Yesterday I started my 5 week “Blogging for Better Business” workshop. I was inspired to teach this intensive as I read and enjoyed many posts on Blogger Monday with Ann Evanston. Blogger Monday was started to help bloggers find a community that would comment. Let’s face it, you write a blog, you want comments right? RIGHT!
But wait, blogging for business may actually be less about the comments, and more about making sure potential customers find you, correct? That is why I started this intensive; I wanted people to see there are ways for them to get visibility to their blogs doing some very simple things technically that will make a difference.
That inspired you to write your blog (First that is just good social media etiquette!)
Where you did your research- give credit, again
That are in your keyword niche and out rank you in search engines
2-Use keyword titles and be sure the permalink is keyword rich
It’s not just the title; it’s the url (the permalink) that is created from the title that help search engine crawlers
It’s best to set the permalink prior to publishing, because if you change it later you break the link anywhere you posted it (404 error)
3-Make sure you have categories that you will write relevant content to regularly
unless you have a “niche blog” you are best to pick five, maybe seven categories and stick to them
Don’t be clever with your categories; think like your customer
The more you post to a category, the more “street cred” you get with search engines
These are just a few tips taught in week one of my blogging intensive. I bet participants are already making changes to their blogs! What changes do you need to make?
Ann’s next Blogging for Better Business Intensive starts Sept 7, 2011.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Online Reputation Management– a hot topic these days. If you aren’t a part of the conversation, then you can’t manage it- I get that. BUT Online Reputation Management is also about being able to FIND what people are saying about you when they don’t notify you. Easy for blog posts and website through Google Alerts. A piece of cake on Twitter with searches. But Facebook? It seems that if they don’t TAG or post to your page, you don’t know.
There is actually a way to know if someone talks about your business on facebook! Since not everyone will TAG or post to your fan page wall, it’s important to know if your business name is typed into a post on facebook so that you can manage the conversation! A community page will pull any content that uses your business name! What? How? Watch this video for details:
Create your community page by editing your profile and where you work. Make sure you use the name of your business that people use -this will create that page and up the searches. Check it once or twice a week. I love that I am able to be a part of conversations that people don’t think I see!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Some days like today, I just don’t want to blog. I have videos tucked away and topics written down. I even have my LIVE ONLINE Q&A summarized to use as a blog post when needed. But some days, I don’t want to format it, I don’t want to keyword search it, REALLY don’t want to do my category, tag and SEO Pack, I could care less about that picture I need to find, I don’t feel like a catchy call to action. So when you feel like this what can you do:
1-remember that keeping it short and sweet is a good thing.
2-Use your blog more like a journal and less like a “promotional tool for your business”. People like Seth Godin often blog one or two sentences that are obviously on their minds.
3-Write what’s on your mind, versus what you THINK you should write. That’s real. That’s authentic. That’s vulnerable.
4-Write when you are inspired to write, then get them up and date stamp them to go out when you need them to. There are many blogging clubs that help people do this. I even think about starting a live online group- where we write and inspire for an hour every month.
Sometimes, I don’t want to blog, but I find the inspiration.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I frequently hold “Tweetchat live” where I pick a topic and people can come into the chat room and ask questions and learn. This week we planned a great Facebook chat, and technology got in our way (I couldn’t tweet as myself, boy was I having an identity crises!) So we moved the live Q&A over to my Facebook biz page. I summarized the conversation for you. I think there are some great tips here!
Laurie Schwarz Hurley– I see to the left on this page all the links for YT, Blog, Reviews, Web Address – how does one add those to a business page? Warrior-Preneur: edit page, apps, there is all kinds of good stuff there and they are SAFE to use!
Rita Brennan FreayHow many times a day do you recommend posting to your Biz page? All call to action or mixture? Robbie Schlosser 3 EBM’s/day means 10 posts/day, right? Yvonne Elm Hall Is there a specific day time that is better for those three posts, and do you post them all at once or better to spread them out? Warrior-Preneur: 3 times a day for EBM, blogs, press events are extras. I believe in a global economy-do you? If so, if true then no post anytime. Fri-Say-Sun are DEAD on FB. 40% fewer people log in on the weekends. Robbie, hopefully on face book you are getting enough comments and likes to engage people on your page. That’s the trick over here right?
I get press, I get tons of press. ALL through social media. 100% unsolicited. Press finds me. Each time a blog is written about me, each time I am asked to be interviewed in a podcast, or share on a teleseminar- press happens.
I gave up on HARO (Help a Reporter Out) well over two years ago. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a phenomenal resource. Honestly the 3 digests a day overwhelmed me. The time pressure of WHEN the reporter needed the information by stressed me out even more. Then the detailed approach to GET the press made me freak out and run!
Press is a critical strategy for building your credibility and authority in your field. And press can be used shamelessly, in so many ways to continue to help you grow.
Want more press? Want have opportunities come to you EVERY month? Here are the simplified steps I teach my clients:
1-be more education based in what you share online and LESS sales-y;
2-be more engaging, with others AND in your personality;
3-be open to WHO you connect with (that’s networking 101);
4-make sure you (not just your company) are search-able; people who might want to give you that press need to make sure you are REAL (in your field and industry);
5-have opinions, opinions make for great press;
6-keep your press (links to articles, downloads etc) and share it often. Those in the field see the exposure you give content and want you;
7-share it with your list-let them know where you are being interviewed, traffic is a good thing for everyone involved.
Press is just ONE of the several goals that can be achieved in your social media marketing strategy. When you combine a smart strategy it can ultimately build a marketing team that you don’t pay big bucks for. And honestly, I don’t miss the stress of HARO at all!
Are you developing your online marketing team?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
If you haven’t noticed, Facebook is up to some BIG changes (please note: you can click on the picture for a larger view)! You can opt in now, but March 1st EVERYONE will have to convert their biz page over! Here is a video to help.
They also made an interesting change to your HOME page (for your profile) and your NEWS FEED. You might have noticed that your feed seems to have WAY fewer posts to it? Well, what Facebook did is remove form your stream people you never interact with. As a business person who teaches ENGAGEMENT – that says a TON. If you are not engaging with them, befriending them might not have been the right choice. You can get them back into your stream though.
Go to your home page:
click on most recent
click on edit options
in the drop down menu change the option and save.
See, some people think if you watch a training video once you will be good, but technology changes all the time! I love supporting my clients with updates, but bigger than these things, strategy updates that make the changes work to your businesses advantage!
How do you use your new Facebook business page to create more visibility for your business?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
