Ready to Start a Blog? Don’t Set Yourself Up to “Fail”

By Brody Dorland — January 20th, 2010

You keep hearing that your company needs to be blogging.

You’ve even read articles (here) about why you should have a blog. And these articles make sense and spell out the benefits that a blog can provide in terms of helping you market yourself on the web. But how do you get started? If you’re ready to pull the trigger, what are the things you need to consider so that your blog is not set up for failure?

Let’s break this process down into three key considerations: developing your blog content strategy, blog setup and ongoing content development. Ready to dig in?

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Posted in Internet Marketing / Online Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media / Social Networking, Website Design / Development, Website Strategy, content development | 2 Comments »

“Blogging” – A Buzzkill for Small Businesses

By Brody Dorland — November 22nd, 2009

I’ve been presenting on social media marketing quite a bit around Kansas City and it’s neat to see so many folks getting excited about the opportunities that these tools and technologies provide. But I’ve noticed something that’s consistently happening during my presentations.  As soon as I throw out the word “blogging”, I see eyes roll and shoulders drop throughout the audience. Geez….You’d think I was a Yellow Pages advertising rep at a search engine optimization conference.

For non-web-savvy people and businesses, the negative connotations of blogs and blogging are still top of mind. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • Aren’t blogs just personal online diaries?
  • If I start one, what the heck would I write about?
  • I’d rather not create more work for myself or my business…

blog-cartoon

What is a blog…really? Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Social Media / Social Networking, Website Strategy, content development | 5 Comments »

11 Things to Do After You’ve Written a New Blog Post

By Brody Dorland — September 27th, 2009

You’ve just finished writing a great new blog post. You’re excited to share your ideas and expertise with the world. But what should you do next? 10 Tips for Better Blog Promotion

As I work with more and more companies to develop social media strategies, blogging inevitably comes up. As it should. But this post isn’t about why a company should be blogging, it’s about how we can make that blog grow legs and turn it into a major traffic and activity driver for your business.

Setting the Stage: Create Good Bait, Find Your Fishing Holes

Before you start throwing your blog content blindly into cyberspace, you need to think strategically about the content that your target audience will find valuable (your bait). What assistance do they need? What are their pain points? Which formats might work best (written posts, video, audio, etc.)? You also need to do your homework to sniff out the best social media ponds in which your targets are swimming. For example, if your business is trying to reach C-Level executives in your local market, then using Twitter as your main promotional vehicle may not get you many bites.

Blog Post Promotional Tools: 11 Step Checklist Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Social Media / Social Networking | 9 Comments »