Top 5 Reasons to Have a Blog for Your Business

Based in Cambridge, HubSpot is a pioneer in the concept of inbound marketing. For our Ten Golden Rules book club I’m currently reading HubSpot co-founders, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah’s, Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs. There’s lots of actionable information packed into this book all focused on harnessing the power of inbound marketing. Below I have extracted 5 tips focused on why you should have a blog for your business. For those of you contemplating the idea, learn why you should have a blog with these 5 reasons:

1. A blog will establish your company as a thought leader.

2. Due to its dynamic nature and the fact that you’re creating new content on a regular basis, a blog will change your website from an online brochure to a living, breathing hub for your marketplace.

3. A blog gives your potential customers a way to engage with you versus being hit with a premature sales pitch.

4. The idea is to pull your industry in with neutral, brilliant content in the hope that prospects connect the dots down the road, and see that you are the most thoughtful person in your industry on the topic, and eventually buy from you.

5. The great thing about a blog article is that the page, the Google rankings, the links, and the subscriber are all durable assets. A blog is a durable asset that delivers durable value that lasts.

The key to inbound marketing is to create lots of content that your potential customers will find valuable. In essence, you will function as a magnet to your potential customers. You want to make your company is so irresistible to your visitors that when they have the need for your service, they automatically have your business top of mind.

Why do you believe blogs are important for businesses? Please leave your comments below.

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: Doug Waldron

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions

Join Dave Taylor, Principal of AskDaveTaylor.com, in this week’s Wednesday Webinar, “How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions.”

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Understanding how Q&A sites are reference sites
• How to make the most out of questions asked on your blog
• Best Practices for managing comments on your blog
• Mobile is Important! How to establish your blog within the mobile space

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and is widely considered an expert on all things digital. He runs the popular tech answers site AskDaveTaylor.com, along with three other blogs, including his daddy blog APparenting.com. AskDaveTaylor.com answers questions about a wide variety of technical topics. He has two masters degrees, 20 published books and is an award-winning speaker and workshop leader.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 10, 2010 12:30pmEDT – 1:30pmEDT. To register and for more information please visit: How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents 10 Golden Rules for Blogging

Join Marc Purtell and Michael Gustman from Ten Golden Rules to learn the "Ten Golden Rules for Blogging."

This presentation will explain the significant business opportunities for blogging and how to build your personal brand with a blog.

- The benefits of blogging
- How to blog
- Optimizing for Google and the search engines
- How to generate traffic to your blog
- What to blog about

This free webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: 10 Golden Rules for Blogging

Part 2: Suffering From Blogger’s Block?

I thought it would be helpful to provide a post about some next steps for your blog writing journey. Before I do that though, check out Part 1 of this post; you will find this post is a beneficial supplement.

So you now have some blog ideas and a plan in place – but then you ask yourself – in what format do I put down all of my thoughts? Here are a couple of the best ways to format/structure your posts:

Lists. Creating your blog posts around a “list” format makes the information that much more digestible for the reader. You want to make sure you don’t lose your reader a few sentences into your post. Lists make it less overwhelming for the many on-the-go readers.

Segmented Paragraphs. Not every post you write is going to be short and sweet or able to be chopped up in a list format. A great way to write a longer post but still keep a reader’s attention is by putting each of the points you are illustrating under “headings”. Take a look at how this post has two separate thoughts broken up by preceding bold headings. The concept of this is that readers’ eyes will scan “headings” and skip to the section they are most interested in without abandoning your post altogether.

Think about some of your favorite posts and how they were formatted. What did you enjoy most about them? What about them enticed you to keep reading until the very end?

Suffering from Blogger’s Block?

Do you ever sit down to write a blog post, fresh out of ideas and scratching your head until that light bulb turns on? Or are you planning to start a blog but not really sure what to write about? It happens to all of us at some point, so don’t feel like you are alone. Here are some tips to get those blog writing gears going:

1. Set goals for yourself. Although this may seem like the obvious, it is easily overlooked. Why begin a blog writing expedition without an end game?
2. Do some planning. As part 2 to setting your goals, plan out your blog posts for the next week or month – whichever goal you set for yourself. The focus of this exercise is preparation.
3. Research. There are many sites out there that aid in curing writer’s block. Bookmark these sites to reference in those times of need.
4. Read! The more you read the more your brain muscles will flex. Reading will expose you to different writing styles and topics. Go ahead and set a goal for yourself with this as well – start a bit ambitious, such as reading a book a week, so you have plenty to strive for.

So, don’t get stressed or flustered. Even putting one of these tips into effect will result in blog writing improvements. Take a stand - combat writer’s block by proactively taking advantage of those days that flourish with ideas; and most importantly have fun!

Blogs from the Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI has recently been quoted advising Catholic priests to get involved in the digital space. His stance appears to be with the understanding that the world continues to evolve digitally and so should the Church. He hopes priests will follow in his footsteps for the push of “digitizing the church.”

And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican, sites Huffington Post.

The Vatican has already launched a YouTube Channel, Facebook and iPhone/iPod Touch applications to support the move towards new media communications. Pope Benedict XVI further encourages all priests to not only “just have a website” but to blog and engage with the masses. This can be used as a vehicle to spread their word and reach out to the digital world – to use these platforms to foster humanity and awareness.

Starting an Affiliate Blog: Getting Started

I recently have become very interested in affiliate programs and how one can use them on a blog. It definitely requires a lot of thinking before you actually start. First, you need to figure out what your ultimate goal is with your blog. Let’s say you want to eventually promote products in the form of blog posts.

You will then need to set up the blog and then think about what you will be writing about. A new blog needs a lot of content before you can even think about applying to affiliate programs. The best way to build a blog is to pick a niche topic you are interested in. It will be beneficial to you if you choose a niche that you enjoy writing about, that way you are less likely to abandon the blog altogether. Once you figure out a blog niche, create blog posts that are informative. This may require some research, and that’s ok. You will also need to be prepared to promote the blog by spreading the word to friends, and this can be done using Facebook and Twitter. It is also beneficial to visit other blogs and comment on posts to spread your website link around that way too. Blog promotion is a job in itself, and should be done every day.

Most affiliate programs may have requirements in order to be accepted to their program. They may only accept you when you have a certain amount of traffic coming to your blog, as well as how long the blog is up. You probably don’t want to start putting up affiliate ads all over your website anyway. You want to build a readership, and build a community of readers first. This takes time, and be expected to spend a lot of time doing this.

Also, you want to spend some time reading about tips and strategies by the leaders in affiliate marketing. By reading their blog posts, twitter updates and even listening to podcasts they’ve been featured on, it doesn’t hurt to learn. Becoming informed about affiliate marketing will definitely help your site grow and become successful. A great collection of podcasts featuring affiliates, blogging and general internet marketing discussion is at GeekCast.fm. The Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing Podcast is syndicated there too!

Blogging: A Workout for the Brain

A regular workout routine is recommended for a healthy lifestyle. Though, sometimes we forget that working out is not only for the body but also for the mind. Have you flexed your brain lately?

When we blog, we don’t usually think of what is happening in the background but blogging affects us in many different ways. Beyond producing helpful content and connecting with great people, it is believed that blogging helps improve our cognitive learning skills. As we challenge ourselves with these interactions our brains are “flexing” and becoming stronger. Taking it a step further, the more involved we are with reading and responding to comments, the further our writing evolves and improves. Engaging through blogging also facilitates an environment in which we are able to expand our opinions and open our minds on different topics. As a result, many times we are exposed to a perspective we may never have thought of.

So let’s continue to produce great content and connect with others while getting that ever so important workout!

Are You Analyzing Sentiment?

With the rise of social media, blogging, forums, reviews, and bookmarking in the internet marketing realm, sentiment analysis is gaining importance. The issue, however, is that while still in its infancy, sentiment analysis is still challenged by the task of translating human emotion into hard data.

Nevertheless, the importance of monitoring online social outlets is essential to the success of a business and can allow businesses to act fast when issues arise. By analyzing the sentiment of online discussions about your business, you can know if a decision you recently made was good or if customers are unhappy.

Monitoring and analyzing sentiment is only half the battle. It is important to join the conversation and offer solutions to problems, explanations of misinformation, etc. With your brand having a strong online presence in social media, you can quickly reach many customers and keep them happy.

Three Small Changes to Add To Your Blog Today

Have a blog and unsure about how to make it better? We all know that by doing at least 1 change a day, you’re one step away from greatness. Here are some easy to implement tips you can add to your blog today.

Add images to your blog posts. Adding images that are relevant to your content will definitely give your blog post some personality, and will illustrate your message a lot more clearly to the reader. Find some free stock photos at Stockxpert.com.

Keep your readers up to date. Make sure you give your readers a way to keep them up to date with your content. Give them an option to subscribe to your blog through RSS or email updates. Feedburner is a great tool for this and is free.

Have an “About” page. Make sure if you don’t have an “About” page you should consider creating one. Readers will appreciate your blog more if you do include this, even if the “About” page is only a paragraph.

3 Easy Steps To Get Your Blog Noticed

So you created a blog, created some posts and you are wondering how people will find it? Well there are a few ways to get your blog noticed.

1. Find some popular blogs in your niche and comment on some blog posts. The blog owner usually reads blog comments and will most likely check out your site because they notice a new reader commenting. Of course, make sure you include your blog URL when leaving a comment.

2. Submit your blog to popular blog directories. There are many blog directories out there, but make sure you submit to quality sites with at least a page rank of 3.

Some blog directories to consider are:
http://blogs.botw.org/
http://www.bloggeries.com/
http://www.delightfulblogs.com/

The sites above all have certain requirements they look for so make sure you read them and meet them before submitting, otherwise you may get rejected.

3. Participate in social networks and forums that are related to your blog content. Start and participate in discussions and link to your blog in your profile or signature (if you are using a forum). That way, when people are reading your informative and useful responses, they will be inclined to read more about you and what you have to say.

That’s a starting point and I think all three are definitely doable if you are serious about getting your blog out there. Happy blogging! ☺

How To Be a Better Internet Marketer in 2009

As 2008 comes to an end, we all get a fresh start in 2009. Whether you're beginning to dabble in internet marketing or encounter it on an everyday basis, here are some basic tips to be a better internet marketer in 2009.

1. Read, read, read! I personally read many blogs daily. If you’re unsure where to start, you can go to Alltop.com where most of the popular blogs reside. There are Alltop sites for SEO, SEM and Social Media.

2. If you’re not on Twitter, sign up! Twitter is a great way to learn from others and interact with people that are in the same industry as you. As soon as you follow one person, see who they follow. You probably follow one person because they’re interesting to you, so you’re bound to find someone else through them that interest you as well.

3. Be a Blogger, or at least contribute to one. Having a blog is quite a task, but if you have a lot to say about a specific topic there is always at least one person out there that will listen. Having a blog is also a great way to test different internet marketing strategies without redesigning your existing website.

Why You Should Consider Blogging for your Business

Many companies don’t realize that blogging can benefit the growth and success of their business.

Here are 4 reasons why I think a company should consider creating a blog:

Blogging can help you become an authority in the industry your company is in. You most likely started your company because you know a lot about it and it interests you, so besides having your website that provides information about your products or services, have a blog with topics about the topics that relate to the industry your company is in.

Get feedback from customers and start a conversation. Having a company blog is a great way for customers to express their thoughts about a blog post discussing your services or products.

Having a blog is all about creating content, and since a blog displays your most recent blog post first, the search engines will definitely crawl your site regularly, boosting search engine rankings.

Having a company blog also allows discussing trends in the business’ particular niche. Discussing trends will show that your customers or potential clients that the company is on top of what is going on in the industry.

Currently the top 3 Blogs when searching for “company blog” in Google:
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
http://blog.dogster.com/

My favorite out of the 3 would have to be Southwest Airlines blog, since there is a lot of information other than blog posts, such as company news, video, a podcast, photo gallery and even a user poll. I also like the fact that the company uses a lot of social networking sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

RSS Explained: Why You Should Use It

Those who are bloggers or familiar with blogging are most likely familiar with RSS feeds. But there are still many people who aren’t.

RSS is known as Really Simple Syndication and is a web feed format that is used to publish updated content, such as blog entries, podcasts or news articles. Basically explained, it is a way to read constantly changing content as it is made available.

RSS content is usually read using software called an RSS reader. The orange symbol on the left is used to identify an RSS feed, and when you see that, you know that you can subscribe to their content. You can save the RSS feed to your RSS reader, and every time a website is updated, you will see it in your RSS reader as soon as it is published. Web based RSS readers include Google Reader and Bloglines and they are useful because you can read your subscribed feeds in any browser, no matter what computer you are on.

If you’re a blogger, it is in your best interest to have an RSS feed placed a prominent area where users can easily find it. In most blog software such as Blogger and Wordpress, an RSS feed is already installed. If you want to measure how many readers subscribe to your feed, Feedburner is a recommended tool for traffic analysis, ways to promote your feed and a lot more features. It is free and easy to use.

So whenever you see that orange square, you know that you can subscribe to an RSS feed. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to Ten Golden Rules’ Blog RSS feed and be up to date on all our blog posts. :)