BusinessBlogAngel

Cardinal Business Blogging Sins - is writing off-topic a no-no?

OK... so what excuse can I find to post a picture of our new puppy on my blog... um... tricky...

You see, the majority of visitors to this blog are here to find out about blogging for business or social media marketing - not to see pictures of puppies - no matter how cute.  Puppies are off-topic.  So does that mean I shouldn't post the picture?  Well, you tell me...

Is off-topic content always a cardinal sin?  Or are personal posts ok?  Does it depend on other factors? If so, what are they?

While you ponder these questions, enjoy the above pic of Sgt. Pepper - a super-charged, 19wk old Heinz 57 rescue pup who 'came home' to us just last night.  (Click to enlarge it.) I'm not a mum, but boy do I feel like one today - knackered, sleep deprived and totally blissed out!

Drop-down Archive Menu - how to put one on your Typepad blog

Oh to be able to peek inside someone else's Typepad account and see all their lovely code!  Yeah - I know - that sounds indecently nerdy doesn't it? But I'm sure you've been there - or somewhere close at least.

You know how it goes... you visit a blog, you see something on it that you fancy having on yours, but you're darned if you know how they did it or where they got it from.

Well, d'you remember that drop-down Archive menu I mentioned?  Turns out that there's quite a few of you wanting to know how I did it.

So here's the bad news... I can't actually remember how I created it.

And here's the good news... that matters not one jot!

Because as long as I can see the code and show you what you need to change to make it work for you, then its JOB DONE. So let's get crackin'...

(This post contains a lot of images - click once on any of them to open up an enlarged view in a new window.)

What are your business blogging goals for 2008?

Although January can sometimes feel like a slow month, it's also a time when our thoughts naturally turn to our goals, dreams and ambitions for the year ahead, to the things we resolve to do or intend to set out and make happen.

I know that we've all got our own ways of thinking about goals, resolutions, intentions but I'm guessing most of us will be spending some time this month thinking about where we want to be by the end of this year.

And if that includes the plans for your own business you want to be asking yourself this:

What are your business blogging goals for 2008?

5 blogging mistakes that are so last year

           

Prologue: We don't claim to be blogging saints round here (though Claire is, of course, a blogging angel).  Although this post was drafted a little while ago we couldn't post it until we'd done a little bit of blog housekeeping ourselves... Well one thing we do believe in is being willing to take our own blog medicine:-)

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It's a funny thing about the New Year, isn't it?  A few weeks into January and suddenly 2007 seems like an eternity ago.  A time that's over.  Things that we've let go.

And all of a sudden things that are dated 2007 can look just that: dated, tired and over.

And yes, that includes your business blog.

This is the perfect time to make sure your business blog is bang up to date - and that you're avoiding these 5 blogging mistakes that can keep you stuck in last year.

Joanna 'Confident Writing' Young - My Secret Weapon & Success Story!

OK, truth be told - in her role as Business Blog Angel Team Blogger, Joanna (left), had prepared 2 posts sooner than that last one - it was me that held them up because I wanted to finish something else I was working on before they went out.  Seems reasonable doesn't it, but it was taking ages to do.  Fortunately for me, Joanna is a stickler for regular and consistent posting and she took the initiative and wrote an alternative post which she knew we could publish straight away.

Now that blockage is removed, I feel the urge to share a few random thoughts with you. Since I haven't written here (other than my Holiday Greeting) since October 12th this may ramble on a bit, but anyway... staying with Joanna for a moment...

Getting back to blogging

Happy New Year everyone!  I don't know about you but I'm still getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas and New Year break and working my way through the gloom that can be January in Scotland...

We've got a few goodies lined up for you over the next few weeks including some back-room stuff on new products and services that Claire is working on.  All will be revealed soon :-)

Meantime here a few suggestions that might help you get back into your stride if you haven't blogged for a while:

MyBlogLog Verification

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification