Every week, new corporate blogs spring into existence, but many are doomed to fail from the start. How can you be assured that your blog is going to be a success? Follow in the footsteps of the leaders and learn from their mistakes! There are three main secrets to successful corporate blogging, that any business owner can implement. They are easy to follow and you’ll be able to start seeing the benefits right away.

1. Be Original.

This can be broken down into three main sub categories: Design, Content and Promotion. Let’s look at the first one, design. There are thousands upon thousands of free themes out there for most blogging platforms. That doesn’t mean that you should be using one. When you’re running a corporate blog, you don’t want to have the same theme as some crazy teenager that’s a little bit emo and a whole lot desperate. It gives the wrong impression. Spend the money to have a theme designed for you that is original.

Next, let’s look at content. Sure, it’s easy to lift content or use snippets of other articles that have already been published. But why would anyone want to read that? You’ve got to put yourself in your reader’s shoes. You may be busy and a blog post may be the last thing on your mind, but you’ve got to take that time to write an original post. It will pay off. Lastly, promotion. You’ve got to find an original way to get your site noticed. This means using social networking, PPC ads and having a great campaign that will get the attention of readers.

2. Be Prolific.

The best blogs are the ones that publish every day, and in many cases, more than once a day. Frequent publishing has many benefits. First, you’re giving your readers an excuse to come back more than once and to visit every single day. Second, you’re building more opportunities for search engine indexing. The best corporate bloggers take the time to really knuckle down and commit to producing lots of original content every single day. It does pay off.

3. Be social.

Today’s online world is social and if you’re not taking part, you’re missing out. Encourage comments on your blog, talk to your readers, not at them. There are many little ways that you can be social on your blog. We’re not saying drop that veneer of professionalism, but you’ve got to find a way to reach out to them. Remember their names, use social networking sites, leave comments on other blogs. These are just a few ways that you can be social and increase your readership.

If you’re not comfortable commenting on another blog, mention one of their more interesting posts. Chances are they’ll be thankful for the publicity and they’ll return the favor. This is an easy way to build up your blog’s readership and make some great contacts in the blogging world. Corporate blogging is a great tool, especially when it is utilized the right way.

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Originally posted 2008-09-01 05:04:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Forrester Research recently compiled a review of ninety different Fortune 500 blogs, and found most to be lacking the proper amount of stimulation. Sadly, two things of these corporate blogs barely ever received any comments, 70 % of them stuck completely to topics of their business without ever straying, and sadly, more than half of them simply regurgitated press releases and other news that was already pubic. Because of blogs like this, the general consensus on corporate blogging has been that it is not really worth the time and effort, and this is a true shame because when a corporate blog is done right, it can actually have a tremendous value to the owner. Below is a brief list of some of the corporate blogs out there that are shining examples of what this activity can do for your business because they really “get” corporate blogging.

37 Signals –

You could consider these guys to be the poster children for corporate blogging, with more than one hundred thousand RSS subscribers and a blog full of advice and insight about design and business, editorials and so much more.

Adobe –

Adobe actually offers a large collection of different employee blogs, and many of them happen to be excellent reads. Because Adobe is allowing its employees to blog, it has given them the power to evangelize the company’s products through reviews, tutorials and advice without actually forcing them to talk only about these products.

Amazon Web Services –

Amazon’s Web Services blog is one of the greatest corporate blogs in existence, because it reads like the blog of Amazon’s greatest fan. The great mind because the Amazon Web Services blog is actually an evangelist for the company, but his blog posts read like they’re from someone who is really truly amazed by the things that people are building in Amazon’s suite of different web services every single day. This blog is a true pleasure to read, which is what corporate blogging is about.

Freshbooks –

Freshbooks seems to be taking the lead from 37 Signals, utilizing their corporate blog in proactive ways by sharing insights and advice into how they do things to create true fans out of their blog users and readers.

Lenovo –

Lenovo is a computer making company that has a collection of blogs, which prove in no uncertain terms that they understand what corporate blogging is all about. They post about their products, but also musings relating to business, life, design and technology. One of their best blogs, Design matters, is a must read blog for anyone who is into design, and can be found at http://www.lenovoblogs.com.

Southwest Airlines –

The Southwest Airlines company has a “Nuts about Southwest” blog that does not take itself seriously, but rather it blogs about the airline industry and the company itself with a really important personal touch that allows the company to produce interesting and enjoyable content with only a slight hint at seriousness.

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Originally posted 2008-12-29 05:47:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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