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, but there are several techniques that you can use to make sure that your blog gets noticed and that you beat your competitors.

1. Put a name and a face on your blog.

Don’t make the mistake of anonymous blogging. Many businesses owners make this mistake because they are not willing to put their employees or themselves out in the public eye. The result is a static blog that is boring and unpersonable. You will need to give a name, even if it is just your first name if you want your blog to be successful. A picture is also useful, but if you don’t feel comfortable with that, you’re going to have to use your personality to create that picture in the minds of your readers.

2. Blog about the right topics.

The blogs that get read find a way to mix current events in with their regular company news. The more topics you cover, the better your chances are of being discovered. Read through your competitor’s blogs and see what they are doing. Find out how you can do it better. It’s ok to have a few posts on your blog that may not be directly related to what you do. This helps build up your readership. However, it is important to find some way to relate every post you make to your company or your industry. Otherwise, your readers could get confused.

3. Allow your readers to comment.

It can be pretty scary to open up your blog to comments from your readers. However, this is a risk that pays off by allowing your readers to feel as though they are a part of what you are doing. If you do allow comments, it is alright to moderate them to avoid having a disaster occur, but you should allow some freedom of discussion. Many businesses make the mistake of talking at their readers instead of talking to them. By using comments, you can avoid this common mistake and ensure that your readers will feel that they matter to you.

4. Have fun.

The most common problem that all corporate bloggers face is that their industry may be a bit boring. There is a way to have fun with your posts, stay relevant to your topic and stay professional. If your blog makes you snore, what is it doing to your readers. Change it up every now and again and keep it lighthearted.

In order to avoid many of these pitfalls, it is a good idea to work with someone that is familiar with blog management. You’ll be able to get the benefit of their expertise and they can help you leverage your blog for success.

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Originally posted 2008-07-16 05:05:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Whether you are new to corporate blogging, or trying to find ways to blog more effectively, there are some great tools out there that can truly enhance your blog. Most are free to use, while others do have a small fee. However, this is definitely time and money well spent, since many of these tools can mean the difference between failure and success. Let’s look at some of the best tools that you should be using.

1. Google Analytics –

This is a free stat program that delivers a powerful punch. Not only will you get to see where your visitors are coming from, or how they found your site, but you can also track campaign effectiveness, set traffic goals and measure the ROI of your advertising campaigns. This is truly one of the most efficient and effective stat programs in existence.

2. Google Keyword Suggestions/Popularity –

Google recently released these two tools that are commonly associated with AdWords, to the general public. You can use these tools to determine how to target your niche more effectively and to get ideas of what keywords you should be using. This is also a great tool for breaking through writer’s block and the keyword suggestions are very helpful.

3. Submit Express Link Popularity Checker –

This is a vital tool for corporate bloggers that is also free to use and very powerful. Ever wonder how popular your links are? Want to know which sites you should be targeting for links back to your own site? This tool can tell you that and a lot more. This is a great resource for any webmaster, but it can be particularly effective for corporate bloggers.

4. Wordtracker –

This is a paid service, but they do offer a limited version that can be used for free. While this is a little more expensive than some of their competitor’s offerings, you can use these services to really get more out of your blog. Whether you need to see what people are searching for, or how you can expect your keywords to perform, this is a very helpful tool.

5. Multi-Pinging Tool –

There are several of these services out there, so it is difficult to pick the ideal one. However, if you are not pinging your blog, you are missing out on a lot of potential traffic. These services can be used right after you add a new post to your blog and they will automatically notify many popular blog listing sites that you have new content. You can actually pick up quite a lot of new visitors with the right pinging strategy.

6. Technorati –

This is often overlooked in corporate blogs, but it can be helpful when used properly. While the main focus is of course technical topics, there are plenty of other topics that are still popular. We also recommend visiting Technorati for topic ideas since their tag clouds can give you an idea of what people are interested in right then and there.

The proper toolbox will help you build your corporate blog up and make it more popular.

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Originally posted 2008-10-08 05:45:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Unless you are writing hundreds of posts a day, the amount of time you spend posting on your corporate blog should be minimal. In fact, that is why so many decide to start their own blogs, since everything can be automated and you can sit back and relax. However, there are a few things you should be doing when you are not posting. These methods and techniques can help you explode your traffic and get better results from your work. Here’s what you should be doing when you’re not working or posting.

1. Promoting your blog.

You can build it, but there is no guarantee that they will come. It’s up to you to get out there and find readers. Whether it’s getting back links to your site to increase traffic, commenting on blogs that are related to your niche, learning new promotional techniques or taking advantage of social sites, you should spend around a half hour every day promoting your blog. This kind of focus can pay off and you’ll start seeing results in a lot less time.

2. Finding ways to make your blog better.

Is there a plugin out there that could make your job easier? Take the time to see how to make your blog work for you – and harder than ever. New applications are released constantly and many of them are free to low cost. Instead of sitting there with the same version of WordPress for three years, make the effort to be proactive and keep improving your blog.

3. Learning more about the medium.

The blogosphere is not stagnant, it is always changing. You need to stay on top of trends, read news pertaining to blogs and keep finding ways to make your blog the best it can be. By being an early adopter of trends and techniques, you have an edge that your competitor’s won’t.

4. Researching new topics to cover.

Whether you’re researching new niche keywords (they do keep changing) or you are finding interesting angles to promote your products, your research should be an ongoing process. If you don’t have the time to do it on your own, consider outsourcing this task and have them deliver the information to you so you can read it at your leisure.

5. Keeping tabs on your competition.

This is a step that many companies fail to take and as such, they usually end up falling behind the pack. Always take the time to find out what they are doing and subscribe to their blog RSS feed so that you get instant updates delivered right to your reader. This is the easiest way to stay on top of what they are doing and you can use this information to make your blog better.

While some of these steps may be time consuming, they are necessary and will help you build up a very strong audience that is not only targeted, but invested emotionally in your company.

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Originally posted 2008-11-26 05:24:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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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Originally posted 2008-11-21 05:19:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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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Originally posted 2008-11-17 05:24:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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