Business Blogging

As business owners or managers of departments, we will always face higher priorities when deciding to market our business.  The reasons for not taking time today will be great reasons.  Obviously anyone in your shoes would have made the same decision to hold off on marketing right now and instead deal with the fires.  “Life happens” is almost a curse when it comes to marketing.  Believing this means you’ve won half the battle.

On my story blog site, Bashful Bill struggles with life,  take a look at the lesson he learned:
“I’m letting all the distractions of work creep into my life because I don’t really want to write in the first place.  I would rather dig up a broken sprinkler pipe than market and build my business.  Maybe that is why I had to let Paul and Jose go.”

Business blogging is a proven business marketing tool.  Time is the only cost, yet in our daily regiment there is nothing more valuable than time; except in Bill’s case when he came to the realization that he had to let two good employees go because he didn’t market his business more.  Fewer employees equals less time to do those things which build your business and so begins the downward spiral.

The biggest distraction in our business life is eMail.  Most of the messages we receive are junk.  Yet when that magic sound alerts us “you’ve got mail!”,  we drop all our important things and run to check the mail box.  It isn’t that we are expecting an important eMail.  Bill’s observation is correct.  We would rather dig a ditch than market our business.  We would never openly admit this truth, would we?

Shut down the eMail application for an hour.  Turn off the phones.  Nothing is more important than promoting your business.  You have a choice between hundreds of different types of marketing.  Some are easier than others, but none are as affordable and effective as business blogging.  Whoever is eMailing or calling you can wait one hour.

Our little voice tells us all sorts of bad things.  This blogging stuff doesn’t work, the phone never rings anyways.  Do something that makes money and when you get free time you can blog.  That little voice is telling you the truth.  Just the facts are mixed up.  Business blogging gets your website more internet exposure.  With 70% of ALL American adults turning to the internet to find information, more internet exposure puts you in a better position to land new clients.  Most of the time we will not know if the blog drove a new client to us.  We can see traffic patterns and measure search engine visibility, but when the phone rings, all we know is “they found us on the internet.”

What does a business blogging consultant do?

In addition to helping you research article topics, we help you keep going.  Like a 12-step sponsor, we are your cheerleaders pushing you along and giving you words of encouragement.  We cannot prevent you from falling off the wagon, but when it comes to getting back on track, we can help pick up the pieces and get you into working order.

Business blogging consultants also give editorial guidance.  Blog articles must be in YOUR voice, but having a trained editor who understands search engine visibility can be invaluable in helping you get noticed faster.  Google and Yahoo will be the ultimate arbiters of your listing, but having an industry expert will help keep you on track and over the long haul, Google and Yahoo will list you high because of the consistency.

Today’s economy is tough, the recession we are entering is likely to be deep and long.  Marketing your business now is critical to survival.  Get online today.  Start blogging once or twice a week and take your place high up on the search engines.  Don’t lean on the crutch excuse, “Life Happens.”

Ed Bejarana
Business Blogging Consultant
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Search engine visibility is based on time and content relevancy to the search phrase.  Search engines, like Google, Yahoo and MSN, make money from advertisers buying time with searchers.  The more searchers, the higher the value for the ad space.  Internet users value speed and accuracy from their search engine.  Not speed as in how long it takes to produce a search result, but how long it takes to find what is desired.  When business blogging correctly, the search engines value the content higher than traditional webpages.  The question of why requires some statistical analysis for complete understanding.

Pew Internet & American Life Project reports 70% of American adults use the internet on a daily basis.  Pew also reports 49% of all daily American adult internet users turn to the search engines for information.  With more than 110 million search site users everyday, capturing those eyes have become big business.  Teams of programmers have created complicated algorithms to evaluate your internet content against what internet users are searching for.  Blog technology has a leg up with the computer generated content review programs because they are time and content rich.

More and more internet users are getting their news and information online.  Pew reports that 39% of American adult internet users get news online.  Search engines are giving blog sites quick access to high search results because of the news value.  When written clearly, internet postings on blog sites can appear on the first page of Google in a few minutes.  However, because of the time factor considered by the search engines, blog articles usually are short-lived on the first page.  Knowing this fact, business bloggers publish regularly on topics that interest their customers and prospects.  For most small business owners, publishing once or twice a week is plenty.

20% of all American adult internet users look for information on products and services they need or want daily (Pew - September 2007).  11% of American adult internet users read someone else’s online journal or blog daily.  With an increased number of businesses using blogs to deliver news based product and service information, we expect blog readership will increase exponentially over the coming months.  With only 5% of the American adult internet users writing for their own blog, small business bloggers have prime opportunities to use blogging technology to capture large volumes of internet traffic.  Since many blog hosting companies don’t charge monthly or annual fees for blog hosting, business blogging is one of the most economical marketing opportunities.

Putting all the data together, by business blogging, business owners can reach tens of millions of qualified consumers on a daily bases without investing large sums of money.  While time is money in most business operations, blogging, when done correctly, doesn’t consume vast amounts of time.  Businesses, like BusinessBlogging.net (a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc), have reasonably priced services to teach business owners how to blog effectively and efficiently.

Blogging and social marketing will be around for many years to come.  Web 2.0 technologies are built with the same technology that is driving today’s business blog sites.  Now is a great time to capitalize on the recession to introduce a new marketing medium that doesn’t cost a lot of money but reaches vast numbers of American consumers.

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Business blogging is often a narrative of your current business trends.  If times are good, then your blog articles will have a positive, “can do” spirit.  If times are rough, then you are more likely to write articles with a tone of desperation.  Which type of article do you think your reader is more interested in?

How do you prevent negative tones from creeping into your publications?

Planning and organization.  If business blogging is a reflection of current business trends, then add a new spin to your business plan.  Writing about new business opportunities can be an effective way to pull your mood out of the doldrums.  Sit down with a note pad and pen and write five things you wish your business could do.  Pick one of the five and write a mini business plan.  Using the business plan as a blue print, start blogging.

Business blogging can sometimes be a way to flush out good ideas.  One of the reasons we use a Personality Based Marketing approach is so we can use the medium to do some self-talk.  Don’t confuse self-talk with talking to yourself.  Self-talk is a natural part of life, writing your self-talk words is not; be careful to avoid negative self-talk.  Your readers don’t want to read articles that are negative.  Writing positive self-talk thoughts can be a source of inspiration for others.  If readers are inspired, they will become regular subscribers to your blog site.

Right now your little voice is probably saying, “Easy for him to say, he writes about how people should write.  We sell stuff, self-talk is stupid, our customers will get turned off.”  That is negative self-talk and it took no time at all to consume your mind.  Please allow me to talk directly to your inner “negative” voice.

“Well Mr Know-It-All.  Are your customers going to like hearing the sky is falling–buy my stuff?  Or would your customer appreciate knowing you understand economic times and are using your blog site to share ideas?  Positive self-talk is constructive idea building.  Sharing your thoughts on how to improve your services is presenting a model for your customer to evaluate.  Don’t forget that in addition to buying stuff, your customers are buying you.  A positive attitude can be point of differentiation that will help you close more deals.”

Ok, enough of talking to your inner voice.  How do you prefer to feel on a daily basis.  Your mom told you, “think happy thoughts.”  The advice was sound, use your blog-site to get those happy thoughts in a place where others can read them and you will become a source of inspiration.

Your inner voice did have one good point.  Your blog site is not a self-improvement, it is built to market you and your company.  The self-talk topics need to revolve around your target keywords and be delivered from your personal perspective.  If you are feeling the urge to talk about politics, great, start a new personal blogsite and type away.

Last point.  During tough economic times, the never-popular sales pitch will try to kick down a door into your article.  Bolt that door shut.  If you are struggling economicly, then so are your clients and prospects.  No body is going to read a sales presentation if they don’t have money.  Attract these customers through your ideas and inner thoughts.  Provide links to your company website in every article you write; if the reader wants to learn more, they will click over.

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

For more information about how we can help you get started business blogging, please call me at (503) 709-1454.

An April 2003 Pew study found that 56% of all internet users consider the internet a source of entertainment.  How?  The same why you already tell fun stories to your best clients.  Right now you probably wouldn’t share a story about your children with a total stranger, but you would with a valued client; why?  Valued clients value us as people and as people, we have stories to share.  Entertain your readership with insightful stories about yourself and how what you do for a living has changed you outlook on life.  Do try to teach a lesson or draw a parallel with buying from you.  On a blog site it is acceptable to just share news.

When getting personal on your blog site, avoid any subject that would be socially unacceptable told to a group of parents attending a Jr. High School assembly.  Never be crude, racial, sexist or judgmental.  Your blog site is not the bar where you and your best friends swap stories.  Always be professional, but let down your hair (so to speak) and allow the reader to see a part of you reserved for only only best clients.

Treat strangers like your best clients and they just might be.

Educating your reader is the most common approach.  For that reason, I suggest you educate sparingly.  Every other business blog site (this one included) teaches.  Stand out int he crowd when ever possible, but don’t ignore the power of establishing yourself as the expert.  Just keep in mind that your reader should never be held hostage to doing business with you to gain the lesson.  Give away your knowledge and your reader will trust you.

What does it mean to engage someone?  People struggle with life.  TV, radio, news papers and the internet are filled with negative energy.  While making negative statements can be engaging, I am suggesting you be different.  Engage your readers with a positive attitude.  Become the online equivalent of a motivational blogger.  Give powerful advice that can help change someone’s life.  Pretend your reader just asked you for your advice on a particular subject.  Your article should be the positive “can-do” speech you would give your very best friend.

Like ALL marketing activities, business blogging requires careful attention to details.  Pick your topic based on things people are searching.  Use free internet tools, like Google’s Keyword Tool, to find popular keyword phrases and associated searches, then outline what you want to say.  Write, then re-write and edit once again.  Ask a friend to read through what you’ve written.  Edit, edit, edit.  To help you get started, refer back to “Things to do when starting a blog article” for more information about getting started with your article.

You can also reference our business blogging wiki for detailed information on Personality Based Marketing and Blogging.

Happy business blogging!

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

For more information about our business blogging services, please call (503) 709-1454 or eMail me directly at ed@zenithexhibits.com.

Today is election day and by tomorrow (hopefully) we will have a new President, but the problems facing business owners will not end when we swear in a new leader.  Recessionary times call for an increase in marketing activity and if you are already blogging you may be struggling with what I call, economically induced writers block.  How do you write business blog articles when every minute of phone silence is nerve racking.  Seeing employees sitting around with nothing to do and machines not running conjures up horrible thoughts of layoffs and salary cuts.  Feelings like these suppress creativity and allow panic and worry to creep into articles your publish.  Your readers feel your pain and, out of self-defense, seek other more happier articles to read.

Here are a few tips and suggestions for dealing with economically induced writers block.

1.  Take your wife, child or dog to the park.

Joy is always attached to those we love and it is joy we want to bring to every article we write.  Sit on a park bench with your spouse and gaze into their eyes and run your fingers through their hair.  The electricity of the moment will erase every bad feeling in your body.  The simple pleasures of watching your dog chase a tennis ball will help you find a way to put a side your business problems, if even for just a few hours.  Think back to the joys of your child’s birth, then watch him or her play on the swings.  Take special note of a child’s ability to be in the moment.  Learn from your child, let love and fun return to your mind.

2.  Read an inspirational book.

I love “Who Moved My Cheese” and “The Present“.  These books are always with in reach.  Both are quick reads and will leave you feeling better about life and charged about moving forward.  Another great book is The Go Getter.  While less of an inspirational book, this read will leave you feeling like a super hero ready to take on the world.

3.  Attend a seminar or business class at you Small Business Development Center.

Being around other business people in a learning environment can be a great boost to your spirits.  Knowing you are not alone and hearing ideas on how to grow your business will always help pull you out of the writer’s doldrums.

4.  Take a walk

Fresh air and new sounds can stimulate the creative juices.  While you way be turned off by walking in the rain, sometimes when we get wet and totally out of our protected environment we find new ways to see life.

The most important aspect of business blogging is keeping a positive “can do” spirit.  When ever you feel your writing is going negative, take some time for yourself and find that happy spot.

Happy Blogging!

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

For more information on how to use business blogging to help promote your business, you can reach us by phone (503) 709-1454 or eMail Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm PST.

This past week I went out fishing with my good friend Ken “Bear” Cole.  Ken owns and operates Fishing With Bear, a fishing guide service for the Portland Metro Area.  Over the past several months I’ve helped Ken with his website and business blogging effort and I’ve gotten to know him as a friend, but I’ve also learned a lot about my own business through our relationship.

Fishing is a LOT like running a business.  Everything from the type of fishing line, the type of rod and reel to the hook and bait make a difference on your being able to catch.  Also, hooking the fish doesn’t mean you’ll close the deal.  Sometimes the fish fights back, leaps from the water and spits out the hook; leaving you to start over again after expending effort.  The last time we went out fishing I hooked 13 fish, but only got 8 in the boat.  Still enough to feed my family, but those five fish that got away will never bite on my hook again.

How do we react, as business owners, in the same situation?  We invest money in fancy web-sites, expensive trade show displays and slick marketing materials and end up in a dance with our prospects that sometimes ends in miserable failure.  We justify the loss with sayings like, “you can’t win them all” or “every no leads me closer to a yes.”  Most of the time we fail to learn from our mistakes only to doom ourselves to repeating them over and over again.

While on the boat, after having lost my third fish off the line, Bear gave me some great advice, “don’t fight the fish too hard, let him have some line and reel him in slower.”  I was over pulling the line and ripping the hook right out of the fishes mouth.  I pull my line back in the water and almost immediately hooked another fish; this time getting it into the boat.  Ken held up the fish with the hook in his mouth and pointed out that I was actually hooked on the outside of the fishes mouth.  Had I pulled hard, the hook would have pulled through.

Sometimes we catch our customers with a slick campaign but misunderstand success to mean the program works, when in reality the hook wasn’t set and the customer never does business with us again.  Business, like in fishing, requires a solid connection with the customer.  Building a trusting relationship requires time and patience and that always costs money.  Targeting a single sale with any one client isn’t building a long term relationship, making sure the hook is set in the right place will make for a stronger connection and a better bond with the client.

Business blogging through a Personality Based Approach gives the customer a better insight into you as a person.  Knowing “you” is an important product or service differentiation.  If your client is presented with two competing opportunities to fill a need, but likes your views and believes, you will have the long term advantage.

The moral of my fishing experience with Bear is understand why the fish got away and you’ll be better equipped to bring the next one into the boat.  I also learned it is good to get away from the office from time to time and see my business from a different perspective.

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

To learn more information about how Personality Based Marketing can help you and your business, please call me at (503) 709-1454.

Social marketing via business blogging is the process of publishing articles the consumer base wants to read.  Last week week we took a big picture look at the process of picking your topics.  This week we will dive deeper into how to format your article such that the search engines and the consumer base like what you write.

The key to this process is knowing the associated keywords for your main topic.  We’ve constructed an example page on our business blogging wiki site that teaches you how to cross reference associated keyword phrases.  This process involves finding those keyword search phrases the search engines consider related; then including these associated keyword phrases in your article.

Including known associated keyword search phrases help bolster the relevancy rating of your article.  High relevancy ratings equals higher search engine visibility.  There is, of course, a catch.  The article you write must be interesting.  You can not just list your keywords in bullet points and proceed to make a sales presentation.

How do you make your article interesting?

You can take a position on something related to the keyword search phrase and make a professional statement; then support your reason for this position.  This blog site you are reading is one example of this type of approach.

You can write in a fictional character to help tell a story that supports your ideas.  You can see an example of this process by visiting my personal blog site.

You can present your personal history which led you to your chosen profession.  As the editor of the East Portland Chamber of Commerce Business Blog, I help chamber members structure their articles in this format when they are hosting a chamber event.  Visit the chamber blog site to see numerous examples of this style of writing.

Writing interesting articles is a learned art and requires practice.  Start by writing things that interest you and find a friend or close confidant to act as your proof reader/sounding board.  Don’t talk about your article with your friend.  Write it out and allow them to review your written product.  I will write more on this concept in the next article, but think of your writings as a pressure cooker. if you let out the steam you lose some effectiveness.

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

For more information on how to use business blogging to help promote your business, you can reach us by phone (503) 709-1454 or eMail Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm PST.

Business blogging is topically focused social marketing.  We have created this site to help business owners understand the power and cost benefits of including business blogging as part of your over-all marketing strategy.

The basic premises behind business blogging is to capture readers who are surfing the web for things of interest.  More often than not, internet users browse the web as a source of entertainment (Pew Research study 2003).  if your business isn’t valued as something entertaining, then more than half of all internet searchers will skip you and your message.

Who determines if your article is entertaining?  The search engines exist to present searchers results that satisfy the search topic.  Knowing the facts as stated by the Pew research group, search engines add more weight to the articles that are topically focused, popular, and relevantly balanced.  If the secret search engine equation says your article is entertaining, then it is shown high in the search results.

What constitutes written entertainment?  Since search engine spiders still cannot make a personal judgment call, the process is broken down into a mathematical equation.  Search engine companies keep a very close guard on their formulas, so nobody really knows for sure how they measure article value.  We are assuming the Flesch Reading Ease formula is at least partially in play.

Skipping over the formula, I believe there is an easier way to determine entertainment value.  When you give it to your personal editors, do they like it?  At the end of the article, does your reader have more knowledge, feel happier, or want to read more?  Then it is entertaining.

Before you can write an entertaining article, we must first make sure we are writing on a topic people are searching for on the internet.  Using free tools provided by the search engines, you can look up average searches per month for any keyword search phrase.  Start by picking five or six different article topics and then use Google’s keyword tool to see if there is enough traffic.  How much traffic is enough traffic will vary based on your industry.  If you are in a very competitive market, then you many only need a few thousand searches per month on a longer, more specific keyword phrase.

The last consideration for topically focused social marketing is making sure you keep your article focused.  Write on one topic at a time.  Don’t try to introduce multiple topics in a single article because the over all relevancy rating will be significantly lower.  Again, keeping in mind that the search engines are in business to give searches what they are searching for in as few searches as possible, the clearer your article is on topic the better.

Let’s recap.  Business blogging is a very viable marketing tool, but to be effective, your articles must be:

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

If you are interested in learning more about how Zenith Exhibits can help your company start business blogging, then please call us at (503) 709-1454 or eMail me at ed@zenithexhibits.com

Business blogging, like all marketing activities, requires careful planning.  Picking popular search topics, writing in human interest format, staying focused, and being audience specific will drive attention to your articles.  The organization does not stop there.  Your planning must also include a reason for the reader to click on the next link.  No sales pitch is allow, so enticing a reader to learn more becomes very difficult hence the reason for all the up front planning.

What you write needs to be fun, educational and/or inspirational because more often than not when the reader finds you they are browsing the net as a source of entertainment.  There is no bigger turnoff than a direct sales assault to someone who is looking for something to pass the time.  It is the same as receiving a telemarketing call during dinner time.

How do you write business articles in a human interest format?  One way is to tell a story.  Great motivational speakers know the secret of getting a point across is to put the lesson in the form of an entertaining story.  This week, on my personal blog site, I’ve written a fictional story about a busy company executive who struggles to get organized.  “Putoff Pete”, like so many business people, tries to use blog technology to advance his company’s marketing message, but as you’ll discover in the story, Pete is not giving the marketing effort its just attention.

How do you pick popular topics?  Google has a great tool to help you find keyword phrases.  Starting with the keywords on your business website, find the most popular key phrase and isolate one aspect in which to write.  Using associated keyword phrases from Google for your target keyword, create a story that gives the reader value for their time.  You need to reward the reader for giving you their attention.  Just make sure the reward isn’t in the form of some sales pitch.

When I say stay focused, I mean, pick a topic, make an opening statement supporting your point of view and then back up your position.  In the case of Putoff Pete, the main lesson from the story was to pick a calmer environment to do your business blogging organization.  For Simple Sally last week, the lesson was don’t try to blog on your time off.  Your environment and personal motivations will influence what and how you write.  Putting yourself into a calm environment that is supportive of your working process will help keep you focused and this will carry through to your blog article.

My last point is be audience specific.  If you are writing for women who own their own business, then make sure you have that target audience identified within your article.  You may need to visit several websites to capture the essence of how your target audience communicates, but the closer you write to the way your audience thinks the more successful your article.  Your blog site is “your” site and you can write as much or as little as you wish.

Business blogging is an important business marketing vehicle and your job is to give it as much professional attention as you would any other marketing campaign.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc
BusinessBlogging.net

Business blogging using a personality based marketing approach is an effective way to capture attention from people surfing the net.  By utilizing creative forms of writing you can capture the attention of internet users who are browsing the internet as a form of entertainment.  One way to increase the entertainment perception of your article is to introduce fictional characters with whom you interact to deliver a business message that engages, entertains or educates the reader.

To better understand the reasons for writing entertainment focused articles, we need to examine a few numbers.  First, per the Internet World Stats website, there are over 238 million internet users in North America (www.internetworldstats.com).  Per a Pew Internet Study from April 2003, 72% of all internet users agree that the “internet would help them find out things more easily.”  Last, and maybe the most important statistic from the same 2003 Pew research study is 50% of internet users “believe the internet is mostly a form of entertainment.”

The goal of any business blog article should be to bring new visitors to your company website.  The selling process should be deferred until the reader of your blog article wishes to seek more information about you or your business.  To this end, when writing your blog article, it is important to avoid closing the deal in your story.  Use traditional creative-writing practices to build credibility with your readers.

When using fictional characters in your story, follow traditional character development procedures, which can be found in any number of books available from your local library.  Another approach would be to search the web for tips on creating characters; our web site can be viewed by clicking here.

In a recent story I wrote for a personal blog, I introduced a woman named Simple Sally.  Simple Sally is a smart woman, but she wants everything broken down to simple steps.  When things appear too difficult she struggles to overcome the obstacles.  By fully developing Simple Sally’s character profile, I will be able to use her again and again in stories where I need to illustrate the challenge of keeping business blogging simple.

For more information about creating your own business blog, please visit our companion website or call us to have us help you set up your own blog and get writting today!  (503) 709-1454.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.