Business Blog Advice

If you operate a blog as part of your Internet marketing program, but you don’t currently use WordPress, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I use both WordPress and Blogger for the various blogs I publish, but I like WordPress more each time I use it.

What do I like about WordPress?

1. Quick Setup - Once you know your way around the admin area of WordPress, you can setup and customize a new blog in just a few hours. In fact, just last week I launched an information blog about real estate, and it took me all of 4 hours to get it set up how I wanted (from a functional standpoint, at least).

2. Collaboration Tools - Most blog applications have some way to assign multiple authors with varying levels of permission. But I don’t think any of them do it as well as WordPress. You can create a sign-up page to allow authors to create their own user name. The system generates their password, and stands by for your approval. What could be easier?

3. Search Engine Visible - I won’t go into the technical details of WordPress configuration (although I’d be happy to chat with you about over the phone). But suffice it to say that WordPress blogs are built in a way that makes them much easier to drive up the search engine rankings. Of course, you have to supply the quality content. But the blog sure pulls its weight!

~Brandon

I just received the following question about my blogging guide, so I thought I would share it on the blog in case anyone else has the same question.

Question:

I would like to know if your blogging guide is helpful for blogs in blogger.com and wordpress.com  for search engine ranking.

Answer:

Yes, the strategies I’ve outlined in this guide can be applied to any blog, whether it’s hosted by Blogger, Wordpress, or on the author’s web domain.

I ususally recommend to my clients that they put a blog onto a domain that they own. But that’s more for security and management reasons. The blogging SEO strategies I teach in the book can be applied to any blog.

~Brandon

Some longtime bloggers have assembled their own list of best practices for corporate blogging.

A notable quote comes from Shel Israel, co-author of the blogging book Naked Conversations.

Shel says:

“To be effective every now and then you need to do something risky, and attract attention. When you take risks you increase the chance of making a mistake, show that you are a real person. People see organizations as an ‘it.’ “

I agree with this notion, because I feel the corporate leaders who are waiting for a “best practices” book on blogging are missing the point of blogging. Blogs foster ideas and innovation, but only when you get out their and take a leap of courage. If you’re waiting for a blogging blueprint of best practices to emerge, your corporate blog will be destined to follow a trail blazed by somebody else.

~Brandon

Michael Fitzgibbon, a labor lawyer from Ontario, has written an interesting post about corporate blogging / CEO blogging that brings up the question (can of worms?) of employee blogging, legal issues, etc.

Michael seems to share my belief that most concerns over corporate blogging come down to people issues, not technology issues. The technology may give certain “bad apples” a powerful medium, but it still starts as a people issue that can be prevented through good old-fashioned people skills.

Michael puts it more eloquently than I:

“…employers can’t ever fully protect themselves from the ‘rogue’ employee who chooses to use technology to further their own purposes. Employers can, and should, put in place policies and practices that minimize the risk. They can, and should, educate employees about the proper use of technology, but, in the end, it comes down to trust…”

Read Michael’s post

~Brandon

Sony CEO Jack Tretton recently threw down a gauntlet that was immediately accepted, mostly by tech bloggers.

In a overwhelming fit of corporate pride, Tretton said he would pay $1,200 for any PlayStation 3 (PS3) still on the store shelves. The bounty was testament to Tretton’s belief that the PS3 was such a hot seller you simply couldn’t find it in stores.

Okay, so he is enthusiastic about his product. That’s probably something all CEOs can learn from. But here’s where Mr. Tretton’s judgment took a nose-dive (in this observer’s humble opinion). When some popular gaming bloggers creatively took up his challenge, Tretton belittled them by saying: “We have a new phenomenon as well in recent years, something we didn’t have during the PlayStation or PlayStation 2. And that is everybody is a journalist - if you have a PC, then you’re a journalist.”

In light of these amusing events, I have a few words of business advice for Mr. Tretton:

Never alienate your customer base. In the future, you should realize that the popular tech and gaming bloggers (A) are more connected with your customer base than you are, (B) influence the purchasing decisions of your customer base, and (C) often ARE your customer base.

What would have been a better way to handle these bloggers who accepted his challenge?

Maybe a good-spirited “Nice work fellas. You sure rose to the challenge.” Followed, of course, by a highly visible check-presentation ceremony where the CEO lives up to his words. Anything would be better than belittling somebody for accepting a challenge that you yourself threw down.

Corporate executives should never underestimate the power of influential bloggers, especially when those bloggers are closely connected with their core customer base. If you are wise, you will not dismiss such folks as being quasi-media. You will realize that they are, in fact, the new media. As far as your customers are concerned.
~Brandon

Ross Dawson outlines some global trends for 2007 that he feels will have a continued impact on the highly networked world we live in. Aptly, he calls it Five Global Trends for 2007.

One of the points he makes is about longer working hours. Ross makes the point that “technology has helped create business. But as we have more ways to communicate with each other, we keep adding to our communication load and what we have to get done.”

Sometimes I feel this way about blogging.

I ask myself, “Do the benefits of blogging outweigh the fact that I have one more thing do each day?” Inevitably, I answer this in the affirmative. For me, blogging is an integral part of my business. Not just here at CEO Blog Watch, but through the many blogs I maintain. I am firmly entrenched with Web 2.0.
But how does this apply to corporate blogging in general? Do the benefits of a blog justify the time and effort spent on upkeep? Obviously, this question cannot be answered across the board, as situations vary from company to company.

In my opinion, it goes both ways. The benefits of a corporate blog vary in direct relation to the amount of effort put into it. It’s a slope with burden at one end and benefits at the other end. When the corporate blog is poorly executed, the burden is there but the benefits are scarce. But when the corporate blog is carried out with passion, enthusiasm and healthy dose of best blogging practices, the benefits will eventually outweigh the burden of upkeep.

I guess as long as you down off the slope and break something, you’re doing all right.

~Brandon 

What better way to educate your audience and your base than through a blog. Dr. Len, from the American Cancer Society, realizes this.

Dr. Len’s Cancer Blog is one of the best health-related blogs I’ve read in some time. In fact, I might go so far as to say it’s one of my favorite non-profit blogs, period. Dr. Len always has something important to share through his blog, with topics ranging from new breast cancer treatments to the disputed correlation between CT scans and lung cancer.

Dr. Len puts his own interpretation on research topics, too. This is another hallmark of a great health-related blog.

~Brandon 

The new blogging guide (”The Triangle System: Blogging Your Way up the Search Engines”) is getting some buzz in marketing circles.

So if you haven’t yet downloaded a copy of the blogging guide, I’d like to offer the following incentive:

On page 34 of this guide, you’ll learn one of the simplest ways to increase your blog’s search engine visibility. It represents one-third of the overall Triangle System taught in this book, and it’s something you can do in less than ten minutes a day.

You’ll learn all about it — in addition to the rest of the strategy — when you download your copy of the blogging guide.

Happy blogging, and have a great weekend!

~Brandon

Ideas, advice and musings from the corporate blogosphere…

Alan Meckler of Jupitermedia strongly recommends you check out the Google Scholar program.

Bob Lutz shares his thoughts on GM’s new eco-friendly Chevrolet Volt, powered by a new electric propulsion system.

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, explains his beef with Google Video and YouTube, as it pertains to video piracy.

Richard Edelman of Edelman PR paints a stark picture of doing business with a less-than-democratic nation.

Robert Scoble of PodTech.net praises a presenter from the LIFT technology conference.

Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop, explains how to take your B2B email marketing program to the next level.

Ted Leonsis from AOL wishes happy birthday to the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, one of the charities he supports.

Zane Safrit of Conference Calls Unlimited uses a prison map to put a bad day at the office back into perspective.

Steve Cody, co-founder of the Peppercom PR firm, draws a correlation between ‘B’ names and media scrutiny.

Valerie McSwain, a guest blogger on Bill Marriott’s blog, gives a candid and heartfelt testimony of Marriott’s Pathways program. (Brandon’s favorite)

Robin Hopper, CEO of iUpload, recounts a NY Times story that encourages CEOs to embrace the blog.

Our coverage of CEO and corporate blogs is based on a random system of happenstance and whim. But if you’d like your blog added to our coverage list, please send an email or drop a comment below.

Happy blogging!

~Brandon

Using several blogs at once to experiment, I’ve developed a publishing system that can dramatically improve your search engine ranking.

I call it the Triangle System, because there are three primary parts or “sides” to this blogging strategy. In the book, I’ve laid it all out for you in simple, step-by-step fashion.

So if you operate a business blog, a marketing blog, or any other blog that supports some kind of business goal, you owe it to yourself to download a copy of this blogging guide.

Learn more about this new blogging guide.

~Brandon