Wow, I am very proud. I am blushing…Denise and I just got a glowing review from TL Pakii Pierce about the blog book, The Build a Better Blog System. You gotta read this, because Thomas really read every page, or so it would seem.
You can read his review by clicking here.
Thank you, Thomas.
And please, don’t forget he is our guest expert next week April 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET, on the Conversations with Experts free teleseries. Click here to read more about the Conversations and T.L. Pakii Pierce…
And the answer to the big question- just why are RSS Feeds important to me, my business, my newsletter and ezine tasks, and for my blogs???
Quite frankly, I don’t know!
But I do know how we can find out! (As soon as I figure out how to upload the file here, you can download a really nifty report that explains what RSS really means to you and your business… And, if I can’t get this thing uploaded, I know that Denise has posted it already over at BizTipsBlog.com, you can get it over there!) Bear with me a sec…
Early on in my blogging career- which was all of 9 months ago- I signed up for an RSS Feeder service. That lasted 2 weeks. I suffered a severe case of Information Overload as I had feeds coming into my inbox from every known media source that looked interesting to me. I cancelled my feeds, went to bed, and decided that adopting my new blog was enough of a family for me and my tiny brain to handle.
So, here we are 9 months later, and because I’ve written about blogs, have become one of those blogging addicts and fanatics, I can no longer ignore the hulabaloo about RSS Feeds. I know somehow they are going to be important if I’m going to tackle and conquer Internet Marketing Strategies.
Well, along comes Rok Hrastnik. He’s written the RSS Bible, and now I’m going to have the pleasure of trying the whole RSS thing out again, this time with a better attitude. RSS has something to do with delivering your messages, blogs & communications. (If it stands for Really Simple Syndication, how come no one but Rok really understands it? Oh, I guess I’m the only dummy…)
Denise Wakeman and I are sponsoring a free booklet that Rok has written. (Don’t you love that name?) I understand that he makes RSS easy as ABC…Here’s the scoop:
The Business Case for RSS
Confused about RSS? Not sure how it can be implemented to support all your marketing strategies? Rok Hrastnik, author of Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS has written an excellent article on The Business Case for RSS, (and it’s free!) Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:
The purpose of this report is to demonstrate just how RSS can help you improve your bottom-line and show you how to integrate it within all of your internet marketing and publishing activities.
You can download it here, with our compliments!
Download rss_the_business_caseBranded.pdf (839.0K)
Yahoo, it worked! I uploaded the file, so you don’t have to go over to get it over at Denise’s blog…
It really is a cool little informational booklet and I have a feeling we’re going to all be learning about RSS soon anyway, so why not be the first on your block?
Here’s the real reason I love blogs; but first, some neat stuff on ROI of business blogs and how to measure it.
Debbie Weil of WordBiz and CEOblog has a new book out, The ROI of Business Blogging. If you want to read more, go to Rok Hrastnik’s MarketingStudies.net blog and to Debbie’s site.
In a nutshell, you can tell your blog is working by traffic to your web site pages, increased search engine rankings, and amount of reader interaction, trackbacks and comments.
But here’s the clincher for me:
"And finally I propose to you: does your blog make your online marketing and communications easier? I know that many of you say one of the reasons you’re not publishing an e-newsletter regularly is that it really does take a lot of time to write and format properly in HTML. But it takes two minutes to publish a blog post. And so instead of sending one long e-newsletter once a month, imagine twice a week publishing a short paragraph – which is delivered to your subscribers via an RSS feed. It’s much easier and quicker to write. It’s easier for people to read. Because a blog is both an instant publishing tool and also a content management tool."
And this is the REAL reason I think blogs are cool! They are easier to do than ezines and newsletters, and can be an opportunity to express with real authenticity the voice behind the typewritten words…
That said, don’t take my word, or Debbie’s, or Rok’s. Come join Denise Wakeman and I Wednesday night for a Conversation with Expert Paul Chaney of Radiant Marketing. Paul is going to talk about the evolution of blogs for business, you won’t want to miss it. We are giving away ebooks and all sorts of bonus gifts. (No, Andy, there is no pony being given away.)
Here’s the link to the PR release on Conversations with Expert Series on Wednesdays: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb227087.htm
These calls are free, but you do need to sign up to get the phone number to call in at 8:30 p.m. ET: Go here to sign up.
Here’s a hint about the line-up of experts coming up:
4/20/2005 Thomas Pierce
4/27/2005 Wayne Hurlbert
5/4/2005 Priya Shah
5/11/2005 Michael Pollock
5/18/2005 Anita Campbell
5/24/2005 (TUESDAY!) BL Ochman
6/1/2005 Yvonne DiVita
Now, if that’s not a bunch of experts, I’m a monkey’s uncle. Of course, you could read what our experts have to say about blogs in our book The Build a Better Blog System, but I think it would be great if you could join us to hear each one speak in person.
Hope to "see" ya on Wednesday!
Patsi
Don’t ask me how we got this Internet Blogging Expert to kick off our Conversations teleseries, but we did! You won’t want to miss what Paul Chaney of Radiant Marketing has to share with us…
Conversations with Experts:
How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of Build a Better Blog System
Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET
April 13, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET – FREE
Guest Expert: Paul Chaney of Radiant Marketing Group, featured in the Build a Better Blog System
The Evolution of Blogs as Business and Marketing Tools
We will discuss the evolution of blogging from its nascency to the current day and beyond. Where has blogging come from and where is it going, and how is business making use of it at present and in the future. Our discussion will cover the various types of blogs that exist currently.
We will discuss “old school” thinking as it applies to blogging versus the new school of thought that blogs can be used as one component of a strategic marketing plan. Other topics will include the advantages of using blogs as marcom [marketing communication] tools, and the benefits businesses can accrue by virtue of using this medium, as well as the business of blogging and how people are actually accruing income via blogs. In what ways blogging is progressing as a profession or career path.
Paul Chaney is Principal of Radiant Marketing Group, a leading business blog consultancy. He is President of Professional Bloggers Association, a professional contract blogger for Weblogs Inc and Creative-Weblogging Network. Paul is Technical Editor and contributing writer for Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies. Prior to beginning Radiant Marketing Group, he was Director of Online Communications for a leading non-profit association. Paul has over nine years of internet marketing experience, and has been a blogger since January 2004.
Registration, click here to get the phone number to call. Don’t forget, Wed., April 13 at 8:30 p.m. ET- it’s free and it’s going to be interesting.
Ready to give birth to Build a Better Blog System ebook!
We’ve corrected all the em dashes and hyphens, linked all the resources, edited all 25 interviews, reduced the size of all the tutorial screen shots, and…ta DAH! Just a little over 24 hours until The Build a Better Blog System ebook is officially born at midnight April 1.
Which reminds me, if you are a preview edition owner, you get the full edition and all the free bonuses, updates, teleseminars, audio files, etc. for only $35.
If you are still thinking about getting a blog up to communicate with your clients and create dynamic customer relationships for your business, now would be a good time to purchase the preview edition at the low price.
This 133-page book gives you step-by-step instructions on everything you’ll need to know to set up a professional business blog through Typepad.com. In addition, there are 25 interviews of successful bloggers for another 86 pages.
The price will go up to $49 at midnight April 1st, so be smart, don’t be an April Fool!
You can order at the preview price of $35 by clicking here.
Here are the bonuses:
1. Access to the Blog-Revolution Private blog with additional blog resources, Q & A’s, and 5 hours audio training.
2. Free pass to the weekly teleseminar "Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line." Each week we invite a worthy professional to share their insights about successful marketing and business tips.
3. Lifetime updates
What can I say, Denise Wakeman and I have spent a lot of time and energy to bring you the best information and tips so that you can have a professional blog that works for you in little time.
Here’s what Yvonne DiVita, of Dickless Marketing fame, says about the ebook:
“You two have done a professional job on this project. I’m truly proud to have been a part of it. In skimming the TOC of the e-book, I can’t find fault with it! You’ve thought of everything.
It’s clear you put a lot of time and energy into this and interviewed some high-powered bloggers who know the inside scoop when it comes to this new, exciting form of building community and connections online."
If you’re still undecided whether blogs are a good idea for your business, read this article: Top Ten Reasons to Do a Blog AND an Ezine…
Patsi
I am going a little nuts here – I mean more than usual. We are editing the interviews of successful bloggers, putting up the finishing touches on our ebook, The Build a Better Blog System.
The problem is that because of the informal nature of writing on a blog, or for online ezines, people now write like they speak – you know what I mean? Instead of commas or semi-colons, everyone uses dashes to interject phrases – just like the way we talk.
But everyone uses them differently! Forget the Chicago Manual of Style! So as we were editing the interviews for the book, we are seeing three common ways of using dashes.
1. People use a double hyphen–like this. Sometimes with a space on both sides — like this, sometimes with no spaces on either side.
2. People use a hyphen instead of a dash. This is most likely because the dash is not on the keyboard. You have to find it under symbols and who wants to take time to do that?
3. People use an en dash instead of the em dash. An en dash is the shorter version of the em dash. With an en dash there is a space on both sides – with an em dash, there are no spaces-you just put it in.
Apparently there are no dashes in the Typepad wysiwyg editor, so I’m using a simple hypen to illustrate this – and not too well, I might add.
Am I the only one who cares about this? If we are not going to follow the rules of academia as outlined in the manuals, are we inventing new usages because of the lack of a dash on the keyboard?
I feel like the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Lynn Truss)…my inner stickler is on the loose.
Let’s all get together and decide: if we use a hyphen instead of a dash, let’s make it just one with spaces on both sides – like this, okay?
Unless you all write in to tell me you’d prefer something else, I’ll assume you agree with me…
Getting people to subscribe to your ezine is becoming more difficult. Readers are leery of creating overloaded email inboxes and getting spammed.
That said, you can still get subscribers and build your email database of loyal readers.
Here are three steps to list building:
1. Be clear who your target audience is and what they want to know. What are their biggest challenges?
2. Be clear about what some of the simple solutions are, and be generous about sharing them with your readers.
3. Make them an offer they can’t refuse: give them a special report, a teleseminar, a mini e-course: something of value that will help solve their problem.
Many email newsletter publishers have found that people will sign up for their newsletters just to get their special offer or report. But your invitation has to be what Ali Brown (the Ezine Queen) calls, "raving."
Ali says, "your RAVING invitation must make you feel like, if you don’t sign up for this thing, you are going to miss out on information that will change your life or your business."
Always reassure them they can unsubscribe at any time, and make that process easy for them to do by including an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every newsletter. Here is a sample invitation that can be included on your website.
_______________________________________________________
Example:
"3 Simple Secrets to Publishing an Ezine that Gets Results!"
You’ll get it instantly, along with our award-winning how-to articles. Just fill in your first name and email address here.
First Name:_____________________
Primary Email:___________________
Get Special Report [button]
Privacy Policy: We will never sell, rent, or trade your email to any other organization.
___________________________________________________________
The offer is what people will sign up for, although it clearly states that the reader will also get regular article updates. But it is the report or free offer that is being promoted here, not the subscription to a free ezine.
Notice also that this invitation doesn’t ask for much information. People don’t want to reveal more than they have to, so this doesn’t even ask them for their last name!
This tip comes from Ali Brown’s ebook 101 Simple, FREE and Low-Cost Ways to Quickly Build a Massive Email List. It is available for purchase by clicking here.
This book is well worth the price of admission ($97) because it will save you time, money and energy and save you from making the mistakes most people make with trying to build their ezine subscription lists.
Building a list of loyal readers takes some time, but it won’t happen unless you have consistent persistence!
Should You Do a Blog instead of An Ezine?
Debbie Weil makes a good point over at her blog BlogWrite for CEOs. In an article entitled: Dirty secret of publishing a blog vs. an HTML e-newsletter, she weighs the pros & cons of HTML ezines vs blogs and says that you probably can’t write, format, test, and verify links for an HTML newsletter in under two hours. But a blog can be posted in about 15 minutes.
That has been our experience, only worse. HTML ezines can take forever to get right, and there is usually one or two subscribers that have problems with receiving them.
A blog is quick and easy. Now that I think about it, I started writing this blog because I had a lot to say on the subject of ezines, and didn’t want to have to start building up a new list of subscribers.
Of course, the challenge now is driving readers over here to read it. But I don’t feel like I’m intruding into their inboxes. And there are ways to drive traffic to a blog. Blogs are very social, have you noticed?
As T.L. Pakii Pierce is fond of saying, "Blogs are a social tool." When we interviewed him for our Build a Better Blog System ebook, he explained how other bloggers will pick up stories and spread them around. You can read his interesting interview when you order the preview edition of the book.
So Debbie Weil is getting readers to respond to her survey question about blogs vs HTML newsletters, this will get passed around, and there is an echo being heard right now as you read this…hear it?
I say do both a blog and an ezine! Especially if you have already worked hard to build up a list of loyal subscribers. Don’t abandon that, but invite them to read your blog as well. A blog can be more informal and interactive, it is a different animal. As I am fond of saying, the more fishing poles in the Internet pond, the more fish you will catch.
Want to read Top Ten Reason to Do an Ezine AND a Blog? Go here!
I never thought about this before, but it makes sense. The first 3-5 words of your ezine or article title are the most important.
Search engines read the first 3-5 words first, and if those words aren’t key, then your not doing a good job with your title.
This tip comes from ezine expert Christopher Knight at EzineArticles.com.
Here’s the way Christopher explains it:
The first 3-5 words of your TITLE determine the success of your article in terms of how much traffic your article will generate back to your website. Success can only be had when you create keyword rich titles for your articles that match the most commonly searched keywords for your topic.
Bad TITLE Example:
"Top 9 Ways You Can Acquire Fractional Jet Ownership"
Excellent Keyword Rich Title Example:
Fractional Jet Ownership – 9 Strategies to Help You Acquire Your Private Jet
Two recommendations on what NOT to do:
1) Don’t include garbage characters in your TITLE such as quotes, tildes, asterisks or anything else that a search engines has to work hard to discard in order to understand the TITLE of your article.
2) Do not engage in any search engine spam technique by having keyword rich TITLES that have nothing to do with the topic of your article. You’ll only be hurting yourself as the search engines already aggressively filter out bad behavior like this.
YOUR INTELLIGENT KEYWORD RICH TITLE COPYWRITING CONCLUSION:
If you want to maximize your results from any article marketing strategy, you must master keyword research so that you can create keyword rich and intelligent article TITLES. Your pay off will be massive amounts of traffic to your articles and website thanks to the search engines who love smart keyword rich TITLES!
Next time you write an article for your ezine or blog, keep this in mind. Forget "Top Ten Tips…" Start off with the words people might type into a Google search.
Here’s to your continued writing success,
Patsi
Want to know why successful coach Andrea Lee is using a blog for fun and profit?
We did an audio interview with Andrea Lee of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income. You can listen to it over at www.BuildaBetterBlog.com.
One of the best reasons to buy our ebook on Build a Better Blog is for the interviews of successful business bloggers. My recommendation would be to read every interview BEFORE starting your blog as these bloggers know what they’re doing, are successful and share some amazing information about what’s made them successful.
Patsi
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