November 27, 2011 0

You Are Only As Good As Your Last Post

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Blogging is constantly changing. It is never static. If you blog for business or personal, one truth remains – you are only as good as your last post. That means, you need to make sure your posts all count. Readers, even loyal ones will not share posts they do not love. Make sure your readers think every post is your best. Every blogger must earn their audience every time they post new content. This is a simple fact not just of blogging but of life as well. You are only as good as your last post. Make all of them count.

But how? Won’t I let out a stinker every now and then? Doesn’t everyone do that from time to time?

Write each post like it was your first. Think about answering a question, or addressing something that you know your clients don’t get. Don’t think about blogging for an audience. To put the idea into perspective think of this – if you don’t enjoy writing it, who is going to enjoy reading it?

Wait, don’t blog for an audience? Isn’t that the point?

Yes and no. Of course you want your content read. No one wants to blog and feel no one reads or likes their content. If you are solely blogging for numbers you may want to shift your focus back to educating and entertaining your readers. At first it may be a better idea not to look at numbers all that often. Do not let yourself be seduced by numbers. Just because a post got a lot of eyeballs does not mean it was effective. Did it get new leads? Comments? Social shares? These are the other factors to consider when we look at if something is effective or not.

Blogging gets our ideas and thoughts across to many people, but our words need to ring true before they can spread. We can sit at our desks and blog about anything, but when we can get the reader to do something, subscribe to our blog, tweet our post, or even leave a great comment, then we are on to something. The bad part about that is that we have to keep doing it. That is what makes this whole crazy world of inbound marketing so interesting.

Think for a second about blogs you read. Why do you read them? What about the post gets your attention? Sure it has a catchy headline, but what about the content? Are you learning something new, or getting challenged to think differently about something? The blogs I love always make me think about things in a new way, and I always come away from them better for having read them. The blogs I like most often have a conversational tone and never make me feel preached to. Once you find a blogger who you can relate to, it can give you a new way of looking at things. The very best may even get you to question long held beliefs. They make you think. They challenge you to be better at what you do.

Those are the blogs I want to read. What about you?

November 14, 2011 0

Why A Facebook Page Should Not Be Your Website

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I have heard some local business owners admit that they use Facebook as their website. To say this is a bad idea is like saying the New York Yankees are a baseball team. That is to say, pretty obvious. I know it is free, but free costs in other ways. This is such a bad idea. Having just a Facebook page instead of having a website is one of the worst strategies I have ever heard of. Being online without a website makes about as much sense as taking a shower with your clothes on.

Why it is a really bad idea

You do not own your Facebook page. Having a Facebook page can be great,but it should not take the place of your regular website. Facebook changes its terms of service (TOS) so often it can be a full time job just keeping up with the updates! Facebook can also pull down your page at any time, with no warning. This is the biggest reason to not put all of your eggs in Facebook’s basket. Get a page and interact with fans. Absolutely. Just make sure you have other online real estate to drive them to.

The difference is the same as renting vs owning

Using Facebook as your website is like fixing up an apartment that you rent. You never get any of that money back. Sure, you can add better stuff, upgrade things,but the only person who ultimately benefits is the landlord. You benefit while you live there, but you can’t take things like upgraded appliances with you when you leave. It is the same thing here, so don’t get too attached to all of those cool pics you have been uploading or even those fan videos. They are all property of Facebook If you lose your page for any reason, everything you created is gone. Poof.

Fixing up something that you own, on the other hand is a good idea. Putting effort into your website, that you own will drive traffic and potential customers back to you. Investing money in your business will always pay off in the long run. Webhosting now is very inexpensive. There really is no excuse not to own your own website.

But Facebook is free

There is no such thing as totally “free.” They offer you pages for no cost so that terms can be changed at the drop of a hat. They could not do that so easily to paying customers. It is also not free in terms of man hours spent working on the page.

If you want to hear more about this, we are going to be launching our own weekly videos called “Whiteboard Thursdays with Nancy” where we will discuss this and other questions. If you want to ask a question, post on our Facebook wall and I will answer your question in an upcoming episode.

So why are you still only using Facebook for your website?

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November 6, 2011 0

Blogging For Business? Kill the Buzz!

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If you are starting a business blog, it can be really tempting to throw a lot of buzzwords in your content to build authority and sound like an expert. Sounds like a sound plan right? Dazzle them so much their head spins. The temptation to label oneself as a “guru” or “ninja” or “rock star” might be great, but I can’t think of a worse thing to do for your blog.

This is a bad idea. A REALLY bad idea. Raise your hand if you think this is a good idea.

First of all, no one wants to read a bunch of buzzwords. We know you are smart. Tell us something without resorting to using industry buzzwords. A post with a ton of jargon can be unreadable and will chase potential readers and clients faster than a salesman in a polyester suit. The trouble with posts like this is that no one learns anything. Want to be seen as an expert? Teach something to someone. Make them feel smarter for having read your post.

Let me ask you something – if you were explaining what you do to a friend, would you use a lot of buzzwords to do it? If the answer is no, then they don’t belong in your blog posts either. Write a post like you talk. Don’t get too heavy. It is not necessary. Explain something without using terms everyone overuses. Expertise is shown when you can explain something in simple terms. Keep your posts simple. Start by thinking – “Is this confusing? Would I understand this if I were just starting out in this industry?” If the answer is no then you need to simplify. The easiest way to do that is remove the jargon.

If I see the words “value added” one more time in a blog post I am going to jump up and down and scream! No one talks like this! No one! Why do we do this when we blog? We overuse words so much they lose their real meaning. We overuse words like: transparency, authenticity and engage among others. These words have real meaning, but the more they get used the more diluted they get.

What can be done?

Start taking the words back until they mean something again. Stop calling honesty “transparency” Stop calling someone who converses with others “someone who is fully engaged in the social space” If a person or company is friendly and approachable, call them that. Stop calling your posts or web pages “value added” just say they “are full of useful information.”

One last thing – For the love of all that is good and decent in this world I beg of you please do not say “It is not all about me” in your post where it is blatantly obvious is is about you. Want to reach more potential buyers? Solve their problems. Show a point of view. Give them something to think about.

Let’s keep things simple, and remember it is always about the customer.

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October 30, 2011 0

Is Google+ A Social Media Graveyard?

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You all remember Google+ right? That is the social network that everyone seemed to flock to in droves this summer. Well known names in social media and marketing even abandoned their Facebook profiles announcing they had “moved” to Google+. It seemed to be a cleaned-up version of Facebook, but without those annoying ads. We all hounded our friends for invites, since Google+ was “invitation only” when it first launched in the early summer of this year.

Why then is it looking like a graveyard?

The short answer is it is not sticky enough. The longer answer is that most of us have not migrated from Facebook to Google+. The numbers are surprising. Google will not divulge the number of daily users. The site has 40 million users signed up. Facebook, on the other hand has at the time of this writing over 800 million users, of which half of those sign in to the service every day.

Here is at least part of the problem – Facebook is part of our daily life. As much as we complain about Farmville and other silly things our friends do on Facebook, it is part of daily life for many of us. Most of us go on to Facebook because it is part of our daily routine. We get up, make coffee, go to work and check Facebook. We see who posted new photos, and what is going on with our friends.

This is part of the problem with Google+, many of us have the Facebook habit and got to Google+ expecting to be wowed and instead have said “meh.” Opportunists have taken to Google+, charging for webinars and some social media gurus are even writing books about how to use the network for business. Hint: there are no business profiles allowed yet. You have to be an individual to have a Google+ account. Google is working on business pages, but at this time, are taking applications for a Google+ business page.

The only thing that Google+ does far better than Facebook ever will is photo sharing. It is easier to upload pics, and your captions do not get cut off the way they do on Facebook. This is not enough to keep many of us coming back when our friends are all on Facebook and Twitter. Why do we need another social network?

The last thing that Facebook does better than anyone is create their own walled-off world. They have their own games, they have their own money, and they have other apps that users use day after day from astrology to sending “drinks” to friends. On average, people on Facebook install apps more than 20 million times every day. Facebook has created a whole world unto itself. We may complain about privacy issues, but the truth is this. We are not going anywhere. We are certainly not going to Google+ any time soon.

Google+, the network many heralded as a “Facebook killer” may have shot itself in the foot by bringing nothing new to the conversation. This proves a point Seth Godin made a long time ago. Be unique, or be forgettable. Being another Facebook is not good enough.

It seems Google just doesn’t get social after all.

What do you think? Is Google+ a graveyard?

 

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October 27, 2011 0

Klout Plays a Dangerous Game

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Klout has been catching a lot of heat lately for serious security breaches. This is really disturbing stuff. If you are on Klout, you opted-in. Now, let’s say that a friend of yours who has a private Facebook page comments on your status update. Now, Klout has their information as well. That person now has a profile that they never asked for.

I have an older brother who is not involved in social media or marketing. He has a Facebook page he hardly touches. He does not use Twitter, and never reads blogs. Yet, there he is because he commented on one of my posts. I am a blogger. I am on Facebook. I am on Twitter. I understand that I have no privacy online. This is a choice I made. Other people choose to be very private, and that privacy should be respected. I know of people who make Facebook pages for their unborn babies! Are we going to create Klout profiles for them too? Don’t laugh. This is not that far off. It has been found out that yes, Klout has not taken down profiles of minors. Hello. That is illegal. Facebook is also at fault for not protecting minors on Facebook from applications like Klout.

In a desperate bid for more profiles, Klout will grab at any information they can, no matter how ill-gotten it may be. This type of draconian practice nearly makes Facebook look like Girl Scouts by comparison. The sad thing about all of this is that this is not the first time and won’t be the last. Klout is just more aggressive about pursuing users who will opt-in to the service to check their Klout score.

What about when you want to opt-out because the topics you are “influential” in are not even close to what you really blog or tweet about? There is no opt-out process. Too bad for you if you don’t want to play this game. They do not care if you do not want a Klout profile. If you are on any social platform and are friends with anyone who is on Klout, you also have a profile like it or not.

For those of us who do have profiles, our Klout scores recently just took a hit. Some of us dropped scores in the double digits, while some of us (like yours truly) were pretty much unharmed. Klout redid its algorithm which determines “influence.”

It begs the question – what is influence and can it really be felt? Influence is when you can get a person (or a group of people) to take action. In the case of Klout, they are looking for likes, retweets and comments. The real world may not be so easy to see. There are many people who are very influential and never have to tell you. People with high Klout scores love to drop it in to a conversation as some sort of social proof. Real influence is felt, not talked about.

Speaking of influence, we would love it if you would take a moment and comment on this post. If you really like our blog, please be sure to vote for us in the Empact poll.

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October 17, 2011 0

Announcing the Newly Designed HostSEO

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With SEO becoming increasingly relevant in the today’s Internet Marketing strategies alongside web hosting, it is imperative for Internet entrepreneurs to pursue a service that will allow them to not only be able to host their websites, but additionally afford them an easy access to a wide variety of SEO options. This is where HostSEO comes in. In June 2011, we launched the newly designed HostSEO.org homepage and started offering our world-class SEO hosting services to all of our customers at an easily affordable price.

Traditional hosting services place all of your domains and subdomains on a single C-class IP address. This is sufficient for those wishing to only put up a website for the sake of having one. But if you are looking to increase exposure to your website, you will need to employ proper SEO tactics such as link building and content generation. But if all of the work was done through the same IP address, then you will be hard-pressed to see any real results as major search engines will recognize the influx of links from the same IP address. This is when the services of HostSEO become important.

We at HostSEO will assign you a number of different, unique C-class IP addresses along with server space to provide you with the best possible SEO hosting service at an incredibly affordable price (as low as $13 a month). Additionally, we will provide you with private name server support to help you take advantage of the C-class IP addresses you will receive. This is absolutely vital to SEO. By having both unique C-class IP addresses as well as private name server support, you are able to create a network of domains that the search engines will view as separate entities. This means your links and content will be more readily indexed by the search engine spiders, resulting in a far more effective SEO campaign.

We also offer SEO dedicated server support for those who do not want to share their resources with other users. Our dedicated SEO servers guarantee both privacy as well as server space for you to grow (or upkeep) large websites. Additionally, you may elect to also participate in our SEO reseller program where you pass along our SEO hosting services to your clients. The best part about our SEO reseller program? We are not involved in any way shape or form. You can setup your own private name servers and sell the service to your clients at an incredibly low cost to you (starting at $75 per month)

Despite our relatively new status with the redesigned website, HostSEO reviews have been extremely favorable with practically perfect ratings across the board (97% Excellent rating by ReviewsGurus.com and 5 star ratings at WebHostingStuff.com).

October 16, 2011 1

Starting Blogger Outreach? Do Your Homework First

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In the past few weeks, there have been several huge missteps made with relation to blogger outreach. Since this can be a huge part of whether a marketing plan succeeds or fails, this needs to be done properly. Done well, blogger outreach can result in increased traffic and more targeted buyers coming to your site. Do it wrong, and you will have a disaster on your hands.

Let’s break down some common mistakes, and how to avoid them

First, do your research. Ragu had a disastrous campaign about “Mom’s the Word On Dinner” this two minute video has mothers talking about what it is like when Dad cooks, and puts dad in an unflattering light. What they did next was really incredible. Ragu got a list of names of influential dad bloggers. The problem is, they never once checked up on who these dads actually were, or their household roles. For every incompetent, lazy dad, you have ten who are at home and doing all of the food shopping and cooking. When you do not do your research, you will embarrass yourself. Before approaching any blogger with your product, know who they are and what they stand for.

Second, once you have a list of names, narrow the list down. Eliminate the ones who are not relevant to your product. Also consider reaching out to bloggers who are not as popular. Why would this be a good idea? Most A-list bloggers get pitched all of the time. Unless your product addresses a very specific need or want they have, your pitch is likely to be ignored. Approaching someone with a smaller audience who is closer to your target audience does two things; first, it shows that you have done your homework. Second, it gives you a rare opportunity to create a brand advocate if you approach the blogger properly.

Lastly, form a relationship with the blogger. Don’t just hit them with spammy messages like Ragu did to the dad bloggers. Also, if they are not interested, be gracious. Don’t be a jerk if they turn you down. Many bloggers are very busy, and if you get into arguing with them about why they should blog about your product or service, you will be blogged about but not in a way you want. Relationships are everything in social media. Take the time to form a relationship before pitching. Do not do what Con-Agra foods did. They invited food bloggers to a swank dinner – food bloggers who blog about organic foods and are allergic to food coloring in the case of one individual. They then did the hidden-camera nonsense like the old Folger’s ads. Only this did not go very well. Had research been done, and a relationship formed, maybe they would have found this out beforehand.

The easy answer to this is to of course research, and research some more. It is a lot of work. A well executed campaign can bring you business like never before. Screw up your blogger outreach, and find out how much work it is to clean up a PR disaster.

The choice is yours.

What are your favorite blogger outreach tips?

October 7, 2011 0

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish – A Tribute To Steve Jobs

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What can be said about Steve Jobs that has not been said already? A man who never graduated college found a way to change the world. He followed his passions, and lived each day knowing that death was only a step behind. In his commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005 He was quoted as saying “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Steve Jobs did what he loved, even when he was ousted from Apple in the 90s. He went on to join NeXt and Pixar and never needed to look back. Pixar went on to become the world’s most successful animated movie company, which created the very first all computer animated film, Toy Story. When Pixar was acquired by Disney in 2006, this made Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney and gave him a seat on the Board of Directors. Not bad for someone who was publicly fired from the company he helped create.

Jobs talks about finding your passion and pursuing that. No excellence can come from someone who doesn’t love what they do. That goes for someone who writes code, to someone who builds furniture to someone who creates a brand new kind of personal computer. He got up everyday and loved the work he was doing. Since he lived each day as if it would be his last, he felt it was imperative to be proud of the work he was doing. He said this about knowing death is the only thing none of us can escape “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

What made him an icon was that he stood for excellence. When a person talks about owning a Mac, or an iPhone, or an iPad they talk about how great it is. They wax lyrical about the flawless design elements that bring these items together in a way we never thought about before. Steve Jobs did not believe in focus groups. He showed people what they wanted. The iPod came out and everyone had to have one. How many white earbuds do you see when you are out running errands? How many MacBooks do you see used in your  local Starbucks? Steve Jobs revolutionized the way we buy computers. We buy a Mac, and everything works together flawlessly. He showed us what we want by taking something we already owned and taking it to a whole new level.

He ended his speech at Stanford with this – “Stay hungry, stay foolish. That is my wish for you.”

Steve Jobs commencement speech

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September 26, 2011 0

Facebook Changes AGAIN?

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Facebook has changed yet again, going to an Open Graph and Timeline feature. What does all of this mean? Will privacy be affected? There seem to be a lot of questions, so let us try to break it all down for you.

First things first – your privacy settings have not changed. If you feel better going and checking for yourself, please do so. Facebook has been listening to privacy concerns and is adapting. That being said, this is the internet and we must remind you that the things you post on any social network live forever. If you would not say it in front of your boss, it still does not belong on Facebook.

Facebook is trying to be Twitter – What you will notice, if you do not have it already is a real-time ticker in the right corner of your Facebook page. What this does is post real-time updates of your friends activity. If you happen to have active friends on Facebook, you will see that your ticker is always moving. It should be stressed that this function already existed. We could always see what photos our friends “liked” or statuses that they commented on. If you really hate the ticker, there is a way to disable it if you have Chrome. Firefox I am sure will have a plugin shortly but not yet.

“Likes” Not as powerful as they once were – Brands on Facebook now need to do a hell of a lot more than just publish blog posts if they want to get noticed. What will start to happen as users are moved into the open graph (called a Timeline) we will see much more targeted advertising and sponsored pages. What does this mean for brands that are poorly run? Well, what it means is that some will scramble to keep posting content just to be seen. That is a very temporary solution. A better idea is to get real conversations going on those pages and see what fans respond to.

Smart lists – Stealing from Google+ - Since Google+ has circles, Facebook now has smart lists. The beauty of these lists is that for the most part they are smart. They take information that is already in your profile and create lists such as work friends, friends from the area you live in (in a ten mile radius) and friends from school. You can also create new lists and merge existing lists to the new ones. There is also a feature for a “restricted” list. This is a great feature. Facebook is clearly paying attention to Google+

The Timeline – an open graph that shares everything – the new profile is a timeline. It shows everything from birth to present day. Facebook wants you to share even more. Now you can share a “major life event” such as being hospitalized or announcing a new job. Users even get to choose “covers” for the new timeline. A cover can be any favorite photo, and it can be changed as often as you want. This is a great function for those in visual arts to highlight their best or most recent work. The caveat to this timeline is that more info is being shared. While your privacy setting have not changed, more of your profile is public. If there are details you do not want people to know, now is the time to change your profile. Facebook is talking about this timeline as a personal history or a “scrapbook.” As with every social media or online profile if you would not say it in mixed company, it should not be posted to Facebook.

Remember, there is no such thing as ”privacy” online. Always behave as though someone is watching, because they are.

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September 17, 2011 0

Writing Great Content – The Key to Success Online

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Congratulations. Your business now has a shiny new website. You have installed all of the social sharing buttons. Your business is on Facebook and Twitter. Why then are customers not banging down your door? Why are they not beating a path to you and what your business has to offer?

I will tell you why – you either have no content or the content you have stinks.

The truth is, it can be challenging to write great content on a consistent basis. How do you write great new content? How do you keep it fresh, relevant and interesting? How do you get any fans or followers?

The simplest answer is this. What do your customers ask you about? Turn those questions into blog posts. Work on answering questions for your clients. Become the source of information that your customers trust. How do you do that? You do that by creating content that actually helps your clients fix their problems. Focus on the customer. Help them fix a serious problem, and you have just created a fan. Do it again and you will have another fan. Then they tell two friends, and they tell two other friends….This is how word of mouth builds.

It is an old concept that has gone digital. Good old fashioned word of mouth. We get fans and followers in the online world by being awesome. We KEEP those very same followers by talking to them, not at them. No one wants to be preached to, unless they are at a religious service. How do we talk to our potential customers in a non-spammy way that engages rather than chases?

You guessed it. Write content that is about them and not about you. Have the sales team get together and write a post about how they address customer concerns. Give the customer service department the chance to highlight a great customer service story. Empower your staff to reach customers in a way that matters to them. Eliminate excessive jargon from blog posts or your web copy. Read what you post. Do you find it interesting? If the answer is no, I have bad news. You may want to start over or get help.

Content can be created in a number of ways. Google loves fresh content, but did you realize that video is content too? YouTube is the second largest search engine behind only Google, so if you are not a great writer, maybe you might want to make a video instead. The idea is to put up fresh, new content at least once a week. The best part about all of this is that you can answer questions in a blog post, and even make stars out of your best employes. The benefits are twofold: first your customers have answers to their most pressing questions, and just as important, your staff is more invested in their work.

Creating content is the easiest, least expensive way to reach your target audience. What are you waiting for?

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