Your Presenter Jamie Smith Jamies Notebook Jamiesnotebook.com
@JamiesNotebook [email protected]
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Dont worry about writing this all down word for word. I will
tweet out a copy of my presentation later or I can email it to you.
I make them wordy so you can understand the notes later.
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What exactly is a blog? "Blog" is an abbreviated version of
"weblog," which is a term used to describe websites that maintain
an ongoing chronicle of information. Used to provide ongoing
updates to the company website and to share information, insights
Examples of blogs: http://lindarichardsphotography.com/blog/
http://ontimelogistics.wordpress.com/ http://arvestblog.com/
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Why Should Businesses Blog? Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Industry leadership Community building Brand accessibility
Marketing standard
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SEO: Spider Food Search engine optimization is how people find
your website. People who find your website are more likely to buy
from you. Good SEO practices include using keywords effectively and
producing frequent, fresh content that your audience would want to
read and might be searching for online. No way to optimize or
keyword for everything Focus on long-tail keywords as people use
them more. Think of short phrases people would search, not just
individual words.
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Industry Leadership Posts dont have to be profound to be
thoughtful. Reflect and share, dont flaunt. Post content related to
industry news, which shows your credibility and knowledge.
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Community Building The comments section invites people to
contribute their thoughts, and comments beget comments. People have
a tendency to congregate digitally around blogs or social media
platforms that they mutually enjoy. Build that meeting place for
your audience with fresh, interesting content.
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Brand Accessibility Your company is made up of human beings,
show it! Highlight employees, provide personal insights, and other
glimpses into your company culture. Blogs help take away the
antiseptic feel of a faceless corporation and helps show the humans
behind the brand. People do business with people, especially in
small business.
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Marketing Standard Blogging is a current content marketing
standard and for good reason. B2B marketers that use blogs receive
67% more leads than those that do not. Marketers who have
prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.
People have come to expect companies to engage them using blogs and
social media. If you dont keep up, it will give the perception that
you dont care.
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Where Do I Start? Using WordPress? Youre ahead of the game.
WordPress makes it easy to add a blog to an existing (or new)
website. Make sure your site/blog is mobile friendly so Google
doesnt punish you in the search rankings.
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In-house or Outsource? In-house Outsource Pro: Someone within
your company is going to know more intimately about your culture
and processes (requiring less research) Con: Current employees
already have duties or are not experienced in business blogging
Pro: Outsourcing lets someone who is experienced, efficient, and
professional manage the blog aspect of your branding Con: Someone
who is not within the business/industry will need more research
time including potential interviews, etc.
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How do I decide? How much time am I or my employees spending on
the blog (and how does that translate to potential billable hours
they could be doing instead)? Am I getting the returns I want on
the blog that make the investment Im making so far worth it? If
not, why? Are other alternatives available besides outsourcing that
would help me accomplish my goals? These include paying a one-time
consultation for the employee who write the blog, changing which
employee write the blog? Are there qualified freelance business
bloggers available in my area? What about a full-service marketing
agency that might offer the same service?
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All about that voice Voice is part of branding and includes
tone, word choice Voice can and should evolve as the company
evolves Business owner must be involved even for outsourced blogs
Voice should reflect the company as an entity not the owner, even
in a family business When you have multiple writers, determine if
they write in their individual (but related) voices or a corporate
voice. In other words, are the blogs from individuals or always
from the brand no matter who writes?
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Establishing voice Character/Persona (is the voice: friendly,
warm, inspiring, playful, authoritative, professional?) Tone (is
the voice: personal, humble, clinical, honest, direct, scientific?)
Language (is the voice: complex, savvy, insider, serious, simple,
filled with jargon, fun, whimsical?) Purpose (is it to engage,
educate, inform, enable, entertain, delight, sell or amplify?)
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What Do I Say? Topics can cover many areas of your business:
Internal news sales, new products, company philosophy External,
industry news whats new or in the news in your industry? Reflect on
the trends and offer insights.
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What do I say (continued) Community news and events, especially
if a particular cause closely relates to your business.
Personal/personnel news announce the birth of a new baby or an
employees sons graduation. (This will depend on the nature of the
business and employees must give permission.)
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Three popular post types Michael Hyatt (www.michaelhyatt.com)
offers great advice on structuring three different kinds of blog
posts: The how to post The list post The review post
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How Do I Say It? Key components of a blog post: 350 700 words
Attention-getting, keyworded title Open paragraph has to go
immediately to the point Relevant image(s) Personal experience
(when appropriate) Main body make it easy to skim using
subheadings, bullet points, etc. Close with a discussion question
(when appropriate)
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Promoting the Blog Integrate blog with appropriate social media
Make sure the blog link is visible from your websites homepage and
also listed on pertinent websites Integrate with
company/organization newsletter Use blog to generate subscribers
and build email lists
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Resources Reputable sources for finding ideas, help and other
resources: Hubspot.com Grammarist.com Socialmediaexaminer.com
Blog.CollectiveBias.com MichaelHyatt.com Zemanta (insertable
pictures) Commons.wikimedia.org (pictures) Picmonkey.com (Editing
photos, adding text) Canva.com (creating graphics)
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Online is forever and what you say on your business blog
affects your brand!