Ideas for Business

If you’re new to business blogging, then you might like to have a book by your side to use as a resource.  My new book, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies, is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all other online and offline sellers, and it’s a very comprehensive reference tool for any blogger who is still trying to learn his or her way around the blogosphere and social Web.

Blogging All-in-One for Dummies is over 700 pages and is made up of 8 minibooks that teach anything and everything that beginners need to know to become active bloggers who are welcome members of the blogging community.  When you read this book, you’ll learn how to choose a blogging application, start a blog, publish content, make money from your blog, and grow your blog’s audience.

Business bloggers will be particularly interested in the minibook about business and corporate blogging as well as the minibook about niche blogging, which is essential for businesses who need to raise brand awareness through their blogs, position their brands effectively, and find their target audiences across the social Web in order to deliver their brand messages.  Since I’m a marketer by profession, much of Blogging All-in-One for Dummies touches on business-related subjects.  I can’t help myself!

While a book shouldn’t replace your ongoing online learning, they are a great supplemental tool to help learn the basics of blogging.  My hope is that Blogging All-in-One for Dummies not only teaches the basics of blogging but also teaches bloggers how to set up and maintain successful blogs that enable them to meet their unique blogging goals.

Following is an overview of Blogging All-in-One for Dummies from the back cover:

Prepare to launch into the blogosphere — here’s your ticket!

What do you want to tell the world? Get started today with this guide to creating and solidifying your place in the blogosphere. You’ll discover all the strategies and tools you’ll need to launch a blog and get noticed. From selecting a platform and writing your first post to including ads and using Twitter, you’ll be piloting a blog in no time!

• What’s your niche? — follow guidelines to choose a niche and set your blog up for success
• Build your business — create a business blog marketing plan and choose business bloggers
• Make the right decision — select the best blogging applications and blog hosts to meet your goals
• Extend and enhance your blog — from optimizing your content for search engines to creating blog feeds, get up to speed on the available tools
• Gain a following — discover the secrets of blogging success as you market your blog and build a community
• Show me the money — find out how to earn income by adding blog advertising, publishing sponsored reviews, and selling merchandise
• Enter the world of microblogging — learn how to create your Twitter profile, follow other users, write and publish tweets, and more

Open the book and find:

• Advice on choosing a blog topic
• The rules of the blogosphere
• Tips on selecting the right blogging application
• How to write to attract search engines
• Ways to analyze your blog’s performance
• How to find and edit images to spice up your posts
• Guidance on creating a podcast or vlog
• Secrets of making money from your blog

8 books in 1

• Joining the Blogosphere
• Niche Blogging
• Corporate and Business Blogging
• Choosing a Blogging Application
• Blogging Tools
• Promoting and Growing Your Blog
• Making Money from Your Blog
• Microblogging with Twitter

Who’s better qualified to sell SEO services than your local newspaper? Well, Wal-Mart started selling SEO in 2007. Now, your local newspaper is getting in on the action. I guess we could conclude that SEO is in very high demand. If small business owners didn’t have a crooked eye on the SEO industry before, they should [...]

In conjunction with ClickZ, OMS has launched its 2010 23-City Tour from Seattle to New York and is coming to Minneapolis June 25th.  OMS had an event in the Twin Cities last year at about the same time and provided a great mix of education and networking opportunity for internet marketers of all types.

Best practices in Social Media, Search, Email, Analytics, Demand Generation and Website Strategy are planned for each OMS event. Aaron Kahlow and the OMS team have assembled a great group of thought-leaders, authors, world-class brand marketers and leading online practitioners from companies like: Kodak, REI, DuPont, Wharton, Google AdWords and of course, TopRank Online Marketing, to share their experiences and successes from the front lines of internet marketing.

At last year’s OMS Minneapolis event, I presented on “Making a Case for Social Media Marketing“. This year  I will be presenting on what I believe to be the most important trend that combines the best of SEO, Social Media and Online PR:  Content Marketing Optimization.

Here are the details of that session:

Content Marketing Optimization: Online marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers world-wide are seeking real advantages that will improve the efficiency and impact of their Social Media and SEO efforts. This session provides unique insight into content based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for the sourcing, creation and promotion of optimized content on the social web.

It’s not that often that the Twin Cities gets outside marketing conferences and OMS has really perfected their ability to offer a mix of national and local expertise.  Each OMS event includes:

• A Social Media Training Workshop and Breakfast offered by the Online Marketing Institute in association with Wharton Interactive Media Initiative
• Networking opportunities with industry experts and hundreds of peers in sales-free environment
• Panels and sessions covering basics to advanced tactics

You can get more information about OMS Minneapolis from their site and you can also drop a comment below. I am happy to answer any questions.

Incidentally, I will be giving away our new 50+ page guide to Content Marketing Optimization at the event, so be sure you register and plan to attend.  The guide offers several case studies, trends, insights and of course:

I. Content Marketing Optimization Goals
II. Search and Social Media Keyword Research
III. Buyer Personas & Buying Cycle
IV. Understand the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Landscape
V. Inventory and Assess Current Digital Assets
VI. Define Editorial Guide For New Content
VII. Map Keywords to Current Assets, Content and Future Editorial
VIII. Operationalize Content Optimization with Current Processes
IX. Develop & Optimize Off-Page Digital Assets
X. Develop Channels of Distribution for Digital Media Promotion
XI. Implement Search Marketing, Web Analytics & Social Media Monitoring Tools

This extremely detailed guide will only be offered to attendees of OMS Minneapolis weeks before it’s available to TopRank Marketing Newsletter subscribers.

---

© Online Marketing Blog, 2010. | Online Marketing Summit Minneapolis 2010 | No comment | http://www.toprankblog.com

Recently, I put out a call for business submissions asking people who use WordPress or another blogging application for their company websites (not just business blogs) to submit their URLs for a new series here on BusinessLogs that showcases businesses using blogging applications in cool ways.

Today is Day 1 of the new WordPress for Business Websites series, and the first company website to be highlighted is Accelerated Business Results.

When Laura Mattis of Accelerated Business Results provided the URL to her company website, which is built on WordPress, here is what she had to say:

“My company just recently updated their website. We made the move to WordPress and have been thrilled. We’re doing some creative and valuable things on the web-front these days, especially in the SharePoint and WordPress spaces.”

Take a lesson from Accelerated Business Results, and check out the screenshots and commentary below to see just how great WordPress can make a website look!

The use of color and the clean layout makes it easy to read the content on the Accelerated Business Results site.

Notice the coupon on the right side of the page shown below!

Some products and services can be purchased immediately through the site!

The site also includes a business blog.

Accelerated Business Results adds a multimedia element to its site with video blog posts.

Blog posts include blogger bios and an easy to read comment area.

Can you believe this website was built on WordPress?

To have your website considered for the WordPress for Business Websites here on BusinessLogs, follow this link, and leave a comment on the Call for Business Submissions post with your company website’s URL.

You’d had to have been hiding under a rock for the past year not to have heard the noise about Facebook’s privacy policies. Well, today some really big news broke. Facebook is revamping its policies. Among the new changes to Facebook’s privacy policy include: One click blocking of third party websites One click application blocking Simpler options on who [...]