How to Sell Blogging to your CEO and Clients

How to Sell Blogging to your CEO and Clients, my slides from my talk for Search Engine Marketing New England are now online.

It was a lot of fun with a great group who keep me there until the end asking some very good questions.
I'll be attending more SEMNE events, assuming I've ever home! The talk was the only week out of the recent six I've been home. Traveling, speaking, and consulting on information lately (and having a blast, although I miss my 3 kids, wife, and dog too).

Topics included:
    * What are the characteristics of the most successful blogs?
    * What distinguishes the successful from unsuccessful blogs?
    * How to present the case for blogs and other social media to management.
    * How to handle the Return On Investment (ROI) issue.
    * How to present ‘baby steps’ to management; simple measures that show results.

Click to Download Here

Why Blogging is Essential, May 1st, Nashua

I'm looking forward to this Thursday night, May 1st, when I'll be talking about blogging at the Search Engine Marketing New England event in Nashua NH, The Crown Plaza, 6:30-9:00PM.

We'll talk about why blogging is essential and how to sell blogging to CEOs and/or clients. No, there won't be any "Anybody Must Blog" rhetoric, just solid facts and advice based on what works.

Click Here For More Details

Blogging is an essential tool to add to your arsenal; however, not all blogs are effective. Even if adding blogs to your mix seems like a no-brainer, you may need to justify the decision to your CEO or the client who’s writing the check and show them exactly why blogging is indeed essential.

In this talk we discuss:

    * What are the characteristics of the most successful blogs?
    * What distinguishes the successful from unsuccessful blogs?
    * How to present the case for blogs and other social media to management.
    * How to handle the Return On Investment (ROI) issue.
    * How to present ‘baby steps’ to management; simple measures that show results.

I know I'll see several of you there!

TypePad vs WordPress

My two favorite blogging platforms are:

TypePad (used here):

Inexpensive (free trial via this link), no software to download, install, update etc. I believe this is the best choice for most people.

WordPress.org

Free, sort of. You need to buy Web hosting (I use Bluehost), a Domain Name (I use Dotster), download, install, and keep software updated. WordPress.org is awesome, but not for most folks who aren't either somewhat comfortable.

WordPress people will complain about this, as they have near religious fervor when it comes to WordPress -- come on folks, it's great but not that good.

I don't particularly like WordPress.com or Blogger.com for business blogs.

Here is the Blog Squad's take on it. We pretty much agree.

Bio: Google my name

I just received a message from Twitter that I have a new follower. This happens many times a day.

So I clicked and checked out Lana Benton, and love her Bio in Twitter -- it simply said:

Bio Google my name

This is simply perfect!

Why? because if anyone cares, if they matter, unless they already know us extremely well, they ARE going to Google us!

They will not simply accept our "bio" as we present it; they will check us out.

And yes, I'm following Lana now. And yes, I did Google her.

And that's what my 100% free ebook Effective Internet Presence is all about

Your Mobile University – Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

So much to read, hear, and listen, and so little time!

Like most people, you're probably overloaded and spending too much unproductive time commuting/traveling/getting from point A to B.

I've spent over 60 hours traveling just last month!
Read about how I use my travel time productively at TheBizOfKnowledge:
Your Mobile University – Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

PS: I'm in a hotel on the Tennessee/Kentucky border right now. No surprise -- still traveling :)

Treat Your Readers Like The Pope

The Pope is coming, quick get ready!

Hey, this is fun!

• Festive Pope Hats
• The Pope Mobile
• Pope Mania
• And More!!

Wait, he's probably not going to visit you, read your blog, eat your food, etc.

But the Sethster adds: But since it's so much fun, why not do it for someone who isn't the Pope? Like your next customer?

Yes, treat your readers/customers like they are someone special -- because they are.

Treat them like the Pope, or in my case, The Patriarch!

Check Out Ecumenical Patriarch Bart and his cool hat.

He is great, truly special, and so are you, and so are your readers, your customers.

That Catholic guy with the funny hat?

He rocks too!

The 2.5 Types of Blog Names

There are two basic types of names, whether it's a blog name, book name, a name for a new breakfast cereal, or anything else.

1) Descriptive names.

A descriptive name is one that makes it obvious what the name applies to, at least to the target audience/market.

I see a sign for "The Bagelry" across the street from me. You can be pretty sure it sells bagels. It probably has a place to sit and may serve coffee and drinks as well, but certainly it has bagels. "The Bagelry" is a descriptive name.

Blogging for Business is a descriptive name; My Blogging for Business blog is quite simply about "blogging for business."

Schneier on Security is another descriptive name. It's about security and written by well known security author and thought leader Bruce Schneier.  Oh, you hadn't heard of Bruce Schneier before? It doesn't matter as his target audience certainly has.

Ask the Atheist and CorporatePR are other examples of blogs with descriptive names.

2) Clever names, called "cute names" by some.

As I write this I'm at "Breaking New Grounds." Breaking New Grounds? Is that a spiritual growth center, a construction company, or  ???

Actually it's a coffee shop. Get it? Coffee - coffee grounds, and the expression "breaking new ground" as in making progress? How clever.

Boing Boing is a clever name. Whether you or I personally think it's clever isn't the issue. From the name you can't tell what it's about, but it's currently the 5th most popular blog on the planet so obviously that doesn't matter much.

icanhascheeseburger is another extremely popular blog with a clever name (personally I think it's stupid, but that's not important). You can't tell from the name that it's about cats and other fluffy animal pictures with amusing captions.

Not all blogs with "clever" names are irreverent, primarily for amusement, or silly.

For example, a shel of my former self, by Shel Holtz, my co-author for Blogging for Business (the book, not the blog), is a serious business blog on technology and communications. I have no idea what the name means, although it's clever and catchy. Maybe Shel used to be really fat and lost 200 pounds? I'll have to ask him someday.

2.5)  Viral Names
Marketing Guru Seth Godin sometimes mentions a third type of name, a name you choose because it will get talked about.

This is typically a clever name that you hopes catches on and enters the vocabulary.

Examples from Seth include his book Purple Cow; most people now know this means something that is remarkable and unique, whether it's a product, service, company, or maybe their marketing.

Another example is "Google"; it now means to look something up on the Internet.

Note that both "Purple Cow" and "Google" are basically "clever" names, but ones that have really taken off and are now used to mean much more than the book and company they originally named.

It IS tough to choose a "clever" name like these that spreads virally as they have, but if you do you can have massive results! Imagine perhaps millions of people using your blog name in daily conversation.

Examples of viral blog names are rare, but one example is "dooce". Heather Armstrong was fired in 2002 for things she wrote online about work in her blog dooce.com. "Dooce" is now widely understood to mean "to be fired from your job because of things you write online." Dooce is also a very popular blog -- a Technorati Top 100 Blog.

Another example, perhaps not as big as dooce yet but with enormous potential, is Pamela Slim's blog Escape From Cubicle Nation. "Cubicle Nation" invokes such vivid and to many of us unpleasant Dilbertesque images that I can see it really taking off - that is, taking off even more it already has.

So, you've really got two choices for a blog name, "descriptive" or "clever."

If you're amazingly lucky your blog name, whether clever or not, may skyrocket along with its/your popularity, and enter or perhaps change the vernacular. Hey, maybe it'll be bigger than Google!

Comments oh insightful readers?

Make Money Blogging/Growing Orchids

People always ask me how to make money blogging.

Somehow I doubt people ask orchid experts how to make money growing orchids.

I'll bet far more people make a lot of money growing orchids than blogging, and Seth Godin seems to agree.

Sure, people make money growing orchids. Some people probably get rich growing orchids. Not many though. And my guess is that the people who do make money gardening probably didn't set out to do so.

Blogging is much the same way. The best bloggers make money, but mostly as a side effect, not as a direct result of setting out to use a blog to make a profit. It's just too long a ramp up time, too frustrating and too uncertain to be the best path to make a living.

Check out Seth's post on making money blogging about orchids or something similar here :)

Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a 6-Figure Income - a new book

Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett have teamed up to write:   ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, available next month or preorder through Amazon now.

Darren and Chris and extremely well qualified to the definitive book on this topic, and I'm looking forward to reading it!

Even though my focus is on making money because of blogging, for example from consulting and speaking engagements, instead of making money from my blog, for example AdSense clicks and affiliate marketing, I'm sure I'll learn a lot from the masters!

Besides, who doesn't want a little extra cash? I've made a least a little online each day this year, setting a record for me. Quite frankly though, I'll make more from speaking this week, than all my online income all year :)

The downside to my work?

I'm in an airport as I type -- most of my speaking/consulting is NOT local
The thought of sitting at home with my dog alternately barking at either side of the door, my 3 little kids fighting loudly over something, and my wife Margaret asking me to do this and that, all while I try to pump out meaningful and popular blog posts sounds VERY appealing right now :)

5 quick tips for improving your writing from Bob Bly

Here are a few quick writing tips that can make your copy leaner, less stuffy, and more concise:

1) Get rid of "that."

Nine times out of ten, the word "that" can be profitably eliminated from your sentence.

Original: "Here are the key metrics that web analysts measure."

Better: "Here are the key metrics web analysts measure."

2) Do not invoke the future tense unless it is needed.

Original: "Optimizing your web site will increase traffic."

Better: "Optimizing your web site increases traffic."

3) Do not capitalize words to emphasize their importance.

Original: "It is the policy of the Company to provide up to 10 paid Sick Days."

Better: "It is the policy of the company to provide up to 10 paid sick days."

4) Say what you have to say in the fewest words possible.

Original: "He was driving at an excessive rate of speed."

Better: "He was driving too fast."

5) Avoid dangling modifiers.

Wrong: "As a policyholder, I want you to know that you can reduce your premiums by 50% this year."

Correct: "As a policyholder, you can reduce your premiums by 50% this year."

These tips are courtesy of Bob Bly.
I'm a regular reader of Bob's blog and he has more at www.writebetterandfaster.com.

Who's Bob a very few of you might ask? Well, he's written more books than I will in several lifetimes, I learn a lot from his Direct Response Letter, and he's a legendary copywriter.

Thanks for letting me reprint Bob!