Blog software

Take the Easy Route: Blog for Business

Thursday, July 2, 2009 by Allison Bowen

It's amazing how much the marketplace has changed in just a few short years. Take for example, a September 19, 2005, Wall Street Journal article describing the crazy adventures of two men attempting to get their new product to market.

"The pair had finally scored a coveted 8 a.m. appointment with a Wal-Mart buyer -- giving them a chance to get their ergonomic pen, the PenAgain, in from of the world's largest retailer. But with only 10 minutes so spare, that chance was slipping away as the entreprenuers sat, panicked, still a mile and a half away."

I wonder what that pair would do now if I told them it's not nearly that hard to get a new product to market. They can simply blog for business! That's right, a blog can help you in many ways.

Say for instance, PenAgain knew that much of their target market spends many hours a day online. If someone were to search for an inventive writing product, he or she may Google "creative writing pen". What if the first organic search result that appeared was for a PenAgain blog? Clearly many sales would develop from those that click through to the blog and saw all that the company had to offer.

This is where Compendium Blogware comes in. Compendium provides the best blogging software that will get companies search engine optimization results. It's not just about blogging in order to relate to your customers anymore. While that is certainly still a great reason to blog, there is more that can be accomplished. Using basic blog software from Compendium, any company can increase their SEO and thus drive more potential clients to their website.

Had PenAgain been launching their product today, I would have suggested they done so online first rather than take it directly to Wal-Mart with no evidenece that the product would sell. Why go through all the trouble when there is an easy route to success? As a start-up company, PenAgain would not be able to afford pricey PPC. Instead, it could choose an affordable blogging software and be well on its way.

Blogging for business is simple. It doesn't involve a lot of money or a scramble to Wal-Mart's headquarters. Instead, it involves a committment to writing blogs and a call to Compendium today. Why not save yourself some trouble and give it a try?

Blogging with the search engine

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by Brian Millis

In many of my conversations with marketers from all different kinds of companies, I often hear the misnomer that there are two separate ways to blog for your business; blogging for good content and blogging for search engines.

Why do these have to seem like two different categories? In my opinion they are one in the same. When a business employs strong blog marketing, the content is good because it addresses what the target audience is searching. Those people are searching it because it matters to them. Therefore, good content revolves around the important search terms for that business. Using authentic, helpful content is only great when people find it. So I say good content includes blogging WITH the search engine (and searcher) in mind.

This applies to all business, B2C, B2B, B2D2C, etc. Search engines do not discriminate. They simply want to provide the most relevant, frequently and recently updated web pages to the searcher. One of our clients, Brian LeCount, said it best in a recent blog post of his own. Here are the brilliant 10 points that he wrote:

   1. I blog about the things I think and do.
   2. I try to blog a lot.
   3. I use the search marketing keywords that I know people search on.
   4. I use a platform that automatically positions my content for maximum search
       engine love.
   5. I get ranked in Google for terms like Cincinnati Marketing (#3 in local results)
       Cincinnati Marketing Firm (#1), Cincinnati Advertising Agency (#10), Social Media
       Marketing Cincinnati (#10), and about 45 others.
   6. People search using these search marketing keywords b/c that's what the
       research tells me.
   7. They find my blog.
   8. They read and click on a call to action.
   9. They get some value, and we have a great marketing strategy conversation.
10. Some of those people choose to engage us and help them build their business.

Hi #4 point is what we provide here at Compendium Blogware. I enjoy talking with any interested business who wants to have a strategy behind the company blog and yield the best SEO results possible from the good content. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to see how our corporate blogging software could make it easy for your online marketing as well.

$65 Billion to be spent on Corporate web sites....not on traditional media

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by Chris Baggott

Here is a quote that should grab your attention:

"In 2009: $65 billion will be spent on enterprises’ own sites, dollars NOT spent on TV, magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc. To scale that, compare 2009 total U.S. TV ad revenue (cable + broadcast) at $66 billion, and total 2009 U.S. Newspaper ad revenue at $42 billion. So corporations spending marketing dollars on their own sites is equivalent to (a) wiping out all TV ad revenue or (b) wiping out one and one-half newspaper industries!"

Hello! Thanks to Outsell for this great new report, but what does it mean to advertising? Why is this happening?

Simple answer is that Advertising relies on middlemen to deliver a corporate message. With Online Marketing (Search Marketing), business can now leverage their own site, Corporate Blogging software and email marketing to control and develop a direct relationship with their prospects and customers.

Emarketer already told us that the three biggest growth areas in marketing are Search, Email and Social Media (Business Blogging covers both SEO and Social Media). What is transforming the marketing world it the capacity for organizations to have direct relationships with the people who drive their business. Marketing departments from organizations large and small are rethinking their investments and strategies and going direct...to the detrement of the old model that required a middleman to deliver your message.

Search Marketing - It Doesn't Have to be Magic

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 by meghan peters

Search Marketing can be a difficult game to play. Figuring out how to generate organic traffic in a cost-effective way can be even more challenging. Luckily, for the marketing team here at Compendium, we get to employ our very own blogging platform.

The success we have seen from our internal use is proof of the power Compedium offers as a search marketing tool. The blogging platform is built from the ground up with a focus on generating traffic through search.

To see the blogging platform in action, see where Compendium ranks with a popular keyword - affordable blogging software...

Click Here to see the result

If this doesn't have you convinced, download our Whitepaper: Are you Considering Corporate Blogging? Get it here.

After you read it, be sure to contact us so you can view our demo with a blogging expert to see how Compendium can work the same for you.

Five Obstacles to Social Computing Adoption

Monday, June 29, 2009 by Douglas Karr

Newsgator recently published a free download called A Roadmap for Successful Adoption of Social Computing in the Enterprise. I'd recommend the download. The root of the whitepaper is that companies must adopt a cultural transformation - and when they do - they benefit enormously.

Here are 5 obstacles the study speaks to. We hit these obstacles in our sales process as well. Specific to blog software and search marketing, here are my reactions:

Employees already use other systems and don't want to be bothered with another alternative.

What is the strategy and measures of success for using your other system? What are the costs (maintenance, uptime, administration). When confronted with this, our prospects don't typically have a strategy in place that proves results. If you can't measure it, how do you know it's working? If you think it's working, how do you know how well it's working?
Employees are concerned about having their contributions public and uncensored.

This is why we've built approval and feedback loops into our application. It's important that employees be allowed the freedom to blog but with moderate oversight that provides them feedback if a post isn't approved for publishing.
Management is entrenched in the "old school" way of thinking - institution over community, hierarchy over collaboration.

This is a difficult obstacle to overcome. In short, I like to talk to companies about where their clients and prospects are rather than talk about how the company needs to change. Consumer and B2B behavior has changed and they are researching solutions and products via the web and search engines before ever calling you. You need to be where they are looking, reading and discussing.
Management desires more control over the actions of contributors, e.g. tagging, discussions, group creation, etc. The open nature of social computing is concerning.

This is why a Software as a Service is a fantastic solution. We continue to modify and enhance our system based on industry trends, search trends, online marketing trends and the needs of our clients. Investing in a SaaS blog software comes with a year of feature upgrades - all providing the right balance of control over openness.
Management is worried about decreased productivity as they still perceive social computing as fun.

I often ask people how much time they spend on email each day and there is always a groan. Some answer 20 emails, others over 100 emails daily - just to keep up. What's the ROI on email? What if you could prevent calls to customer service by having the content out there and the questions already answered in a means that prospects and clients can find it? What if you could write a blog post that 2,000 people read instead of the 1 person you're writing an email to? Blogging is an incredibly effective and efficient means of communicating.

According to the Whitepaper:

By 2012, more than 30% of large organizations will have deployments of social software suites available to all their employees (The Gartner Collaboration and Social Software Vendor Guide, 2009, Carol Rozwell, Nikos Drakos, David Mario Smith, Jeffrey Mann, Matthew W. Cain, James Lundy, and Tom Eid, February 19, 2009, Gartner.).

We've got a long way to go! Begin breaking down these objections within your company today to reap the benefits.

Easy!

Sunday, June 28, 2009 by Mitch Burk

I consider myself to be a moderately "techie" person... but I have a very specific point where you lose me when trying to figure out the inner workings of a new program. However, I was only here at Compendium for a couple of days before they had me blogging like a mad man! How did they do it? Simple... Compendium's blogging platform is just that easy to use! The part of blogging that makes it such a simple concept for anyone to pick up on is the flexibility behind it...

ANYONE with ANY gifts or talents could find their niche in the blogging world... If you're more of a people person, share posts describing how your products will benefit people! If you're more of an IT/Product developer person, tell everyone about the newest upgrades you're making to your website and how they could improve business by getting your product! If you're like me and just like to connect your product to the most random thoughts you have, then you're free to do that!

Don't let blog software intimidate you. A blog is the most convenient and way to get your message across to your target audience.

Compending with Compendium...

Sunday, June 28, 2009 by Mitch Burk

Compendium Blogware... Where to begin...?

When trying to understand what exactly it was that Compendium did before I started working here a few weeks ago, I ended up on their Linkedin page... and the description there was very well written. It says,

"Compendium Blogware is a "Web-based blogging platform built for businesses and organizations. With its administrative layers and proprietary compending feature that maximizes search engine optimization; the company offers businesses an innovative solution for lead generation, customer acquisition, and humanizing their marketing."

I felt like that summed up this blog software very well! This innovative process has proved itself to be the most successful form of online marketing they could have ever imagined...

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter "A"

Sunday, June 28, 2009 by Mitch Burk

Acquiring new customers is one of the ultimate goals of our software here at Compendium.

When you blog, consumers can find you, and when people find you they find your product, and when they find your product, they can purchase it. We have seen some of our clients with customer conversion rates above 10%! This means that over 10% of the people who found this business blog through search became customers and purchased products!

When using Compendium's blog software as an acquisition tool, you will be finding that consumers are not just finding you, but converting into customers.

This ain't alphabet soup... this is alphabet blogging.

Sunday, June 28, 2009 by Mitch Burk

My big hobby lately has been taking pictures of "natural letters." I like to try and see if I can find a tree that looks like a "K" or a picnic table that has an "A" hidden in the framework... and you'd be surprised by just how many natural letters are surrounding us every moment of everyday! Heck, right now, sitting at my desk I see a "T" in my lamp, an "I" from my water bottle, and a "B" from my sunglasses.

So, in a feat never attempted by a Compendium blogger before, I have set out on a journey to find a significant blogging connection to every letter of the alphabet. I might also throw in a picture or two that I have taken during my recent hobby time...

I hope that you find this series useful as you look for ways to strengthen you online marketing strategy through blog software. You'll end wondering how you could ever achieve strong business while using Anything Besides Compendium.

Modern Wonder #3- Golden Gate Bridge

Saturday, June 27, 2009 by Mitch Burk

Frommer's travel guide claims that the Golden Gate Bridge is "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." Why is this? It is so aesthetically pleasing, it blends in with the surroundings perfectly, and has a very smooth, modern architectural layout. It is not hard to see how the bridge ended up on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World... at the time it was built, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and still is the second longest in the United States. But the strongest case the bridge can make would be it's appearance.

So what separates this bridge from others?
Stands Out

Just as the creators of the Golden Gate Bridge wanted to build something that would not become "just another bridge," the creators and developers at Compendium have worked to create a blogging platform that will not become "just another platform." The features available with Compendium's blog software make it incredible easy to use, personalize, and fit exactly into the marketing strategy of your company.

What is the best online marketing tool available?

Monday, June 22, 2009 by Brett Fritz

If you ask a marketing company what they think is the best online marketing tool available is you will probably get varied results. Most might just keep their answers generic and talk about the differences between paid search and organic search or SEO. Some companies might even go out and push a certain software they use or a company they have a relationship with.

When asking Compendium Blogware what they best online marketing tool is you will get a simple answer....look at our clients and you tell us what you think is the best way to market via online search.

Our clients are being found in thousands of related keyword search terms. Our clients are growing their business. Our clients are seeing more and more relevant leads come in their door month over month because of the content that they are writing on the Compendium corporate blogging software.

So, you could ask us what we think but of coarse you will get a biased answer. Better yet, why don't you ask our clients. The overwhelming answer you will get is the best online marketing tool is utilizing a blog for business.

Give us a call today!

Steps to writing better Blog Content - STEP 4 - Plan Ahead

Thursday, June 18, 2009 by Brett Fritz

The past few days I have written about steps to help you write better blog content. Today is STEP 4 - Plan Ahead.

Ahh...the old riddle, is it better to plan ahead or procrastinate and do it all at the last minute. To be honest, there are a lot of things that I do very well when I am on a time crunch because I procrastinated and waited until the last minute to get the task done. I know I am not alone, there are a lot people like that.

I do, however, like to plan ahead with my tasks. For instance, although this post went live on my blog on June 18th, around 9am eastern time, I am writing this blog content on Monday, June 15th. I am in between meetings and I am caught up on paperwork and emails so I thought I would plan ahead and write a few blog posts to have them go live on the internet in a few days. This will help me during the week when those times come up that I know I should be writing a blog post to help my search efforts (because we at Compendium use blogging as a tool for SEO) but I am too swamped with my other work. Instead of not having new content on my blog, I am able to plan ahead and schedule my content to release out during the week.

So what if your corporate blogging software does not have this great feature like Compendium's does... don't worry... simply write down your content post in a program like Microsoft Word, save it, and then submit it to go live on your blog when you are ready to do so.

I like to write blog content when I am up at the crack of dawn before my kids or late at night after they have gone to sleep!

Planning ahead is a great way to get great blog content out on your network and it is STEP 4 on my steps to writing better blog content.

Welcome to the Seven Wonders of the Blogging World...

Monday, June 15, 2009 by Mitch Burk

Recently I caught myself reading about the Seven Wonders of the World (the Ancient World, Medieval World, and Modern World) and I can't help but be amazed of how incredible some of these structures are. They all tell such amazing stories of their development and the modern day function. The Wonders of the Modern World particularly caught my eye... Because I've seen two of the seven, (Empire State Building and CN Tower in Toronto) I have set my sights on that list as the one I want to complete during my lifetime.

I have also decided that while I continue to read up on these architectural masterpieces, it only makes sense to find blogging connections in them... Thus beginning my journey around the world to discover the SEVEN WONDERS OF THE BLOGGING WORLD! It will be my mission to relate the corporate blogging software here at Compendium to the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

I will work tirelessly find the connection between blogging goals and some of the blogging best practices that we value here at Compendium to:

(In order of completion, earliest to most recent)
1. Panama Canal (Panama)
2. Empire State Building (New York City)
3. Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco)
4. CN Tower (Toronto, Ontario)
5. Itaipu Dam (Brazil & Paraguay)
6. Channel Tunnel (UK & France)
7. Delta Works (Netherlands)

Get your passports ready, your sunscreen applied and prepare yourself for the trip of a lifetime!

Steps to writing better Blog Content - STEP 1 - Make Time for Blogging!

Monday, June 15, 2009 by Brett Fritz

Over the next few days, I am going to be posting some great steps to help you post better content on your blog for business. These steps are meant to be encouraging, inspiring, and motivating for you and your organization!

I will be posting one step each day and I encourage you to take each step to heart and implement it into your current blogging for SEO strategy.

So here we go...

STEP 1: Make Time for Blogging!

I have written about this before but it is a very important step so I wanted to write about it again. Be sure that you put time in your schedule to write blog content as often as possible. I encourage people to put a slot on their calendar and call it "blog content creation time". Having this time set aside everyday will help you formulate your ideas and ultimately get you to write more content online.

Having a lot of content online will help your search marketing strategies. This is even more true when you use a corporate blogging software (like Compendium Blogware) as your business blogging software provider!

Sure, at first, it might take you a few extra minutes to get used to writing content on your blog so your "blogging time" might be a bit longer than you want but, before you know it, you will be a pro blog writer!

So, recap of STEP 1 - be sure to schedule time to write blog content. Maybe this is once a week or once everyday...whatever it is, be sure to stick to your schedule and write that content for your blog for business!

Google Reveals how C-Suite Executives Use the Internet

Friday, June 12, 2009 by Brian McKay

BtoB Magazine just released a study by Sam Sebastian, Director-local and b to b markets at Google, that reveals that C level executives are leveraging search and social media far more than most think. This has been great news to btob companies leveraging blogs to win search.

This is the quote that hit me the most:

“They’re not delegating,” he said. “They prefer to do a lot of this stuff on their own.” Among the findings from the research, which will be formally released in the coming weeks include: 64% of C-level execs conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information. (Read entire article)

64% of C-level execs conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information! There is a case for leveraging online tools to drive C-level leads inbound to your company. This is what we've been discussing when it comes to meeting qualified prospects at the moment they are searching to solve a problem or accomplish a goal.

For those that blog for SEO and leverage a blog to generate meaningful humanized content to earn search traffic, this becomes additional support for the time and effort you've invested in organic search marketing.

If you are a marketer looking to reach a C-level prospect, you can use corporate blogging software to accomplish that goal.

Coffee Shops and Business Blogs

Thursday, June 11, 2009 by Brett Fritz

When was the last time you sat in a coffee shop? If recently, you know just how much clutter of conversation is going on in the store. In the coffee shop I am sitting in right now, there are about a dozen or so people all having private conversations with each other. There is music in the background and the coffee makers are loud. Collectively, there is just noise that is overwhelming the store. It is nearly impossible to focus on just one piece of noise in the store. I cannot just hear the music because the kids next to me are talking. I cannot just hear the two business-men's conversation because the music is still playing.

There is a lot going on here, probably all very meaningful conversations but I cannot focus on any of them individually.

Many times this is what you get with a blog for business. You want to get into a blog, but there is so much clutter of conversation on the blog that you are not able to focus on any of the topics.

With Compendium, this does not take place. Our corporate blogging software will set you up with all of the blogging best practices available so you will be able to keep your audience focused and on point with your blog content.

Getting back to coffee... reach out to Compendium to see a demo and we would be glad to send you a free $50 Starbucks Gift Card!

Using a Blog for Business with e-Commerce

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by Brett Fritz

e-Commerce is increasing in size and demand every day. It seems like more and more individuals and corporations are shifting into a model that revolves around the majority of revenue being generated comes from their e-Commerce site.

This is great, if you are able to get your e-Commerce site found through all the clutter of other sites. With all the growth of e-Commerce, it is becoming more and more competitive to show up in search for the keywords you want to be found on. Sure, many of the larger e-Commerce sites have plenty of money to spend so they are able to utilized all of the SEO and SEM best practices but it all comes with a hefty price tag.

One of the best things about blogging as a tool for SEO (being found in search), is that you can utilize a corporate blogging software that is going to provide you with great results and it is not going to cost you an arm and a leg to do so! You will now be able to utilized all of the blogging best practices and before you know it you will be found in more places on search than you could with just website SEO strategy.

Setting up a blog for business is great for e-Commerce sites. If you don't ask me, just ask a few of our clients like: Fairytale Brownies or GK Elite.

These clients are very e-Commerce heavy and they will tell you that having a blog for business has been a great investment of their time, energy, and money!

A New Way to Generate Leads

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 by Angela Castelli

How do you prospect for your company? Where do your leads come from? Do you network and cold call and buy mass mailing lists in hopes that there are a few qualified leads amongst all of your efforts? This is what I hear from hundreds of companies that I speak to on a daily basis, and they are looking for a new way to generate leads.

What if I told you I could help you to be standing in front of an audience who wants to speak to you? That is exactly what the power of Compendium can do for you and your business. Compendium is a search marketing tool that is going to help you to be found organically in search when someone is searching for you, based on keywords that are relevant to your business. When creating a corporate blog, or starting a business blog, one of your goals should be to generate leads and acquire more customers. If lead generation is a top priority for you and your business, and you'd like to learn how to generate leads online, Compendium Blogware is the only business blogging software available that's easy to use and produces results.

So let's start blogging for leads together. You are a potential lead for Compendium, and you found my blog, didn't you?

Blogging Broadway...

Monday, June 8, 2009 by Mitch Burk

Sunday night was every Broadway fanatic's favorite night, the Tony awards. My lovely girlfriend kept me updated on the happenings of the awards show because, sadly, I was unable to watch. I was busy in Louisville, Kentucky for the night seeing a production of the 2007 Tony award winning "Best Musical," Spring Awakening. As you can imagine, when we had both finished watching our Broadway spectacles the conversation went something like this:

Melissa: "Let's get some people together and go to New York this summer."
Me: "Heck. Yes."

(Source: www.nyctourist.com)

So as I spent some time last night and today (during my lunch break, of course) surfing the Internet checking out the happenings of NYC, I have came to one conclusion: Broadway needs blogging. I have been to New York, and I know that there is so much happening on Broadway... but I don't know when to purchase, what to see, where to stay, who's in the show and what show just closed when a show will open. A couple of Broadway sites have blogs, but they do not provide the information that a tourist would need. Broadway is lacking at one of the most important blogging goals that we tell our clients: Make your information relevant.

I could only find a couple sites with Broadway blogs and neither one would be helpful for a tourist trying to get the latest happenings on Broadway. The only blog entries I ever found were short, uninformative reviews on new, unpopular shows.

So... Broadway... friend, I'm a random traveler who wants to spend 3 days in NYC this summer. Help me make my trip the best it can be. You're the expert, you know what's going on day by day, you know when shows are opening or closing... Tell me about them!

The mentality I have toward Broadway right now is the same thing that thousands of people are thinking as they hop on Google or Yahoo to search for some random information. They want to be able to easily find the information, and the information to be relevant once they get there.

Compendium's corporate blogging software makes this happen. We help make sure you know what to write about, and when to write about it. As a business, we know the importance of getting the customers to find you. And as a consumer, we know how frustrating it is to not find the information you need.

Don't worry, you're not past the point of no return (a). Your blog could be defying gravity (b) and growing as fast as greased lightin' (c) in no time. Whether your company sells technicolor dreamcoats (d), cans of hairspray (e), or all that jazz (f) music you own, Compendium knows that if you're living in America (g)... you're going to need customers. I think it's about time for the curtain to open on a new era of Blogging Broadway.

**Musical References**
a- Phantom of the Opera, b- Wicked, c- Grease, d- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, e- Hairspray, f- Chicago, g- Rent

How Blogging Goals Relate to Life Goals

Friday, June 5, 2009 by Lee Jorgenson

How are blogging goals and life goals related?

How do some business decision makers make the same mistake that they make in their personal lives?

How do I keep this happen to my business/in my life?

Many people, myself included, tend to get lost in the weeds. I believe this can be avoided by simply taking a moment to ask the question: "Why?"

    - Why am I fuming with anger when someone cuts me off?
    - Why am I arguing with my wife about where we should eat tonight?
    - Why do I need to have a better yard than my neighbor?

The answer: It doesn't matter. There are much more important things in life, and I would be wise to start focusing on them instead of being so petty.

The same is true for a company's corporate blogging program.

    - How many RSS subscribers does my blog have?
    - How many blog comments do I have?
    - Is my blogging software updated with the latest plug-in?

Again, It doesn't matter.  What's the goal of your business? To increase the bottom line. So the real question is: How is my blog growing my business? If it isn't, it should be.

We could all benefit from staying out of the weeds by frequently asking "Why?"