Is Your Web Site or Blog Discriminating Against the Disabled?
Yesterday I received an email from a reader of this blog. On a post called Five Secrets to Promoting Your Business Blog I included a recommendation to post to influential blogs in your niche.
Why didn't he just leave a comment? Read on...
The reader responded that one barrier to leaving comments on blogs is the use of CAPTCHAs--those annoying, messy boxes of alpha-numerics that are supposed to separate the people from the machines. Unfortunately, they can be an impenetrable barrier to people with disabilities. More unfortunately, MaineBusiness.com, which hosts this blog, uses CAPTCHA to prevent comment spam on their site. (So does TypePad, which powers my other blog, flyte blog: web marketing strategies for small business.)
The reader mentioned that census figures show 20% of the population are somehow disabled; obviously, not all of the would be stopped by a CAPTCHA, but why would you use a tool that stops the voice of your reader and quiets the conversation on your site?
Obviously, there's a very good reason for using CAPTCHAs. They help stem the tide of comment spam generated by computers. Spammers use computers to send out an infinite, unending stream of spam to online forms for a variety of reasons. These spams reduce the signal to noise ratio, clog the tubes of the Internet, and reduce everyone's productivity.
New CAPTCHA tools often give people alternatives to those messy alphanumerics. Sometimes there's also an audio option (the computer will read you the answer and you type it in) or a simple math problem (what is 2 + 0) that these spam bots haven't yet caught up with.
Regardless, it's an ongoing battle between keeping communication flowing while keeping noise out. In a recent post, I talked about some of the benefits I've seen by using some non-CAPTCHA tools on online forms. However, ultimately spammers will figure those out as well.
We are in an arms race with the spammers, and of course there are innocent bystanders that are getting hurt, or at least disenfranchised.
There's no right answer on how to handle the balance of reducing incoming spam and keeping the lines of communication open with any human who wants to be part of the conversation. Each company, each Web site owner, and each blogger needs to make their own decision.
What have you found that works for you?
Five Secrets to Promoting Your Business Blog
Blogs can be a powerful marketing tool, but not if they remain hidden. Here are 5 simple tricks all business bloggers should do to promote their blog and reach new customers.
- Create keyword-rich content on a regular basis. No matter what else you do on this list, if you're not regularly posting content to your blog, it will be difficult to attract regular readers.
- Comment on other influential blogs in your niche. Leaving comments on other blogs will create a link from their blog to yours. Leaving inane comments will get your comments deleted, and possibly get you banned. So, leave intelligent comments.
- Link from your Web site to your blog. Especially at the beginning when your Web site has more trust built up at the search engines and your blog has none.
- Ping the news aggregators to let them know when you've updated your blog. I use Pingoat; every time I finish a blog post I immediately go to Pingoat and ping dozens of news services in one step.
- Link to other blogs in your niche (and click on those links.) Whether in a blogroll or in an individual post, link to other bloggers and then click on those links to, a) confirm the links are right, and b) to show up as a referrer on their traffic reports. This should get their attention and maybe they'll end up linking back to you!
There are of course dozens if not hundreds of other things you can do to leverage the power of your business blog, but if there's anything on this list you aren't doing now, I recommend starting right away.
Do you have any techniques that have gotten you more traffic at your blog?
Rich Brooks
Small Business Blogger
Tourism's New Math: What Maine's Tourist Economy Needs Now
There's a front page article in the PPH today about a new method of calculating tourism's impact on the Maine economy, and a lot of people aren't happy about it. It's hard to know what the impact will be, but as the article notes,
If tourism promotion doesn't appear to be generating as much
bang for the buck as previously thought, [Vaughn Stinson, chief executive officer of the
Maine Tourism Association] said,
lawmakers could be less supportive of continued funding. His
concern is heightened by the state's budget shortfall.
The bottom line is that companies involved in the tourist industry here in Maine may be getting less support from the MTA, because there's less money to be spent on tourism marketing. This impacts ski resorts, hotels, B&B's, snow mobile rentals, restaurants, and a thousand other businesses that are part of or support the tourist industry.
If I were in tourism I would be planning ahead. Hopefully the funding will still be there, but the possible slack must be picked up by individual businesses. No surprise, but I'd be blogging, developing one or more email newsletters, budgeting money for search engine optimization, and reviewing my Web site based on my analytics. I'd be creating a presence on Facebook and MySpace. In short, I'd be preparing for the worst.
Even if the funding comes in at last year's levels, businesses that are marketing themselves--especially in a recession--will be in a better position to take advantage of it.
Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for Maine Businesses
12 Web Marketing Ideas to Jump Start Your Business
You know those "new" episodes of your favorite TV show when a character gets hit by a car, and then all their friends gather by their bed side and retell their favorite stories through a series of clips?
Welcome to my clip show.
Here's a quick list of the 12 articles we published in flyte log, our monthly Web marketing ezine:
- Your 2008 Web Marketing Plan
- How to Use Social Media to Reach New Customers
- Business Blog Success: 10 Tips for a Profitable Blog
- Increase Your Search Engine Visibility: Three Things You Can Do Today
- Nine Indispensable Online Tools for Your Web-Based Business
- Four Tips to Maximize Your Email Marketing Results
- The Secret to a Web Site That Sells
- Six Blogging Myths That Are Holding You Back
- The Dangers of Relying on Google for Business
- Holistic Web Marketing: An Integrated Approach to Online Success
- Tracking Conversions: Does Your Web Site Turn Suspects into Prospects?
- Informational Products: Selling Your Knowledge Online
There's oodles of ideas in these articles that you can use to jump start your business and build it over the next year. If you'd rather not miss any new articles, please subscribe to flyte log in the box below.
Business Blog Workshop This Wednesday in Portland
There's a couple of seats left (no joking!) for our How to Plan, Build and Promote Your Business Blog this Wednesday morning. (12/12/07.)
In other words, there's still time to hit up your boss to pay for this workshop that's going to make you invaluable to the company!
The workshop will cover how businesses can build a successful blog to:
- increase search engine visibility
- establish your expertise and credibility
- generate more online leads
- and more, much, much more!
Time: 8am - 9:30am
Place: flyte's offices (136 Commercial St., Ste., 201, Portland, ME)
Cost: $50, includes a continental breakfast
See you there!
Rich Brooks
Stickler for Pre-Registration
Your 2008 Web Marketing Plan
There's light fluffy snowflakes falling outside my window this morning as I polish off another issue of flyte log, our Web marketing email newsletter...the last for 2007.
Rather than look back on 2007--as good as it was--it's time to look forward to 2008 and start making plans. Web marketing plans, that is.
Today's issue of flyte log is Your 2008 Web Marketing Plan, a month-by-month, itemized list of what you need to do to succeed in 2008.
Your Web marketing plan includes ideas on search engine optimization, blogging, social media, Webinars and more.
Why not take the first step in improving your chances for success in 2008 by signing up for flyte log now, so you never miss another issue?
How to Promote Your Event on the Web
How do you leverage a the Web and Internet marketing to promote your upcoming event? There are so many channels of distribution, the possibilities are almost endless. Here's a checklist of what I did to promote an upcoming workshop I'm teaching at flyte called "How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog."
- Published the event on the Web Marketing Seminars page on my Web site. This is a no-brainer and the first, essential step.
- Added the event information (including a link to the online registration) on Facebook, both on my page and as part of the Portland, ME network so that other local people could find it.
- Sent out an email alert to the people who have signed up for my Web Marketing Alerts email newsletter. (You can sign up for this when you sign up for flyte log, our free, monthly email newsletter.)
- Added it as an event on MaineToday.com, the online presence for the Blethen newspapers.
- Added it as a class through Craig's list.
- Added it at MaineBiz's event calendar.
- Submitted to Maine Public Broadcasting Network's event calendar.
- Posted it to my Internet Marketing 101 blog at MaineToday.com (at least twice.)
- Posted it to my flyte blog: web marketing for small business blog (again, at least twice.)
- Posted to Eventful.com, which sends to several other sites including Podbot, Google Calendar, del.icio.us/events, Ping-o-Matic, Technorati, and Upcoming. Several of these sites extend that reach even further through their own network. (Found through Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, through Denise Wakeman tip.
- I also learned about EventCrazy.com that way.
I also plan on submitting this event to the print versions of MaineBiz and the Portland Press Herald.
Will I do this for every event? Probably not, but I will try and track which channel is bringing me attendees, by asking everyone at the event.
Your Turn: What tools do you use to promote your events in this 2.0 world? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Expert
The Value / Cost of a Business Blog
If you're a small business owner or entrepreneur you should be asking the question: should I blog?
While I'm a big proponent of blogging, I don't believe that any marketing campaign is right for all businesses or all people.
There's a value vs. cost equation that only you can answer. Will the time and effort you put into blogging be returned in business gained? Can the time you spend on blogging be better spent elsewhere? How can you measure success with blogging?
The Costs of Blogging:
- Time. That's the big one. Especially when you get started you need to carve out time every week to post multiple times. I also recommend budgeting time for reading and commenting on other blogs. While there's no hard and fast rule on this, you might want to budget 2 - 4 hours/week for the first 1 - 2 months.
- Stress. I've had those weeks where I can't figure out what I'm going to blog about. Or I look back and realize I only put up one or two good, non-self-serving posts in a month. Sometimes it can feel like just another thing on your plate.
- Money. This isn't a big one. Blogging is an extremely affordable marketing campaign. If you can't afford a TypePad or WordPress blog you've probably got bigger problems.
The Value of Blogging:
- Establishes Your Expertise. People are always searching for help on the Internet. As I look at my flyte blog stats I can see that people have found me while searching on "business blog ppt," "why can't I find myself on Google," and "hardware and software for creating podcasts" among hundreds of others each day. If you've written a blog post that answers their question, they're more likely to listen to what you have to say.
- Increases Your Search Engine Visibility. See above. Every blog post is a new Web page ready to be indexed by the search engines.
- Warms / Generates Online Leads. I have set up some Google Analytic Goals that helps me determine which traffic converts at the highest rate. My flyte blog and my Internet Marketing 101 blog consistently convert at the highest rates.
- Leads the Media to Your Door. I've been interviewed by local newscasts, local newspapers, and national magazines (Inc. and BusinessWeek Small Biz) for different stories. Almost always it's because they were doing research for a story and found my blog.
Whether blogging is right for you is a decision you have to make on your own. Luckily, you can get started pretty easily. Unfortunately, so can your competition.
If you'd like to learn more about blogging check out our upcoming workshop: How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog.
Date: 12/12/07
Time: 8:00 - 9:30am
Place: flyte's offices (directions)
Cost: $50 (includes continental breakfast!)
Registration Required!
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant
Get Your Blog On: 12/12/07
After a few months off because of summer break and a busy speaking-filled fall, we're bringing back our Working Lunch Seminars here at flyte. But this time, with a twist. It's during breakfast.
I tried to come up with something clever along the lines of Lunch & Learn, but as you can see, nothing clicked.
- Nosh & Know
- Munch & Master
- Lox & Learn
- Bagel & Become Able
So, I went back to my list of flyte-related puns and brought back "flyte school." (Jonathan also suggested this to me at one point, but I have documentation...somewhere...that proves I came up w/it first.)
So what's the first class of flyte school?
How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog
Entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes are realizing the benefits
of a business blog to establish their credibility and expertise,
increase their search engine visibility and connect with prospects,
clients and the media.
In this workshop you'll learn:
- How to get started in blogging
- How a blog can attract search engine traffic
- How a blog can deliver leads to your business
- How to promote your blog and attract prospects and connect with customers
This workshop is limited to just 10 participants!
Date: Wednesday, 12/12/2007
Time: 8am - 9:30am
Place: flyte's offices (directions)
Cost: $50, includes coffee & danish type edibles
How about doing this as a Webinar, Rich?
I've heard this question several times recently, and I am planning on offering Webinars in January. (Hopefully.) Just need to work out some details. Stay tuned!
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Speaker
Promote Your Blog Through Comments
Many bloggers love to get comments on their blog, but they rarely leave them. And that's a missed opportunity.
The blogosphere--the unfortunate name for the world of blogs--is a giant network. Or, it's a series of interconnected smaller networks, depending on your perspective. Like any network, it becomes more powerful with every new connection and every new person who joins it.
When you leave comments on other blogs, you're not only increasing that blog's ecosystem, you're building your own. (This is more true if the blog is related to yours thematically. I may enjoy leaving comments on video game blogs, but they probably won't bring me a whole lot of qualified traffic to my Web marketing blog.)
The more intelligent, relevant comments you leave, the more connections you make back to your own blog. Each comment creates a hyperlink back to your own site or blog. Although there really isn't a search engine benefit to these comment links, other readers of the blog will see your comments and may follow the link back to your blog to see what else you have to say. Also, the blog owner might take notice and feature your blog in an upcoming post if it's relevant.
How often should you comment? At the BlogWorld expo that I recently came back from, other top bloggers said that they spend almost half of their blogging time "off blog", meaning commenting and doing other related tasks.
Tara Kachaturoff, in a recent post "Commenting on Blogs: Increase Your Visibility and Credibility" at Andy Wibbels blog challenged readers to leave a whopping 10 comments per week! That's 520 comments in a year! (Assuming you blog while on the beach during vacation.)
While that number may seem overwhelming to a small business owner or entrepreneur who is already wearing too many hats, I've seen first hand the benefits of blogging and leaving comments.
So go ahead, leave a comment below. And who knows what traffic it might bring?
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant
How to Sell from Your Blog
A successful business blog is a delicate balancing act: you want your blog to build your business and help you sell, but a relentless promotion machine will turn off readers and keep you from getting subscribers who may turn out to be your best long-term customers.
Brian Clark over at Copyblogger has written a post that talks about how to balance the needs of five different type of prospects in "The Bloggers Guide to Indirect Selling."
If you've been wondering how to get a return on investment on your business blog, consider this post essential reading.
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant
BlogWorld Expo: Blogging from Vegas
I'll be on two panels for the BlogWorld and New Media Expo, November 8-9, 2007, and the Executive & Entrepreneur Conference which precedes it on November 7th. It's all happening in Las Vegas.
The first is Going Global with New Media with my co-presenter Des Walsh on November 7th. I knew this was going to be a timely topic while I was talking to a partner who's currently in Orono, Maine, to give him instructions to his employees in Bosnia for a job we're doing for a New York client. In the middle of the conversation, Des skyped me from his home in Australia before he left to speak in China so we could discuss our upcoming presentation on Going Global with New Media in Las Vegas.
The second is Blog Design: Branding and Usability, with co-presenters Denise Wakeman, John T. Unger, and Nate. I'm not sure what Nate's last name is--assuming he has one--but I'm looking forward to finding out. That will be on Friday the 9th at 10:15. I'll be talking about the importance of branding in blog design.
One of the benefits of speaking at the event is a full free pass to all the workshops and conferences. I just went through the registration and my only frustration is that I could only choose one workshop to attend at a time! (Damn space/time continuum!)
Do I choose Maximizing the Benefits of Small Business Blogs over Making Money with Affiliate Programming? And what's more appropriate for me: Leveraging Social Media for Your Company or Creating a Coherent Social Media Strategy? Do I choose Andy Wibbels over Toby Bloomberg, both of whom I blogged with over at Business Blog Consulting back in the day?
(Most of you are probably rolling your eyes right now, thinking I need to get a life. However, this is my life and these people are my heroes!)
In any case, if you weren't rolling your eyes, and you can make it out to Vegas for November 7 - 9th, I hope to see you there. I especially hope you make it to one or both of my (shared) presentations.
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant
Web Marketing for Public Relations
I'll be part of an all-day conference for the Maine Public Relations Council this Wednesday, October 17. The annual conference's theme is "The Art and Science of Communication," and goes from 8:30 - 3:30 at the Sheraton Hotel in South Portland.
My topic will be Web Marketing for Public Relations. This is a new lens from which to view Web marketing, at least for me. However, in putting together the presentation I was just blown away by the tools that today's PR professional has at his or her disposal. I mean, I got really excited. I was pacing around the kitchen table as I was creating my slides. And the future looks even more exciting.
If you're a public relations professional, or you're just looking for ways to gain more visibility for your company you can't afford to miss the MPRC's annual conference. Admission is $100 for members, $140 for non-members. Details and registration information can be found on their events page.
Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for PR
Blogging Seminar Wed. Morning
Quick note: I'll be presenting "How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog" tomorrow morning for the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) from 8 - 9:30am. The location is Woodard & Currant in Portland (map & directions.) It's free for members, $5 for non-members.
Sorry about the late notice, hope to see you there!
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Marketing
10 Tips to a Profitable Blog
Are you ready to start your own business blog, or do you already have one but it's not the lead generation and sales tool you thought it would be?
If so, check out October's issue of flyte log, our monthly email newsletter on Web marketing, entitled "Business Blog Success: 10 Tips to a Profitable Blog."
In it you'll find ten ideas that can turn your blog around and make it an important part of your Web marketing toolbox; ideas that will help you establish your credibility, increase your search engine visibility, and generate those online leads you were envisioning.
If you'd like some one-on-one help with your business blog, whether to get it started or inject it with a little promotional juice, just let me know.
Rich Brooks
Business Blog Consultant
Overcome Your Fear of Blogging!
If you struggle with ways to fill your blog with interesting, compelling content that your audience will respond to, you're not alone. In fact, creating blog posts and the time it takes is probably the biggest hurdle people erect to avoid blogging.
If this does describe you, be sure to check out this great post at ProBlogger titled The Top 5 Uncommon Timesavers for Bloggers. It was written by Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week.
Rich Brooks
Maine's Business Blogger
Blog Workshop Handouts Available for Download
Yesterday I spoke at the Northeast Winter Sports Summit, a two day conference for the ski industry in the north east. The topic, as is often is with me, was "How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog."
Since blogging seems to be changing all the time I also updated my slides and my talk. I've also posted the handouts from the presentation in our super-exclusive flyte log subscriber area.
With the exception of two ski resort-specific slides, the handouts should be helpful to anyone preparing to start or improve a business blog. All you need to do is:
- sign up for our free email newsletter
- confirm your interest by clicking on the link in the confirmation email
- click on the link in the welcome email.
Once you've downloaded the handout you can of course unsubscribe from the newsletter, but if you're interested in the handouts, you'll probably benefit from our monthly articles on blogging, search engine optimization, email marketing and other Web related strategy.
If you are interested in learning more about Web marketing and blogging in particular, check out the Web Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business course I'm teaching later this month at USM.
Rich Brooks
Business Blogging Consultant
Do Blogs Work For Small Business?
Almost a month ago I posted Can Blogging Help Maine's Tourism Industry? One commenter questioned whether blogging makes any impact on a business, while another said he had experienced a lot more business because of blogging. The bottom line is, results differ for a number of reasons:
- Frequency of posts
- Search engine visibility
- Competition
- Time of year
- Audience
- and so on.
Although I've found blogging to be the most rewarding of all the Web marketing activities we do, it can be time consuming. (Here are some tips, courtesy of Copyblogger, for those of you who have trouble finding the time to blog.)
More than once, I've seen business bloggers with the best of intentions slow their posts down to a crawl because they aren't seeing immediate results based on the amount of work they are putting in. Unfortunately, at the beginning, you'll be doing a lot more work and getting a lot fewer results than you would like. (But isn't that how everything rewarding is?) However, over time, those two results will begin to reverse.
I'd like to share with you an (unsolicited) email I recently received from Gray Cabaniss who writes the Agatha and Louise Blog, a blog that supports his retail and online shops that sell gifts and products for dog owners and dog lovers:
Continue reading "Do Blogs Work For Small Business?"Are You an Authority?
There's a good article over at copyblogger called "How to Become an Authority Blogger" by Ryan Imel. While it's specific to becoming a blogger with authority, it can really be about becoming an authority or an expert on just about any subject, in just about any medium.
One thing that I've noticed about the people around me is that they're all experts, at least in one or more fields. I have friends who are sports experts, shopping experts, technical experts, Simpsons experts, music experts, real estate experts, b.s. experts...the list goes on. I'm always thinking that any one of them could start a blog writing about what comes naturally to them, sell some Google ads, and make some residual income.
What makes someone an expert--or an authority--is that they know more than the person they're talking to. What you may consider common knowledge is only common to you; I've seen that people are often amazed at the information in my head that I think is rudimentary, and I know that position has been reversed more often than not.
While blogging is a great way of promoting your authority, expertise or credentials, you could use speaking engagements, email newsletters and even press releases as well. The media is always looking for "experts" for a story. I was quoted as a podcasting expert in Inc. magazine because a reporter Googled the term and my name came up. At that point I had about two podcasts under my belt. In other words, compared to most of the readership at Inc. at that point, I was an expert.
Now, go out there and make someone respect your authority.
Can Blogging Help Maine's Tourism Industry?
The Press Herald ran a big article on the current state of Maine's tourism on Sunday with Overnights Up, Day Trips Down.
It was a mixed bag, with the coast seeing some increases and the rest of the state seeing a downturn.
Midweek bookings at motels and campgrounds are lower than
usual, [Vaughn Stinson, executive director of the Maine Tourism Association] said. Inland areas that typically struggle to attract
visitors, such as the Moosehead Lake and Rangeley Lakes
regions, also are reporting slower-than-normal business.
"It's not a robust season by any means," he said.
Earlier there was some talk about sending the current tourism ad campaign out to bid, but it was decided to not make a change now:
The preliminary...data indicate that the state's
advertising and promotion efforts are bringing results, according
to Patricia Eltman, Maine's new tourism director.
That got me to wondering whether any money or training goes to individual businesses that rely on the tourist trade, whether it's lodging, amusement parks, or adventure sailing vacations.
Search engine optimization, email marketing, and especially travel and tourism blogs could go a long way to help attract out-of-staters to spend time and money here in the Pine Tree State.
Lately I'm seeing a lot more innkeepers blogging, which I think is a great way to both increase one's search engine visibility and to promote local businesses such as restaurants and shops. By blogging, innkeepers are doing over the Internet what they've been doing in person for so long: making their guests feel welcome and helping them get the most out of their stay.
Innkeepers should keep in mind what their future guests are searching for at Google or Yahoo when they write their posts:
- Top Five Ogunquit Museums
- Where Can You Rent Kayaks in Kennebunkport?
- Want to Visit an Island Lighthouse?
Blogs can also be used to feature weekend (or midweek) specials, capitalize on traveling art shows, or drum up business during normally slow times. For inns that have a lot of repeat visitors year after year, a blog can be a great way of keeping guests up-to-date with changes and improvements to the facilities, and even be a place where guests can keep in touch with fellow travelers.
Like anything else, the more time and effort innkeepers (and any other business owner for that matter--whether you're involved in tourism or not) put into developing their blog, the more results they'll see from it.
Adding an RSS Feed to Your Blog or Web Site
We'll be launching a Web site and blog for a new client in the next couple of weeks. One of the things the client wanted was to keep their home page fresh by feeding snippets from their blog on a regular basis.
In doing some research into this, it seems there's a number of ways to accomplish this feat, including javascript, PHP, ASP and other solutions. In fact, I found a whole slew of ideas from the ever helpful Robin Good and his post RSS To HTML - How To Convert RSS Feeds Into Published Web Pages - A Mini-Guide.
As Good points out, javascript is perhaps the easiest method to implement an RSS feed on one's Web site, but comes with one caveat: since the javascript code you add doesn't actually include the text from the feed, the search bots don't pick up that content, just the visitor to your page. However, if you're the author of the blog and Web site, I don't see this as a major problem, since your blog is there to warm leads and feed them to your site for conversion.
Good offers a number of free and paid services in his post, and is worth checking out if you're still mulling your options.
We chose Feedburner's BuzzBoost, which is free for all Feedburner accounts, which is also free. Every day I'm more impressed with Feedburner's offerings, and my only concern is that I'm becoming too dependent on them, from their great feed options, their email signups, their feed options, their stats program and more. They were recently purchased by Google, however, so I guess they're not going anywhere.
Using BuzzBoost was easy. A couple of clicks on some configuration items and the javascript was generated. I just need to add the following to any Web page:
<script src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/FlyteWhatWorksOnline?format=sigpro" type="text/javascript" ></script><noscript><p>Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/FlyteWhatWorksOnline"></a><br/>Powered by FeedBurner</p> </noscript>
And away we go:
If you're looking for a way to drive more traffic to your blog from your Web site or to keep your home page fresh with info, BuzzBoost or one of the other RSS to HTML options is just what you're looking for.
Rich Brooks
Feed Me, Seymour, Feed Me!
Go Global with New Media
Who wants to go to Vegas?
I'm going to be presenting "Go Global with New Media" at the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas with fellow blogger Des Walsh. Des is a business coach and an evangelist for blogging and new media in business and government. And, keeping with the global theme of our talk, Des is from Australia! (For my fellow Americans, that's the land mass at the bottom right of your world map.)
The thing is, Des and I aren't exactly sure what the hell we're going to talk about. We wanted to have some back and forth as we fleshed out some of our ideas, and then Des suggested we do this in a public forum. Basically, we started a blog for Go Global with New Media and we're looking for your input.
We've discussed what tools are available for businesses who want to go global. Certainly, the Internet has flattened the world to the point where even small businesses and solopreneurs can go global. Books like The World Is Flat
VoIP and Skype have made international calls and video conferencing free or nearly free. Tools like Yugma let me share my desktop (and lets me take control of others' desktops) from half a world away. Then there's meta-verses like Second Life where people can meet, share ideas and even do business. Podcasts, blogs, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn...the list goes on.
So we're enlisting you: what does going global with new media mean to you? What do you want to learn about? How would you like the information presented? Stories from the trenches or the view from 20K feet?
If you have some thoughts, please visit us over at GoGlobalNewMedia.com and let your voice be heard. And who knows, maybe you'll even get some business out of it.
How to Use Flickr Images at Your Blog...Legally
Nothing snazzes up a blog like some nice, juicy photos. If you're not a particularly talented photographer, there's always Flickr, the photo sharing site. However, just because these photos are up on the Web for all to see doesn't mean you have the right to use them on your blog, especially if it's a business blog (read: for commercial purposes.)
The best way to make sure that you're following the wishes of the photographer who snapped the shot you like is to start at Creative Commons.
What is Creative Commons? To crib from them (which I believe is the goal here:)
Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists,
artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the
freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright
terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved."
We're a nonprofit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free.
Sweet. So how can you determine quickly if there's a nice photo you can use for "toothbrush", "love" or "jealousy"?
- Start at search.creativecommons.org.
- Type in your search term.
- Select "Search for works I can use for commercial purposes."
- Select (if you want to) "Search for works I can modify, adapt, or build upon."
- Click the flickr tab.
- Click "go."
Within the frame you'll see the results from flickr that match these requirements. Flickr by default organizes results by "most relevant." I suggest changing this to "most interesting," as these results are more...interesting.
Once you find a photo that meets your needs click on it. Scroll down that page and in the right column you'll find a link that reads: "some rights reserved." Click on this to find out if there are any strings. Mostly you'll find that people want you to link back to them.
I generally download a copy of the photo and reupload it to TypePad, but you could create a link that goes right to the page on Flickr...your call.
Follow these rules and you'll be one happy camper.
Photo credits: jonfeinstein, helena.40proof, respectively.
Free Web 2.0 Handouts to Download
Yesterday I spoke at the Maine Marketing Association's Web 2.0 Conference; my topic was Web Sites for Action! Anne Kennedy of Beyond Ink spoke about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Aileen Cahill talked on Online and On Target which talked about the benefits of a Web 2.0 Web site and how to get your customers participating.
It was a great turnout--I'm guessing over 80 people--and there were a lot of good questions for all three presenters. Whether you were able to attend or not, the Maine Marketing Association has posted all three presentations up at their Web site for anyone to download.
PowerPoint handouts (or in my case, Apple's Keynote) are pretty hard to understand if you weren't there for the presentation, so if you review the handouts and still have questions on Maine Web Design or Internet Marketing, please feel free to ask.
What is Web 2.0 Anyway?
If you've been looking for information on Web 2.0 and how you can use it to turbo-charge your Internet marketing, I've got some good news.
The Maine Marketing Association will be putting on Web 2.0 - Internet Strategies for Power Marketing on Monday, May 21st, 2007.
There will be three workshops in this all-morning event:
- Online and On Target - Strategies for One to One Marketing at the Speed of Light by Aileen Cahill, author of Internet Marketing: Building Advantage in a Networked Economy
- Web Design for Action! by Rich Brooks (that's me!)
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) by Anne Kennedy of Beyond Ink
The festivities begin at 8:30am and will be held at the Ambromson Center in the new Hannaford Hall building.
Registration is $35 for members and students, $45 for everyone else. Pre-registration is appreciated.
Blogging Myths That Are Holding You Back
By the Hammer of Thor there's a lot of blogging myths out there!
Chances are, if you have been holding off on starting your own blog, you're buying into at least one of them. Perhaps you don't think you have enough time? Or that blogging is just for navel-gazing teenagers who want to discuss American Idol? Or perhaps you think, "this, too, will pass?"
You've got more excuses than Hercules had labors!
Listen, it's time to debunk those myths and get to business. A blog can help your company rank higher at the search engines, establish your expertise, and drive more qualified leads to your Web site. What's not to like?
Blogging doesn't have to be a Sisyphean challenge!
If you know that blogging can help you better market your business, but you just haven't gotten around to it yet, or you've been using excuses to get going, or you honestly believe that your users don't read blogs, then check out Six Blogging Myths That Are Holding You Back, this month's issue of flyte log.
(And don't forget, if you're too lazy to read, you can always listen to the simul-podcast.)
Attend Flyte's Working Lunch Seminar: How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business - 5/9/07
Last Minute Reminder for Maine Innkeepers
If you're an innkeeper and looking for new ways to better market your business online, there's still time (barely!) to registrer for the New Innovations in Hospitality Technology Seminar, put on by the Maine Innkeepers Association.
I'll be talking about how blogs can help attract more traffic and keep your rooms filled. In addition, David Boggs will be speaking on search engine marketing
and advertising, and Mary Skinner from InnLink will be talking about
online bookings and social marketing.
It's tomorrow, Thursday 4/26, from 10am - 4:30pm for just $49.
For more info or to register, call Gregory Dugal at 207.865.6100.
Blog Marketing for Maine Innkeepers
If you're a Maine Innkeeper and you're looking to attract more guests this summer here are two suggestions:
- Attend New Innovations in Hospitality Technology Seminar, put on by the Maine Innkeepers Association, where I'll be speaking about how a business blog can help attract more traffic and help fill your rooms. In addition, David Boggs will be speaking on search engine marketing and advertising, and Mary Skinner from InnLink will be talking about online bookings and social marketing.
- Don't tell the competition.
This is an all day seminar to be held on Thursday, April 26th at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown in Freeport. It will run approximately 10am - 4:30. The cost is $49/person.
For more information visit the Maine Innkeepers Association Web site or call Gregory Dugal at 207.865.6100.
The Splogs Are Coming, The Splogs Are Coming!
It seems like we geeks just keep inventing new words, doesn't it?
Let's start with some definitions:
Blogosphere: The unfortunate name for the world of blogs. The totality of all blogs make up the blogosphere.
Splogs: Spam blogs, generated by "bots" (computer programs) often used to lure visitors to a page on a specific niche to get them to click on Google Ads and make money for the owner...without actually providing any service.
Splogosphere: The more unfortunate, completely unavoidable, moniker for the world of splogs.
Ping: A computer term meaning when one computer says "hello" to another computer to see if it's there and to check its status. In blogging, bloggers ping news aggregators to let them know there's a new post on their blog. Standard operating procedure for any business blogger.
I recently got an email from Lynnelle Bianco of Bold Vision Consulting and fellow blogger here at MaineToday.com with her Making It Happen blog. She passed along an article that stated 56% of pinging blogs are spam, and asked me how this affected the small business blogger.
Great question, Lynnelle!
The problem with splogs is that they negatively impact the signal to noise ration on the Web. Just like how spam has hurt our ability to communicate via email, splogs fill up the search engine results, clog our niches, and reduce the ability for people to communicate on the Web.
What's worse, is splogs often steal content off of other blogs as a way of generating their "own" content. For a while, every day I found a blog that had "scraped" content off of one of my blogs to lure visitors to that site.
Today, Search Engine Roundtable reports that 75% of Google's Blogspot Blogs Are Spam. Google offers free blogs, which are often used by content-scraping-spammers, to get people to their splogs. Once there, the visitor realizes that the content is barely legible--spammers often scrape just keyword rich phrases, not the entire post--and all that's left to do is to click on a contextual Google ad. And who makes money off of these ads besides the splogger? Say it with me:
Google!
If Google wanted to take this seriously, they'd require blogs to be up for 6 months or so before being able to sell Google Ads. That would make it much more work for sploggers to make money, especially since other people could report them to Google in that time and Google could take down their free blog.
Now, how come Google hasn't thought of this yet?
If you do find a splog out there in your journeys selling Google Ads, it's easy to report them:
- Click on the words "Ads by Google"
- Click on the words "Send Google your thoughts on the site or ads you just saw" (near the bottom of the page.)
- Ignore the beginning of the survey and click on "Also Report a Violation?"
- Choose "The issues were with the website".
- Choose "This site violates the Adsense Policies in other ways."
- Fill out the blog, reporting this as spam.
I know that seems like a lot of work, but it only takes 30 seconds. Plus, it's your duty as a citizen of the blogosphere!
Drive More Traffic To Your Web Site
Would you like to drive more traffic to your Web site? Rank higher at the search engines? Understand how a blog or podcast could attract more prospects and customers? Would you like to know about new forms of Web marketing, like social bookmarking and tagging?
Well, we have just two spots left for this Wednesday's Working Lunch Seminar at flyte: Building Traffic at Your Web Site.
The session goes from noon - 1:30 and includes lunch. For details, directions, and to register for one of the last two remaining spots, be sure to check out our Web Marketing Seminars page.
How to Build a B2B Web Site
If you're audience is other businesses, you need to have a B2B approach for your Web site. Galen De Young provides a lot of helpful advice in an article entitled B2B Search Engine Optimization: Driving Conversion.
This is the 2nd article in a series, and this one focuses primarily on different incentives you might offer at your Web site to build trust and establish your expertise with prospective buyers. She covers newsletters, white papers, podcasts, case studies and more.
While not all of the elements might be right for your business, it's about testing out different campaigns to see what works, and using analytics to measure success and failure.
Sounds pretty holistic to me.
What Is Holistic Web Marketing?
Too often Web site owners focus all of their attention on ranking well at the search engines at the expense of building a Web site that will convert this traffic into business. Or, they spend a lot of money on a Web site design, but never sink dime one into promoting their site. Or they build up a big email subscriber base, but don't know how to get these subscribers to take action.
The problem is that these site owners are focusing on just one element of their Web marketing, instead of viewing their Web marketing as a whole.
Web marketing these days takes an integrated, multi-faceted approach if you want to succeed. To better explain how to create a more effective online marketing plan, flyte has created a model called Holistic Web Marketing.
You can learn more about Holistic Web Marketing at flyte's blog.
Blog Marketing Seminar in Portland
There's one--count 'em, one--space left for tomorrow's seminar on How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog. (2/21/07)
If you've been wondering how to jump start traffic to your company's Web site, how to market yourself more effectively, or how to establish your expertise, then come listen to this seminar that will walk you through:
- how a blog can help your company or business
- what blog platform is right for you
- how much time/energy/money you need to invest
- how to promote your blog
- how to get your blog to rank well at the search engines and
- how to make money off of your blog.
This Working Lunch Seminar will be held at flyte's offices (136 Commercial St., Ste. 201, Portland, ME) from noon - 1:30.
The class is limited to 10 people, the cost is $50, and a delicious lunch is included.
The speaker is Rich Brooks--president of flyte new media--who writes this Internet Marketing 101 blog for MaineToday.com, as well as his company's blog, flyte blog: web marketing for small business.
Rich is the "tech expert" for NBC's Channel 6 evening news program,
207. He is also the instructor for USM's course "Web Marketing for
Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses." You can find his podcast at flytecast.
Hope to see you there!
Business Blogging Seminar in Portland
Have you been wondering why there's all this buzz over blogs? Or have you been considering adding blogging to your Internet marketing, but you're not sure where to start?
Or maybe you are blogging, but you're not seeing the results that were promised in the infomercial by that guy on the yacht with the two supermodels on each arm.
Whatever the case is, you might be interested in How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog. This next installment in flyte's Working Lunch Seminars will be on Wednesday, February 21st from noon - 1:15 or so.
As always, lunch is included and attendance is limited to 10 people, but there are only 6 spots left! Upcoming classes include:
- Building Traffic at Your Web Site (3/14/07) and
- RSS Marketing for Business (4/11/07)
Future (yet unscheduled) Working Lunch Seminars include search engine marketing, email marketing, what is social networking, and selling informational products online.
Every class so far has sold out quickly. If you'd like to get alerts before classes are announced publicly, be sure to sign up for our email newsletter and select "flyte's Web Marketing Alerts" on the confirmation page.
Blogging for Maine Inns
I'll be talkin' blogs at the Maine Innkeepers Association's spring conference on April 26th, so Greg Dugal asked me to write up an article on how innkeepers can use blogs to better market themselves.
I wrote an article called "Why Your Inn Should Have a Blog" (PDF, 1.3MB) which they included in their winter newsletter and is available at their site. There's also an article on podcasting by David Boggs in the issue.
How to Subscribe to a Blog Feed
You may wonder how people can regularly read dozens or even hundreds of blogs, like the quality blogs here at MaineToday.com and elsewhere on the Internet.
Do these people visit dozens or hundreds of blogs a day, on the hope that each one has a new post worth reading and reviewing? How do they get any work done? Don't they have lives?!?
The answer is that they (and I) use newsreaders to subscribe to multiple blogs. With a newsreader--like my personal favorite, NetNewsWire, (sorry, Mac only!) or Bloglines--you can quickly scan dozens of different blogs in a format that looks a lot like an email program.
However, subscribing to a blog feed isn't as intuitive as it should be. The very act that we've trained people to do on the Web--click on a link--brings up a page of XML mumbo-jumbo.
However, I've put together this helpful movie (10.2 MB) that shows step-by-step how to subscribe to a blog feed so that you, too, can manage multiple blogs and stay ahead of your competitors.
How-To Subscribe to a Blog Feed: The Movie!
12 Web Marketing Articles to Read Right Now
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I'm a big fan of email newsletters. They're very cost effective, they keep you in front of your best prospects and customers, and they help you establish your expertise.
The only downside is that once they're sent, they're gone. If you're producing a content-rich newsletter you should archive these newsletters on your Web site. This helps you with the search engines as well as providing this content for people who have just discovered you.
To that end, here's a quick list of the twelve flyte log newsletters flyte published in 2006. Enjoy! More can be found here: http://www.flyte.biz/resources/newsletters/
- New Year's Resolutions for Your Web Site
- Use Your Blog to Attract the Long Tail of Search
- 37 Calls to Action to Get People to Read, Click and Buy at Your Web Site
- PayPal: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
- Blog Marketing: How Blogs Can Increase Your Reach and Deliver New Customers
- Boost Your Search Engine Rank: Proven Methods to Increase Incoming Links
- Search Engine Optimization: Stop Guessing and Start Researching
- Keyword Research: Five Ways Your Prospects Search for You
- Lead Generation Online: Is Your Web Site a Leaky Bucket?
- The Secret to Great Search Engine Rank
- Broken Windows, Broken Web Sites: Why Your Web Site is Underperforming
- Search Engine Success Through Article Marketing
As always, you can subscribe at our Web site.
Choosing a Web Host
Google "Web Host" and you'll pull up about 57 million results. If you're looking for an appropriate Web host, that's a lot of sifting ahead of you.
One of the decisions every Web site owner needs to make is where to host their Web site. In the same way you (probably) have to rent out office or retail space, your Web site needs space on a server so that your prospects and customers can access it.
In my experience, there are no great hosting companies. The few that I have known have decided to grow and put customer acquisition above customer support. In fact, ironically, my own hosting company, who I often recommend, is currently down right now. I have no access to my email or my Web site.
I'm feeling very professional right now, thank you very much.
When you are deciding where to host there are several items you may want to consider:
What are my hosting needs?
- Will your site offer e-commerce? If so, you may want to choose a host that focuses on e-commerce hosting, and perhaps even provides a free/included license to a shopping cart software like Miva Merchant. You may also require secure server space and the ability to install a security certificate.
- Will I include a lot of multi-media? With broadband becoming more common, more site owners are looking to add audio and video to enhance the visitor's experience at their site (often to the detriment of their visitor's experience, but that's another story.) If you plan on audio or video, or hosting podcast content at your site, make sure you have plenty of hosting space at your server.
- What programming does the host support? If your programmer/Web developer is programming the site using PHP or ASP or needs to access a MySQL database, can your host support that? Plenty of times we've needed to find new hosting for our clients because their current host didn't have the infrastructure to host specific types of programming. This is often a time to ask your programmer or Web development team to make a recommendation.
- Is there hosting that specializes in a specific need I may have? If you plan on building a Web site using a Content Management System (CMS) like Joomla or Mambo, or if you want to use your hosting to support a WordPress blog, there are many hosting companies that focus on these products. They often have "one-click" installation saving you hours of installation time and handfuls of hair. Check the discussion forums for these products to see if they recommend some specific hosts.
One thing that I always require out of a hosting company is 24/7 toll-free tech support. Sure, I like to figure things out and get my hands dirty...however, if a client needs their site live to take advantage of the Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa rush, I want to know there's a knowledgeable person that can be reached by phone who can get a site up and running.
One thing that's not on my list is price. Not that price isn't important, but value trumps price every time. One bad customer service experience or one overlong call in voice mail hell can blow any savings you may have thought you were going to get from a cut-rate hosting company. Choosing a hosting company based solely on price is the most costly mistake you can make.
There are several Web host ranking Web sites out there, but buyer beware: it's easy to put up a bogus Web host ranking site and make your own company come up first. Double-check any results you find with other ranking sites and also do some Googling on these companies as well as checking out different discussion forums to see what people are saying about the hosting companies.
I've Got a Blog and I'm Not Afraid to Use It!
That was the name of a recent post on my own blog. I was unhappy about the customer service I received from a company and I wanted to vent. If the Internet helped customer complaints go public then the blogosphere has made them go viral.
Even if your company doesn't have a blog, it should be aware of the blogosphere and what consumers are saying about it.
You can quickly do a search at Technorati on your company's name and see if anyone is talking about you and what they're saying. And trust me, if you can find it, so can your prospects. I've often done research at Google into companies and found negative reviews of the company right on the first page...sometimes above the link to the company itself!
If you do find yourself the target of some angry consumer, don't take the tack of suing the offender. It'll only escalate the situation and make you look stupid. Plus, it will give the person something else to blog about.
Instead, realize that you may have done something wrong to offend your customer and respond to them on their blog in the comments section. So often people just want to feel like they're being heard. You may not be able to get them to retract their post, but you may be able to apologize and salvage the situation.
If you have your own blog, you also can tell your side of the story. However, do it in a calm manner without trying to make the angry consumer look bad. Remember, everyone cheers for the underdog.
Internet Marketing for Values-Based Businesses
I'll be running "Internet Marketing for Values-Based Businesses," a workshop at the MEBSR Annual Fall Sustainable Business Conference.
MEBSR--Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility--hosts this event every year...which is why they call it their Annual Fall Conference. The theme of this year's fall conference is "Practical Tools for Business Success."
How does an ethical business succeed on the Internet where email spam, click-fraud and search engine schemes seem to rule the day?
By enabling a long-term solution that engages the Four Pillars of Internet Marketing. Learn how to use search engine optimization, permission-based email marketing, blogs, podcasts and non-malevolent viral marketing to engage like-minded customers and prospects, drive more qualified traffic to your site and convert that traffic into business.
Besides my workshop, there will be two keynote speakers, Kevin Hancock of Hancock Lumber and John Warner, the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry at UMass Lowell.
Date: Friday, December 1st, 2006
Time: 8am - 5pm
Place: University of Maine Hutchinson Center, Belfast, ME (Map & Directions)
Cost:
- $100 MEBSR members ($150 after Nov. 10th)
- $150 non-members ($175 after Nov. 10th)
- $15 students ($35 after November 10th)
I know the 10th is coming up soon, so please register now! You can call 207.338.8908 or download the conference PDF.
Using Chopsticks to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Google "chopstick instructions" and the flyte blog comes up third. Until a few days ago, we were number one, and still are if you include the quote marks.
What does this mean for you? It shows how you can drive traffic to your blog (or Web site). And, if you were a Chinese restaurant or sold Asian cooking implements, the power of driving qualified traffic to your blog.
It was a few Friday afternoons ago and I was a little fried. I read the miserable translation of the chopstick instructions on the chopstick wrapper ("Chinese glonous history?") and found it funny. So I scanned in the wrapper and blogged about it.
I purposefully wrote a post title--which would become my page title--that should capture the interest of anyone wanting to learn how to use chopsticks, "Chopstick Instructions: How to Use Chopsticks."
Within about two days I was number one for "chopstick instructions" and I find that I get a few people every day who come to my blog looking for chopstick instructions.
Now of course, I can't take advantage of this audience. If any of them are interested in Web design and Internet marketing it would be a random occurance; certainly not worth the time of scanning in the wrapper and blogging about it.
However, it shows that there are people out there looking for help in certain areas of their life or business. What instruction manual or how-to can you post to your own blog to drive qualified traffic?
You need to get inside the head of your best customer or prospect, determine what she wants, and help her achieve it.
And, unlike your Web site that may have a certain structure, you can
easily throw in how-to articles on your blog on anything you like, just to test the
reaction. You can also write articles that might take advantage of
current events, such as "How to Vote Twice on Election Day" or "What to Wear to Get Arrested While Protesting TABOR."
What are your best prospects looking to achieve? Now you have your writing assignment.
Getting Your Message Across on the Web (and Beyond)
Are you staying on message? Are you delivering a compelling story to your clients?
I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel today for the Maine Marketing Association's Fall Seminar called "Right On! Staying on Message No Matter What." The keynote speaker was Roy Heffley of Bob Moomey Communications, and I was joined on the panel by Paula Mahony of Words@Work and Scott Stone of Schiavi Home Builders.
I talked about how blogs are the perfect tool to tell a compelling story to your audience. Paula and Scott talked about how they changed the message the Schiavi was telling their customers about the homes they built.
Roy spoke about how can we cut through the clutter that is modern day culture. He had a number of good points and illustrations, but two of the points that really resonated with me were:
- Your message must focus on and appeal to your audience
- Your message must differentiate yourself from your competition (otherwise you're competing on price.)
Whether the medium is a podcast, a blog, a Web site, a banner ad, an email newsletter, a printed newsletter, a TV advertisement, a radio advertisement, a newspaper ad, direct mail, or a telegraph, it doesn't matter. What matters is the message.
Be clear, be consistent.
Now, go check your Web site and see if your prospects are interested in what you have to say on your home page.
Internet Marketing Seminars in Maine
For those of you with a desire to learn more about Internet Marketing and a burning desire to meet me in person, next week is your Mardi Gras.
Monday, October 16: I'll be presenting "How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog" for MESDA from 6pm - 8pm at their offices in Westbrook, Maine. Entrance is free, but they ask you to register for a door prize. (Directions.)
Tuesday, October 17: I'll be part of a panel put on by the Maine Marketing Association called "Right On! Staying on Message No Matter What: Crafting and Communicating Effective Messages That Will Break Through the Clutter." It's from 9 - 11:30am at the Glickman Family Library on the USM campus in Portland. Roy Heffley is the keynote speaker. The cost is $35 for members, $45 for non-members, and $15 for students or anyone with a fake student ID. You can register via email or just show up. (Directions.)
Wednesday, October 18: Is the first class of the Web Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses at the University of Southern Maine's Center for Continuing Ed. The classes continue each Wed. evening (10/25, 11/1 & 11/8) from 6:30 - 8:30pm. The cost is $195 and you can learn more and register here.
Thursday, October 19: I'll be taping a segment for WCSH's evening news magazine 207. Topic and broadcast date TBD.
Whether I get any real work done next week is also TBD.
Business Blog Seminar in Westbrook: 10/16
Would you like to learn more about business blogs? Are you free Monday evening from 6 - 8pm? Are you looking for a full night of infotainment at absolutely no cost to you?
Then I have the perfect evening planned for you, you cheapskate.
I'll be presenting "How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog" for MESDA, The Maine Software Developer & Information Technology Industry Association, this coming Monday, October 16th, from 6:00 - 8:00pm. (Get your map and directions here.)
If you've been considering adding a blog to your Internet marketing plans, make plans to be there.
You'll learn:
- What blogs are and how they can help your business.
- How to plan for a successful blog.
- What makes for a popular, compelling blog.
- Why search engines love blogs.
- How to promote your blog and drive traffic to it.
If that's not enough there's even a door prize: Google Hacks, Third Edition Tips & Tools for Finding and Using the World's Information, by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, and Tara Calishain. However, you need to register and be present to be entered.
If you can't make it, but would like to read my article The 10 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make, you can go ahead and download it. (Email registration required.)
Hope to see you there!
Web Marketing Course at USM
If you enjoy the subject matter of this blog, but you'd prefer a little more interaction and perhaps specifics on how YOU can implement some of these ideas on your own Web site, blog or email newsletter, I've got good news.
I'll be teaching a course called Web Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business at the University of Southern Maine this month as part of their Center for Continuing Education.
We'll be talking search engine optimization, email marketing, blogs, podcasts, viral marketing, e-commerce, home page strategies and more. Last time we got into wikis.
The course will be Wednesday evenings from 6:30 - 8:30pm, October 18th - November 8th. For more information and to register online check out the Web marketing course page on the USM Web site.
Not sure if this class will help? Here's an unsolicited thank you email I received:
Rich,
Thanks to applying what I learned from you to my new site, in the last month I have zoomed up in the Search rankings (when any part of my name or ‘Maine’ is included with key terms, I get at least three listings on first page), increased the amount of time people are spending on the site, increased my new visitors to 25% of my traffic and tripled the rate of new subscribers to the ezine.
Chris Trout
OK, enough self-love. Hope to see you there.
Blog Anatomy: What Makes a Blog a Blog?
For those of you who wouldn't know a blog if it bit you, this post--complete with helpful illustrations--is for you. Please keep in mind that a blog comes in many forms; the items listed refer to the Web page version of a blog.
Post: The heart and soul of a blog. This is where your content goes. Usually several appear on a blog's home page, with older posts getting archived automatically by the blogging platform (i.e., TypePad, WordPress, etc.)
Categories: Blogging platforms usually allow you to categorize your posts into one or more self-created categories. These represent common themes for your blogs, whether it's "Web Marketing" or "Organic Gardening."
Archives: Archived posts are grouped by month or week, depending on how you set it up. This allows visitors to access older posts on your blog.
Permalink: The actual URL of a given post. If you post something to your blog and send out the link to www.yourblog.com, by the time someone visits that post may have fallen off the home page. The permalink will drive people directly to the post you have in mind. For example: http://www.flyteblog.com/flyte/2006/09/when_seo_isnt_e.html
Comments: What makes blogging scary to so many businesses! Visitors to your blog can leave their own .02 on your post, continuing the conversation. Some will be positive, some will be negative, and some will be spam, promoting their Texas Hold-em Web site or generic Viagra.
Trackbacks: Similar to comments, except that the conversation is continuing at another blog. An excerpt of that post appears below yours with links to the post.
Feeds & Chicklets: The little buttons or text links that allow your visitors to subscribe to the feed from your blog. This way they can receive updates to your blog at their My Yahoo page or Bloglines or through a newsreader. Blogging platforms almost always offer a feed, but you'll need to go to a service like Feedburner to generate the chicklets.
Blogrolls: On your Web site these would appear on your links page. These are links to other blogs you read and recommend.
Recent Posts: A list of the most recent posts on your blog, automatically generated by the platform.
Recent Comments: A list of the most recent comments on your blog, automatically generated by the platform.
Email Signup: Although not a part of blogging software, a nice add-on. This way, visitors who aren't savvy enough to subscribe to your feed and read it in their newsreader can still receive updates to your blog...delivered right to their email inbox.
Now you should be able to recognize blogs when you come face-to-face with them in the wild.
Just don't make eye contact with them. They'll see that as a sign of aggression. Better to get down on one knee and hand over any sweets you may have in your backpack.
Tagging, Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing
You may have heard of the term "Web 2.0" in the mainstream media this year, or noticed it floating near the most popular blog topics at Technorati. While what Web 2.0 is exactly may be debatable, one of its more popular tenets is the concept of tagging.
Tagging is a new way of organizing data on the Internet. Tagging is adding labels to specific items, such as photos, music, Web pages or blog posts. For example, you can upload your photos to Flickr and tag them with different labels. A photo of Market St. Eat's front door might be tagged, "Portland, ME", "Restaurant," or "Bacon." (Mmmmm...bacon.)
For an example, here's a Flickr page for the tag "Portland, Maine."
Why is this important to you as an Internet marketer?
Because tagging is a very social way of organizing information. If you're blogging, you should be tagging your posts. For instance, you may already have categories for your blog posts. This blog has categories on Business Blog Marketing, Email Marketing and Search Engine Marketing. Categories are types of tags.
However, you may blog about an item that's part of the zeitgeist, but doesn't quite rate a category. For example, I might create a post about a marketing lesson I learned from the New England Patriots home opener. I'm not going to be blogging about the Pats often enough to create a category for them, but I can take advantage of that post by tagging it with Patriots, football, or Deion Branch.
How does this help? Well, it helps both traditional search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) and blog search engines (Technorati, Ice Rocket, etc.) understand what your post is about and rank it appropriately. It also creates more links into your post and drives more traffic to it.
Now, I don't know that many people searching for Deion Branch will be looking for Internet Marketing advice, but it's possible.
For a better example of how you can harness popular searches to drive qualified traffic to your site, and how to create these tags, please read "Tagging Your Posts in TypePad." (Aside: TypePad has made it easier to add tags of late.)
I haven't bothered tagging Internet Marketing 101's posts because of the registration this site requires. However, for the sake of showing you an example, here goes.
Tags: Web 2.0 | Tags | lonelygirl15
(That last tag may give you an idea of the downside of tagging...it's easily abused. As more people tag "inappropriately" to rank artificially high or drive unqualified traffic to their site, tagging may become devalued as a way of finding relevant material.)
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