Why Launch a Company Blog and Use Social Media

Why Launch a Company Blog and Use Social Media:

An Overview and Open Discussion

by Graeme ThickinsBlogger, Brand Journalist, Content Marketer, Startup Advisor

1Monday, February 8, 2010



Blogs Are Everywhere...They’ve Gone Mainstream


Some Places Where I Blog

And more, such as guest posts on other blogs...sometimes on clients’ blogs...and sites that syndicate my main blog.


Oh, Wait - A ClarificationI should have said my main one is my “macro” blog...

But I also have this “micro” blog thingie...

And, lately, one that sorta fits in between...




What We Can Talk About Today• Corporate blogging: huh?• Why blog• What's required • Types of blogs• What to blog about• Deciding who blogs• Ways to use a blog• And the bigger picture: Social Media• Ask questions.... what do you want to talk about?


What Is Corporate Blogging?

Text"The use of blogs to further organizational goals. Think of a blog as an e-newsletter, a viral marketing campaign, an open channel for your customers to talk to you.... a low-cost, easy-to-use, always-free web site." - Debbie Weil, The Corporate Blogging Book


Why Blog?

Text• Tell your story, advance your passion• Connect/engage with customers• Get attention, build buzz• Be (or become) a thought leader• Best of all: search engines love blogs...• Fresh content = GOOGLE JUICE!


Why Blog? ... some hard data:

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Let’s Get Something Cleared Up: Blogging Is Not Hard

• It’s like writing an email to a colleague.

• Except it’s out there for everyone....

• Blogging = cc: world


Ten Tips for Writing a Successful Corporate Blog

by Debbie Weil, author, “The Corporate Blogging Book”

1. Choose the right topic for your blog (specific)2. Find your voice (easy for her to say!)3. Invite a conversation4. Package what you write (ten Tips, five Rules, seven Ways)5. Always, always link6. Write for web readers7. Write for Google searchers8. Publish frequently and consistently9. Take risks10. Have fun (“dance like nobody’s watching”)


Is Your Company Ready for a Blog?

Text• Can you regularly update it?• Do you have a writer or group of writers?(Don’t forget, you can have guest bloggers, too.)• Do you have something to say? Do you read other blogs to know what’s going on?• Do you have existing content you could link to that’s already online?


Mommy, Where Does Content Come From? 11 Easy Ways to Create Great Stuff by Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs.com

1. Think small: Creating a white paper or ebook is a huge task. Instead, create smaller chunks of content. Series of smaller blog posts easier to produce.

2. Think really small: Ask your Twitter followers for their take on a specific theme or topic related to your business, and create a blog post from it.

3. Bundle: gather existing blog posts around a central theme into an ebook or white paper. Give it away freely (not requiring users to register), or maybe even charge for it.

4. Video record your talks: the ones you or your team do at industry events, and post them on YouTube. Repurpose as needed to your blog, on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

5. Post presentations on SlideShare: upload your PowerPoints, and also share freely on Twitter, your blog, etc.


6. Interview customers: arm yourself or a colleague with a Flip camera or iPhone to record video of chats at events. Try asking a single question to unify their answers, then string together for a compelling video. Something like: What's your biggest marketing challenge?

7. Interview luminaries: do quick Q&A interviews with thought-leaders, strategic partners, or just interesting thinkers -- via email, Skype chat, or audio record them. They make for compelling text (blog posts) or podcasts.

8. Share real-time photos: post your pix of industry events, meetups, or gatherings pix to Flickr, as soon after as possible. Snap photos with your smart phone to share on Twitter via Twitpic or yFrog.

9. Ask customer service: a great source for content. Ask what customers are contacting us about, what problems do they have? Great for regular content with a recurring "Questions from our customers" theme.

10. Go behind-the-scenes: give readers or followers an insider's view of your company. Twitpic a shot from a podcast or video in progress, share on Twitter what content you're working on producing, etc.

11. Don't silo your content: If you have a print newsletter, run articles occasionally on your blog, upload the best headlines to Facebook, post transcripts of your podcast online, and chat everything up on Twitter. Sprinkle content freely across all your platforms.


Blogging and Social Media • Think of your blog is the hub of your social media universe, the center of your marketing and content strategy.

• It's the main link you want to drive people to, by putting it in your Twitter bio, your LinkedIn page, your company Facebook page, etc. And that in turn will drive people to your main web site.

• Social media is affecting and being incorporated into every aspect of business: marketing, communications, customer service, sales, HR, IT, product development, and more.


The Most Important Skill Required?

Listening, baby!


What Is Social Media? (well, a lot)

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Call It What You Will....

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• CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING• THE PARTICIPATIVE WEB• CONSUMER-GENERATED MEDIA• USER-GENERATED CONTENT (UGC)• SELF-PUBLISHING• CITIZEN MARKETING

It’s created..... “THE REAL-TIME WEB”


It’s Everywhere

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Democratizing Media, Bigtime

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The Social Media “Ladder”

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Why Should a CompanyDo Social Media?

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It’s Where the People Are

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Is This Big Enough for Ya?

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Maybe You’ve Heard of....

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Then There’s a Little Site Called....

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And Driving It All, Bigtime, Is...

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How Millions Have Come to Tweet...

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The Listening Part of theReal-Time Web...


Social Media Objectives....

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Measuring Social Media...

"The most meaningful metric is the rate at which people invite their friends to participate. How many of your customers want to tell the world about how great you are?" - Tara Hunt, Online Community Expert and Author


Social Media Marketing in 61 Words

Text• You can buy attention (advertising)• You can beg the media for attention (PR)• You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales)• Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.

- David Meerman Scott


Where to Find Me....

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Web: www.gtamarketing.com

Blog: www.tech-surf-blog.comTwitter: www.twitter.com/graemethickinsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/graemethickinsFacebook: www.facebook.com/graemethickinsFriendfeed: www.friendfeed.com/graemethickinsPosterous: graemethickins.posterous.comInternet Business Card: graemethickins.businesscard2.com

Email: [email protected] Phone: 952-944-9748


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mailto:[email protected]

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One of the Best Examplesof a Startup Company Blog(even pre-launch) wasMint.com, based in S.F. ....


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Screenshots of Some Local BlogsI’ve Been Involved With or Know....


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Screenshots of Some of My Clients’ Blogs....


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Why Launch a Company Blog and Use Social Media

Business

company blog

main blog

blog whats

blog specific2

macro blog

successful corporate

existing blog posts

micro blog thingie