Better Business Blog

10 Blogging Tips for 2012

Are you getting the most out of your blog? With the explosion of social media sites and a whole range of blogging and content sharing platforms at your fingertips, you should take another look at your blog. Is it still serving its purpose, reaching your customers and making the most of available resources? Here's a checklist of questions you should be asking and things you should be considering when evaluating your blog and planning for 2012.

1. Is blogging the best platform for your business? By now you probably already know about the success of new, highly visual online outlets such as Pinterest and Instagram. If your business depends on people seeing big, beautiful photos of your product or location, maybe these are a better fit. You could also look at blogging through Tumblr, which supports multimedia sharing well. And if you have the resources and manpower, you can always do both, using a photo-sharing site to showcase your visual appeal, then integrate these into longer traditional blog posts.

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Inside Harvard B-school's Startup Boot Camp

With $3,000 of seed capital from Harvard Business School, around 150 MBA teams were tasked with developing their very own micro-businesses in short order. Here's what they came up with.

By John A. Byrne

(Poets&Quants) -- The idea initially came as something of a joke.

Earlier this year, a team of six Harvard Business School MBA students was brainstorming ideas for a new startup business. They came up with a peculiar takeoff on all the online dating sites: a Facebook application for Jewish mothers to set their children up with potential marriage material.

When the team shared the idea with fellow students, they heard nothing but skepticism. "They said there were a lot of barriers to entry," recalls Jyll Saskin, 24, one of the team members. "Others said they didn't think the market would be that big for it."

The feedback led to some serious rethinking. "We said, 'What if we expanded the idea to leverage the power of friend networks?' adds Saskin. "Friends could serve as yentas to recommend dates for their friends."

With $3,000 of seed capital from Harvard Business School, Yenta was launched last week along with as many as 150 other new startups in what might well be the largest single experiment in entrepreneurship ever undertaken. The so-called "micro-businesses" range from a company called Kinsey that sells "premium undergarments" for men to another called 4n Friend that is creating an online network that matches language tutors with students all over the world.

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3 Slick Analytics Dashboards to Monitor Your Business Website

If you’re running a company website without an analytics dashboard, you may as well be stumbling around in the dark. Building a viable and sustainable web presence in any industry is all about understanding the needs of your users and tailoring your service to fit their needs — how can you do that if you don’t even know what your users are looking at or how they got to your website?

The good news is that analytics dashboards simple to implement, and they also come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit the needs and goals of your small business. While some people swear by Google Analytics or the tracking plug-ins found organically within their specific web hosting or content managing service (think WordPress analytics), there’s a lot of information you may not be getting from these sources. For example, while Google Analytics does a great job tracking individual page vies, it doesn’t necessarily break down any meaningful social sharing or referrals. You may want to know why a specific webpage on your site garners major traffic, but Google Analytics will only note that it comes from Facebook.

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Before Naming Your Startup, Read This

This guide is divided into three, independent sections: Why Bad Names Hurt You, Coming Up With Names, and Examples of Strong and Weak Names.

Why Bad Names Hurt You

If you don’t need to be convinced that a good name is important, skip to the next section. That’s where the juicy stuff begins.

Almost every bad naming decision can be traced back to one or more of the following attitudes. You must learn to recognize them:

• Mobile: “It’s a mobile app. Who cares what the name is. If people recognize the icon on their dashboard, then that’s all the brand recognition we need. It’s the mobile Web, baby! Get ready for the revolution.”
• Settling: “There’s a shortage of good names. Consequently, consumers are getting used to silly ‘Web 2.0 names. They only care about the product.”
• Politics: “I won’t spend more than the cost of a domain’s registration fees. Domain squatters are pirates, and I would never pay their inflated prices with my hard-earned money.”
• Tired: “To be completely honest, I’m just short on ideas. I think I’ll stick with the one I like best so far and just prefix ‘get’ or ‘try’ to my domain name. Later, when we’re big, we’ll buy the official domain.” (On the surface, this is one of the better excuses, but we’ll deconstruct this approach at the end of this section.)
• Short-Sighted: “What are you talking about? Our name is loaded with meaning. It has a very rich and personal history amongst the team. It represents us.”
• Deprioritizing: “I’m building a business with many more important tasks that need my attention. I refuse to spend more than two meetings talking about our naming options.”

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The Ultimate Digital Customer Service Guide

In our recent Customer Experience Series, Mashable dove deep into the mysterious alchemy of customer service. Those who own their own business will tell you: Getting (and keeping) customers is not easy. There are so many different factors that must work together perfectly within a company to ensure that fans of your brand stay happy.

Whether its making sure that your ecommerce platform doesn’t drive your users crazy or organizing your social media to build your community, forethought is key to a premium customer experience. These articles will give you comprehensive knowledge of many facets of digital customer service, with expert advice from community managers, CEOs and web designers.

Here’s a roundup of all of our articles, brought together into this handy guide. To read more, click through to the full article, and you can access the entire series here.

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How a 9-Year-Old Entrepreneur's Business Went Viral

At YoungEntrepreneur.com, we regularly bring you stories about innovative startups and their wide-eyed founders. But even we were in awe of 9-year-old Caine Monroy, who last summer constructed a makeshift arcade out of cardboard in his father's auto-parts store in Los Angeles.

He started off catering to the shop's visitors. Now, though, his business has become the main attraction, with excited children and television crews filing through daily, all clamoring for a turn. A $1 ticket gets you four spins at one of five arcade games and a $2 ticket gets you 500 spins. The industrious lad also sells $15 T-shirts -- like the one he wears -- that display "Caine's Arcade" on the back.

That attention has turned into big bucks for young Monroy. It's not clear how much money he's made from ticket and T-shirt sales, but in donations alone, Monroy has already raised more than $178,000 through his website, CainesArcade.com. Those funds are devoted to paying for his college education, he says.

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The Power of Your Blog’s Hidden Community and How to Find It

I’ve talked about “community” many, many times here on The Sales Lion. It’s a subject that fascinates me and frankly it’s a subject that continues to develop in my mind each and every day.

Understanding “Blog Community”…and What it Really Means

When I started this blog 3 years ago, the thought of getting comments on a post was magical. The idea that someone would come to my website, read my stuff, and then actually feel prompted to leave their own words was purely exhilarating. But for a long time, almost no one did.

In other words, for the first 6-12 months of blogging here and pouring my heart and soul into this blog, I didn’t sense I’d developed much of a community at all, which was a tough thing to deal with.

After about a year of writing, I shifted my thoughts and actions towards networking. I built up relationships with other bloggers. I commented often on other posts. I worked very hard to serve others.

All of these actions paid off, and the comments started rolling in. The “community” started building, and I was happy…at least for a time.

Something was missing

But even though I would often get dozens, if not hundreds of comments per post, I began to feel a lack of true community in one main regard—I started The Sales Lion to help marketers and business owners—big and small—to overcome their trials and struggles in this information and digital age.

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58 Ways to Create Persuasive Content Your Audience Will Love

Would you like to become a better writer?

Would you like to create content that people will remember, tweet, and plus?

How about content that inspires your audience to click, subscribe or buy? That’s the Holy Grail, right?

It may sound difficult, but it really isn’t.

You’re about to become a writer that’s incredibly persuasive and completely unforgettable.

Ready?

Let’s start with structuring your content so your message becomes irresistible.

How to streamline your content creation

Are you forever chopping at and changing your text?

Use the following tips to structure your writing up front, so your message isn’t buried deep in your post:

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10 Proven Ways To Market Your Website

So, you’ve taken the steps to create your company website…but what do you do now?

Now you face the challenge of actually bringing in new, qualified traffic. After all, that’s how you will make more sales and increase your customer base.

Check out these 10 ways you can pull in visitors to your website:

1. Search engine optimization

SEO is the process of increasing your website’s visibility in search engine’s organic results through optimizing your pages with the keyword phrases people are likely to search for. Think about it: when you search for something in Google, do you typically go beyond the first couple pages of results? Probably not, and neither will your potential customers.

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How Chance Spiessbach's Years In Hollywood, Will Catapalt Your Business to Success

The NYC Business Networking Group (NYCBNG) hosted Rapid-Fire Tech & Business Bootcamp at The New York Public Library, Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL).

Chance Spiessbach from Take a Chance.TV presented a seminar titled "How My Years In Hollywood, Will Catapault Your Business to Success".

Rapid Fire Tech & Business Bootcamp was a 4-hour FREE event was part conference, part mini-expo and part networking event to connect you with NYC industry professionals, executives, business owners and decision makers.

 

Online Ads: 7 Dos & Don’ts

You don't need an agency to manage your digital advertising. But if you're going to go it alone, you need to understand a few ground rules.

While many businesses these days want to improve their online visibility, many don't know how to approach it other than to build a website and maybe do some search engine marketing.

Yet 14 years after the launch of the first self-serve advertising platform, GoTo.com, I'm still surprised how little many businesses still know about do-it-yourself online advertising opportunities available to them.

After all: Even though Google's DIY pay-per-click search, contextual and display ad networks create an 800-pound gorilla, and yet there are plenty of other places to try self-serve online advertising.

Why, you might ask, as an owner of a digital ad agency, would I want to tell you about self-serve advertising platforms? There are several reasons:

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7 Practical Marketing Productivity Links

This week on The Lede …

• When Should We Add Marketing?
• The Best Procrastination Tip Ever
• Take a Hot Shower. Get Creative.
• Want More Social Shares? Don’t Ignore These 3 Things …
• The 13 Minute, 33 Second Website
• 20 Days to a High-Quality, Highly-Engaged Twitter Following
• One Piece of Indispensable Writing Advice

If you want to grab more useful links (than the seven we highlight here) every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter.

When Should We Add Marketing?
Mr. Godin’s answer to this question is simple, but not easy. He argues that the age we now inhabit has turned the tables on the discipline of marketing products, services, and ideas. The Mad Men are gone, as is the way they brought products into the public eye.

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Seven Principles to Building an Online Reputation

 

 

Today I’m speaking at re:think in Oslo, Norway (more on the city later).

The conference organizer, Arnt Eriksen, asked me to consider speaking on something that is near and dear to my heart, but a topic I hadn’t yet created a presentation around.

The topic? Principles of Building an Online Reputation.

So I thought I’d do something a little bit different today and share with you the presentation.

Because it’s all images, it likely won’t make sense without some explanation.

Therefore I give you the seven principles to building an online reputation.

1. Create a strong online monitoring program. I stole a lot of my recommendations for this principle from Lisa Gerber’s blog post yesterday. If you haven’t read it yet, head over there now.

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In a world overflowing with information, what is the key to curation? [Video]

Today, Percolate’s co-founder Noah Brier sent me the first in a series of videos explaining the shifts we’re seeing in the world of content creation. “Curation has exploded with the growth of Twitter, Tumblr and now Pinterest. In this video, we wanted to try to get into the heads of some of our favorite curators to understand what makes them tick,” he explains.

Read More: In a world overflowing with information, what is the key to curation? [Video]

2,154 Words and One Question Answered: Should Every Business Have a Blog?

To blog or not to blog??….that is the question.

In fact, it’s a question that kept coming up again and again with all the discussion around last week’s Ford debate.

But not only did it come up in that particular article, I’ve seen it mentioned in various corners of the blogosphere by other peeps stating, “Not everyone should have a blog!” again and again.

And for the record, before someone gets the very wrong idea and just skims to the bottom of this post, let me say this loud and clear:

Not every business should be blogging.

Read More: 2,154 Words and One Question Answered: Should Every Business Have a Blog?

16 Webinar and Webcast Tools for Online Meetings and Marketing

It’s hard to talk about marketing to a group these days with all the one-to-one focus of social media. You might engage on a mass level, but experts advise you to “engage the individual.” This is timely and good advice. But it puts webcasts, webinars, and online seminars in a “past their prime” bucket, for some.  Don’t discount the method yet, lots of people still like to connect with companies and brands in a good old fashioned (in web years) webinar. This review is for the business owner considering a broadcast type campaign.

Read More: 16 Webinar and Webcast Tools for Online Meetings and Marketing

How to turn blog readers into brand advocates

If you have been blogging for more than a few months than you have super fans whether you know it or not. You just have to keep an eye out for them. Fortunately there some key indicators.

• They comment regularly
• They send you personalized emails
• They share EVERYTHING you write

But simply knowing who they are is not enough. The same way you water seeds for a plant, you must cultivate your super fans.

Read More: How to turn blog readers into brand advocates

Need Ideas for Your Business Blog? Here Are 50

Blogging can be a great way to draw new customers to your business website. But if your blog hasn't been updated in months or all your posts are thinly disguised sales pitches, your blog marketing plan could backfire.

A great business blog doesn't sell. Instead, it shows customers why they should do business with you and not your competitors.

Read More: Need Ideas for Your Business Blog? Here Are 50

What's The Next Great Leap For Women?

Because my book, No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, is officially out in paperback today, Leap Day—a perfect day for a book about women’s relationship with power, no?—I’ve been think hard about what the next great leap forward for women should be. So I thought I’d better check out the history of the every-fourth-year calendar adjustment that gives us February 29.

Read More: What's The Next Great Leap For Women?

10 Tools to Make Your Marketing Videos Wow

Video has become an essential marketing tool. It’s a great way to tell your story, show the human side of your business and communicate highly complex ideas in an easy to digest manner. But while video has the power to deeply engage, it also has the power to bore the viewer to tears—and creating compelling video is different than writing, say, a compelling blog post.

Starting a camera and spouting out a thousand words of brilliant prose does not make a compelling video. There are proven techniques and tools that can help make your videos engage, hold attention and wow the viewer. Here are 10 tools that can help you get started.

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Four Keys to Building a Successful Social Network

Social networking is big business. Based on trading on SharesPost, Facebook has a valuation of about $98 billion, though the enthusiasm also exists for other social media companies, such as Zynga, which has a valuation over $9 billion. Of course, the social game maker has built its tremendous business on the Facebook platform.

While leveraging a social network can be smart (here’s a recent piece where I discussed this), there still are opportunities to create independent social networks.

Read More: Four Keys to Building a Successful Social Network

7 Worthwhile Content Marketing Links

This week on The Lede …

• How George Lucas Would Write a Blog Post
• Mark Zuckerberg’s 6 Ingredients of Success
• How to Make Your Content Go Viral
• The Difference Between Good and Great Content Marketing

If you want more links you can use than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter.

The Difference Between Good Content Marketing and Great Content Marketing
Mr. Pulizzi offers a compelling short history of content marketing, as well as a digestible list of six characteristics that will determine whether your content is great, or merely good. And don’t miss his formula for effectively sharing content on social networks at the bottom of the article …

Read More: 7 Worthwhile Content Marketing Links

Announcing IGNITION West

IGNITION West intensively explores the future of mobile and is presented by Business Insider on March 21, 2012 in San Francisco. Through high-level discussions with executives and leading entrepreneurs and demos from emerging startups, 2012's IGNITION West will bring together people who are evolving and disrupting mobile to discuss what's happening now, what's next, and how it affects your business. Which platforms, products and business models will dominate? Find out at IGNITION West.

Topics include: Mobile platforms & consumer behavior; next-generation devices and services; who owns the Internet after search; the future of publishing, film and television on mobile; investing in mobile and mobile content; the gaming marketplace.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ignitionwest/2012#ixzz1ll5QKOES

 

 

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Classrooms With 500,000 Students

I am fascinated by the Stanford online courses in machine learning and artificial intelligence. My first inkling of them came when quite a few of my students started taking the artificial-intelligence class. Olin is very small, only about 400 students, so I realized that these online courses must be large. But I almost fell over when I saw that enrollment varied from 66,000, at the low-end, to 160,000.

Sebastian Thrun, who co-taught the artificial-intelligence course to 160,000 students, is now leaving Stanford teaching in order to teach courses to 500,000 students for free. What an inspiring goal!

Read More: Classrooms With 500,000 Students

The Shady Practice Of Spinning Articles To Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties

If you've been walking on the sunny side of a clean street on your Search Marketing journey, hopefully you've skipped right past that dark and narrow alleyway in which lurks the spin monster. The practice of 'spinning' articles for directory submission isn't new, but it has come to my notice that marketing firms are currently utilizing this as a post-Panda effort for avoiding the dread Google duplicate content label, and I'm writing this article today to describe what the process is. If you're about to hire a marketer/SEO whose methods of promotion include submitting 'spun' articles to content sites, read this first before you sign that contract.

Read More: The Shady Practice Of Spinning Articles To Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties