BusinessBlogAngel

Liz Strauss' 25 Words of Work/Life Wisdom Writing Project

There is no doubt that Twitter is a seriously powerful weapon in your social media marketing arsenal. Over the last couple of days, I've seen some great examples of how people are using Twitter to not only network, promote their business activities and attract traffic, but also drive more sales.  In the last hour, as a direct response to a couple of Tweets that caught my eye, I've bought a product I didn't know I needed(!) and been inspired by Robert Hruzek to take up Liz Strauss' 25 Words of Work/Life Wisdom Writing Project challenge.   

I'll write again about Twitter, but in the meantime, here's my attempt at those 25 words:

Oh The Shame...

"Do as I say, not as I do";
these words float shamefully around my brain
as I fail
to Twitter, Stumble, blog and podcast
consistently.

Given that I'd not posted for ages - and this is my second today - I'm inspired to do another...

Recent Business Bloggers' Blogs

I can barely believe it's been over a month since our last post! I see I've started a few posts along the way, but they're still languishing unpublished in my Typepad account.  To break the silence, I'm simply going to plug just a couple of business blogs which have recently had the Business Blog Angel treatment. Please drop in on them and leave your comments and encouragement - I know the owners will be chuffed to bits if you do. 

SueTrinder.com

Sue Trinder & Associates

Transforming communication at work.

Click image to enlarge.

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Diary of a Property Investor

The PropertyMadeSimple Blog by Peter Stanley

Everything you ever wanted to know about property investing.

Click image to enlarge.

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Are you business blogging yet?  Click here to discover why you should be...

How A Footer Helps You Blog For Business: Practical Tips For Business Bloggers - Part 7

This is going to be a short post - but an important one.  I'm going to introduce you to a tiny, easy to use piece of html code that will help you blog for business. 

It's this: <hr>

It stands for horizontal rule and it does just that.  It draws a horizontal line across your page.  And with that line you create a footer, a space 'below the line' where you can add comments, links and information that you want to share with your readers, but that doesn't fit naturally in the main part of the post.

It's one of the most useful things I've learned in the last six months, and it's changed the way that I write my business blog.

How Do I Format The Links In My Post? Practical Tips for Business Bloggers - Part 6

So now you're convinced of all the good reasons to link out to other blogs and posts.  You've gathered your articles, blogs, addresses of useful sites... but now you're stuck.  What do you do now?  How are you supposed to do it?

Isn't there a trick some people use to format their links?

Well yes, there is, and yes you do need to spend a few minutes formatting your links.  Otherwise when you drop them in they'll look kind of ungainly, like this:

http://www.businessblogangel.com/bizblogangel/2008/05/5-good-reasons.html

Luckily Typepad and other blogging platforms will do most of the donkey work for you - although there are a few additional things it's worth thinking about to make sure you're getting the maximum impact from your links.

Beginners Guide to Getting Massive Traffic from StumbleUpon

This article provides a quick guide to getting your site picked up by StumbleUpon, giving you the potential for attracting thousands of extra visitors.
(I've been meaning to write an article like this for ages, but Miles G at SubHub has done it so well, I may not bother now!)

read more | digg story

Note: This post was blogged using Digg's 'blog this' function.

"Continue Reading" With Style: Practical Tips for Business Bloggers

The "continue reading" option is a great way to keep the front page of your business blog tidy and easy to read.

[Actually I'm feeling a bit bad about writing this post, because on my own blog (Confident Writing) I've got out of the habit of using it.  Which means I've got a mixture of short and long posts on my front page, and more scrolling required than is sensible.  Hmm.  Maybe writing this post will get me back into good habits.]

There are a few points to bear in mind though when you're using the "post continuation" function to make sure you get the most out of it, and provide your reader with the best possible reader and visitor experience.

5 Good Reasons To Link Out In Your Business Blog Posts

I've got a post coming up in the 'Showing Off Your Content' series on how to format links, but before we get on to the how it's maybe worth spending a few minutes on the why.

I know a lot of people feel awkward about linking out when they first start to blog.  And at first glance it does seem kind of counter-intuitive. 

You want internet visitors to stick around on your site: to read about your business, learn more about what you do and what you're about.

You want to position yourself as the 'go to' expert in your niche.  So surely the last thing you'd want to do is provide links that point away from your business blog, towards the work of other people? Right?

Thinking About Adding Podcasts To Your Business Blog?

If you're thinking about dipping your toes into the waters of podcasting you might enjoy this podcast (audio show).  It's an interview that Sarah Rourke did with me about the podcasts I've started to do at Confident Writing

You can listen to the interview here - the link takes you to an MP3 which you can play on the computer or download and play later if you're set up for such things.  It's just over 15 minutes long and is mainly about ways to get over any barriers to getting started.

Sarah (also known as the Rat Race Escape Artist) has set up a service to help you with podcasting and other audio services.  You'll find out more at her new site The Audio Pod Artist.

One Simple Programme That Can Save You Blogging Time: Practical Tips for Business Bloggers

No, this time we're not talking Typepad but a simple little programme that can save you time, energy and lots of wasted effort. 

It's called Notepad...

...and luckily for you it's free, easy to use, and already installed on your computer. 

You'll find it in the list of programmes when you click on your 'Start' menu (probably bottom left of your screen).  Mine comes up in a list of icons that looks like this.

It looks very plain and simple, just like a blank sheet of paper, and that's precisely why it saves you blogging time and energy.  It has the effect of stripping out bits of code from things you might have copied or worked on elsewhere, keeping things nice and clean to go into your post.

This is a real stitch in time to save nine - although it might not seem like much we promise it will save you time in the long run... and might cause you hassle if you don't.

Break Up Your Posts With Quotes: Practical Tips for Business Bloggers

There are loads of good reasons for using quotes in your blog posts.

As Emerson said: “The next thing to saying a good thing yourself, is to quote one.”

You can use quotes to:

• Provide food for thought - for you and your readers

• Link out - to the work of other bloggers (more to come on how and why to link)

• Add variety to your blog

• Help you keep blogging when you're busy

• Break up chunks of text and give your readers an eye rest

The trick to the last point is remembering to use the block quotes function, which you'll find in your toolbar. (You start the quote with the "open speech marks" and show where it's come to an end with the "close speech marks").  That way you're showing off your quote, letting your reader grab the message, and making your post a lot more readable.  It'll end up indented, like this:

A short saying often contains much wisdom (Sophocles)

As an extra tip, I find it easier to apply the block quotes after I've done the rest of the post - that way you're less likely to unwittingly select the rest of the text which can lead to a bit of unpicking of the code.

There are lots of good quote sites that you can use - like ThinkExist and BrainyQuote - though if you're anything like me you've probably already acquired a good collection of your own.  (Or perhaps you're famous enough that you're now being quoted!)   

Do you use quotes as part of your blogging technique?  If not, could you see a way to work some in?

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This is part 3 of the mini-series Showing Off Your Content, part of the new Practical Tips for Business Bloggers programme at Business Blog Angel.

Episodes to date include:

Intro: Showing off Your Content
Part 1: Should I Have A Welcome Post On My Blog?
Part 2: Use Bold And Bullets To Break Up Your Posts
Part 3: Break Up Your Posts With Quotes
Part 4: One Simple Programme That Can Save You Blogging Time
Part 5: "Continue Reading" With Style
Part 6: How Do I Format Links?
Part 7: How A Footer Helps You Blog for Business

If you've got questions or comments you'd like us to cover here please leave us a message in the comment box and we'll see what we can do...

Meantime, have a Happy Easter all.