Are you blogging for your business yet?

JP

I`m new to the SuN community and was wondering who`s already using blogs to market their business. If you are blogging for your business -- how are you using your blog to promote your business, influence your target audience, and build relationships with your customers?Share your wins... and your challenges!Aloha!
JP2006-8-25 17:30:57

amacgi1

We launched our blog this week. We decided to call it Diary of a Startup as we intend for it to be a record of sorts of how we`ve launched and started to grow our business.
As best I can tell we`ve seen a decent amount of traffic over the course of the first 3 days somewhere in the ballpark of 300 - 350 unique visitors. Mostly from social bookmarking and about 45 subscribers to our RSS feed.
What I`m wondering, and what I haven`t seen a lot of information on, is how to convert blog visitors into website visitors?
Any thoughts?
Andrewamacgi12006-8-25 18:21:12

JP

Wow Kim! You`ve got some really great content on your blog! And your posting consistency is terrific too. Perfect with the high blog usage your niche gets.Have you considered using a self-hosted blog on your own domain so you get the inbound links and page rank beneftis instead of Google (blogspot)?

JP

...how to convert blog visitors into website visitors?
Any thoughts?
AndrewAloha Andrew, Great to see you started with your business blog on the company domain. Makes things much easier, and your New Media Marketing much more effective. And you`re ahead of the curve with leveraging the social network and tagging sites. Great sources for targeted traffic.On your question of; "...how to convert blog visitors into web site visitors?"Targeted traffic is great, but what are you directing those visitors to do when they get to your business blog? This is where a lot of business people go wrong in listening to the advice of blogging purists and evangelists in that they completely forget about the proven rules of marketing. Contrary to what you may have heard, you can proactively market with your business blog. Marketing, blogs, and business are an excellent promotional blend. To be successful just means using influence and persuasion instead of interruption or mass media style marketing.It`s true that a well planned business blog is a powerful tool for building relationships, opening a dialog, and developing trust with your audience. But you still need to influence those visitors to take the next step in developing a relationship with you. A blog on it`s own is not enough to do that. At the very least a good starting point is adding a free download offer in the visual hot zone (upper left corner) of your business blog. An offer for something that will benefit a visitor from your target audience. And keep in mind that an offer to sign up for a "newsletter" is not going to be sufficient incentive for people to hand over even their first name and email address. Add that registration incentive and that will take care of the most important step in moving strangers > friends > customers > raving fans. Secondly, for the way your site is designed, I`d strongly suggest integrating your WordPress blog right into the layout. The design template of your company site is well suited for a relatively simple integration. That way you blog "flows" seamlessly with the main site.   For more ideas on blogging for business, check out the current article series we`re running  Blogging For Business: Dispelling Myths and Clearing The Muddy Waters.Enjoy!

farmerscotty

Ok what would I blog on my wood heater site.....I am having a dead brain moment!  But, I know I want to do this.......JP you are a great guy!
 
Scott

JP

I would love to have a blog with my own domain, but, after 18 months or so, how would I ever move it??? Aloha again Kim,Moving your content from Blogger to WordPress is pretty simple for a programmer with the experience. We`ve helped our clients/students find outsource agents who handle that for under a $100.Don`t know what your budget is like, but we`re talking marketing here. And marketing is the only investment you can make in your business (other than your own personal performance) that yields a infinite return on investment. That content on your own domain and the resulting traffic and search engine rankings it will give you is worth quite literally hundreds of times that investment.A complete move of your database may not be the most effective way to move the content. Depending on your content a different strategy called "re purposing" may be much more effective in boosting the rankings/traffic of your site.Anyway, just thought you should know -- it`s not as big a job to move from Blogger or TypePad to WordPress as many people think. Even with hundreds of posts. It`s a pretty straight forward database move.Enjoy!JP

JP

OK what would I blog on my wood heater site.....I am having a dead brain moment!  But, I know I want to do this.......JP you are a great guy!ScottAloha Scott,For you and your situation you could actually use WordPress as a complete Content Management System for your website. You can have static pages (what most people would consider "normal" web pages) created and managed from within the WordPress admin panel. That means you can add new or update existing pages very quickly and simply.As far as blogging and what type of content you`d cover, some ideas might be:    * Case studies of existing installs (to show the simplicity of the system)    * Success stories of current clients (savings in bills, etc.)    * Weather issues related to rural living    * Play off your profession and create a "persona" who shares tips and strategies on a topic most members of your target audience would find value in. For example a name like "the Free Heat Farmer".Hope that helps Scotty. Be sure to sign up for the pre-launch membership for BLOG interactive 360. We`ll be having some free teleclasses leading up to the launch of the home study course.Enjoy!JP

farmerscotty

JP   You have got me something to do the next couple of nights!  Exactly what I need to do!  Your the man with the answers!  Thanks so much!
 
Your new friend in SW Missouri!
 
Scott

petsandperfume

Hi - I noticed in one of the previous posts that someone mentioned hosting their blog at their own domain...
I have just moved my blog from blogger.com to wordpress but I`m not sure how to go from using the wordpress.com site to moving my blog to a page on my own site www.ScentedCandleClub.com</A>?
I use Host4Profit and have FTP software - do you have any simple guides that you can recommend to help me move it over?
Thanks
Daniellle

FreshYields

For you and your situation you could actually use WordPress as a complete Content Management System for your website. You can have static pages (what most people would consider "normal" web pages) created and managed from within the WordPress admin panel. That means you can add new or update existing pages very quickly and simply.This is a great tip for those who would like a simple and free content management system for their website.  We have used Wordpress and Textpattern for many of our client`s sites.  Also, due to it`s xhtml coded-core, we have seen search engines spider wordpress sites more often and effectively.  The template system can be a little intimidating, but once set up, you don;t have to worry about it again.

FreshYields

Oh, and I have been blogging for about 2 years, and my firm has designed around 15 blogs for other companies, usually on top of Wordpress.

JP

Hi - I noticed in one of the previous posts that someone mentioned hosting their blog at their own domain...
I have just moved my blog from blogger.com to wordpress but I`m not sure how to go from using the wordpress.com site to moving my blog to a page on my own site www.ScentedCandleClub.com?
I use Host4Profit and have FTP software - do you have any simple guides that you can recommend to help me move it over?
Thanks
DaniellleAloha Daniellle,The easiest way is to hire someone else to do it. Seriously, as a business owner, unless you`re in the technology/software arena -- your time is better spent elsewhere.We have a team of programmers that we use with our clients and students, but you can hire your own person for just this job by using Elance.com or rentacoder.com It`s fast, easy, and your project posting is free.Title your project appropriately and include a brief description of what you`d like done, and outsource agents will bid on your project. That database move from WordPress.com (the hosted service) to your own WordPress blog installed on your domain.should be anywhere from $50-$100 max.Enjoy!JP

Laura15SP

Dear All:
If you are on the East Coast, I invite you to check out podcamp, taking place in Boston on Sat. Sept. 9 and Sun. the 10th. I met the founder of podcamp, Chris Brogan right here on the SUN message boards. I`ll be making a quick trip from NYC to go check it out. It`s a free event.
http://www.podcamp.org</A>
Hope to see some of you there!
 
lauraLaura15SP2006-9-1 21:58:2

leadstudios

I started a web application/development company not too long ago and implemented wordpress into our site. So far I am just using it to announce some new development/launches we have done. Obviously, I also need to post more. I just am having trouble finding the time. I am wondering how everyone has enough time to keep up with your blogs?Thanks also on some great recommendations on what kind of content to write!
leadstudios2006-11-7 21:27:55

rexiedexie

Hi JP
I use blogs to get site visitors, but I do not have time to write ongoing.
I also use writing communities like writingup.
See below

smartsites

All I can say is if you are not blogging for your business you better start quickly! It`s the best form of marketing you can do online. Another approach to wordpress and typepad would to create a blog that uses your same website design. This is what we do for most of our clients because you don`t have to mess with your existing site or hosting. It doesnt` really matter where your blog is hosted because it`s still promoted your products and services. We actually developed our own blog solution because our clients required more customization and an easier to update and manage platform with the ability to integrate and use it as your existing website if you wanted to. Our blog solution can replace your basic CMS and website solution.