Blogging Essentials

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This is a crash course intended to quickly bring bloggers up to speed on today’s best practices for achieving the greatest mileage from your blog posts. Topics include: *How influence works in the blogosphere *Major applications of corporate blogs *Developing a content model *Generating ideas and unique angles *Writing compelling headlines and entries *Positioning and voice *Why top business blogs are successful *Unique characteristics of b-to-b markets *Tricks for generating buzz and recognition *Working with multiple media This slide deck is the basis for a three-hour course that can be delivered live or remotely via webcast.

Transcript of Blogging Essentials

BLOGGING ESSENTIALS

Paul GillinApril 2, 2010

AGENDA

Definitions and concepts The new media world Blog structure and elements Culture of the blogosphere - dos and don’ts Finding a voice Generating ideas Building awareness and traffic Search engine optimization Using other channels General discussion

Circulation decline of top 100 newspapers in 2009: 10.6%

Average age of US daily newspaper reader: 57

Reduction in US newsroom staffs since 2001: 45%

Growth in NBC prime time audience, 2008: -14.3%

Age of average network evening news viewer: 63

2001 circ. 2009 circ. Change

Woman’s Day

1.61M 410,000 -74%

Redbook 556,300 154,600 -72%Playboy 522,800 203,200 -71%Country Living

380,200 134,900 -64%

National Enquirer

1.65M 591,300 -64%

Reader’s Digest

750,000 270,000 -64%

ESPN Magazine

54,350 25,200 -63%

US Magazine Circulations

MEDIA IN COLLAPSE

THE NUMBERS

Active blogs on the Internet: 25-40 million Social networks: 2,900 Social network service providers: >100 Active Facebook members: 200 million Corporations with social media campaigns:

>300 Photos on Flickr: 3 billion Twitter membership growth, ’08-’09:

1,438% Pres. Obama’s Facebook friends: 5.9 million

WHAT ARE BLOGS GOOD FOR?

Timely, frequently updated information Multiple media types Single voice Fixed display Flexible organization Search engine performance

WHY SO POPULAR?

Cheap and easy to create and update Have distinct personal voice Can quickly build traffic through

reciprocal links Excellent search engine performance Modest revenue opportunity Simple way to keep notes

USES IN BUSINESS

ReinforceBrand

USES IN BUSINESS

Thought Leadership

USES IN BUSINESS

End Run Media

USES IN BUSINESS

Define Culture

Educate Prospects

USES IN BUSINESS

USES IN BUSINESS

Build Trust

BLOG STRUCTURE

Title & Description

SidebarIndividual Entry or “Post”

√d

Headline

TITLE/SUBTITLE

Subheads

Fixed pages

RSS feed

Search

Keywords

BLOGGING SUCCESS FACTORS

Have a clear focus Update frequently Speak distinctively Have a point of view Surprise and delight Link to get links Use all the media you can Educate and assist Ask for feedback

READY TO WRITE

WHAT’S YOUR TOPIC?

People have abundant choice; pick your spots

It’s fine to stray from your core topic, but keep 2/3 of entries relevant

Dedicate yourself to becoming THE expert in your chosen area

Tell people where you specialize

Branding

Search

Health Care

Customer Care

Analytics

Technology

Strategy

WHO’S YOUR READER?

Professional? Enthusiast? Peer? Novice? Investor? Competitor? Media

You can’t communicate effectively with an audience you don’t know. When you write, visualize your reader.

It may help to post a picture of that person on your office wall!

FIND YOUR VOICE

Read mainstream media and other bloggers and comment upon them

Frame issues in a context that reflects your expertise

Be offbeat and occasionally outrageous Write in a voice that feels right to you Think conversation, not lecture Use multiple media Mix it up: Top 10 lists, predictions, best &

worst, link lists

WHAT’S YOUR PERSONA?

Helpful? Funny? Offbeat? Sympathetic? Snarky? Professorial? Unpredictable?

Think of people whose writing you admire, then write like they do, but only if it’s natural for you

GENERATING IDEAS

Subscribe to sites you like

Look for “trending” topics

Aggregate or add your own commentary

Share & comment

Create topical feeds

IDEAS: RSS FEEDS

IDEAS: TRENDING TOPICS

Tag clouds and discovery sites show what’s new and topical

Bookmarking sites have element of surprise

A DELICIOUS FILTER

OTHER IDEA FOUNDRIES

Get angry Aggregate other opinions Tell a story Conduct a poll Make a list Predict something, then

defend Recommend what you love Discover and share Serialize

Imagine having written a great article

Use keyword searches

Interview someone Visit a quote siteTalk to children Consult a notebook Write case studies Write about your

week Create a top 10 list

MAKING YOUR POINT

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

Ask yourself, “What’s the post about?”

Say what you’re going to say, say it, then say what you just said.

Make your point at the outset

Limit the number of points you make in each entry

Invite feedback

Select idea

Identify point of

view

List key points

Write

Revise

Publish

Rule of Thumb: If you have more than two key points, create a new entry

SECRETS OF CLEAR WRITING

Use everyday words Write as you speak Write it like a letter Keep sentences short Use voice recognition or

dictate into a recorder Use Word readability stats Ask a friend/spouse/ child

to review your work

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I

wrote a long one instead.”

--Blaise Pascal

I JUST CAN’T GET STARTED

Start in the middle Write freeform, then edit Imagine a different scene Start listing bullet points Model someone else’s

work Take a walk Tell story to a friend or

colleague

Many Approaches

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES

Quiz: Test Your Engagement IQ Skeptic: Why Marketers Fail at Engagement Case Study: How One Company Does it Right Contrarian: Think You’re Engaged? Think Again How To: Five Steps to Improving Customer Engagement First Person: How I Learned to Engage Comparison: How Two Companies Approach Customer

Engagement Q&A: Five Common Questions About Engagement Data: Study Shines New Light on Customer

Engagement Outrageous: Your Engagement Strategy Sucks Humorous: Engagement Haiku Offbeat: Engagement: The Movie

HEADLINE

Current: Let’s Get Engaged!Other Possibilities: Five Goals for Customer Engagement Redefining Engagement Engagement Scorecard How Engaged Are Your Customers? Why Marketers Fail at Engagement Failing to Engage? Here’s Why

Flame or use abusive language

Repeat personal or confidential information

Complain about clients, colleagues or competitors

Gripe about media coverage Be overtly commercial

DON’T…

Your blog is public and searchable. People are watching!

HAVE SOME FUN!

OK Labs uses "social objects," or distinct icons, to create a memorable association.

“It’s been a way for people to feel that they know the company before doing

business with the company,” says Marti Konstant, VP of marketing

PROMOTING YOUR WORK

SEARCH FUNDAMENTALS

• Page Title

• URL

• H1,H2,H3 tags

• Page Text• Bold

25% Is On-page Visible

Source: HubSpot

SEARCH FUNDAMENTALS

Description

Keywords

Alt Images

25% Is On-page Visible

75% IS WORD-OF-MOUTH

“There’s only one way to guarantee

good search results: Have great content.”

--Mike MoranCo-author: Search Engine

Marketing, Inc

BEING VISIBLE

Link internally Link externally Use tags, categories Register with aggregators Ask for “link love” Promote outbound links File a site map Bookmark and tweet

Link Opportunities

Link to relevant blog entry or Quaero service

NEW PUBLISHING LIFECYCLEBegins as a tweet

Becomes a blog entry

Feeds a podcast

Stokes a white paper

That gets tweeted!

PUBLISH EVERYWHERE

32 million members

300 million members

44 million members

1 billion daily views

6 million daily visitors

50 million members10 million members

1 million daily visitors

1.5 million daily visitors

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Encourage and respond to comments Comment elsewhere Play reporter Serialize Use themes Give stuff away Complement with photos, podcasts & video

TRACKING SUCCESS

Traffic – unique visitors vs. page views Technorati rankings RSS subscriptions Google linkto: and allinanchor: De.licio.us and Technorati tags Trackbacks

MANY WAYS TO MEASUREWebsite Visitors

Click-throughs

Visitors to a brick & mortar store

Positive press

Positive WOM

Negative pressNegative WOM

Customer complaints

Employment applications

Retweets

FaceBook friendsBlog comments

Social mention

YouTube views

Twitter followers

Impressions

Delivered emails

Coupons distributed

Source: BrandBuilder

THANK YOU!

Paul Gillin

508-656-0734

paul@gillin.com

www.gillin.com

Twitter: pgillin

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Coming late 2010: Social Marketing to the Business Customer

By Paul Gillin & Eric Schwartzman