One of the main problems facing corporate bloggers is that they do not treat their blogs like a business, and they may not take them seriously enough. There are fortunes to be made in the blogosphere, but many companies will fail to stake their claim, simply because they don’t spend enough time learning the business of blogging. If you want to get in there and dominate your niche, establish your company as the leading authority and get the edge over your competitors, it’s time to take a serious look at corporate blogging.

In order to treat your blog like a business, it is important to get the right mindset first. Many make the mistake of looking at a blog as a novelty, or as a waste of time. However, when used correctly, a corporate blog is anything but that. It is a powerful medium that can be leveraged in dozens of different ways, but only when done correctly. Here are some tips to help you turn your corporate blog into a business and a successful one at that.

1. Develop a cohesive strategy.

In order for your corporate blog to succeed, you’ve got to have a strategy in place for implementation and growth. If necessary, write up a plan that details your goals, and how you plan to achieve them.

2. Do your research.

If you’re jumping into corporate blogging without a modicum of information on best practices, techniques and in general, knowing how to use it to the best of its abilities, you are doing your company a grave disservice. Read books on corporate blogging, stay on top of the latest news in the industry and read the successful corporate blogs to get ideas of what you need to be doing.

3. Set aside an advertising budget.

In order for any company to grow, it’s got to have advertising, and a corporate blog is no different. Even if you have limited funds to devote to this project, with smart spending you can develop an ad campaign that will get the job done. Even small press releases can be incredibly effective and can drive free traffic to your blog.

4. Plant your seeds and tend them to make them grow.

A business needs a good start, and it needs to be tended, just like a plant, if you want it to grow. If you’re putting your corporate blog in rocky soil, and then leaving it to die, you’ll never be able to harvest the reward. Instead, prepare the ground first by testing the waters and implementing the tips above. Keep feeding your business with advertising and new content.

Once you start a corporate blog, you’ve got to be committed to helping it grow, just like you would any business. It takes time, it takes effort, but most of all, it takes your concentration and focus if you want it to be a success. It can be done, but only if you’re willing to make that investment.

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Originally posted 2008-11-28 05:40:14. 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 2 in a short series on tips for making blogging work for you.

6 – Create outgoing links from your blog as much as you can, or as much as is feasible.

If there are people in your network who are posting excellent content, talk about that content, and link to it. Book mark their posts and refer to them any time you touch on the same topic. This is good blogging etiquette. Your blog content does not have to be completely unique, so feel free to give a nod to other bloggers online when their content is worth talking about.

7 – Make comments in other blogs and on other websites.

This is not only about exposure or placing links, but it also has to do with being generous and participating within your industry. Don’t simply leave brief comments like “Nice post.” Or “Good topic,” but rather, you should leave meaningful and useful comments that facilitate conversation in your blog and others.

8 – Give people methods to share your content with their networks.

There are plenty of social plugins like Digg, Share This, StumbleUpon and Reddit that make it possible for readers who appreciate your content to share it within other circles and networks. This is an excellent way to get some free publicity simply by writing worthwhile content.

9 – Give your readers different ways that they can engage with you.

One of the most obvious ones is simply to allow for commenting. Stay on top of comment moderation and respond to the comments that you receive, facilitating conversation between you and your readers. The more your readers are aware that you are reading and responding to their comments, the more likely they will be to keep coming back for more.

10 – Create a good, hard working search function for your blog.

A popular choice is Lijit, which you can find at http://www.lijit.com. Another one is a Google Search button, and there are plenty of other search functions that can be found online and integrated into your blog. The point here is obviously to allow people to search for any topic of their choosing on your blog, which is much easier than trying to find your blog topics from an outside search engine.

11 – Sign up for an RSS Aggregation Service.

So that you can stay on top of blogs and online publications that you read through syndication. Google Homepage (http://www.google.com/ig), Google Reader (http://www.google.com/Reader), Delicious (http://www.delicious.com), FriedFeed (http://www.friedfeed.com) and Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com) are all popular options for this particular purpose.

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Originally posted 2009-01-20 05:16:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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