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  Why You Need a Blog in a Social Networking World

  Rick 2:39 pm on August 2, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blog strategy, Blogging (13), blogs (12), social networking strategy

  When we look back on the development of blogging over the last 5 or 10 years we can see that blogs were an important step in the “socializing” of the web. Unlike traditional static websites that were more or less just online brochures, blogs were built as personal publishing platforms with a major dose of interactivity. In other words, they encourage one on one interaction. Bloggers express their opinions, as well as connect to other bloggers and web resources, and readers respond by expressing their opinions in the form of “comments”.

  This interaction is what “social networking” is all about – with the most glaring examples being platforms like Facebook and Twitter. They provide you the opportunity to interact with an ever-broadening network of people who share your interests, or are interested in what you have to say.

  Those of us interested in using these social networking sites as marketing tools can find it a bit overwhelming. Keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, ActiveRain, and many others is difficult and time-consuming. And if there is no comprehensive strategy for our social networking it will eventually become tiresome and of questionable value.

  As part of a sensible online social networking strategy, most “experts” agree it is important to have your blog at the centre of things. Your blog is where you can express yourself in greater depth, and without worrying that you are being too pushy or sales-oriented.

  Generally speaking, your friends and followers on sites like Facebook or Twitter do not like to be bombarded with a sales pitch whenever they read your entries. But using your tweets and Facebook entries to point them to interesting stories, articles, videos, or special offers is perfectly acceptable. The easiest place to point them is your own blog.

  This strategy is no mystery and it has been discussed many times by marketing experts: use your blog to build your online identity, publish your opinions, and present your special products and offers. Use the other social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to drive traffic to your blog.

  In other words, as I said above, your blog should be at the center of your marketing strategy. Looking at it this way may encourage you to reconfigure your whole online marketing strategy. But that is probably a good thing.

  
   

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  Blogging Myth #2 - The Search Engines Will Send Lots of Traffic

  Rick 9:17 am on July 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blog formula, blog strategy, blog success, blog traffic (3), Blogging (13), blogs (12), marketing blogs

  If you’ve done any research into blogging, you’ve probably been exposed to the standard formula for blogging success. This formula has been promoted by countless gurus and web marketers trying to sell blogging advice and “systems” and it goes like this:

  1. Pick an interesting topic for your blog
  2. Write interesting posts with catchy titles
  3. Optimize your blog posts for the Search Engines
  4. Promote your blog on blog directories and bookmarking sites

  If you do these things, the forumula says, you will get the attention of the Search Engines (especially Google), and they will send you a “stampede of targeted traffic”.

  In case you haven’t noticed, this formula relies almost exclusively on the Search Engines for traffic, and because of this it is seriously misleading. I can state with no hesitation at all that if you use this formula to get traffic to your blog you will almost certainly be disappointed by the results.

  Yes, there are bloggers who get tons of traffic, and much of that traffic is driven by the Search Engines. But what you’re not told is that these bloggers have built up their list of followers over quite a long period of time, usually using a strategy other than simply relying on the hit and miss results you get from the search engines.

  And if you are a local business – a real estate agent, accountant, lawyer, chiropractor, restaurant, landscaping company, etc., etc. – you are addressing a narrowly targeted local niche where the fact is only local followers matter to you. You will soon find that to rely on the search engines to deliver a lot of traffic from such a relatively small target market will be extremely disappointing.

  For more ideas on traffic strategies that do (and don’t) work, get this free report called Blogs That Work.

   
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  Your Blog Will Fail Without A Strategy

  Rick 8:04 pm on December 11, 2008 | 4 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blog strategy, Blogging (13), branding, corporate, image, websites (2), writing (4)

  There’s no doubt that a blog can often be the best way to put a consistent face on your business. Rather than a static website that makes no attempt to invite visitor interaction, a blog can be a perfect way to engage your people and build a relationship with them.

  But it takes commitment to keep a blog going. Unlike a static website that you put up once and then only update from time to time, a blog requires constant attention in order to be effective.

  And that requires a strategy. Sorry, but without an explicit strategy your blog will very likely fail. It will not accomplish what you set out to accomplish with it, and you personally will probably lose interest within a month or two.

  1. Creating a ‘Brand’ With Your Blog

  You need an objective for your blog, and I think the best one is to…
  (More …)

   
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  SEO Advantages of Blogs

  Rick 9:32 am on November 15, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blog strategy, business blogs, SEO and blogs

  Clients of mine often ask me what’s the big deal with blogs. I normally trot out the standard pitch about blogs being both search engine friendly and reader friendly. In other words, using a blog effectively gives you a good way to enhance your search engine exposure and rankings at the same time as giving your visitors current information and a more personal connection to your activities, projects, ideas, opinions, etc.
  (More …)