One of the best reasons to give corporate blogging a try is that it has the potential to really help you grow your business. If you are just establishing your online identity or if you are trying to actively increase your customer base and your sales, a corporate blog can make a big difference. There are many different ways that this type of communication can result in more sales and a larger customer base.

First, you’ll be adding content on a regular basis that covers a wide variety of topics. This means that there will be more content for search engines to index and more keywords used to ensure that you land in the top spot. This makes it much easier for new readers to discover not only your blog but your company as well. By taking the time to really work on a blog and publish it regularly, you can dramatically increase the number of visitors that your site sees every day.

Next, a corporate blog adds a level of humanity to any site. Many consumers perceive corporations as cold entities with little concern for the common man. By putting a name and a face to your company you’re creating a relationship and showing that there is a heart behind that business exterior. This is very effective at building up customer trust and is useful when you are trying to project a certain image for your company.

A corporate blog can also be used to connect with readers and get their feedback. While allowing comments on a blog can be scary, they are a great way for your customers to get their thoughts across. You’ll have a bird’s eye view of what your customers really want and this is a lot easier that relying on a focus group for the same thing. If you are concerned about allowing comments on your blog, you can always set them to moderation to avoid having any controversy erupt.

Lastly, a corporate blog helps you announce new products and specials – if you do it in the right way. Try to steer clear of blatant advertising and find ways to incorporate your announcements with current events. This helps you gain some powerful advertising that doesn’t cost a dime.

When you’re ready to start your own corporate blog it is important to make sure that you know how to handle it. It is much easier to hire a professional that knows how to run a corporate blog and keep it going in the right direction. You can actually end up saving money with this approach and you won’t have to worry about diverting company resources away from your other projects.

Corporate blogs can be powerful and effective but they do need to be managed properly. By working with a professional, you can ensure that your company will avoid common blogging pitfalls and you will be able to achieve the results discussed above as well as many other benefits.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-06-23 05:34:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Blogging Advice for Small Business Are you a small business owner, and looking to generate more business through an online internet presence? If you have been considering putting together a blog for your business, the blogging advice detailed below is intended especially for you. Q: What should I be writing blog entries about? A: This......
• Do You Need More Than One Corporate Blog? When you’re ready to start getting your feet wet in the world of corporate blogging, it is a good idea to consider whether or not your company is going to need more than one blog. There are quite a few examples of multiple blogs that work well for their companies,......
• What Subjects Should You Cover? Choosing subjects to cover in your corporate blog is a lot like choosing the concept behind your corporate blog in the first place. When you decided to create a corporate blog, you probably had a pretty clear idea of what your main intention would be in writing for that blog.......
• Find New Customers Through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) You've got a website... Fantastic! Are customers finding you? Without a blog or advertising program, probably not. Having a telephone number is not very helpful if you aren't listed a phone book (or online equivalent). The website is the same way - except that the "phone book" has been replaced......
• Marketing Dos and Donts For Corporate Bloggers When you first start your corporate blog, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of coming across a new marketing medium. You suddenly have access to millions of readers that are just dying to know about your products, right? Wrong! Your readers are out there, but they don’t......

• Complete Website Packages Complete Website Packages. The first step towards the success of your project is how to design your web site so that you get onto the first page of major search engine results, without having to pay for any type of advertising, pay per click (PPC) or other strategies that cost......
• How To Build A Home Internet Business Through Article Writing Building a home based internet business is considered the most challenging task in promoting your products or services online. You want to make sure that your products or services are propagated to all parts of the world online with everlasting targeted traffic to your website. This can be the......
• How To Use Search Engine Optimization to Destroy Your Competition in 3 Easy Steps Search Engine Optimization - Secrets Revealed.Let's begin: What is 'competition'? Competition is described as "one that competes", "a rival", "selling or buying goods or sevices in the same market as another", and even down to the biological level - "an organism that lives in competition with another".SEO & Web......
• Misspelled Search Engine Keywords In the past, people that were trying to rank their website in search engines would make use of misspelled search engine keywords because they wanted searchers to find them even if they were incorrectly entering certain keywords. Today, most search engines now automatically offer suggestions that are designed to correct......
• SEO Tips for Bloggers on WordPress There are several million WordPress blogs that you can find on the internet, but unfortunately the majority of them are not properly optimized for search engines. This article is going to touch on some SEO tips for bloggers using WordPress to host their blog, because with the right tips it......

One of the biggest problems of any company is managing relationships with its customers. It may sound cliché, but it’s true that customers are the “life blood” of any company. You want to keep your customers happy, but you also want them to be thinking about you.

Excite your customer

Most corporate websites are about as interesting as watching grass grow. Would you come back day after day to a site that only has product listings and some basic information about the company’s location and founder? Of course you wouldn’t.

Your corporate blog should be your voice

People expect to see a little individuality on a blog. I want to do business with someone that has a personality – someone with a pulse. A corporate blog gives them that. It gives the ability to see that you are making advancements products. The words you use show customers that you are knowledgeable about your product and that you are a leader in the field

A corporate blog can solicit feedback

Many companies pay to run focus groups. Certainly focus groups have their place, but why not augment your information gathering by asking readers of your company blog? It’s free – it’s easy – and it’s so much better than those e-mail surveys that everyone deletes.

A corporate blog can build product awareness

Marketing a new product is always difficult. With so many companies releasing products every day, your product might get lost in the fold. Your customers only have so much attention, you need to do everything you to grab and hold on to that. Since corporate blogs are faithfully read on a regular basis, they are a very cost effective way to keep customers aware of your product.

In today’s world, your customer is asking for these things from the companies she does business with. If you are able to provide them for her, she’ll keep coming back.

Originally posted 2008-06-30 14:55:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Strategies and Tools for Corporate Blogging by John Cass Most people have a pretty firm grasp on why we need to blog, but knowing how to blog effectively is a completely different story all together. "Strategies and Tools for Corporate Blogging" creates a comprehensive approach to the development of a corporate blog program. This particular book is an excellent......
• Spread your Company's Marketing Message through Corporate Blogging Creating a marketing message is a lot like building a house of cards: The building process can take a long, painstaking amount of time, however it can take mere moments to send everything tumbling. Sometimes all it takes is a single piece of thoughtless communication to completely contradict your......
• Why Corporate Blogs Are So Important When it comes to reaching out to your customers or building up your customer base, a blog is a very powerful tool. Unfortunately, many companies do not take advantage of these benefits and they are missing out on some very powerful marketing techniques that are not only cost effective but......
• Corporate Blogging Myths Since corporate blogs are so popular, there are quite a few myths that go along with them. Before you even start your own blog, it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction so that you go into this process with the right expectations. You can really learn......
• Projecting the Right Image of Your Company Through Your Corporate Blog Few people realize how powerful a blog can be when it comes to projecting an image to the public. Words have a power all their own and the wrong ones may sink your company’s reputation. Before you even start your own corporate blog it is very important to first come......

• Why Big Companies Are Blogging? There are still some old school business people out there that consider the whole idea of blogging for their business rather ridiculous. Unfortunately for these people, they will never understand that the world is changing and blogging is a whole lot more than just a bunch of people in their......
• Business Management - Customer Service Is Overlooked Have you ever visited a store and decided to leave before you bought anything because the employees working there were rude or too pushy? I have and I'm sure you've had at least one experience like this. Customer service is one of the most overlooked aspects when running a......
• 5 Wealth Building Tips for Financial Freedom There are a lot of different things that are involved in building up your wealth. One article is not going to explain everything that you can do in order to build wealth and obtain financial freedom. We have put a simple five step list together to help you build a......
• Denver SEM Companies Help Your Online Business Succeed Denver SEO Denver search engine optimization companies possess a combined experience in global marketing, international business and e-commerce together with SEO, PPC and other areas of internet marketing. Keeping up with the recent developments is a constant learning or relearning process and requires significant effort, time and money. A Denver......
• Ways To Successful Goals In Online Business Planning is the most crucial aspect of online business. The plan should include short term and long term goals. You should always be clear about your business objectives and purposes. The goals should be effective in generating new customers and keeping the existing ones. While setting goals it is important......

As corporate blogging maintains a stronger foothold on in many industries, companies are seeking ways to take their efforts to the next level. If you’re interested in growing  your blog’s audience and you want to engage your readers, you may want to consider trying a technique known as live blogging.

This is best illustrated by the activity that surrounds an upcoming launch and the subsequent blitz of a new Apple product. Weeks, if not months, before Apple releases something new, bloggers go to work talking about it, building up buzz and creating a frenzy. Then, as the day of the release gets closer, they kick it up a notch and get prepared. On launch day, many bloggers will be present in the audience and they will be blogging live about what is happening, in real time.

These blogs are always interesting to read, because they have that real time element and the excitement is palpable. You may not be Apple, but there are ways that you can use live corporate blogging to enhance your company, engage your readers and build up momentum to promote your new products.

The first step is to plan out an actual campaign for your live blogging efforts. Take the time to read through other live blogging events and their aftermath. You can learn a lot by taking the time to learn about any mistakes that were made, and how you can utilize the same exact tips in your business. You’ll also need to plan a big event, one that will interest your visitors and is large enough to generate buzz.

For example, a launch that covers a new type of dental floss may not be very exciting. However, a launch about a new type of dental floss that can dramatically reduce tooth decay without brushing would be. You’ve got to find that interesting angle, and then work to figure out how you’re going to push it.

A live blogging event will require some extra equipment. At the very least, you’ll need a laptop or a Blackberry. You’ll have to be connected to the internet and be able to post to your blog from your location. Once you have this in place, you can set up either a regular schedule to keep your readers updated, or you can do it as it happens.

Live blogging is exciting and these techniques can be used for virtually any corporate blog. The key is finding that angle, building up that buzz and following through. If you can do that, you’ll be able to hold a successful live blogging event. It’s a good idea to chronicle your efforts as you go through this process. This will help you plan out future launches and live corporate blogging events that will build on the success of your first one.

Try implementing these techniques the next time you have a new product or service coming out. Chances are, your readers will get swept away and you’ll notice a dramatic increase in site visitors and buyers.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-12-03 05:57:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• How to Pick a Name for Your Corporate Blog One of the things that many corporate blog owners do not consider is a name for their blog. Many make the mistake of simply using the format of “Company Name’s Blog.” This is great to a point, but you’ll be missing out on some great ways to promote your blog.......
• What Does a Corporate Blog Say About You? When you have a corporate blog, it is important to realize that it will be saying a lot about you. Whether or not it’s projecting a good image of your company is entirely up to you. Here are some tips to make sure that your blog says all the right......
• When Companies Blog - The Good, Bad and Ugly Side of Corporate Blogging Although corporate blogging can be a powerful tool, there is a time when it can get pretty dicey. Without proper management, a blog can be a disaster that can end up ruining your corporate image. Let’s take a look at three examples of the good, bad and ugly in the......
• Making Sure Your Corporate Blog Works For You Not Against You One of the main problems facing corporate bloggers is that their posts can be taken the wrong way, or controversy can get stirred up. Since one blog post has the potential to make or break your company, it is very important to make sure that you are managing your blog......
• Is Corporate Blogging Worth The Effort? Listen to corporate blogging evangelists long enough and it’s easy to start thinking that success is going to fall out of the sky and bonk you on the head. However, spend a few weeks implementing all of their techniques and you may end up wondering whether or not all of......

• 10 Tips To Increase Traffic To Blog At this present writing, there are more than 115 Million blogs worldwide. The majority of these blogs are strictly for the purpose of making money. Unfortunately, the majority of these bloggers are failing miserably at making money with blogs. The reasons for such a high failure rate vary from: too......
• The Key to a Strong Blog Analyze what brings readers to your blog, and then find a way to build upon that. When I speak with owners of medium sized blogs, the first thing I recommend highly to them is to put aside time to analyze their blogs current performance, with focus on the blogs successes......
• Review of the South Beach Diet Supercharged Out of all of the diets, by far the one that has received more than a fair share of adherents is the South Beach Diet. While there are plenty of those that may criticize this diet plan, for many others it does work and quite well. However, many feel that......
• Smart Steps for Building Blog Traffic This is part two in a three part series on the steps for building blog traffic. If you are looking for quick and simple ways for building blog traffic, or more involved ways with bigger returns, keep reading for some great information. 1 - Participate in related blogs and forum......
• Blogging Goals: What You'll See Here in 2009 Thanks to Green Panda Treehouse for pointing me to Visionary Blogging's 7 Strategic Blog Improvement Questions. That article serves as an outline for my blogging goals for 2009. What will I accomplish with my blog in 2009? How will I make my blog more valuable in 2009? There are a......

As readers become more involved with the blogs they frequent, a new form of communication is becoming prevalent – interactive blogging. There are a few ways to look at this and determine whether or not this form of interaction is right for your corporate blog and your readers. When used properly, interactive blogging can be a huge weapon in your arsenal towards building better relationships with your customers, but it can be a double edged sword.

First, let’s look at the most common form of interactive blogging, using your posts to answer reader questions. This commonly occurs when you have someone leave you a question in the comments section of your blog, frequently asking for more information on a certain topic. Now, if one person asks this question there is always a chance that there are more people that want to know the same thing.

You can use these comments to determine what your readers really want to know. If it’s a good question, consider writing a blog post that will answer it. If not, you can keep focusing your energies on your regular posts. However, it is a good idea to let your reader’s dictate what you will be writing about – at least to some extent – since this can help you develop a stronger reader following.

The second form of interactive blogging takes your comments section to a whole new level. This is where you encourage your readers to contribute on a regular basis and the comments section may even start to look a bit like a message board. This is another powerful tool that can benefit corporate blog owners.

First, you’ll be getting the benefit of having your readers return throughout the day to keep tabs on the ongoing conversation. You can also set up an RSS feed for your comments to make this easier. Second, you’ll be increasing the amount of page views you have as well as the opportunity to attract new readers through word of mouth advertising, and through search engine indexing.

Interactive blogging does have a catch though, as we mentioned above. If you can keep tabs on your readers and avoid having flame wars, or nasty comments, it can work quite well. However, if you let it get out of hand, you’re only asking for trouble. On one side, you’ll have readers that will wonder where you stand on the issue if you don’t take care of a problem, and on the other hand, if you take quick action and delete problem comments, you may be cast as against freedom of speech.

The easiest way to take advantage of interactive blogging is simply to set some ground rules, make them clear, and then stick to them. If your readers know right off the bat what they can and cannot do with your interactive blogging elements, there will be a lot less confusion and a lot more interacting going on. Try it for a week and see how your corporate blog changes.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-07 05:35:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• How to Use Your Corporate Blog for Networking 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......
• 3 Tips on Avoiding Failure with Your Corporate Blog One of the main problems facing corporate blogs is that they have a high rate of failure. This can be due to many factors, but it doesn't mean that your blog is doomed to fail. With the right techniques and management, your blog can be incredibly successful and can serve......
• User Friendly Corporate Blogging Tips Once you know what niche or industry you will be blogging about, the next step in the process that you need to consider before you actually begin writing is some basic blog design tips. When designing and modeling your blog, you absolutely need to be able to keep your readers......
• 7 Reader Friendly Corporate Blogs Tips You want your blog to be engaging, but that may not always be easy. Here are some great tips on how to keep your corporate blog reader friendly. 1. Pick your design well. One of the biggest problems for corporate blogs is design. You can need to make sure that......
• The Secret Power of Blogging By Bruce Brown If you have been thinking about jumping into the world of corporate blogging, but you’re not really sure if it’s right for you, this book may push you off the fence. This book does a fantastic job of explaining everything you could ever need to know about running your own......

• RateLadder Is New Prosper Blog Editor-in-Chief I have been an enthusiastic supporter of p2p lending from my first encounter.  This week I take another step in my p2p lending adventure.  I am the new Editor-in-Chief of the Prosper Blog.  I will occasional write content, but mostly my duties are sourcing content, editing content, moderating comments, and......
• How I get more comments than blogs that have 10 times more traffic After weeks and months of long hours in front of your computer, you're finally getting some traffic on your blog but you can't get enough people to participate on your site. Ever wonder how some smaller blogs get a lot more activity than some of the giants in your......
• Traffic Generation with Alex Jeffreys I have just finished a coaching call with Alex Jeffreys, who some of you may know through www.marketingwithyou.com and also his Marketing With Alex coaching course. Now as I have mentioned in an earlier Blog posts, I have been trying to be successful in Internet Marketing for a couple of......
• Advice to Carnival Hosts As you might know, from any of the times I've mentioned it on my blog or via my Tweeter account (@amateurfinance, just in case you're curious), I recently hosted the Carnival of Twenty-Something Finances.  It was an interesting and even, dare I say, fun experience, but it was a little......
• Save Money on Valentine's Day (Win $25) [Last year I posted these tips to save money. I'm disappointed in myself for not being able to come up with more original ideas. I'm going to pay that penalty with my wallet. The person with the idea that I like the best will earn $25 via Paypal, Amazon, or......

Are you ready to make blogging work for your business? If you already know the benefits associated with corporate blogging, then the next step is to put these concepts to work by creating your own corporate blog and sharing your company with the world. This is part 3 in a short series on tips for making blogging work for you.

12 – Listen to what people are saying when they talk about you.

There are a wide variety of different tools that you can use in order to monitor the conversation. One of the most popular ones is to set up a Google Alert with your name, along with another for the name of your blog, and other alerts for topics that are important to you. Google will send you an e-mail any time one of your key terms is mentioned online.

13 – Find new ways to publicize your blog to your entire network.

Print the URL of your blog on your business cards; include it in your e-mail signature, post it on your LinkedIn account, mention it in your Facebook account, Twitter it, and find plenty of other ways to get the word out about your blog. The more you most your blog URL on the internet, the more likely you will be to have it seen.

14 – Install Analytic Software, allowing you to track your traffic and where it is coming from.

One of the most popular options is Google Analytics, which can be found at http://www.google.com/Analytics for free. Another excellent tool worth considering is Quantcast, which is especially useful when you are selling advertising on your site and want to be able to define your audience, measuring your site capabilities based on your traffic.

15 – Create content that is both useful and timely for your blog.

This is well worth mentioning, because content is what fuels a blog and keeps readers coming back to it for more. You also need to consider the search engine optimization value for your blog and its content. Your blog content should be search engine optimized in order for you to get the most out of your blog.

16 – Use audio, video, photos and other rich media to bring your blog to life.

Different people respond to different types of media in different ways. Create a blog radio show, or host a show with topics relating to your industry and pepper your blog with these media pieces in addition to your normal blog topics. Podcasts are another excellent way to get the most out of your corporate blog, giving your readers other forms of media to take advantage of.

17 – Make it easy for your readers to get in contact with you.

Give your readers numerous means of contacting you, including an e-mail address, a phone number, the location of your office, and anything else that will allow your readers to find you.

There are plenty of other ways to get the most out of your corporate blog, but these seventeen tips provide an excellent jumping off point to build your blog from.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-01-21 05:17:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• 8 Key Ways to Advance your Corporate Blogging Effort Blogs are mushrooming at the speed of light in this day and age. For this reason, creating a blogging effort for your company can be extremely profitable and rewarding for your company. There is no real start up fees or set up fees that are needed, and starting a blog......
• 5 Easy Steps for Growing Traffic to Your Corporate Blog Growing traffic to your corporate blog is not a difficult process if you know what to do. If you have a corporate blog and you need to grow your traffic base, here are some simple steps that will help you create a more effective overall corporate blog. 1 - Know......
• Learning How to Promote Specific Posts On Your Blog When corporate blog owners first get started, there is a lot of pressure to focus on promoting the whole blog. While this does work, there is an easier way to get attention and increase your chances of success. By breaking down your blog promotion into actual posts, you can see......
• Ten Tips for Better Corporate Blog Traffic pt 2 Once your readers are sure that your blog is updated often, they will have a reason to continue coming back to check out the new content, because they know that they will find something new every time that they visit. Not only will they bookmark your blog, then, but they......
• Corporate Blogging May Be Right For You If you are trying to get more consumers interested in your products and your company in general, you may want to consider adding a corporate blog to your website. These are quickly becoming very popular and thousands of companies have found that they are an incredibly effective means of adding......

• Blog Plug-Ins to Get More Readers Wordpress specifically has a number of plug-ins for blogging that will allow you to attract more readers to your blog. Some of the best blog plug-ins for increasing traffic to come in three main categories: Social networking and bookmarking Posting across many different platforms RSS feed helpers BTE Related Websites:......
• Increase Traffic to Blog, pt1 This is part one in a three part series dedicated to increasing traffic to your blog in a number of different ways. Now that you have your blog set up and you are beginning to post useful information in its pages, the next step is to start attracting useful readers......
• Weakend: Reader Feedback Hey faithful readers.  I don't do this very often mostly because I pretend not to care what you or anyone else thinks.  In all honesty, The Weakonomist doesn't give a poop, but Philip does.  In my recent giveaway I received a number of email entries and some contained very kind......
• How to Get Blog Traffic in Five Steps Every blogger is looking to achieve the exact same thing: They are hoping to be read. There are millions of bloggers that give the idea a shot but then eventually give up because they feel like nobody is reading them. They feel like if they are unable to get blog......
• Using Social Networking Sites to Drive Traffic to Your Site Using Social Networking Sites to Drive Traffic to Your Site Social networking sites seem to be the biggest thing on the Internet right now, and there are no signs that this will change anytime in the near - or far - future. The fact is that social networking sites, such......

One of the biggest issues in the corporate blogging world is whether or not you should allow readers to comment on your blog posts. There are two main schools of thought to the issue, basically yes and no. However, we believe that it is important to allow your readers to interact with you, and comments are one of the best ways to do this. You just need to make sure that you are handling the issue correctly for the best results.

First, you should make your decision about comments at the beginning of your blog and then stick with them. Don’t flip flop, allowing comments and then changing your mind. It will give a bad impression of your company and make it seem as though you are trying to hide something from the public. That’s not the image you want to project.

Next, you should think about allowing some not so flattering comments on your blog. No one likes controversy, but the fact of the matter remains that it can increase your page views. Don’t be afraid to allow some bad comments on your blog, just as long as you can answer the issue calmly and appropriately. Obviously, if a comment is just vitriolic and damaging, you should not approve it, but sometimes, bad comments and your response can lead to greater reader loyalty and they will want to back you up.

We’ve mentioned approving comments because we believe the best of both worlds in blogging is to allow comments, but on a moderated basis. This means that all of the comments will go into a queue where you can read and approve them. This is much safer and helps cut down on comment spam as well as people who are just looking to start trouble. It takes a little bit longer, but you will be able to have a lot more peace of mind.

Next, you’ll want to set some ground rules for your comments and make sure that you enforce them fairly. For example, you can state that no profanity or hate speech is allowed, and that some posts may not be approved based on their overall content. If people know this going in, you can cut down on the amount of people that are screaming censorship.

You’ll never be able to please all of the people all of the time, but allowing comments on your blog can be very good for your company. In fact, sometimes the blog comments can be more interesting than the blog itself in some cases. You’ll also be able to increase your page views as your readers keep coming back throughout the day to follow the comment thread.

Used wisely, comments are very powerful and can be beneficial to your business. You may want to hire a blog management company to help you with this process so that you can free up your time to actually work for your company instead of having to babysit your blog.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-06-18 05:08:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• How to Encourage Comments on Your Corporate Blog If you’ve decided that you are going to allow readers to comment on your blog, there are a lot of benefits that you can reap. In addition to increased page views, comments allow you to build up a strong relationship with your readers. They can be very beneficial, but it......
• 5 Tips on Corporate Blogging for Companies Right now, one of the best ways to reach out to your customer base and increase brand recognition is through the use of a corporate blog. However, many companies aren't sure where they should start and how they can take advantage of this trend. Here are some tips that make......
• Are You Using Social Networking Enough for Your Corporate Blog? In this day and age, if you want to get the most out of your blog, then you need to do more than simply write in it. Many bloggers are finding that they can get a lot more out of their corporate blogs if they choose to combine their blogging......
• When Companies Blog - The Good, Bad and Ugly Side of Corporate Blogging Although corporate blogging can be a powerful tool, there is a time when it can get pretty dicey. Without proper management, a blog can be a disaster that can end up ruining your corporate image. Let’s take a look at three examples of the good, bad and ugly in the......
• Getting Into the Corporate Blogging Habit As with any task, developing effective habits can mean the difference between success and failure. Many first time corporate bloggers don’t take the time to develop good blogging habits and as a result, they don’t do as well as they should. Here are some tips to help you get into......

• Invest in Insurance companies? Insurance companies have taken a beating with all the damage caused by all these hurricanes. Maybe its time to start investing in their stock. We know that a lot of damage has already been done and in New Orleans it won't happen again. [Mainly because nothings being rebuilt!]. Also historically......
• Jobless rate falls to 9.7 percent in January [/caption] The unemployment rate in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped to 9.7 percent in January, indicating the labor market may be poised to climb out of its deepest slump since World War II. More than half a million Americans found work, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington, helping push......
• Why SPINdustry Is Not PR & Wrongly Portrays the Industry #fail You need 'experience' to pass out bottles of water, short black mini-skirts topped off with neon pink jackets, the keen ability to know not to put mustard in your boss' sandwich and 4-inch stilettos to work in public relations...that is according to the ghastly new E! reality television show SPINdustry...
• Do You Need More Blog Readers? Do you feel as if your blog could use more blog readers? You are certainly not alone, as most blog authors are constantly looking for an increase in more blog readers, though not everyone is sure quite how to attract the readership levels that they are looking for. If you......
• Cable Bills Too High? Disconnect, Renegotiate Better Rate or Watch TV Online? No wonder everyone is wondering why their paycheck disappears so fast.  The cost of everything seems to be doubling lately. Especially when it comes to overpaying for cable TV. Marc Hedlund (from the Wesabe Blog) posted a small, yet highly informative graphic that gave me one of those Aha! moments......

When you have a corporate blog, it is important to realize that it will be saying a lot about you. Whether or not it’s projecting a good image of your company is entirely up to you. Here are some tips to make sure that your blog says all the right things.

1. Pick a design that is professional and integrated to your overall site design.

You don’t want rainbows and lollipops for your theme if you are in a serious business. Likewise, if your business is rather whimsical in nature, a drab theme is a bad idea. Your graphics will speak louder than words, so make sure that your blog’s theme and design match your corporate image as closely as possible.

2. Avoid stiff and unfriendly prose.

One of the main reasons that companies start up a corporate blog is to initiate better discourse with the public and cast an image as being a consumer friendly company. If your blog’s posts are dry and stiff, you won’t be doing that, in fact, you’ll be doing the opposite. Make sure that the blogger you pick has the ability to write with engaging prose that is still professional. This can be tough, but picking the right blogger with the right voice means everything in this business.

3. Allow your readers to comment on your posts.

Having a one sided blog that does not allow reader interaction gives a very bad impression of your company. You’ll want to take that chance and allow your readers to take part in the discussion. If you don’t, you may be seen as unfriendly and too “corporate.” It is better to err on the side of being open to discourse than it is to try to squash it out. Use moderated comments if you are not comfortable with having comments go live as soon as they are written.

4. Have a little fun with your posts.

If your blog is all about your company and your products, it can start to feel like a very long and drawn out sales pitch. To break up this problem, have a few fun posts every week that really engage the reader. Use polls to make it more fun and to get your reader’s feedback. Don’t be afraid to let your hair down a little bit, but always try to stay professional.

5. Don’t turn your blog into a diary of a trainwreck.

If your company is going through a rough patch it can be tempting to turn your blog into a diary and defensive tool. This is not a good idea and will give the impression that you are about to crash and burn. Always keep the tone lively, and talk about your internal matters, but never drag company dirty laundry into the public eye. This simply cannot end well.

A blog management company can help you navigate these waters and create a blog that is engaging, professional and able to meet your goals.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-07-11 05:12:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Are You Utilizing Your Corporate Blog To its Full Potential? If you are running a corporate blog and you feel that you do not have the customer base and the blog is not doing well, you may not be using the blog to its fullest potential. There are a few areas you need to examine to evaluate your blog to......
• 3 Topics to Not to Write About on a Corporate Blog So many advice columns, tips and books focus on what you should talk about on your corporate blog, but few ever go into things that you should not talk about. While it is important to focus on the positive, you also need to be aware of some common mistakes that......
• 5 Tips on Corporate Blogging for Companies Right now, one of the best ways to reach out to your customer base and increase brand recognition is through the use of a corporate blog. However, many companies aren't sure where they should start and how they can take advantage of this trend. Here are some tips that make......
• Getting Into the Corporate Blogging Habit As with any task, developing effective habits can mean the difference between success and failure. Many first time corporate bloggers don’t take the time to develop good blogging habits and as a result, they don’t do as well as they should. Here are some tips to help you get into......
• SEO and Corporate Blogging When it comes to trying to promote your business in an organic way, corporate blogging is possibly the best tool that you can use. This is one of the easiest ways to implement SEO on your site with little effort and a blog has the added benefit of being incredibly......

• Professional Answering Solutions For Small Businesses Businesses, whether small or large, require cost-effective and completely seamless professional answering solutions to communicate effectively with existing customers and connect with new clients. In the competitive world of business, innovative phone systems being offered today are making significant contributions towards improving business communications.Since they are affordable, phone systems......
• Important Considerations Before Making Wonderful Blog Blogging is the most modern factor on the internet these days. Everybody is getting a blog: From teenage kids chatty in relation to the most up-to-date film to executive professionals discussing horses options. Getting involved with blogging is a heroic way to share your views before your small business with......
• Writing blog articles to earn a living Writing blog articles to earn a living is one of the fastest growing jobs online. Now anyone can write or post content and start earning money by referring others to buy products or services or from pay per click advertising revenues like Google Adsense Publishers. All that sounds good but......
• Hosted VoIP Systems - Designed For Small Business Affordable, easy to use hosted VoIP systems are specially designed for small business use. These systems promise high efficiency and reliability, while at the same time ensuring more free time for businesses to focus on core activities.Wireless Networking for Increased Operational EfficiencyUnlike traditional phones, hosted VoIP phones deliver calls......
• Blog Spotlight: Everyday Simplicity This is a new frugal living blog with about two dozen posts so far. Rebecca of San Antonio, TX, writes on Everyday Simplicity, a blog that gets into "[o]rganizing and consolidating information dealing with simplifying life, to help those considering a lifestyle change as well as those expert at living......

If you are getting ready to launch a corporate blog, there are a few techniques that you can use to make sure that it is a success. By utilizing these methods you can ensure that you will quickly build up a new readership and starting increasing your customer base. Corporate blogs are an excellent means of reaching out to the public, but they need to managed correctly if they are going to get the right results.

1. Allow comments but moderate them.

Having the ability for readers to leave comments on a blog is a very powerful tool. It has many benefits, such as increasing the connection your readers feel with your blog as well as increasing page views. The important thing is never to let these comments go live without first vetting them. A free for all can quickly happen if you allow bad comments to surface on your blog. It is better to manage these comments and avoid flame wars that can result from comments that are vitriolic or bad for your business.

The main issue with moderating comments is that sometimes you should let through comments that may not be the most flattering to your company. However, this should only be done if you are capable of responding and refuting the comment in a calm and rational manner. Never let commenters drag you into a flame war. You’ll end up losing every time.

2. Publish as regularly and as often as possible.

Readers need to know that they can depend on your blog to be published on a regular basis. Most internet users have a schedule where they check their favorite blogs during specific times of the day. If you have several days go by without a new post, it is all too easy to lose those readers. You need to be able to make that commitment to publish daily if possible and to keep a set schedule.

In corporate blogging, predictability is key. Your readers need to know that if they visit your site every day at 4pm, they are going to see a new post if that is the usual time that you add content. Otherwise, it is all too easy to lose their attention and have them go somewhere else.

3. Be personable.

You don’t want to project the image that your company is cold and heartless. Don’t be afraid to get personable with your posts but always keep them professional. Venting is never appropriate on a corporate blog, even if it does feel good at times. You need to be able to create a connection with your readers and sometimes this means showing a personal side to your company. It doesn’t have to be juicy details, but you do need to show that a human being with feelings is writing your blog.

Hiring a blog management company can really make the difference in navigating what you should and should not do with your corporate blog. This is useful for those that have no prior experience in running a blog and can avert disaster.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-07-03 05:47:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Publicizing your Corporate Blog If you plan on writing a blog and using it for any purpose other than your own, then you absolutely need to be willing to find ways to effectively publicize it. Some people will tell you that all you need to do is write in your blog and then the......
• Quick and Dirty Tips for Effective Corporate Blogging, pt 3 This is part three in a series about tips for good corporate blogging. We touched on three tips in both the first part and the second part of this series - Now here are another handful of tips for your consideration. - 7 - Write clearly and concisely when it......
• How to Encourage Comments on Your Corporate Blog If you’ve decided that you are going to allow readers to comment on your blog, there are a lot of benefits that you can reap. In addition to increased page views, comments allow you to build up a strong relationship with your readers. They can be very beneficial, but it......
• Sunday Roundup: Corporate Blogging, Web Traffic and SEO Tips Welcome to another edition of Buildify's roundup. We have more for you on best blogging practices, blogging tips, corporate blogging, gaining reader traffic and more. We hope you enjoy this little guide into a corner of the blogosphere. Tell us what you think or would like to see by leaving......
• Blog Wild By Andy Wibbels If you are completely new to blogging for small businesses, this is the book to read. While there are quite a few books dedicated to this subject, few are this easy to read, or this informative. We weren’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but we ended up......

• 5 Elements for Successfully Writing a Blog When you finally make the decision to begin writing a blog, it is likely that you are going to want people to actually come and visit. If you want to begin writing a blog that is actually going to have a solid chance of being successful, then the following five......
• Keep Readers Coming Back to Your Blog If you have a blog, you want to keep readers coming back. You can attract readers in a variety of ways, but keeping them is a little harder. You may end up high in the search engines for tons of keywords and pull in tons of unique page views. But......
• Marketing A Local Business-Write Better Blog Articles Marketing a local business is taking on new forms today. For example, you can promote your local business everyday by writing short useful blog articles that relate to the theme of your small business. We are not talking about writing Pulitzer Prize quality articles either. Just short, to the point......
• Review: A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden By: Marcia, guest reviewer Anthony Hamilton had always been scandalous.  Even his parentage was questionable though his mother's husband accepted him as his son.  Anthony had been thrown out of school several times for gambling although he did finish Oxford in record time.  His debts are sometimes rumored to......
• time travel writing One of the things that you can - quite selfishly - enjoy about writing a blog is that it serves as an online diary for your own thoughts, hopes, opinions and ideas over time. When I started writing this blog two years ago (June 29, 2007, to be exact)......

You want your blog to be engaging, but that may not always be easy. Here are some great tips on how to keep your corporate blog reader friendly.

1. Pick your design well.

One of the biggest problems for corporate blogs is design. You can need to make sure that your blog is easy to read. This means sticking with simple backgrounds, regular text and a dark font. While black backgrounds may look nice for a blog, they are hard to read off of and your customers won’t appreciate having to strain their eyes. Shoot for a very neutral palette that is very easy to read on.

2. Don’t bore them to tears.

Sometimes, corporate news can be a bit boring to the average consumer. Try to change up your posts so that they are not continuous dronings that would put even the most die hard fan to sleep. Add fun elements such as polls to keep your readers engaged and willing to come back each day for more.

3. Talk to your readers, not at them.

One of the worst mistakes you can make is sounding like you are pontificating. Try to develop a writing style that is engaging so that you are talking to your readers not at them. This may take a little practice but in time you’ll be able to develop the right kind of writing style for your audience.

4. Always publish regularly.

Once you have a posting schedule stick to it as closely as possible. This may not always happen, but really make an effort to be a dependable blogger. You won’t have to worry about your readers losing interest and failing to come back since they never see anything new.

5. Try to run a few fun contests.

One of the best ways to make sure that your readers are engaged is to run a contest. Offer a free giveaway or something similar to all of your readers. You can have them place their entries in the comments section of your blog.

6. Allow comments.

Today’s blog readers want to be able to interact with you and this means allowing comments. If you are worried that things may get out of hand, use a moderation feature which will allow you to preview all the comments before they go live on your site. This gives you the best of both worlds and will make your blog much more fun to read.

7. Have a little fun.

While it is important to be professional, you don’t need to be dreary. Don’t be afraid to change things up every now and again to keep your readers guessing. This will help increase your daily visits and your readers will want to check back more often.

These are just a few tips that can help you create a very reader friendly blog. You may also need to work with a blog management company to increase your readers and to stay on target with your goals.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-07-02 05:41:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Ten Tips for Better Corporate Blog Traffic pt 1 Unless you went out and purchased an already established blogs, the chances are that you just recently launched your blog with only a single loyal reader, your own self. Maybe you received a few hits a couple of days later when you began to tell the people you knew about......
• Talking To Not At Your Readers Many corporate blogs fail simply because they strike a wrong chord with readers. If you want to use your blog to increase traffic and sales and improve your relations with the public, it is vital to develop a technique that will allow you to talk to your readers, not at......
• How to Avoid Corporate Blogging Disasters For those thinking about starting a corporate blog, there are a few caveats that should be considered before you ever throw your hat in the arena. The blogosphere can be a scary place if you are not prepared and it is easy to have a disaster of epic proportions on......
• Developing Your Blog’s Style Why do some blog instantly become hits, while others languish without a reader to be found? Although the subject matter can play a big role in popularity, a lack of readership can be attributed to a lack of style in the blog. Since there is so much competition out there,......
• What Makes a Corporate Blog Stand Out? Right now, thousands of companies are using corporate blogging as a means of reaching out to new customers. This means that the field is incredibly crowded and getting more so every day. How do you get your blog to stand out from the crowd? It can be complicated at times,......

• Turning Blog Visitors into Blog Readers One of the most important things that you can understand when it comes to your blog and attracting readers is that there is a difference between people who are blog visitors and people who are blog readers. Blog visitors are people that are attracted to your blog for one reason......
• Do You Need More Blog Readers? Do you feel as if your blog could use more blog readers? You are certainly not alone, as most blog authors are constantly looking for an increase in more blog readers, though not everyone is sure quite how to attract the readership levels that they are looking for. If you......
• Blog Commenting As A Profitable Internet Marketing Method Leaving comments on forums and other blogs in your niche is a brilliant way to start driving traffic to your own blog because blogs are designed so that when you leave a comment, the name you leave is linked to the URL you leave. When other people read the comments......
• TweetDeck v0.30 launched TweetDeck Beta got an update recently. TweetDeck is a successful Twitter desktop client. This release of TweetDeck brings your friends even closer than before. You can fully manage your Facebook wall and pages and MySpace integration is available as well. You can now update your status and mood on Facebook,......
• 4 Tips on Retaining your Blog Readers When you first create a blog, getting people to visit it is definitely going to be one of the most important considerations that you make. Simply attracting these blog readers is not enough if you are not guaranteeing in some way that they will stick around, or visit more often.......

If you’ve been hearing a lot about the corporate blogging trend and wondering how you can make it work for your company, there are specific reasons that having a blog is very important. It really is worth the extra effort that goes into the creation and management of the blog, and you will have a whole new means of reaching out to consumers. Let’s take a look at just a few reasons why most companies need to have a corporate blog.

1. Provide the public with a human face for your company.

Most consumers view corporate entities as faceless behemoths that don’t care about the little guy. One of the easiest ways to dispel this myth is to reach out to the public via a blog. Personable posts and interaction with the public go a long way towards building your brand and attaching an image that your company really does care. Just make sure that you always use this feature to your credit and not against your company. It is as vital to learn how NOT to blog as it is to learn how to blog.

2. Open up the horizon for new customers.

In today’s internet world, it is all about discoverability. Whether you are looking for local or global business, blogging is a powerful platform that can make this happen. Most of the time, the discovery process is organic, through searching and through social networking avenues. This means that you don’t have to do any extra work to achieve discoverability, beyond posting and the proper promotion of those posts.

3. Build a stronger brand.

The key to brand recognition is getting your brand out there in the public eye as often as possible. The old fashioned method of doing this was quite expensive and it was difficult for smaller companies to play on the same field as their larger competitors. The blogging trend has changed this completely and allows for companies of any size the ability to get their name out there every single day.

You can look at each post you make as getting one step closer to becoming a household name. Readers rely on bloggers like never before and this is an incredible opportunity that your company should be taking advantage of.

4. Increase overall visits to your site.

As your blog readership expands, you’ll find that your site traffic will increase as well. If you’re hosting your blog on your site, this is natural, but you’ll also notice that your regular pages are getting more attention. As your blog gets indexed by search engines, it will be much easier for new customers to find you and you will notice an increase in overall visits. These are targeted visits as well, which means that they are worth a lot more than the average ad campaign can bring in.

These are just four simple reasons that blogging can work for any company. To get help with your blog to make sure it is a success, consider working with a professional management company that already knows the ins and outs of successful corporate blogging.

Photo Credit: 1

Originally posted 2008-08-11 05:22:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Does Your Company Need a Blog? One of the latest trends is corporate blogging, but is it right for you company? Not every company under the sun can benefit from having a blog, but there are quite a few benefits that can be reaped in the right circumstances. First, you'll need to decide what you want......
• Corporate Blogging Myths Since corporate blogs are so popular, there are quite a few myths that go along with them. Before you even start your own blog, it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction so that you go into this process with the right expectations. You can really learn......
• Corporate Blogging Issues and Concerns If you have never blogged before and are interested in starting a corporate blog, there are a few issues and concerns that you need to be aware of before you ever get started. These can be treacherous waters at times and if you are not prepared, it is all too......
• Top Five Reasons Corporate Blogs Are Vital As more companies get into the world of corporate blogging, the word is spreading that this is a great way to reach out to the public. There are five specific benefits that any company can reap as a result of setting up a corporate blog. 1. Cheap means of marketing.......
• Getting Smart About Corporate Blogging - Part Two 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......

• Improve Your Blog and Personal Finance Links For those of you who have a blog, Blogthority is offering a new blog review service to help you blog better. They'll review your blog and give you their opinion on a number of areas such as: appearance, branding, readability, image usage, search engine optimization, monetization, and code validation. I'm......
• SEO Tips for Blog Traffic Generation While it may be true to say content is king when it comes to blog publishing, the truth is that writing your blog content is not by far the only thing that you should be focusing on when it comes to attracting a readership following. Quality SEO, or search engine......
• How to Get Blog Traffic in Five Steps Every blogger is looking to achieve the exact same thing: They are hoping to be read. There are millions of bloggers that give the idea a shot but then eventually give up because they feel like nobody is reading them. They feel like if they are unable to get blog......
• Add a Blog to Your Website Blogs have been around for a number of years, but you might still be asking yourself what's the purpose of having a blog if you already have a website? There are several reasons on why blogging would benefit you personally and as a business. If you want more web......
• 5 essential tasks to minding your online business Did you miss me?  I sure missed me.  I was down for at least 130 hours -- over five days.  (Not that I was counting or anything.) Why was I down for this long?  It would be easy to blame my web hosting company or blame lousy customer care, but......