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 a lot from these myths, and you’ll know what you should not be doing on your blog.

1. Build it and they will automatically come.

This is completely untrue. You need to work to build your readership and it may take months. Unless you are already very popular and get a lot of daily traffic, you’re going to have to work hard to build up that audience. It is very easy to get discouraged with this process, but if you can stick with it, you’ll be greatly increasing your chances for a very popular blog.

2. Comments are a bad idea.

No one really wants to give their customers an open mic, especially if the company already has a history of customer service issues and a bad reputation. However, comments, when moderated, can lead to an open and frank discussion that is very useful for your business. In addition, it gives the impression that you really do want to hear from your readers. Commetning on blogs is a very big part of many blog reader’s lives and they will want this opportunity.

If you do have a problem with disgruntled customers, then comments may not be a good idea, especially if you let them go live without first moderating them. Try to weigh the pros and cons and then once you have made your decision stick with it. It is better to have never allowed comments, than to have allowed them and revoked them down the road. This will be perceived badly and will give the public the impression that you are trying to hide something.

The best answer is to set all comments to moderation, which means that you will get to read them and approve them before they go live. There may be a few grumblings about this, but overall, it is much safer than allowing comments to go live immediately after they are written.

3. It’s ok to have fun and be strange on your blog.

You still are representing your company, so you’ll need to find that balance between being engaging and being stupid. You don’t want your company to get dragged through the mud because of one ill thought out post. Make sure that you never post anything that could result in someone thinking less of you or your company. It’s fine to have fun with your blog, but never forget that it needs to be professional.

Blogging is tough, and many companies prefer to hire someone to help them through the entire process. A blog management company can assist you in determining the future path for your blog as well as with marketing and daily maintenance. They make it easy to have a successful corporate blog.

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Originally posted 2008-07-01 05:35:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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 1 in a short series on tips for making blogging work for you.

1 – The first step is to find your domain name.

If you already have a website for your business, then the most advantageous option may be to attach your blog in some way to your normal business site. The next best thing would be to own the domain name that is most descriptive of your business when creating your blog. Either use your business name for your blog name, or your own name, so that you can help people link you and your blog with the company that you are intending to represent. Some of the most well known domain name registrars are GoDaddy, MyDomain, Register, PacNames and DotCalmDomains.

2 – Figure out which blogging tool or blogging platform is going to work best for you.

There are at least two different camps to consider when it comes to tools. The first is those who prefer self hosted blogs, and the second is those who prefer hosting tools. Where do you feel most comfortable? The decision is ultimately up to you but there are pros and cons associated with both options. Some of the options available to you are easily customizable hosted options like TypePad offered by SixApart, or Movable Type which offers more control than TypePad. If you want to host your own blog, WordPress may be more your style, as it offers a lot of customization and control and you can host it a lot more efficiently by yourself.

3 – Talk about yourself so your readers can get to know you.

Most blog templates have an “About” function. Use this wisely so that you may capture the true essence of who you are and what you are hoping to accomplish with your blog. You should aim to strike an excellent balance between human voice and “business speak” to show your readers that you mean business, but are just a passionate human being at the core.

4 – Register your blog and start spreading the word about your endeavor.

Get comfortable with your blog before you start speaking out about it. Once you have some content, and perhaps even a reader or two, you can start spreading the word about your blog. Register your blog at FeedBurner, available at http://www.feedburner.com so that you can provide RSS and e-mail feeds that people can use to gain access to your content. Technorati, at http://www.technorati.com is another excellent option as well as it will allow you to associate tags with your blog for better “findability”.

5 – Create a resource section or a blog roll to show your customers what you enjoy reading, or what resources you often visit.

Blog rolls are generous in two different ways, as not only do they allow people who you link to to find your blog, but they also help readers expand their knowledge by checking out the blogs that you recommend.

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Originally posted 2009-01-19 05:07:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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If you are not familiar with the site called StumbleUpon, it is a service that allows users to discover new sites. With the use of a toolbar (spyware free), users of StumbleUpon can find new sites that are related to their interests, or they can choose a random option. Millions of people are using StumbleUpon and it has caught the eye of many corporate bloggers as being a great new way to pick up readers.

This is a veritable minefield however in the blogging community. Many people swear by the service, others can’t stand it. While there are some flaw that are inherent with StumbleUpon, there are a few cases where it can actually be useful for your corporate blog. Let’s take a hard look at the pros and cons of StumbleUpon and whether or not it can help you.

First off, although advertising on StumbleUpon is incredibly cheap, and very targeted, few have found it to be effective. Basically, when you purchase a StumbleUpon ad, your blog will be automatically loaded for viewers that are interested in your niche. It sounds ideal, but this rarely works. In our testing we found that we did get the number of visitors promised, but none stayed for more than a few seconds.

Paying for targeted visitors that barely see your site is just not a good investment. There is a lot of controversy over StumbleUpon’s ads, and although they are economical, we have not found that they are effective for the majority of corporate blogs. If you are running a very special contest or offer you may have better results, but you really cannot rely on these ads to help build up a solid readership.

So, what about their organic services? These are the visitors that just happen upon your site and you don’t have to pay for them. This is a little hit or miss and again, it is really only effective for contests, special deals and controversial content that grabs a visitor immediately. While it is still important to get listed as a StumbleUpon site, you should not expect hordes of people to descend on your site as a result.

Overall, StumbleUpon is a great premise that should work, but it just doesn’t seem to for most corporate blogs. The review feature is also worrisome for many corporate blog owners. Get a bad review and that will stay up, in connection with your site, for any StumbleUpon user that happens to visit your site. If the reviews are good, this is great. If they are not, it is a whole other story.

While using StumbleUpon has some benefits, it is certainly not the most reliable means of attracting new readers to your corporate blog. With the right niche and targeting this can change, but for the average corporate blog owner, it is just not worth the trouble. This may change as StumbleUpon grows and evolves, but for now, your efforts are probably best spent elsewhere.

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Originally posted 2008-10-02 05:50:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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