2008 — Buildify, advertisment, bloggers, marketing, product awareness, promotion
In a semi-recent post on his blog Matt Cutts discussed some very powerful information about corporate blogging. We got a lot out of this post and decided to expand a little more on the subject. Whether you are already a corporate blogger, or thinking about getting started, this information could drastically effect the way you run your blog and how the public perceives it.
The first point that Matt covered was about leaving yourself enough wiggle room when it comes to product launches, updates or other big events. Whenever you set a date that is hard and fast, you are opening yourself up to a lot of potential problems. Let’s look at a common scenario and how this type of issue could have a negative effect on your business.
Let’s say that you use your blog to announce that on Date X you will be releasing Product Y. You start the buzz, everyone gets excited and your readers can’t wait. The countdown to Date X begins and as the big day gets closer, you realize that you’re not going to be able to make that deadline.
So, you post that Date X is now Date Z and explain that there is a good reason for the delay. Your audience is disappointed, and they may start to wonder about how professional your company is. While everyone understands that product launches are a delicate matter, setting a hard and fast date does raise expectations. If you can’t meet them, your audience may start to wonder what’s going wrong.
Date Z rolls by and you’re still not ready. You have another post about the new Date A, and once again, your audience is disappointed. By now, things look pretty bad, and you’ve already delayed the launch of Product Y twice. More problems occur, and before you know it your actual launch date is now Date D.
By this point, the majority of people that were really interested in Product Y will have moved on. You’ve failed to deliver, you’ve shown that you can’t keep a project on schedule and your launch will fizzle out. While some delays can be strategic and may increase demand, waiting too long and having too many delays will spell disaster for any product launch.
What can you learn from this scenario? First and foremost, while you do need to give your audience a date for a launch, it does not need to be hard and fast. Give yourself more than enough wiggle room so that if something does go wrong, your company is not going to be cast in a bad light.
This same principle can also apply to other promises you make on your blog. Bottom line, if you are not 150% sure you can keep a promise - don’t make it. It’s just that simple. If you don’t put yourself in a corner, you won’t have to worry about getting out of one. By leaving yourself that wiggle room, you’ll be able to present a strong front to the public and keep them interested in your launch or event.
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November 9th, 2008 — Buildify, bloggers, blogosphere, google page rank, networking, news, seo, social bookmarking sites, tools, web traffic, writing style
We hope you enjoy this latest edition of the Professional Corporate Blogging Roundup. We endeavor to bring new and helpful links to your attention by highlighting them. Here are some links we thought were worthwhile from the past week:
Corporate
Google Page Rank
SEO | Traffic
Microblogging
Design
Social Bookmarking/Networking
Writing Tools and Tips
Buildify hosts a weekly carnival. Blog owners with professional blogging posts should consider sending a submission into the Carnival of Corporate Blogging.
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October 29th, 2008 — bloggers, research
This is a question that many business owners have when they consider getting into the world of corporate blogging. These days, it seems as though everyone has a blog and that the market is entirely glutted. The good news is, that there are more than enough niches to go around and there are plenty of ways that bloggers can stand out from the crowd, with a little hard work and some perseverance.
The first step is to find out just how many similar blogs you will be going up against. Do some research and subscribe to each of these blogs. Track them for about a month or so to determine how frequently they publish, what kind of content they are producing and whether or not you feel you can do it better.
This market research is incredibly invaluable and will help you determine what steps you will need to take next. For example, if your competitors have very good blogs, but they only publish rarely, you can use this to your advantage. By publishing once a day, or at least a few times a week, you can offer readers instant gratification on that topic. This works very well for micro-niches, and for very popular topics.
The second thing you will learn is whether or not their blog posts are any good. Do they have readers commenting? Learn from the mistakes they made before you make your first post to your blog. This will assist you greatly in spending less time figuring out what your readers want to know, since essentially, you are dealing with the same market.
After you have gone through these steps, the next one to take is to find your own unique voice, and your own unique take on the subject. Unless your blog will be specifically about your company, there is a lot of room to get creative and branch out. For example, if you are using your corporate blog to discuss certain products that are already widely talked about, find a way to make your voice stand out.
Always research the topic before you post to determine first how many posts are similar, and how popular the subject matter is. By using these techniques, you are actually benefiting from the fact that corporate blogging is so popular and using that to your advantage. You will be able to discover new keywords, or even new ideas that will help you improve your blog. Give it a try and see just how much information you can uncover on your competitors as well as the different products you will be posting about.
There are millions of websites and blogs, and while some may never find their readership, with careful work and a lot of research, you can begin to carve out your own section in the blogosphere. Remember, it can take months to find your stride, so give it plenty of time. With promotion, quality content and commitment, your corporate blog can succeed, no matter how much competition you may be facing.
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October 20th, 2008 — bloggers, blogosphere, carnivals
Every Business Needs A Blog. Tips, tricks, advice, and pitfalls of corporate blogging.
The Carnival of Corporate Blogging is published weekly. Submission deadline is Friday 6pm pst (GMT -8).
Carnival Participation Guidelines:
- Articles should focus on corporate blogging is some fashion.
- One submission per week per blog. There will be another carnival in a week.
- Original content submissions only.
- You are strongly encourage to create a brief unique excerpt and include it in the remarks section of the article submission form.
- If you submit an article to this carnival and it is selected for publication, please link to the published carnival from your blog.
Submit an article to the current open edition here: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_5476.html
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October 12th, 2008 — Buildify, advertisment, audience, blog design, bloggers, blogosphere, engaging ideas, marketing, money, networking, promotion, seo
Good morning Sunday readers! Are you looking for some blogging tips to help out your blog or thinking of starting one? Check out our quick guide below to some great places for ideas and resources.
General:
Blogging Tips:
Promotion and Advertising:
SEO | Optimization:
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August 27th, 2008 — bloggers, comments, content, goals, marketing, networking, public relations, publicity
A corporate blog can be an incredible promotional tool, but it can also be used for networking purposes. Nearly every company can benefit from networking and much of the current internet community has been built on the back of social networking. How can you take advantage of this trend and put it to work in your blog? Here are just a few tips to get you started.
1. Make a list of all the related blogs in your industry.
Let’s say that you manufacturer tools and you want to reach out to possible customers that could be using your tools. It’s a good idea to do some research and find all of the different blogs out there that are owned by companies that could benefit from your products. This is definitely time well spent. Create a list of all of their blogs and subscribe to their RSS feeds. Keep track of what they are posting about and start reaching out to them.
2. Leave comments on their blogs.
One of the best ways to get noticed is by leaving a comment on their blogs. Keep it complimentary and professional and make sure that you use your company name and the address of your company’s blog. This is an easy way to open up the lines of communication and it only takes a few seconds. You’ll be able to reach out to companies all over the world using this method and you’ll be building up relationships that could pay off in the future.
3. Schedule a blogging event.
One great way to get the attention of other companies is to host an event that could include them. Get creative and think of different types of events that would suit your industry. Invite other corporate bloggers to attend. If necessary, find a way to host a special expo or something that is somehow related both to blogging and to your business. You’ll be able to get a lot of press and the coverage will only help increase your business.
4. Reference their posts in your posts.
If you want to give someone a corporate shout out, don’t be shy. They’ll probably be honored that a) you read their blog, and b) you thought enough of their post to reference it. This is can be used by doing a trackback, or simply by including their URL and some quotes. However, this should only be done if your post is complimentary and serves to buttress their own point. They’ll feel like you are an ally and they will be much more likely to reach out to you as a result.
These are just a few simple means of utilizing the power of blogging to increase your networking reach. Give it a try and see how many new contacts you can come up with in a week. Don’t forget to keep cultivating and looking for new opportunities. New corporate blogs spring up every day and there is a world of opportunity out there just waiting for you.
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August 15th, 2008 — bloggers, book review, engaging ideas, writing style
This book claims to be the definitive guide to corporate blogging, so we were pretty interested to see what it had to offer. Right off the bat, the forward, which was written by Bob Lutz of GM (a corporate blogger) got our attention. It’s always nice to see books written by and for the intended audience, since this tends to produce a book that gets right to the point and manages to hit all the right notes.
Weil’s writing style is very conversational, which is very well suited for smaller companies that may not be all that up to date on the technical jargon or for those that are simply looking for a quick explanation that cuts through the hype. Readers expecting a highly technical tome would probably be disappointed, since the intended audience is really those who are not already into blogging, but looking for ways to help their company.
The author has been quite a celebrity in the corporate blogging world and has been credited with really explaining to the masses what this is all about. Her numerous television appearances and her own site have served as great education and the book really takes it to that next step. Inside, she answers all of the questions that a beginning corporate blogger may have, making it seem quite easy to get started.
By breaking down the entry barriers, Weil is making it much easier for anyone to start their own corporate blog. We appreciated the up-beat tone of the book and the way that she really presented her information without talking down to the reader. As the experts that got advance copies of the book stated, this can easily save you five to six months of heartache and get you started off on the right foot.
That is what really matters in the world of corporate blogging and for that, we give Weil high praise. She could have gone a little more in depth on a few topics, but overall, we found that the book was an easy read that got the job done. It isn’t probably a good book for those that already have a pretty good grasp of the technicalities of running their own blog, but it is very useful for those just starting out.
By getting through all of the stuff that can doom a corporate blog to failure and showing small and big companies how to go about corporate blogging the right way, Weil has performed a very important service. We highly recommend this book to anyone that is just starting out, especially if they are completely new to corporate blogging as a concept and as a means of reaching out to your customers. It was a quick read, and did exactly what it said it would. Anymore, that is a rare combination, especially when it comes to business advice books. It is well worth the time and is certainly a good reference book that you can go back to time and time again.
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