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

Companies should blog, unless they’re sleazy

I love this quote from the article, Should Marketing Executives Blog by Dan Schawbel:

“I see no reason for a company not to blog, unless they’re sleazy. Companies have a unique opportunity in time to speak to consumers in a human voice. Provide understanding, clarity and void of corporate bunk. It’s an amazing time to be in Marketing, Communications and Advertising. There is no reason for a company not to leverage this channel to build credibility, loyalty and add humanity. I write this from an airport while dealing with flight delays, so trust me – a corporate blog and humanity does (and could) go a long way.”
        -- Jackie Huba, The Church of the Customer

I agree with the sentiment, although I'm not onboard 100%.

All companies should consider blogging, but not all companies need to blog.

For example, the General Store across the street isn't sleazy, but they don't NEED to blog.

I DO think all Marketing Executives need to understand blogging however, and no better way to understand than to do.

Dan quotes me in the article also:

“All Marketing Executives should consider blogging. They need to understand social media marketing techniques, and there is no better way than first hand experience. If they don’t want to blog on something related to their profession, they can start a ‘throw away blog’ on an unrelated topic in order to gain familiarity with the medium.“
     -- Ted Demopoulos, really cool guy, or at least his mother says so.

Blogging: Passion is not enough

"You must be passionate about what you blog on," we always say and hear. "Passion separates successful from unsuccessful bloggers," etc.

Sorry, passion alone is not enough!

You also need a "beat." Dianna Huff has a great post on developing a beat as well as her beat.
"Ted, what ARE you talking about?" -- it's so simple and obviously we overlook it!

For example, I have a friend who is passionate about surfing. He lives to surf. His whole life is set up around being able to drop everything when "surf's up!"  His vacations are only to surf spots.

He has passion, but, when he's not surfing, he doesn't care to talk about it much. He doesn't follow discussions on the latest surf spots, new and better surfboards, different techniques, and other stuff surfers may follow.

In other words, he doesn't have a "beat" when it comes to surfing. He does it endlessly, but he doesn't follow it.

He wouldn't make a good blogger on surfing, despite his passion.

I have another friend who is passionate about wine. Drinks it daily. Has a few thousand bottles in his cellar. His wine is worth  ore than his house!

But he doesn't particularly care to discuss wine, as most oenophiles do, other than "what should we open?" He doesn't follow what's new in the wine world, what the latest vintage of XYZ is like, what the grape current growing conditions are like in his favorite wine growing areas, etc.

He used to years ago, but he's lost his beat (happily) and now just thrives on drinking the stuff!

Passion, but no beat. You won't (and shouldn't) see him blogging.

Successful bloggers need passion, but they also need a "beat."

They need to both be passionate about and immersed in and naturally follow what they're blogging on.

Why You Shouldn't Blog

Not everyone should blog.

There are a number of reasons why you shouldn't blog, as well as a number of non-issues I discussed yesterday that people sometimes think are good reasons not to blog.
They include:

• I don't like to write
• I don't know how I'll come up with topics
• I'm afraid I'll look silly or foolish ( a common concern!)
• I can't write well

I dispute them here.
   
This is in preparation (and of course to convince people to sign up) for a teleseminar on this topic Tuesday evening where I'll go into much more depth -- click here to signup for the teleseminar.

So, what are some legit reasons NOT to blog??  Here are three.

1) You're not passionate about your topic or don't "have a beat"

Quite simply, if you don't care, why should anyone else?

And if you're passionate, but "don't' have a beat" -- follow closely and think about a lot, it won't work either. For example you might love something passionately but have little interest in discussing it or writing about it.

My friend  Paulie is like that about flyfishing -- as passionate as possible, but if he can't do it right now he doesn't care to discuss it, read about, meditate on it, or anything else. Obviously he's not a good candidate to blog on flyfishing, despite it being the passion of his life.

2) In your organization can't blog freely -- your blog will be tweaked, positioned, arbitrated, massaged, or whatever term might fit by perhaps marketing, PR, or some other department which will truly be in charge of your "thoughts."

Sorry, but that type of blog simply doesn't work -- it's not effective. No Web 2.0 touchy-feely stuff here -- it just won't work so "just say no!"

3) You're not willing to make a commitment of blogging for at least a few months to try it out.

It may take a while to get into the swing of things, and to start seeing results. You can't blog for a few days and say it doesn't work.

They say it takes 10 years to learn to play the violin poorly. Taking lessons for a month and then quitting makes little sense for the violin, or blogging (unless of course you truly decide you despise it!).

I believe the violin part too! -- I have 3 little kids who are taking lessons.

Blogging? Within a month or two, if nor much faster, most people are quite comfortable although "results" may take longer, depending on what your goals are.

Of course I'll go into more details in the not expensive yet not free teleseminar "Is a Blog Right for You? Tuesday at 8PM  2PM Eastern.

Should You Blog?

One of the most common questions I get from people is whether they should blog.

Blogs are extremely powerful and can help your business or career -- NO doubt about that, but should YOU blog?

Certainly blogging is not for everyone or every business!

Some of the issues?
Well I'll mention I'm doing a teleseminar on this topic Tuesday evening where I'll go into much more depth -- click here to signup for the teleseminar.

First, some non-issues, You might think these matter, but they usually don't.

• I don't like to write

I would have told you in 2004 that I hated writing. Four years of blogging later, and a couple of published books, I can tell you I was wrong. I love to write.

What I didn't like, and thousands of successful bloggers agree, is formal writing, the type they tried to teach me beat into me in school!

I love conversational writing, informal writing which is closer to how we speak than what Mrs. Diesel forced me to do in 4th grade.

Good chance you'll find the same thing.

• I don't know how I'll come up with topics

Once you start blogging, coming up with topics to blog on is rarely a problem. It's usually the opposite -- you can't write on every topic you want to!

Most days I could blog for 12 hours. Yes, occasionally I'll get a very minor case of writers block. Big deal! It passes quickly.

• I'm afraid I'll look silly or foolish ( a common concern!)

As long as you have thoughts or opinions, and we all do, chances are you'll be respected in the blogosphere. Sure, many people won't agree with everything you write, but that doesn't mean they won't respect you.

As long as you pick a topic you're passionate about, i.e. you care about, you'll be just fine.

• I can't write well

Do you think I could write well when I started? Basically, "no" -- but that doesn't matter. I won't claim I write well now either.

It's the ideas that matter! As long as you can be understood, it's alright.

Hey, do we make fun of brilliant Nobel Laureates who speak with a heavy accent? Not usually :) And often we can't even understand them because they're so smart!

And remember, you'll become a better writer as you blog. No, practice does not make perfect, but it'll make you a much better writer, and remember that writing is a critical business (and life) skill.

The teleseminar is Tuesday night at 8PM Eastern. Click here to signup for the teleseminar.

Tomorrow -- some legit reasons why you might not blog! Yes, there are certainly some.

Some Hopefully *very* Helpful Interviews now online

I've put a couple of audio interviews you might find interesting online.

The first is an interview on blogging with Peter Anthony Holder on radio CJAD -- Peter always does a great job!

Click here to listen or download the mp3

Also an interview on developing an Effective Internet Presence for professionals on MySuccessGateway.com:

Click here to listen or download the mp3

There is also a complimentary teleseminar this Thursday on using video in Blogging with Brian Edmondson on Blogging with Video. Click here to signup for this and some future teleseminars, including one with me.
I'll be listening for sure.

Last but not least, this one costs just a few bucks, Is a Blog Right For You?, a teleseminar with me and Dianna Huff of DH Communications next week.

A Web site updated daily that you can subscribe to?

It's a Web site that's updated daily and that you can subscribe too, says the Rock and Roll Guru about his new blog.

He doesn't use the word "blog" and that word will eventually fade into obscurity. Just like "podcast."
Just like they don't use the term "Chinese Food" in China (OK, bad example, but I think it's funny).

Hmmm, if the term "blog" goes away, I guess I'll need to rename this blog often updated Web site eventually.

BTW, The Rock and Roll Guru loves how I use quotes from rock music in Effective Internet Presence, and almost called me up at midnight when he read it. I'm flattered.

Blogs are Boring?

Are blogs boring?

Well, certainly if you aren't interested in the topic they are, but what if you are interested in the topic?

Winecast asks this question specifically about wine blogs.

Well, I'm passionate about wine, yet I don't read wine blogs. Well, maybe once every couple of weeks I'll take a quick look, but that's it. Yeah, they're kind of boring . . . or at least not an optimal use of my limited 'online wine time.'

Yet I read about wine online everyday, primarily on wine boards like this one.

The point? There are plenty of online resources about just about anything. Blogs are not necessarily the 'best' or 'most interesting' resource for every topic for every person.

In fact you can find great information and great conversations in lots of places online (and off). For example the Mark Squires wine bulletin board has more and better conversations than any one wine blog I've ever found.

Nothing sacred about blogs. However they are a great source of info, opinions, and conversations.

Thanks to Becky McCray for sending me the link to the Winecast post.

Business Blogging and Business Podcasting Radio Interviews Archived

My Business Blogging and Business Podcasting interviews on The Bauer Pauer Hauer (VoiceAmerica radio) are archived and available for listening.

I had a couple of great talks with Roger Bauer!

Roger is also the co-creater of The SEO Bible, a "full featured program designed to teach ANYONE the skills needed     to bring any website from worst to first in the search engine rankings" which comes with free lifetime updates.

I haven't seen it yet, but can say that Roger really knows his stuff.

Managing Your Online Reputation - New Years Resolution

Everyone should be aware of their online reputation, from large organizations with multi-million dollar brands to individuals like you.

Christian at SaasStream.com has a great post on the topic. as he says:

Every day, a blogger or forum member is discussing something important to your business, being your company’s brand, your key executives, your competitors or your industry.

and

Managing online reputation is fast becoming a growing problem for businesses.

Yes, both a potential problem, and possible opportunity if you do it better than your competitors!

Great post - I recommend you go read it here

NCAA Blogging Policy Truly Insane!

Wow, somebody pith these idiots!
("Pith" - remember freshman biology, something about inserting a needle into a frog's brain to render it insert before dissecting while heart still beats).

Talk about NO clue, no connection to reality! The B4B conference blog reports that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has placed some braindead ( a la "pithing:) restricting on blogging at college sports events for the media.

For example, you can only post ten times per fencing event. And there are restrictions for football, lacrosse, skiing, rifle, basketball and probably even "beer pong" events ( I was good at this one!). How about "Bongathons"? - do your rules cover those too?

My problem? (other than the insanity of it all). I speak at Colleges.
Hope I don't piss anyone off that might hire me otherwise :)

Ted on Blogging/Podcasting VoiceAmerica

I'm, on the Bauer Pauer Hauer talking about podcasting today, 2PM Eastern US Time on VoiceAmerica Business.

Last week Roger and I spoke about Business Blogging and you can listen to the archive here.

Of course I'll also be mentioning my free ebook too:
Effective Internet Presence, Now required for success in business and life
Download and share if you haven't yet.

Roger's SMB Consulting blog is well worth a read too

Blog Names -- One Question Interview.

Blog names are a hot topic, especially based on the amount of traffic to Blog Names are Very Important!

One Question Interview: If you were to start blogging today, would you give your blog a different name?

I've emailed a few bloggers, and here are some early  responses. More to follow, and feel free to answer with a comment.

Jeremiah Owyang, Web Strategy by Jeremiah

Digital Strategy by Jeremiah

Luis Suarez, ELSUA:

I would probably have named it in exactly the same way / fashion. Something personal, something that resonates with me and which I would want to make it my own personal brand. Wouldn't necessarily need to be descriptive of what it would be since that is part of the process of building your brand with quality blog posts and commenting on other people's blogs. So I suspect I would name it something along the lines of what I have been doing so far making it personal, relevant to my own brand and allowing people to build up an image of what the can expect.

Reg Adkins, Elemental Truths:

I have thought about that.

If I were starting a blog today I would probably stick with elementaltruths.

It is easy to type. You don't have to reach far off the home keys to type it.

The name has the value of surface meaning and deeper meaning when you give it some thought.

Plus, I think it's kind of catchy.

 

That was kind of a long answer for a brief question.

 

Maybe, you just wanted the short answer. So, "No". :)

So, If you were to start blogging today, would you give your blog a different name?

Your URL When Commenting

When you leave blog comments, most blogs ask for your name and URL. But if you don't have a blog or Web site or don't want to leave your blog URL for whatever reason, do you leave it blank or what?

Many people who actively read and comment on blogs do not blog themselves -- no big surprise. And sometimes I don't want to leave my blog URL if off topic, if for example I'm reading and commenting on a fishing blog.

Jason Alba, author of I'm on LinkedIn -- Now What???, suggests using your LinkedIn profile. This makes a lot of sense.

Also, your LinkedIn profile makes a good home on the Internet if you don't have a blog or Web site as Google and the other search engines rate LinkedIn profiles highly. When people Google you. it's likely to come up first or at least close to first if you're blogless and Websiteless.

Personal Branding Summit audio available (free)

Blogs are a very significant part of your online personal brand, and your online brand is of course a major part of your brand.

How many people Google you before meetings? Answer: most. And they find your blog(s) if you blog, among other things. I recently asked a group of a few hundred people at a keynote I was giving how many had Googled me before attending -- almost all hands went up.

The awesome Personal Branding Summit recordings are available online (and free).

So far, I've listened to the following today:

• Phil Gerbyshak -- awesome man. Errr, I mean GREAT.
• Jason Alba -- impressive, I learned a lot. More from Jason soon.
• David Meerman Scott -- OK David, you convinced me. I'm writing a viral ebook (soonish)

I have learned concrete actionable things! Not theory, but easy things I can do that will matter. OK, writing the ebook may take a while, but it shouldn't be hard.

Going to listen to Guy Kawasaki, Debbie Weil, and Neville Hobson next. And I'll add that Krishna De (imagine competing with a god for search engine rankings) and Kirsten Dixson did a great job running the show.

My Favorite Blog Name

As I've mentioned before, Blog Names Are Very Important!

One of my favorite Blog Names is Escape From Cubicle Nation (and it's a great blog too?).

Now why is this a great name?

• Well,"escape" from anything sounds good for starters.
• And "Cubicle" sounds pretty bad in a Dilbertesque manner.
• "Cubicle Nation," at least to me, brings to mind acres of anonymous corporate workers with zero control over their lives.
• Personal Branding -- as in "That Escape From Cubicle Nation lady" -- is VERY strong.

Now part of my love for this name is certainly my mindset. I haven't worked in a cubicle, except for passing short stints as a consultant with some control over my destiny, for almost 2 decades.

Cubicles don't scare me, but me in a cubicle does!

I'm not the employee type. My value, even to clients who embody the "Cubicle Nation" spirit, and I have several, is not as an employee but as an independent voice with opinions and views from the outside.

Now there is nothing wrong with living in a Cubicle for many people. Many of my close friends are cubicle types and thrive on it.

What don't I like about it -- and all names have tradeoffs.

• No keywords or phrases in the name

Hey, you can't have everything! Escape From Cubicle Nation  is simply a fantastic name, and great content as well.

Guest Posting Policy?

Guest Posts are great -- the guest poster gets visibility and a link back, and the host blog gets some hopefully great content.

My guest posting policy is simple -- send me your posts! If I like them and they're reasonably on topic, I'll strongly consider posting them. If I'm not sure I pass them by a friend or two for another input.

So send me your posts! I can't promise anything, not even that I can respond if I'm overloaded, but I'm ALWAYS looking for great content to post AND other points of views that readers may find valuable.

So do you have a guest posting policy? Some say just having the policy makes it more likely you'll have people submit possible posts. Interesting though.

Anatomy of a Blog Hack - true story

Anatomy of a Blog Hack - a true story

I noticed an odd link in his Web stats: http://hairybeast.wordpress.com/wp-login.php,
I clicked and arriving at the wordpress.com login screen.

I typed in hairybeast, the name of the blog, as the login name and guessed at the password. WordPress.com told me the login name was correct, but the password was wrong. Stupid WordPress -- it should NOT have given me any information other than my login failed.

You can see the Hairy Beast in the picture. He's bald. Was bald his password? Maybe hairy?

I know! I tried another password -- my guess. I've known the HairyBeast for decades -- guessing his password was easy. NEVER choose an easy to guess password, anything personally connected to you, like your dog's name or favorite sports team. My guess was right.

Many blogs get hacked because of easily guessable passwords -- you've been warned!

So I'm in -- what to do? I'm not malicious; the Hairy One is a friend.

His previous post was on Paris Hilton, that blonde who recently did jail time probably because of impersonating a European Capitol, I don't remember the details.

So I named my post "Paris Hilton and <insert name of strange guy from our distant past> slept here" and posted a picture of a real sexy dromedary (well, OK, maybe only to other dromedaries). Merely a prank

Click here to see my post.

The Hairy One instantly knew it was me. He called and we laughed. He changed his password. Maybe I'll go and try to guess it again, but probably not.

Cleaning Up "Blogging for Business"

I mentioned before that November is "Clean Up Your Blog Month."

I've continued with the following changes:

• Finished cleaning up my Blog Roll, my list of blogs I like in the lower left hand sidebar. I got rid of some dead links, added a couple new ones, and trimmed some great blogs that are unfortunately off topic. I still have a few great miscellaneous blogs at the bottom though.
• Added a "Feedcount chicklet" showing how many RSS readers I have: It's in the left hand sidebar above the fold, and my thoughts are that more people will subscribe if they see I already have quite a few readers (we are herd animals after all!). I increase by a few readers every week.
• Reordered some stuff in my sidebars.
• Continued work of my Websites -- yeah, lots needs doing here!

So, what have you done?
I have MUCH more to do!

Here's what I did previously:

Is Your Blog a Failure?

I always recommend planning before starting a blog, and that planning includes (written) goals.

What if you don't reach your goals, not even remotely? Is your blog and your blogging a failure?

With my first blog, The Ted Rap, I had two goals: experimenting with the medium, and repositioning myself as a consultant who understood both technology and business instead of just a techie. Now I suceeded, but what if I failed at reaching those goals?

Well, I did get a book contract due to my first blog, it definitely helped sell speeches and consulting, increased my client base, was very effectively with networking, increased my Internet footprint, and more.

A blog can be an ENORMOUS success even if it doesn't read it goals!

Buzzoodle Ron has a great list of things a blog will help the probably of happening:

• Write a book - Eventually you get used to writing and have a lot of material to draw from, so writing a book becomes a no-brainer.
• Sell products - As you build an audience, it is easy to recommend products you know they will like and earn a commission.
• Speaking - Before hiring a speaker, many event planners read the blog of a potential speaker to make sure they fit the need.
• Add clients - No matter what you are doing, you can add clients via blogging because your blog increased search engine results and it increases relationships.
• Build Community - Depending on your topic, your blog can become the center of a community on a particular topic.
• Advertising Income - As a blog becomes a respected resource, you will get offers from people that want to advertise on the site.
• Interviews - Your blogging increases your visibility, and you become an attractive person for interviews.
• Reviews - Writing reviews means you will get free stuff - like books, sent to you regularly.
• Moral Support - Blogger’s are great at helping each other out and offering moral support.  It is a strong community of people that really care.
• Improved Communication - You may just want to be a better communicator and blogging is a great way to organize your thoughts and improve your writing skills.

Click to read Ron's complete post

Hmmm, success on all ten for me!

Find Your Blog Demographics Easily!

Who is reading your blog or Web site -- what are your reader demographics?

Young, old, male, female, bald, hungry -- errr, you get the idea.
The best way is to survey your readers, which has challenges itself, but a super easy way to estimate your demographics instantly is with Microsoft adCenters Labs:

Demographics Prediction Tool

How accurate is it? Who knows for sure, but it's amusing and perhaps useful

This blog? 63% male, 37% female, 22% 35-49 years old, 21.5% less than 18 years old, 20% 18-24 years old, and 20% 25-34 years old.

I would have guessed more female readers based on my emails from readers and fewer "less than 18" years old -- and of course I may be right and it may be wrong.

How's it work? In their words on the blog/Web site demographics prediction tool:

You can use adCenter technology to predict a customer's age, gender, and other demographic information according to his or her online behavior-that is, from search queries and webpage views. General Distribution is the breakdown by age of MSN Search users-based on a one-month MSN Search log-regardless of search query used. Predicted Distribution is the predicted breakdown by age of MSN Search users for a single search query, based on the adLabs predictive model.

11 Tips for Getting Your Comments Noticed on a Popular Blog

An interesting and insightful list from Problogger:

1. Be the Early Bird
2. Share an Example
3. Add a Point
4. Disagree
5. Write with conviction, passion and personality
6. Use Humor
7. Ask a Question
8. Formatting Comments
9. Helpful Links
10. Comment Length
11. Lists/Break it down

Full details at Problogger.

And I'll add that a "me too," "I agree," "good post" or similar comment won't get noticed!

Blog Directories - Should I Submit My Blog?

A common question is "Should I submit my blog to blog directories?"

When starting a new blog I think it IS worthwhile to submit to a few blog directories just to get some links for the search engines, not because anyone will necessarily follow the links. The search engines may find your blog faster due to the links, and search engines like links. A new blog likely will have few or no links.

How many blog directories to submit to? Hundreds of blog directories? Some people do, but I say that's silly. Maybe 5-10 blog directories max is enough.

Now not everyone agrees with me on this. Some experienced bloggers feel submitting to blog directories is entirely worthless and conversely some believe submitting to hundreds of them is worthwhile.

So how do you find blog directories? Simple, Google "blog directory"

Submitting is usually easy and fast, although some may make it difficult (skip those!).

The only essential one in my mind is Technorati.com, which is actually much more than just a blog directory, but that's a topic for another post.

November is Clean Up Your Blog Month!

Yes, clean up all that old stuff in your sidebars and remove outdated anything.

Not change for the sake of change, but updating to improve your blog.

I started late Oct with a massive update of my Web site, demop.com -- still looks pretty similar, but the underpinning changed a lot and I had WAY too many buttons, now greatly reduced. What's cleaning up my Web site have to do with clean up your blog month?

I explain in Blog? What about my Web site, and besides, my Web site really needed some cleaning up (dead buttons, dead links, dead smelly squirrels!).

So, I've started updating my blog slowly.
Changes so far:

• New Ted picture. I've updated this twice in the last two days and think I'll stick with the "Ted 1/4 century ago picture."
• Shrunk my book pictures, Hey, they simply took too much screen real estate and their not exactly new. Even the latest is almost a year old now (but still selling well).
• Removed some blogs from my blog roll. Great blogs, but not remotely on topic. Need more work here.
• Added a picture of my latest info product and a sale page. Yes, special deal for the next few days.

Go a lot more to do too.

So, what are you doing to Clean Up Your Blog??

Can Blogging get you Press?

Can Blogging get you Press? Can it get you attention from the mainstream media? How do you do it?

The answer of course is yes, absolutely, you can get press, and you don't need to be an uber-blogger or even blog daily/weekly/etc.

Now I get press, but sometimes it's unclear whether I'm contacted because of my blog or my books, however plenty of bloggers ARE contacted by the mainstream media because of what they write on their blogs.

Stephen Turcotte, who only blogs every month or so, has quite a bit of success getting media coverage as he writes in How Blogging Can Get You Press Coverage.

His tips for success? Simple. In his words, He takes:

questions that I was hearing over and over again from my target audience and tried to offer my own insight and perspective on the matter. I laid it out there and cited a few related posts that helped make my point. Days, months or years later a journalist does a search in Google, finds my post and says here’s a person that will give me a good quote or two. I made their job very easy.

Journalists are overloaded and always under deadlines. They use search engines a lot for research. Make their jobs simple, and they'll love to quite you and give you visibility.

And if no one notices? Well, you can still claim, as I do, to have been quoted by USA Today, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and even Pizza Marketplace Today :)

Who cares? Well, people considering hiring me or buying my products.

Press helps creates expert status and makes you more credible -- it's that simple.

Why I'm Blogging Less

OK, so maybe I'm not blogging less -- but perhaps I should be!
I have lots of more important things in my life: my wife, kids, health, etc.

• Debbie Weil is blogging less because she'd "rather be planting my garden. Or picnicking with Lucy, age 3." 
• Bob Cargill has gone on hiatus: "After more than 26 months and 62,000 words, I’ve decided to give this blog a rest."
• Hugh "gaping void" Macleod says "We got busy" among other things.

Me? I'm in London with my wife and kids playing -- don't expect much blogging from me for a few days :)

I'm not drinking blogging any more, but I'm not drinking blogging any less either!

Bloggers and Codes of Ethics

I'm all in favor of codes of ethics -- where they make sense. For example, the military and lawyers need a code of ethics, but bird watchers? -- probably not.

How about bloggers? Should we have a code of ethics?

Certainly there are plenty of gray areas when blogging, and a code of ethics can provide guidance in those gray areas.

Codes of ethics are great for professionals, but bloggers are NOT professionals. Sure, many of us ARE professionals of one flavor or another and some of us even blog professionally, i.e. we write for a living, but as a group we are not professionals.

Here is one example of an upcoming code of ethics that does make sense:
Three organizations involved with information security (GIAC, ISC2, and ISSA), have recently approved a Unified Code of Ethics for Security Professionals. This makes sense. It's for a group of professionals. It's in an important area, security. Also, there are three different respected information security related groups who are working on and approving it.

Who would write a Bloggers code of ethics? Who would approve it? Maybe the religious zealots that believe everyone, or every business at least, needs to blog (a silly idea), or perhaps some more rational folks like some of my readers? Maybe some book author and self proclaimed expert like myself?

Of course not!

Now we should ALL behave ethically, as in Underdog's "I promise to always be good," and many of us also are professionals who belong to organizations that have codes of ethics we hopefully agree with and adhere to.

But bloggers are a group? We are too diverse! We are not a single identifiable professional group.

SO I say, Ethics-Smethics, we (bloggers) don't need no stinking code of ethics! (but do try to always be good).

Should Your Business Blog? -- an article

"Blogging can help you simultaneously market your company, improve your Web presence and generate new sales leads."
Read the rest of the article

- Matt Alderton, The Professional Network small Business Resource Center

A nice article, that I'm happy to say quotes me, although my name is misspelled as it often is :)

You can also check out the Professional Network small Business Resource Center blog, which includes posts by Matt and others.
 

Writers Block? 100 ideas for blog posts

Sometimes I don't know what to write -- blog writers block, usually I have too much to write about, a problem Chris Brogan shares.

Chris has come up with a list of 100 ideas -- topics he hopes we write about.

The great list is here.

I particularly like:

• Ways I Embrace My Audience
• Somebody Has to Say It
• How I Find Time to Make Media
• Books I Want to Write (yes, I''ve got more books in me)
• Do Rock Stars Need Social Media Strategies

(and these are just from the top of the list!)

Blog+Guru = Bloguru

"Guru" -- from Indonesian, meaning "Teacher." As in "Saya Guru" -- I am a teacher.

Well, Reg from Elemental Truths has come up with the word Bloguru for Blog Guru, and place me in great company: Rosa Say and Phil Gerbyshak.

I'm reading Business Gears (and I'm a contributing author too)

Business Gears is a new site that concentrates on Business: Business Principles, Startup Ideas, Online Business, and more. I think a lot of Blogging for Business readers may enjoy it.

I'm impressed at the job Andrew Olsen has done so far in getting it off the ground!

Some great authors including:
David Maister (some great publishing articles and more)
Chris Brogan (you the dude! podcamp pioneer and social media visionary)
Suzanne Falter-Barnes (great talk at podcamp! -- I shoulda said hi)
Brett Adams
Graham Lutz

Reading David's posts on publishing books right now -- his experiences mirror mine, except he knows more than I do!

Blogs and Ezines ? Complementary?

Originally Published in my ezine, BizBlog+

(Dawud Miracle's Recent Post If You Blog Do You Need An E-Newletter inspired me to post this now)

Are blogs and ezines, a.k.a. e-newsletters, complementary? Or are ezines a thing of the past, being quickly relegated to obscurity with today's email overload and aggressive spam filters?

My main blog, BloggingForBusinessBook.com, is complemented by my ezine, BizBlog+. I offer an ethical bribe, a free audio download (with more bonuses to come), to get people to subscribe.

Why? Why do I want a blog and an ezine? Why do I want people to subscribe? What's the benefit to me as well as my readers?

I've been studying how to successfully spread messages on the Internet. The most successful way to spread your message, any message, definitely includes an email component. Email works! No, I'm NOT condoning spam, but rather email to your optin list, to people that say "Yes, add me to your list, I like to hear from you occasionally."

Bottom line: if it's in your inbox, you'll at least read the subject no matter how busy you are. If it's on one of your favorite blogs however, you still might miss it.

Having a ezine increases your footprint, the number of people exposed to your messages. Some people read blogs regularly while others prefer to receive information via email. Not everyone gets as much email as you and I probably do and is adverse to a bit more!.

Many people will read both your blog and ezine.

Blogs are informal, friendly, and easier to write than ezines, and your personality really shines through. People get to know you through your blog. Any marketing or advertising messages can easily and unobtrusively be added to the sidebars. However blogs require more effort as most bloggers post at very least weekly.

Ezines are more formal, and although your ezine should match your personality, their more formal format is less personal and requires more work. For example I'll proofread this ezine several times, as compared to a blog post which gets one quick proofread. Many people who don't enjoy writing ezines find they truly enjoy blogging and its less formal format.

My recommendation? If you blog, consider adding an ezine. If you don't blog, consider starting. No, neither blogs nor ezines are for everyone or every business, but they are both appropriate for many, and any business trying to make money on the Internet had better be using email!

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Small Business: Blog it and they may come

The Wall Street Journal online has a great article called Blog It And They May Come aimed at small businesses.

It's a very problog article which basically states that blogging works, it's not quick or fast, and it takes time.

• Now I had some very quick wins when I started blogging, but no one can count on that. Like with any other guerrilla marketing, it takes time -- give it at least 6 months to  year.
• Blogging does take time. Yes, for a professional much of the time spent would be spent anyways keeping up with their profession, but the writing does take time.

So, it works, although not overnight, and it takes time. If you enjoy blogging as a great many do, and you'll never know if you don't try, it can be a no-brainer.

The article mentions my SANS Institute colleague Jonathan Ham, who has just started blogging -- on his terms. He blogs when and if he wants, and has some great posts in his subject area, information security. Congrats Jonathan. Great example of a new small biz blog!

Business Value of Blog Tag?

Have you ever been tagged by a blogger?
For example I was just tagged by Daniel Sitter to list 8 random things about me.

The way it works is you post about what the tag requests, and then tag a few other bloggers, like a chain letter.

I get tagged a fair amount. If you follow all tag requests, you might go off topic too often, and that's bad.

But there are a few good aspects of blog tag however:

• Blog Tag is a good way to network, and find other interesting blogs and people. Daniel also tagged Patrick Schaber Ardath Albee Steve Poland  Chris Garrett  Katie Konrath  Pamela Slim Jim Kukral Donald Latumahina Scott Ginsberg -- bunch of good blogs and people there!
• Blog Tag does build links to your blog, and links are good: they help increase the number of visitors you get.
• Blogs are supposed to be personal. A biz blog shouldn't be "I had eggs and ham for breakfast and here's a picture of my cat and her hairball" type personal, but somewhat personal nonetheless. Blog Tag allows you to further expose some of that personality -- what makes you unique, and regular readers are interested as long as you don't overdo it.

Thanks the tag Daniel -- but I already played this game of blog tag and answered here. Toby Bloomberg tagged me previously, but I'll add another random thing about me.

I'm a fat and middle aged guy who rented a bike today while in San Diego on business and biked over 50 miles -- I ended up taking a loooong nap afterwards. In fact I just woke up -- and I feel GREAT!

The Power Of Blog Reader Surveys

I hooked up a link from our blog to SurveyMonkey.com.

I started with 10 questions - no hits. Reduced it to 4 questions and added an animated gif to get their attention - people started responding.

I queried readers on the ease of finding information.  Well, 50% indicated a problem. What!?!?! How? It's a blog - you just pop a word into the searchfield, right?

The problem turned out to be that the search field at the top of the screen wasn't always available when you're down at the bottom of a page so they never saw it. I added the search widget so that the field now appears to their immediate right.

Survey says.... problem solved.

The lesson here is that your reader is your ultimate customer, not you.  If they aren't happy with the experience then they're not going to come back and they're not going to tell other people about your site. The game here is BUZZ... without it you're just someone wasting a lot of time and effort in compiling notes for yourself.

Oh, and don't get all frustrated that not everyone is responding to your survey. It's kind'a like comments - it's a gift when someone takes the time to write. With your survey, the gift is in you to give back to your readers a better experience so ask insightful questions and listen to what they're telling you.

This guest post is from Shawn Chambers of The Plastic Spork Blog. Go check out his survey!

3 Tips to Hack Proof and Hijack Proof your Blog

My friend Reg's blog got hacked -- fortunately he didn't lose any data, although he lost a lot of sleep and probably hair I'll guess.

Did you know their is more money in cybercrime than the illegal drug trade?  And many cybercriminals would love to hack any established blog or Website?

Here are three things you NEED to do to protect your blog!

1) Choose a good password and CHANGE it regularly.

What's a good password? No dictionary words, certainly no words or phrases remotely connected to you like your favorite sports team, your daughter's name, or your blog's name either!

Ideally, suggest a combination of letters, numbers, and at least one non alpha-numeric character. Preferably something you can remember easily but that no one can guess easily.

Be creative! For example, Ba!dP0pe was something I used once that I could remember easily (note not just letters and numbers and non-alpha numerics, but capitals and lowercase too -- a good thing).

Despite what most "security gurus" tell you, you CAN write down your password if needed as long as you keep it safe and treat it like a credit card. For example keep it in in your wallet or purse, and if it gets lost change it immediately.

2) Back up your content regularly.

Just in case! Backing up your 'stuff' is critical, because you never know what may happen.

One entire blog network disappeared because they didn't have good backups . . .

Check out your blog platform's help for backing up your content -- most have pretty simple steps documented.

3) Update your Blogging Software regularly.

if you have your own Web server with blog software installed on it, for example WordPress.com, MoveableType or  ExpressionEngine, update it regularly.

Updates typically fix bugs and known security flaws the bad guys know about.

Note that If you are using a hosted solution like TypePad (recommended), Blogger (OK), or WordPress.com (good), they update the software themselves.

Will this actually hack proof your blog? No, but it will make it much less likely that you'll get hacked, just like if you're a safe driver it's much less likely you'll have an accident.

I could go one forever since I'm a security guy, but these three tips will make you MUCH less likely to get hacked.

Blogger.com blog hacked - what do you do?

What do you do if you have a hosted blog that gets hacked? For example if your content disappears and it gets replaced by a splog (a spam blog)?

This is exactly what happened to my friend Reg of Elemental Truths. His Blogger.com blog was suddenly replaced by a bunch of political garbage.

Well, if this blog was hacked, TypePad.com does have support. But sometimes you get what you pay with, and with free Google owned Blogger.com it's very hard to even find where to send a support request, question, or plea for help.

Eventually Reg got his blog back -- the story in his words follow, and later this week we'll post how to protect your blog from terrible events like this one.

It was a sultry day. The air was host and thick with humidity. Distant thunderstorms sent little circular ripples, crashing minute breakers against the glass wall of my iced tea.

I had heard the weather was worse out west. The storms had spawned rolling black outs up and down the west coast. Even the techno-jockey fortresses which housed the accumulated work, sweat and tears of thousands of bloggers from around the world were falling over like so many delicately stacked dominoes.

Then it came. The message. It took the form of an email, cryptic and compelling.

The Business Blogging Toolset: 100 Resources for Entrepreneur-Writers

Bootstrapper has a list of 100 resources for business bloggers -- a great list and I'm happy to be included.

Some of the blogs on blogging are listed below.
Check out the complete Business Blogging Toolset list to see everything.

41. Copyblogger— Copyblogger gives some great advice on successful copywriting for your blog.
42. Blogging Pro— Blogging Pro can keep you up to date on blogging news, plugins and new themes for blogs.
43. Scoblizer—Robert Scoble, author of Naked Conversations, focuses on technology and how blogs have affected business.
44. The Big Blog Company— This site discusses blog marketing and emerging technology issues.
45. John Chow Dot Com— Dot com mogul John Chow discusses blogs and how to earn money from them.
46. Blog Traffic School— Yaro Starak writes about how to build blog traffic and maintain a great blog.
47. Digital Inspiration— Digital Inspiration has numerous articles about blogging as well as other internet and technology related issues.
48. Matt Huggins— Internet entrepreneur Matt Huggins shares news and advice about blogging and internet business.
49. Daily Blog Tips— Get a daily dose of blog improvement advice with daily blog tips.
50. Pronet Advertising—Neil Patel discusses internet issues, especially those related to blogging and social content sites.
51. Advanced Business Blogging— This is a blog about marketing and creating a viable brand for your blog online.
52. Blogging for Business— Ted Demopoulos discusses blogging and podcasts as practical business applications.
53. Andy Wibbels— Andy Wibbels talks about blogging for small businesses.
54. Problogger— Problogger gives advice on adding income streams to your blog.
55. Blogging Business— Blogging business discusses how to market your business using blogs and RSS feeds.
56. Business Blog Consulting— This blog gives advice on how to increase blog traffic and comments as well as news on the business blogging world.
57. Blog Business World— Wayne Hurlbert gives his perspective on business blogs, search engine optimization, and marketing.
58. Blog for Business— Blog for Business focuses on how corporate blogs can increase business and profits.
59. NetBusinessBlog— NetBusinessBlog gives advice on how to make a living online using blogs.
60. BusinessBlogWire— This is a blog that gives advice and tips on creating profitable corporate and business blogs.