3 Steps to Business Blogging Success on the Internet

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Trying to attract sales on the Internet? Business blogging and social media is an effective way to make it happen. Step one is to know how to use it.  Simplicity is the key at first. There are 3 steps to effective Business blogging and social media.

Connect. Converse. Share. 

Connect

The first step with any social media strategy is going to be collecting and connecting. You want to start by attracting prospects, potential customers and contacts and essentially building that base. This one is pretty obvious. You can’t converse or share unless you have someone to converse and share with.

Here’s an example: I run a business and I have a lot of connections. Over the last 15 years, I’ve built up even more online. About a year ago, I connected with a fellow named Doug. I didn’t know him, he just found me on Twitter and started following me. I thought, “okay, Hi Doug,” followed him back and left it at that. We connected.

Converse

The second part is conversing and this is really going to depend on the medium. The tone of conversation on LinkedIn, for example, is drastically different than the tone on Twitter.

So, find a way to talk to this audience that’s both appropriate and engaging. And remember, the verb here is “converse,” not “speak.” Social media is a two-way street.

And what about Doug? Well, a week later, Doug replied to one of my posts with a great question. I retweeted it, responded and we started talking. It turns out that Doug’s a pretty cool guy. And so, we conversed.

Share

Doug was asking about blogging for business, so I referred him to an article on my blog. What do you know? I have some expertise to share.

Let’s say you’re a musician. What should you be doing with social media? Sharing your music. Now, let’s say you’re an accountant, what should you be doing? Sharing your accounting expertise. The point being, you don’t have to be a rock star to share your talents. If you have experience in a field, then start blogging about it and start sharing it. (As an added bonus, the more you share, the more you’ll learn, and the more of an expert you’ll become.)

Sharing is really linked into conversing and it’s also a great way to reach out and attract more connections. Why? Because those connections want your expertise or talent. In the end, this creates a nice feedback loop.

Today, Doug’s both a friend and a client. Not everyone you connect with, converse with or share with is going to become a customer, obviously. But Doug is one of several clients who “found” me this way. So, yes, lead generation and sales can be done online, but you need a strategy

And it doesn’t get much simpler than: Connect. Converse. Share.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

Are blog services overrating Twitter

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Twitter has become an important part of any blog services strategy. If you you are using a blog writing service, are they helping you grow and build your Twitter following?

Twitter isn’t in the Oxford English Dictionary yet, but more than 175 million people have added it to their vocabularies and use its 140 character posts to answer the question “What are you doing?”

Inventing new words may be part of the game with Twitter, as people have adopted a whole new language. Twitter people are Tweeple. A Twitter meetup is a Tweetup. And on and on.

InTwigued? To put Twitter’s 4 million users in perspective, when Facebook was getting similar attention, its ranks numbered 24 million. So is Twitter overrated or as valuable as its fans claim? And will it be around long enough to make it worth our time?

Time is one feature that Twitter boasts. It offers users real time connection, an instant, short glimpse into all the moments between emails and blog posts. Friends could find these momentary updates useful when we’re looking to join the party or running late for lunch, and businesses are beginning to employ Twitter marketing to announce short-term specials, like the deal of the day. Twitter even scooped more traditional media with first news and instant updates of recent earthquakes,rocket attacks, and plane crashes. We all hope catastrophes are few are far between. So do the many people or businesses who have news that’s noteworthy enough to fill the moments between blog posts and e-blasts.

For many, Twitter is truly like a micro-blog, like using only the status section of Facebook. Fans say this feature inspires conversation and connections. It can also provide the curious spark that drives “followers” to blog posts, Facebook pages, and more in-depth web presences. When Barack Obama used Twitter during his presidential campaign, some argued that his tweets got followers to visit more than just web sites. Either way, the voters visited the polls.

And while Twitter users may number just a fraction of other online social networks’ crowds, Facebook did float a $500 million stock offer to bring Twitter into its realm. That’s 500 million reasons that Facebook thinks Twitter will stay and grow.

Several Twitterers we know admit to feeling like they were in their own foggy Twitter bubble (Twubble?) when they first joined the network. John H. suggested new users should be warned with a disclaimer, something like, “Warning: During your first 30 days of using Twitter, you will have no idea what the heck is going on. Only after 30 days will you begin to understand its value.”

Several other users confessed to giving up within those first 30 days after tiring of the useless updates and the time wasted. It seems most of us are Twittering and following tweets to be part of the experiment, to learn to tailor the Twitterers we follow to accomplish our own information goals and to enjoy the simplicity of short, quick updates.

So is Twitter overrated? Our opinion is no, it’s got nowhere to go but up. But maybe you think differently. Is Twitter is an endangered species under the pressure of larger social networks? Leave your comments (even with more than 140 characters).

Stay on topic in your business blog

You have your business blog and are writing - STAY ON TOPIC!

If you are trying to attract new customers or position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, business blogging is about staying focused. Remember, web users are a selfish lot. They want content that is relevant to them. So, keep your business blogging on topic to stay focused.
I read a lot of small business blogs (and big business blogs) and one of the things I've been noticing recently is a massive influx of businesses getting online, starting to blog, and then failing to stay on topic. I think it boils down to people simply not understanding why they're blogging and what these blogs are actually supposed to do.
You'll see business blogs with personal posts covering everything from family finances to the game last Sunday. The thing is, if you're blogging on your business's website, it's critical that what you're telling the world (because you are telling it to the world) is in line with what your company does and the image you're trying to project.
The Conversation Should be With Your Market, Not Your Grandma
Why are you blogging? To engage your customers and attract new ones to your business. By that logic, you should be talking about your business, not your favorite Turducken recipe.
Of course, strip a blog of all its character and personality and you're left with a site drier than a saltine cracker.
The Golden Ratio
If you want to go off-topic, keep those personal posts to about 15-25% or no more than one in five posts. Oh, and make sure you try to keep those off topic, personal posts on topic.
In other words, you can talk about personal topics, but can you bring it back around to your business? Could an afternoon spent opening a first bank account for your daughter be parleyed into a personal, yet apt post for an accounting firm? Could the basketball game last night be turned into a sports analogy for your consulting strategy? Or could that Turducken become a metaphor for sales ladders? You get where I'm going with this.
Style vs Substance
There's one last catch, just because that other 75-85% of your posts need to be about your business, that doesn't mean they should be void of personality. It's OK to put a personal story in context if you can stay on topic and still have a sense of humor, yes, even if you're talking about carpet cleaning.
Write in the first person, keep it friendly, stay casual and you'll end up with posts that are professional, on-topic and still engaging.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

Business blogging and Twitter - content first

 Social media campaigns should have business blogging as the hub of their activity. Often, we talk to prospects starting a B2B Social Media or B2C Social Media campaign with no content. Why? They don't have to the time to do it. Hire a ghost blog writer! Simply put, it is hard to participate on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook with no content.

When I was in college, you could always tell the freshmen at a party because they'd be the ones hanging around the stairs talking about how cool the party was. Meanwhile, the upper-year students would be heading for the keg and, well, actually enjoying the party.

Twitter can be very similar. You've got a rush of new people hanging out, talking about how Twitter is such a great tool and sharing news stories on how many more millions have joined the feed. And then, over there in the back, there are a few people who are actually using it as a tool.

Unlike Diamonds, Twitter Isn't Forever
The thing is, Twitter won't be around forever. True, it may seem like everybody's on it and it's the place to be, but guess what? So was Friendster. Three years ago, Twitter didn't exist. Five years ago, Facebook was a burgeoning idea on a Harvard campus and six years ago, everybody had a MySpace. The point is, things move fast and tastes can change even faster.

Which is exactly why though Twitter can be a useful part of a comprehensive marketing plan, it's not the be all and end all.

So, What's Next?
If I knew, I'd be calling my broker. Seriously though, if you were to pin me to the mat, I'd have to say niche communities.

Sure there are big providers out there like Facebook and LinkedIn, but there are also a lot of smaller, more niche-focused social networks popping up. For example, Identi.ca, which is a Twitter clone. That particular community is made of predominantly open source software developers and fans and, as a result, has a distinctly technical feel to it along with a great tech sense of humor.

As messageboards and listservs grow up and enter the social realm, you'll see more niche-focused networks appearing. Then again, maybe not.

In the meantime, party with us on Twitter:

Paul Lorinczi
Erik Deckers

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

Has the slow economy pushed more people to social media?

Slow Economy and B2B Social Media

B2B social media and b2c social media are playing a big role in the slow economy. Like the Depression of the 1930s, misery loves company. Today, company is finding itself on business blogging sites, Facebook and Linkedin.

They say a man is rich who has friends. What about a company with fans?

There aren’t many internet users who remember seeing Charlie Chaplin’s movies when they debuted in theaters. Thanks to the internet, though, just about any user can watch Chaplin ham it up as the Tramp who faced many of the same challenges as his original audience.

During the Great Depression, poor folks watched the poor guy do his best to find a job (and keep it), fix up his house (err, shack), and woo the lady of his dreams. The audience had something in common with Chaplin’s characters, so they got the jokes, and the jokes brought them all together.

Of course, the Depression was no joke.

During these modern days we’re slogging through our own recession that doesn’t offer much to laugh about. A lot of Americans are facing those same struggles with work, housing, and even relationships. Just like Chaplin’s films portrayed the angst of those times, more and more people today are sharing the anxiety and worry of these modern times. Only we’re not doing it with slapstick and silent movies. We’re posting on blogs, sharing photos, and twittering.

.com-miserating
According to a recent trend report from Netpop Research LLC, online social networking has almost doubled since 2006 while the economy has only weakened since then. Netpop reports that about 3 out of 4 web users are personally sharing over the internet by contributing to blogs, rating products, uploading photos. etc.

Today about 29% of US broadband users communicate with each other specifically through social networking sites. Tough times do bring people together, and the results of this report point to even more online sharing as these recession days continue.

What This Means For Business
Commiserating with like-minded people can bring relief and comfort, but it can also impact our decisions. We aren’t sheep, blindly following anything willing to lead, but when every penny counts, it’s good to know how friends made similar choices.

While we’re updating microblogs and profile photos, we’re also rating products and declaring ourselves as fans of certain services. While we’re connecting through online chats, we’re also bidding at online auctions and sharing the scoop on great deals.

Netpop’s research revealed that social networkers currently spend more money online than “non-contributors,” and that they are likely to rely ever more heavily on the recommendations of their fellow networking media participants as this recession intensifies.

That’s why business owners need to get involved in social media. Reaching out to their existing customers who are already participating in venues like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.com will bring them into an ever-increasing network of contacts on the same wave length.

Just as Cate Riegner, VP of Research at Netpop Research, LLC, noted, “Brands that experiment in social advertising now will be in the best position to leverage these important media channels when the economy turns the corner.”

And, rest assured, this economy will indeed turn the corner, just like Chaplin always bounced back from that slapstick fall.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

Business Blogging Mistakes

Blog Marketing mistakes made by business

Marketing should not be the motivation when blogging for business. Conversation with your customers should be the cornerstone of blogging for business. It is ok to talk about what you do with readers. It just has to be done in a way that speaks to them and their selfish needs, not yours.

Before you rush into business blogging there's something you should know:

Business blogging does not work in a vacuum

Every week someone calls us and asks if we can just ghost write blog articles for super cheap for their business blog. There's a name for these spammy business blogs, and it sounds like something that grows in that goo that accumulates in the drain pan under the fridge: splog.

Splogs are blogging's answer for the guy at the fair who yells “Hey you, with the face! Step right up...” So, after discovering that our future client has a splog, our first question is, well, if we are just writing, how is the blog being promoted? The answer from our prospective client is nearly always:

“We don't care about that. We just have the blog around to mop up on some keywords on Google. It needs lots of new content, but we don't really care what it says. We just want Google to index it.”

After we take a look at the prospects blog, we usually find three things are true about the aforementioned business blog:

1. It's written by fake people. Not real people with pen names, but fake as in department store mannequin with a bad wig and big sunglasses.

2. The content isn't personal (it's written in third person), usually isn't well written and isn't tracking in the search engines for keywords that actually get traffic. It's usually just more spammy content that will end up on page 8,500 in Google's search results for a fourth rate keyword.

3. The business blog is screaming fire in an empty theater at three in the morning on a Sunday after the popcorn ran out. It gets 20 clicks. Per month. Meaning a visitor is more likely to be a hacker's spider looking for unpatched scripts than a person, anyway.

Cheaply written business blogs which are put up for an audience consisting of a search engine spider and a ranking algorithm don't work very well if you are trying to actually market.  To engage, you have to actually communicate with people. Which raises the biggest mistake that people make when they start business blogging: failing to be genuine.

Blogs which are written by real people that can be called on the telephone are the most effective if you want good marketing.  That does not mean you have to write the article, but it does mean that every blog post needs to be your ideas, and said in a way that is personal and genuine.

Why? Because, people do business with people. It's that simple.

What are you going to do when someone calls and asks if Mr. Fake Person can speak at a trade show or come on a sales call? Hire an actor? Good luck with that.

Think about it.

People do business with people. People network with people. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn connect people to people. It's called social media for a reason, and the blog is the foundation of it all.  Spammy business blogs are anti-social.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

What is a Conversion Point and why do you need them on your Blog?

Your boss wants to know, why should we have a business blog?

Blogging and social media can be a tough sell to your boss. After all, most corporations are afraid of really talking to their customers online. They could say something bad. Most initiatives can fail because they do not follow one simple rule, use conversion points.

Let’s talk about conversion points. These beauties are a feature built into all well structured business blogs that create immediate transactions, sales or leads. They can be as simple as a well-placed button that says, “Buy Now” or “Get the White Paper.”

One Step or Two
A great conversion point lets the customer make the transaction without leaving the page. This makes it simpler and faster for the consumer to buy—and what’s faster for the consumer is faster and potentially more profitable for the business owner.

A next-best option is for the conversion point to lead the customer to the shopping cart or form. While it takes more time and effort on the consumer’s part for the sale, it still results in a sale.

The Obvious

Before we get started with them, 78% of our own clients’ pages don’t have a conversion point. That means that 78% of these pages DON’T SELL. And if your page doesn’t sell, how do you make money?

Every page should have at least one conversion point. Better yet, let’s make a rule. Every page should have a minimum of one conversion point. Try to make the conversion point that lets the customer stay on the same page. If this is impossible, lead them directly to the shopping cart or form.

Make it as easy as possible for the consumer to purchase your product, and they will. You can't measure the success of your blog, if there is nothing being converted.