The document discusses how blogging can be beneficial for businesses. It provides examples of successful business blogs and outlines strategies for starting and maintaining an effective business blog, including establishing an online presence, building community, tracking analytics, and visualizing content. The key message is that blogging allows businesses to humanize their brand, engage customers, and potentially increase profits when done consistently and strategically.

1. Blogging for Business:
Better than cupcakes?
Katie Laird
klaird@schipul.com
www.schipul.com // www.happykatie.com
Katie Laird
klaird@schipul.com
www.schipul.com // www.happykatie.com
http://flickr.com/photos/kjellander/305301902/

2. What we’ll talk about...
• Business Blogs in action
• What the heck is micro-Blogging?
• The power of Visualization
• Blog fodder, tips and tricks
Blogging for Business, Blogging for the People

3. Are Bloggers the Internet’s
party people?

4. Sure, it’s a feel-good, online conversation...

5. ... but is Business Blogging actually profitable?

6. NOT Blogging F500
Blogging F500 (61 total)
12%
88%
http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi
These guys say yes (everything in moderation)

7. Humanizing
the brand!
http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi?traits_of_the_fortune_500_blogs

8. Let’s look at some
Real Live Business Blogs

9. Company Blogs

10. Boeing B2B Flight Test Journal
www.boeing.com/commercial/777family

11. 37 Signals Blog(s)
http://productblog.37signals.com/
www.37signals.com/svn/

12. Thought Leader Blog

13. Audrey Kawasaki blog (freelance artist blog)
http://baibai-matane.livejournal.com

14. Event marketing company shares the love
www.eventmarketing.zvents.com

15. ‘By the people’ Company Blogs
(surprise!!!)

16. The Apple Blog (totally not official)
www.theappleblog.com

17. My Starbucks Idea - Post based on Visitor Content
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer

18. 5 great ways YOU (yes, you)
can use a Blog for your business

19. 1. Establish an online presence on the cheap
Caroline Collective
www.carolinecollective.cc

20. 2. Look brilliant, be adored by many
Crowdspring - crowd source graphic design Blog
http://blog.crowdspring.com

21. 3. Support, give back and build your Community
Houston Artist Relief Blog -- HAA artist outreach
www.haahelps.com

22. 4. Promote and extend conferences and event life
Mom 2.0 Summit
www.mom2summit.com

23. 5. Run a viral marketing multimedia campaign
www.arttheheartofhouston.com
www.haablog.com

24. All a-Twitter
www.twitter.com

25. In 140 characters or less...
What are you doing right now?
www.twitter.com

26. The (new) Art of Community Building
A chance to connect and be generous
• Share your brain candy and link love
• Promote community and friends’ events and news
• (secondarily) Promote your events, content and news
• Give live outline of events or presentations
• Tell Katie where the speed traps are :)
• Say thank you!

27. Want to know who is talking about you on Twitter?
Follow the Micro-Blogging buzz
www.tweetscan.com
www.summize.com
www.twitscoop.com

28. Do more with less...
Feed your Tweets into other sites

29. Let’s take a quick breather!

30. The Road to Blogging:
Filling your brain to the max

31. They are already
talking about you...
but what are they saying?

32. Track the conversation and find out!
www,technorati.com/watchlist
Powerful Social Media search
engine watches for your terms and
updates you
www.google.com/alerts
Email updates for your
company name and keywords
http://alerts.yahoo.com
Yahoo! alerts you of any
occurrences of defined terms
and names

33. Tracking the online conversation...
Further online Reputation Management
Google Trends search:
www.google.com/trends
Technorati search:
www.technorati.com

34. Tracking the online conversation...
How do you compare to your competition?
www.blogpulse.com
Great visuals to track you and
your competition’s online
activity and Buzz

35. Find something less-than-great
about your business online?

36. Deal with it! NOW!

37. Tracking the online conversation...
Timeliness and sincerity mean everything
• Draft response strategy beforehand
• If you need to say you’re sorry:
mean it and back it up with visible action!
• A crisis is NOT the time to start a Blog
• Respond personally and publicly

38. Discover the Influencers
(and folks you just plain like)

39. Find awesome Blogs to read and learn from
www.technorati.com // www.blogsearch.google.com

40. IceRocket - Prolific vs. Influential = 2 different things
www.icerocket.com

41. Love thy feed reader!
www.google.com/reader

42. Pageflakes - personalized online data center
www.pageflakes.com

43. http://flickr.com/photos/geekette/212455285/
Let’s get personal.

44. Create your Personal Brand
• Keep it consistent EVERYWHERE
• Create an Avatar
• Add important links / personal
brands to your email footers
• Promote your employee Personal
Brands (www.schipul.com/
happykatie)
Happykatie!

46. Let’s Get Blogging!
• Set up a fast template
Blog
• Start simple - match
branding graphics later
• 5 posts before ‘launch’
www.typepad.com
www.blogger.com
www.wordpress.com

47. Let’s get Blogging!
Wordpress Template Sites
http://topwpthemes.com/
http://www.nattywp.com/
http://www.wpthemespot.com/

48. Let’s get Blogging!
Tumblr - Art of the Uber-Simple
http://dallasmarketing.tumblr.com/

49. Let’s get Blogging!
Make your life easier: desktop Blog utilities
http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

50. Let’s get Blogging!
Badges of honor - make your brand portable
• Let your visitors take your brand
http://www.librarything.com/extras.php
with them
http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne
• Easily embedded / shared
graphics that show interests or
affiliation
• Cooler than a boring logo and
much more interactive

51. Keep up the Blogging magic
• Write regularly (2x week optimal)
• Comment regularly
• LINK LOVE!!!! At least 1 link a post
• Reach out to other Social Networks
to grow community
• Use images as much as humanly
possible
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/120468504/

52. Keep up the Blogging magic...
Random Blog post ideas
• Invite guest Blogger to write on industry or event topics
• Interview clients, organization speakers, management team (podcast)
• Post photos from recent company event or outing
• Tips & Tricks for your business or industry
• Quote of the Day (with links)
• Community or industry organization events and info
• ‘Favorite Helpful Links’ series http://www.flickr.com/photos/gla/438729143/

53. Keep up the Blogging magic...
Blog post cheats (b/c life gets busy!!)
• Round up of news snippets and links to
other Blogs
• Social bookmarking links - automatically
updated!
• Liveblog a conference (you’re taking notes
anyway...) www.ma.gnolia.com
• Ask your Community to create content for
YOU - contests, giveaways

54. Qualified traffic is good – link regularly, link well
http://flickr.com/photos/poagao/367128550/

55. VISUALIZATION!! Tell a story with Blog visuals.

56. Visualization tools
Embed rich media for higher readership
• Use other free online social networks to
host or discover Rich Media:
• Video:
• www.youtube.com
• www.vimeo.com
• Photos:
• www.flickr.com
• Audio:
• www.seeqpod.com

57. Visualization tools
Create your own Rich content
• Jing (www.jingproject.com/) - free
desktop image and video recorder
• Picasa (www.picasa.google.com) - edit
images and video with easy uploads
• ComicLife (http://plasq.com/comiclife/)
- have fun with your images and graphics

58. Visualization tools
Buy a Flip video camera (seriously)
http://www.theflip.com/

59. Follow up with your Community
• Respond to comments and emails
fast and openly
• Get to know your visitors and their
sites (participate)
• Be generous with your links and
props - it comes back to you
• Set up a Blog Roll
• Keep up with those Google Alerts

60. Strategy, strategy, strategy

61. What is Success?
• Define your goals ahead of time:
www.intensedebate.com
• Hits to your Web site / special landing page
• Number of comments or link outs
• Links from Influencers
• Answers to online polls
www.polldaddy.com

62. How do you know it’s working?
• Define your goals ahead of time:
• Newsletter sign up
www.mailchimp.com
• Raised funds (www.chipin.com)
• Number of ‘favorites’ or ratings
• Trackbacks from other Blogs

63. Blogging power at work, donate to: www.brennanshouston.com

64. Stick with your strategy and tweak as needed
• High traffic time?
• Post topics particularly hot?
• Who are your top referrers?
• How are they consuming your info?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8136496@N05/2327243497/

65. Tracking your success....
Statistics are available, numbers work...
Google Analytics (free and track your PPC)
www.google.com/analytics

66. Tracking your success....
Stats just a click away...
Built-in Blog utility traffic meters
www.typepad.com // www.wordpress.com

67. Tracking your success....
Learn about your RSS subscribers
Feedburner (free)
www.feedburner.com

68. But it’s really all about the people

69. Tracking your success....
The Human Bottom Line
• Who are you connecting?
• What relationships are you building?
• Are you crossing online and offline
marketing to reach the masses?
• Are you having fun and getting
smarter?
www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/2561315154/
www.carolinecollective.cc

70. Quickie Social Media To-Do’s
1. Read blogs
(find them on www.technorati.com)
2. Set up an RSS Feed Reader
(www.google.com/reader)
3. Join Facebook (www.facebook.com)
4. Join Flickr (www.flickr.com)
5. Track the buzz about you
(www.google.com/alerts)

71. Social Media is a constant learning process

72. But a fun one!!! So enjoy :)

73. Thanks for participating today!
Katie Laird
Schipul – The Web Marketing Company
www.schipul.com / www.tendenci.com
(281) 497.6567, ext. 519
Email: klaird@schipul.com
Personal brand: www.schipul.com/happykatie
Blog: www.happykatie.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/happykatie
Twitter: www.twitter.com/happykatie
Find my slides at: www.slideshare.net/happykatie