BusinessBlogAngel

Twitter Gold - 3 Really Useful Social Media Marketing Resources

Had a conversation with @JoannaYoung today in Twitter... went more or less like this:

Me: Ur experiment's pushed me to add 'subscribe by email' to [this blog] Not that there's owt new to read :)
Joanna: Maybe the new subscription box will tempt you to blog something...?!
Me: I have a lot of explaining to do - and lots of great stuff to share! But no idea where to start!
Joanna: You could start with just that - where do you start when you've so much to share?
Me: You're so wise! This'll sound like procrastination :) but I promise to post something by the end of the day!
Joanna: I'm not wise Claire, but I have learned that writing what you know and where you're at is best way to go :-) 

Well, technically, the end of the day happened over an hour ago. However, since I'm still up, fuzzy logic says the day's still going... ergo, I made it.  So "where do you start when you've so much to share?"

 

Business blog benefits - can social media work for ALL businesses?

Most business owners and managers I speak to are quick to recognise the benefits and huge potential that a 'social media marketing' and 'business blogging' strategy can offer.  But occasionally, I'll meet someone who whilst 'getting' the theory, simply cannot imagine what on earth they'd write about. Certainly, some businesses might have an easier time of it than others, but I truly believe that there's a solution for everyone.  Proof, it it were needed, might be this business blog from UK wide skip hire business TopSkips.com which I discovered yesterday.   

The Skip Hire Blog is maintained by TopSkips' MD Mark Attwood and is a great business blog example. The content is fun, relevant and useful. The tone is, as it should be, light and conversational.  The varied use of media - audio, video and text - all adds to the visitor experience.  But perhaps most importantly, Mark clearly understands the power of key words.  Many of us struggle to identify the best keywords for our business - not so here; Mark is wisely keeping it simple with just the one term - 'skip hire' - which he then uses in the post title, in the post body and in the tags - lovely. 

What else could Mark be doing to drive traffic and Google ranking?

Business blogging and SEO

One of my clients emailed me the other day about SEO in relation to her business blog... I will give her a more comprehensive answer by email, but this conversation over on Mike Sansone's ConverStations echoes a lot of my thoughts on the matter, as far as business blogging is concerned at least. I do think its useful to understand how to use keywords in your posts and be putting them in the title, body and keywords boxes, but I also agree that you can get too hung up on these things.

I was chatting to another business blogger the other day and they told me how many page views per day they were getting (it's about 3 times what I get), but they don't seem to be converting many of those viewers to clients.

Keywords and Business Blogging - Is there such a thing as 'wrong' keywords?

I belong to a very active 'we'alth creation' Google group where people share learnings and knowledge on everything from investing to Internet marketing.  Business blogging and blog marketing is a common topic and I like to offer my two penneth where I can.  Today, someone was asking about blogging and keywords - how much research should she do and are 'wrong' ones a bad thing, as well as general advice on how to structure her blog or blogs in relation to her website.  I ended up writing a far longer response than I intended, but I figured that it was worth sharing with you as it raises a few important points on the subject of keywords - particularly if you are blogging for business, so here's the section of my answer on that topic:

"As for keywords - of course they are very, very important and in the main, I agree with everything Jason is saying, but (and this may cause a few ripples) you can get really (and unnecessarily IMHO) hung up on them and they can, do and will change!  The thing about blogging is that you can assign new keywords each time you post

Business Blog Marketing Booster Part 2 - Comments and Trackbacks

This is the second 'plain-English' article of a series of 5, which share powerful tools and techniques to really boost your business blogging strategy.  You can discover more blogging tips like these on my upcoming Advanced Blogging Teleclass training series. UPDATE: Or grab the entire series in my special report 5 Power Tools To Boost Your Blog Traffic by filling out the form to the top right of the page.

Part 2 - Comments and Trackbacks

At the end of most blog posts you will see a link saying 'Comments'. Click on it and you're taken to a list of comments and/or a comment form for you to leave your own. (Further reading on exactly how to do it right here: http://claireraikes.blogs.com/bizblogangel/2007/03/commenting_on_b.html.)

When I first started blogging I was often moved to comment on other people's blogs but then suddenly overcome with shyness, feeling that my opinion was in some way 'not worthy'!  These days, I love browsing through my favourite blogs and discovering new ones and contributing by leaving helpful comments as I go. My challenge is creating the time to do so!

I have set myself the goal of commenting on at least one blog a day. Why? Because if done right, it's great for building traffic to your own blog and here's why:

Advanced Blogging Teleclass Training Series

Get More from your Typepad Business Blog!

For those who already have a business blog - this 7 hour Advanced Blogging Teleclass training series will take you to 'the next level' in your business blogging strategy.

Across the course of 7 weeks, 60 minutes per week, I will explain key points and techniques to enhance your blog marketing and show you how to implement them as we work together, step-by-step, through the course syllabus.  There will be simple homework tasks designed to move you through from week to week and I will provide you with a resource centre where you can download audio recordings of the class as well as written notes.

Start date: Mon 23/10/06     Time: 7.30pm (UK Time)     Course Fee: $369/£197

NB. Since this course is limited to 7 participants only, this WILL BE a 'sell-out' situation. Places are available on a 'first come, first served' basis and cannot be reserved, so...

Book now to guarantee your place and avoid disappointment.

More information follows...

The Power of Blogging

I've been doing a bit of work today for my good friend Beryl Whiting.

Beryl has been blogging for just under a year and had set it up herself and it worked just fine. But I have been itching to get my hands on it and reconfigure it to work harder for her - which as you can see, I have now done - its's now more of a Blogsite.

But I want to share with you something she achieved without my help that clearly illustrates why you absolutely should be using blogging as a marketing tool for your business...

Google Webmaster Guidelines You May Be Overlooking

By John Metzler (c) 2006

Most webmasters have visited Google's Webmaster Help Center.  Many of the suggestions are obvious: Don't use frames; Don't employ cloaking techniques or scripts designed to trick search engines; Create a search engine-friendly site map; Get incoming links from other quality web sites. But us webmasters can be a cocky bunch and will let our own pre-conceived notions get the better of us sometimes.

Podcasting Expert

Leesa Barnes is a Podcasting Expert. She has a real knack for clearly explaining techy nerdy stuff in plain English. She recently did a teleclass entitled How Coaches Can Use a Podcast to Attract New Clients but actually it is relevant to a much wider group of people and talks about blogging and search engine optimisiation too.  It is available to listen to for free for a couple of days only (until 26th May 06) so don't hang around! 

Click here to find out how to use podcasting to build your business

I am so going to use this stuff - I'd be crazy not to. Check Leesa's Blog, Podonomics too...
 

More on Google Page Rank

Following the post about Google Page Rank, I've had a couple of emails asking how I know what my page rank is?  Before I explain, please accept my apologies - I can't believe I forgot to tell you that bit!

Now for the answer... what you need is the full size Google Toolbar. This is something that will sit at the top of your browser page along with the toolbars you currently have displayed.