Blogging
Walk away
One of our SEO strategies is to migrate all of our blogs over to a CMS Platform (WordPress or Joomla!) to enable SEO features and tagging. I was working on one of our sites which had about 350+ entries, when in the process – the screen went blank. So, I fiddled with this, mess with that and still blank. You know that queasy feeling in the bottom of your stomach? 3 years of entries down the drain? Ugh!
I went online and begged one of my Facebook buddies for help. He didn’t have an immediate solution, but he offered some sane advice – take a break. Walk away, come back fresh. A cool and calm approach – I’ve just lost 3 years of profound words of wisdom – I am not calm!!
Despite my inner control freak – I followed his advice. I took a break.
I came back – reinstalled WordPress 2.7 and there they were – 350 or so of my most profound postings just waiting to be shared with the world.
Sigh!
Popularity: 4% [?]
How often do you need to update your blog?
How often should I update my blog?
Creating fresh content tip –
Another time saving tip is to write 2 or 3 entries at a time. When the ideas are flowing go with it. You can then schedule the posts for various times during the week ensuring fresh content for the next week or two.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Creating fresh blog content
How do you come up with fresh content for your blog?
We asked, here’s what you told us –
- I would suggest having guest bloggers and interviewing people for you blog. Doing so will give you exposure to their following and they benefit from the exposure to yours. Paul Castain Consolidated Graphics
- Keep looking at related websites and news for ideas. Do not write long posts or don’t try to write everything under one heading. You can make more than one post out of one big post by dividing the content in parts/headings. Babar Hussain B2B Trade International
- Constantly think about how you can add value to someone, something, somebody in your target audience. If you are seen as adding value, then your creative juices will start flowing. Ian Piddock Lansa
Popularity: 1% [?]
Social Networking – Marketing Magic or Time Sink?
A long, long time ago – at least in Internet years – the way to drive traffic to your site was write a blog. Check. Then we sent you a newsletter – opt in of course. You read it once or twice and you stopped reading. Don’t you love us? We linked to our business contacts on LinkedIn. Seems you already knew us. Then we were supposed to join MySpace. Check – met lot of twenty somethings, but not a lot of marketing bang for the buck. Then it was Facebook. Check – now we spend unthinkable amount of time trying to make what we are doing now sound interesting – do you really care that I am staring at my computer? Now, the rage is to Tweet on Twitter, really?
What works and what doesn’t? I guess it depends on your audience. Our blogs and newsletter are content we create, which tend to get read and drive traffic. The other sites tend be popular until the next shiny object come along. Right now, we get a fair am amount of visibility from Facebook and Twitter – but that will likely change in six months.
A very long time ago – especially in Internet years – I belonged to a business exchange group. We met twice a month and actually at down face to face. I still get business from that group. Call it doing business the old fashion way, but it works. Sure, online social networking can drive traffic to your site, but in the long run it’s the people that you do business with. So, back away from the laptop and go out and talk to a real live body – you may be surprised – you might even get some business!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Using Twitter
We do it so you don’t have to . . .
OK, actually we do it so that we can pass along our experience to you -
We tweet, there we said it. First step is acknowledgment, right? I like Twitter. It allows us to post links and messages when we update the blogs.
New to Twitter – these Ten Top Twitter Tips should help you get started.
It seems to be the “gadget” of the moment – MySpace is so 2007! Passing fad? Internet Revolution? We wanted to know what you thought and here is what you told us -
- I used twitter for a few months, but I ended up deleting my account. I don’t mind a bit of social networking, but Twitter, as someone else said, seems far too invasive and high-maintenance. Posting once a day, sure, but then I want to post something meaty. Posting 20 times a day with 140 characters strikes me more of a waste of time, or at least a non-significant method of information propogation. “At work. Have coffee!” “Accident on way home. Avoid I-40.” etc. just isn’t what I’m looking for — or giving out — as far as my interests are concerned.
- Some people have said that “old-fashioned” (can something be “old fashioned” if it’s only a few years old?) blogs are dead, but I love them. Give me a good blog any day, rather than Twitter, Facebook, or Myspace.
- I love Twitter! If you want to find out more about it and what it can do for you, I suggest you follow @guykawasaki. He is really sharp, and has great articles about promoting yourself or your business, as well as posting links to some funny or interesting articles or websites.
- Totally! I’m always looking for new and interesting things in the world blog about.
- Twitter is like going to a party and walking around. Some people never stop talking, some say one interesting thing as you pass by, some are just Oscar Wilde witty or down right funny (a nice break in information flow), some make you stop and chat for a minute. I follow some people for fun, some for sustainability, some for marketing, some for technology, etc. Most, including me, tie it to other networking sites. It is a tool to be used in networking, not an end unto itself. It keeps me up to date with a group of people, and I can look into their blog posts if I like, email them for more info, and keep them abreast of what I am doing. If you are doing something cool, you are likely to get more attention from your twitter group that a press release. For it to be of benefit, you have to keep your end of the conversation going and tell other people when you see one of your group doing something great-otherwise you are just the wallflower at the party that everybody wonders about. As we see the death of print media, and the rise of web 2.0, those on the cutting edge of things like twitter are leading the way, and coming late to the game will force you to play catch up. Additionally, twitter has connected me with some great people, whose calendars would have made a meeting impossible.
- I have used Twitter professionally and currently use it personally. On the professional side, I found Twitter to be a useful tool in promoting website content. Build a strong network of following and followers in your topic area. Write witty and interesting one-liners with links to the content. Track your referral hits to that content to evaluate how effective your tactics are. Twitter takes little time and effort to use in this manner and every little bit of traffic helps!
- I think Twitter has its place and there is a growing community of people who want their information in bite-size (140 characters max) pieces. I tweet, but not for professional purposes, more for the challenge of making short interesting observations. I have only done it for a month and a half and, already, total strangers are finding me and following me. You can also control how many people you want to follow, keeping it manageable. I think there is potential here.
- I’m not sure what it will add to my networks. It seems rather invasive. Although my friends tells me I’ll be a confirmed user at some point, but I need some down-time from the constant flow of information. But then again, I just use my cell phone as a phone!
Popularity: 2% [?]
