About Compendium Blogware

Easy to Use Blog Software

Friday, March 19, 2010 by David Burks

I wonder if it is against NCAA rules to blog to recruits?

After months of uncertainty over an embarrassing telephone scandal that rocked the school’s signature basketball program, the NCAA put the Hoosiers on probation for three years.

Compendium has an easy to use Blog Software that is a web based application that helps business acquire new customers via organic search. www.compendium.com What if college coaches could use Compendium to recruit potential players?

We might need to text the NCAA, better yet, I will just blog....

Social Media & The Midwest

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Brittan Bright

Being born, raised, and educated in Indiana, I used to be a little ashamed of my Midwestern life. I, like many of my peers, always thought that I would move somewhere more glamorous "someday". However, the more I travel and see those other "glamorous" (a.k.a fun to VISIT, but stressful/expensive) places, the more I am glad that

technological advancement has made staying right here work perfectly for me.

Thanks to technology, I am part of a growing Midwestern mindset that views living here as a smart, educated, and economical decision. Despite always living in Indiana, I have had nothing but software and .com jobs as a professional. The cost of living is so reasonable that we not only get to live more high-tech, and connected everyday lives, but we have also been attracting more high-tech jobs. The picture to the right is the view of Monument Circle from my desk at Compendium's headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis (taken from my smartphone and uploaded just moments ago).

Hoosiers haven't stopped at just embracing the benefits of technological advancement, many of us are also working to help innovate, particularly here at Compendium. Compendium's enterprise-level, keyword-driven, social media and business blogging platform has me talking to businesses of all shapes and sizes across the US. I love getting to be consultative, getting to be an expert in an emerging industry, and getting to do it from the Midwest.

Living here gets better everyday and I no longer feel like I have to miss out on anything. I commute downtown from the Town of Fishers, a suburb on the Northeast side of Indianapolis. This week via a targeted email I learned, that Fishers is using Social Media (Twitter & Facebook) and Lady GaGa (making a YouTube video) to get Google's attention. We are vying for a spot in Google's "Fiber for Communities" experiment and we are fighting hard to be seen.

But we aren't the only ones. Another Midwestern town in Kansas, formerly known as Topeka, actually renamed itself Google, grabbing CNN's attention in the process.

Topeka 'renames' itself 'Google, Kansas': CNN

So in addition to the engines Midwesterners build, operate and rely on everyday, we can thank a search engine for improving the quality of our lives and inspiring us to find new ways to be innovators. Watch out Silicon Valley, we've got a souped up vehicle making great time on the Crossroads of America and we're coming for you!

Don't Be Intimidated by Blogging

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Ford McAlexander

I am very impressed with blogs. Before working at Compendium Blogware, I never read any blog on any website at all. Actually, I was kind of intimidated by them. I thought they were only for niche topic gurus who wanted to share other ridiculously smart thoughts with people of shared interests. What I have found is that blogs are not intimidating at all! They are very informative and I feel like I make a personal connection with the blog. Unfortunately, some businesses are being robotic with their marketing campaigns.

Blogging provides a humanized feel to a companies social marketing strategy. It easily can provide results in a very short time period which proves its worthy of an investment. So my suggestion is to view some blogs and get familiar with their format. Check out Compendium's for example. It will only take a little glimpse to realize the effectiveness of business blogging!

Some really great support for the Compendium philosophy

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Brian Millis

Often times I think it is important to educate around the power of blogs in search engine ranking. It all comes back to 3 of the most important pillars of any search algorithm (google, bing, yahoo, etc.) which are:

1.    Relevancy (how well does the content address the search query)
2.    Frequency of content update (what is more frequently and easily updated than a blog)
3.    Recent update of new content (recency, again blogs dominate)

Blogs are THE BEST vehicle on the web to address these, which is why no search engine that wants to keep market share would stop valuing and ranking blogs. Google knows this more than anyone, which is why they own the majority of the search market because of their “Blended Search” algorithm. Here is collateral to support this Compendium philosophy:

Google’s Own Press Release from this week: 3/16/10:
“Google's vision for universal search is to ultimately search across all its content sources, compare and rank all the information in real time, and deliver a single, integrated set of search results that offers users precisely what they are looking for. Beginning today, the company will incorporate information from a variety of previously separate sources – including videos, images, news, maps, books, and websites – into a single set of results. At first, universal search results may be subtle. Over time users will recognize additional types of content integrated into their search results as the company advances toward delivering a truly comprehensive search experience.” Doesn’t sound like they are moving towards removing blogs, but rather increasing importance of other mediums (including blogs) http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/universalsearch_20070516.html

From PracticalEcommerce.com just this week:
Gone are the days when a search is performed and only a list of pertinent websites appears in the search engine results page. Instead, what can be found now is a blend of websites, videos, images, social media profiles, blogs, news stories, press releases, podcasts and maps. With blended search, all findings— official company websites and YouTube videos alike— are joined together on the search engine results page. By integrating this blend of media into your company’s site and marketing plan you can obtain search success and improve customer satisfaction, ultimately boosting your company’s overall sales. Below are four ways that your company can get started to ensure successful search marketing results.   SEE WAY #1 at this link: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1104-Blended-Search-Four-Ways-to-Optimize-Content-for-Better-Search-Rankings

From the most recent issue of Wired Magazine: Pages 97 – 116 (Cover Article): “Inside the Box: Inside Google Search”
See Key Advances, #6: Universal (or blended) Search: This is the way the algorithm is moving. To include more video, new mediums, pictures, etc. which is all much more prolific and easy to find and organize on blogs.

Fortune Magazine: March issue; page 64 about the changes in the entire publishing world:
Quote: “The only new media life form that has managed to live off those junk-ad rates (PPC) is the blog, a medium that tends to favor breadth over depth and cheap opinion over expensive original reporting.” Further proof that more satisfied searchers come from blog results, which is why search engines are only moving toward better blog ranking, not removing blog ranking.

Our CEO, Chris Baggott (Co-Founder of Exacttarget.com and 21st 2009 Most Influential Marketer) addressing this very question:
Google isn't ranking us because we are a blog.   It's ranking us because our pages are designed specifically for the algorithm.

Google likes specific titles, right? Google is moving towards more specific pages and content frequency and recency.

Google makes about 12 changes to it's algorithm every month.   Who better to stay on top of them than a large SaaS. We have a strategic sprint every week and a team dedicated to nothing but keeping our software up with the best practices as Google dictates. Recent changes include the canonical tag, the 301 redirect, (all changes we were able to respond to immediately) Google doesn't try to hide it's changes. it's pretty transparent about what it wants you to do. The biggest recent changes include real time search and personalization.   Both things that make us even more attractive right?    Google is responding to Twitter and Bing and realizing that fresh content is a very serious consideration in search.

Personalization is even more important.   Retailers are now REQUIRED to have a ton more content.   You have the challenge of building content that is relevant to everyone.   What used to be a mass marketing business. (homepage and massive linking) is now a highly fragmented targeted marketing game.

I hope this helps understand why companies are turning to services and platforms like Compendium to see more ROI on their search marketing strategies.

Need Your Help!

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Sarah Sedberry

At Compendium we are not only your partner in blogging success, but we are personally invested in our clients and any time they need our help - we're happy to help!

We currently have a client, who also happens to be a Hoosier too, that is up for a Hoosier Hullabaloo award this year - Breena Fain - the admin for Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association.

The Hoosier Hullabaloo award recognizes a professional who is having individual success in the community, and has a desire to positively impact the businesses of fellow Hoosiers.

Help us help Breena by casting your vote!!

"Networking" and Lead Generation at Tradeshows

Friday, March 19, 2010 by jennifer buscher

Megan Glover and Jennifer Buscher "networking" with Fido

Megan Glover (Compendium Director of Marketing) and I recently attended Etail in Palm Springs. One company, Fetchback, had a conference mascot (Fido, pictured in the middle) who walked around and mingled with the exhibitors and attendees. This seemed like an interesting way to draw attention to your BtoB software company, let alone generate leads. But, it seemed to have worked! When I got back in the office... the Fetchback Sales Manager sent me a picture of us with their mascot and here I am blogging about it.

I would like to think that Compendium is at the forefront of innovative lead generation strategies as we help businesses strategically use blogging as a way to drive new business, but hats off to Fetchback and their creative marketing efforts. To each their own!

Blogging for Visibility

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Ford McAlexander

I cannot believe it is already slightly past the middle of March and I have learned so much during my internship here at Compendium Blogware. The company is growing fast and it seems like I have already been here for awhile because I am no longer one of the super new people here. Everybody has had a hand in teaching me about the corporate blogging solutions and how our software is one of the best ways to build a social media strategy around business blogging.

With that said, I know there is much more for me to learn about. Blogging is one of the simplest ways to build your online search visiblity which can be more valuable than taking a risk with paying to optimize your website. Check out a demonstration today of our software to view the best blogging software available!

Dropbox allows you to send large files.

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Isaac Pellerin

If you need to send large files (or sync files across computers and platforms!), I suggest using Dropbox. It's a great tool that gives you a public folder to assign a url to a document so that you can paste that url in an email for download.

You get 2gb free! Get dropbox now!

Our Compendium bdm's will be able to use this when they need to get large presentations or pieces of collateral to a perspective client looking for corporate blogging software.

Email Marketing and Social Media

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Brian Graham

As you can see by the graph to the right marketers are trying to figure out how to integrate social media and e-mail marketing. E-mail marketers are looking for ways to increase lists and find some way to tie the strategy back to acquisition.

What if you used blogs as the hub of your social media strategy. A blog provides a place to direct visitors from all social portals. Think about being able to solicit content from e-mail subscribers that could help win search.

What might that look like? An affordable blogging software is key to manage the all the moving parts of a social media strategy. Social media and SEO are are colliding and the result is winning search.

Take a long look at your marketing efforts. Do you have a way to marry your social media and SEO?

March Madness

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Jason Harvoth

As the clock gets closer to midnight, Cinderella has to turn into a pumpkin. There are still some very capable teams playing for glory in this year's NCAA tournament. Ohio University, who is coached by John Groce, gave it to Georgetown last night to move into to 32 status. Many games went into overtime, and many more first round games have yet to be played so stay tuned for more exciting drama during the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

While the story unfolds during the tournament, Compendium Blogware is having a tournament of our own. Our EQB (Executive Queen of Blogging) and Gas City native, Heather Benfield, has tasked us with writing posts to maximize the tool we sell. Each and every week during the month of March the divisions of the company battle for blogging supremacy. We're down to the final 3, and next week will pit the final two teams against one another.

The drama is building, and the Sales Department is poised to be crowned blogging champion.

Consumer Experiences make for great Blog Posts

Thursday, March 18, 2010 by Isaac Pellerin

This week I (along with Mikey) have been working through conceptualizing Compendium's Web-to-Post functionality. Compendium is a blogging platform that is optimized for social media and search. It's a very flexible platform and we can extend it's functionality to allow it to become a robust platform for Marketers.

Web-to-post allows you to set up a web page with a form for a user to fill out. The content then goes through the admin layer (for approval or edits) and then goes through the compending process.

The benefit of this process is that it leverages the power of user generated content.

Last week I bought a new Sony Bravia 40" LCD TV from hhgregg. They could use this functionality in this way:

They could send me an email asking me to review the tv (offering me some incentive to do so)
I would go to the form and share my story and some pictures of me watching Modern Family
This story would be submitted, approved, and compended to hhgregg's keyword blogs.
I see my review on their site and I share that facebook and twitter.

Not only will I be sharing my story that will drive traffic to hhgregg's site, but my story is now optimized and may show up in organic search.

So when another consumer goes to Google to search for a Sony tv, they may land on my story hosted on hhgregg's blog which could make them a customer.

If they buy a product the cycle will start all over and they can share their story on a web-to-post form.

It's a feature loaded with potential! Compendium is an enterprise platform and we strive to make our product the platform of choice for marketers!

Granite State Success breeds Referral

Thursday, March 18, 2010 by Brian Millis

As a sales professional, I think it is important to highlight wonderful testimonials from current clients that we work with at Compendium. Kate Benway from Granite State University was one of those savvy marketers I was lucky enough to work with throughout the sales process to help bring her school onto the Compendium corporate blogging platform.

When a colleague of mine shared Kate's recent email about offering a glowing reference, I thought that others out there might like to read these words straight from a Compendium Blogware customer.

Hi Maureen!

I’m so happy to serve as a reference – you and your team are categorically the best I’ve ever worked with. We are regularly relieved/impressed/happily surprised/thrilled with what you do, how you respond to problems and your customer service. If you’d like to invite your prospect to call me, that’d be great. If he’d like to call one of those days next week, I’ll be right here and be happy to chat with him!

Kate Benway
Media Engagement Coordinator
Granite State College

Thanks Kate for such a wonderful recommendation and I look forward to watching more Granite State success in the future!

Why Blogging is Your #1 Search Marketing Tool

Thursday, March 18, 2010 by Heather Benfield

The Pew Internet and American Life Project

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that as much as 80% of all web activity begins with online search.Also, compared to Audio/video instant messaging, text messaging and social networking, email and search continue to dominate online web interactions.

So what does this mean for business marketers?

Basically, in order to get in front of those prospects using email and search, you need to find the most effective, reliable and ROI producing tool out there. In today's world that tool is corporate blogging!

In order to educate marketers about the importance of blogging for search, Compendium Blogware has recently created a new Whitepaper titled: Why Blogging is Your #1 Search Marketing Tool.

In this Whitepaper you'll learn:

> Commong blogging myths that hinder marketers from valuable search engine results.
> Why blogging works for SEO
> How an enterprise level platform helps organizations acquire new business

To read this new Whitepaper, download it for free now: Why Blogging is your #1 Search Marketing Tool.

Client Testimonial on Compendium

Thursday, March 18, 2010 by Sarah Sedberry

Of course every employee believes in their company and the product or service they carry, but it is always nice to get confirmation from clients and outside sources who love your company as much as you do.

Recently we had a client, Ray Rosewell of DaVinci Roofscapes, mention his success with his blogging program in an interview that was featured on Business Blog Writers. In the interview Ray mentions his goals and how Compendium is helping his company achieve them:

"From a business standpoint, what I am looking for is a way to make a blog effective as an information tool, but at the same time, use it as a tool that will allow search engines to find us so they can help people who are looking for information that relates to our products.. By using the Compendium blog platform to do the work on keyword selection we are able to accomplish both goals.”

For more on how Compendium's powerful blogging software can help your business achieve your online marketing goals, contact us to schedule a demo and get free Starbucks!

Compendium March Blogging Contest

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Kelly Simon

This is the time of year when every internal office contest is based around basketball and the NCAA Tournament. Things are no different here at Compendium!

At the beginning of the month we launched a blogging contest amongst all of our clients and I'm happy to say that 4 of the clients in our top 10 are clients I work with! Congratulations to EasyCare, First Tax Solution, Harrison College and Marshall Wolf Automation. I can't wait for you to dominate the next round of competition!

Valuable Lessons about Social Media

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Ford McAlexander

There are many lessons to be learned about social media and I still am learning as I go, but there are some tips you can find online that can help you with your social media strategy. I was reading an article on problogger.net called 30 Valuable Lessons Learned Using Social Media for Small Business which revealed two points that stuck with me.

1) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important but Search Engine Visiblity (SEV) is MORE important for small businesses.

2) The most consistent return for your small business is by business blogging.

The article is a great one because it shows a man's mistakes in the last few years and what works and doesn't work in his small business. Every business is different and that is a beauty of a blog. It is your unique way to share your business to the world. Check out a demonstration today of how blogging can help your business.

Green is my Favorite Color

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Ford McAlexander

If you are a member of the business community, you love
St. Patrick's Day because of the

color green! Green is the color of money which business people do love. And if you are looking out for the future of your business, you should want to ensure that there are ways to provide more sales and lead generation for your company. There are many strategies that can help your company, but are any of them as effective as corporate business blogging?

Compendium offers blogging solutions that helps do at least these three things that can make your company green this year:

1) Humanize your Marketing - People believe more in campaigns that feel like they are being treated as an individual.

2) Lead Generation - Using Compendium's software helps increase people's first time visits to your company's website

3) Tracking of Campaigns - The software also tracks how successful your blogging is with the help of Google Analytics.

There are so many benefits that Compendium's software provides but those three are just some highlights. If you have any questions, view this Whitepaper about Considering Blogging. It will give you the basics of making your social media strategy a green one!

Happy St. Patty's Day from Compendium - Come join our team!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Heather Benfield

It's March 17th and the Compendium Blogware team is all decked out in their finest green attire to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Although I'm not of Irish decent, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this holiday (maybe because green is my favorite color) and enjoy celebrating with family and friends every year.

I think it's important to work in an office environment where others are excited to dress up and celebrate holidays too. Work is definitely about helping your clients and your company succeed in business, but I think it should also be fun so it doesn't feel like "work" but more of a place you love to go everyday to learn, share ideas, be creative and not to sound too cheesy but.....change the world!

Here at Compendium, we have a ton of fun! To help motivate each other to work hard and reach our goals we like to offer fun rewards. Last week our product support team went rock climbing for reaching their goals, our client success team was treated to breakfast and lunch for all their hard work and our sales team enjoyed bowling and dinner at Jillies downtown after a week long training session.

We're a fast growing company and always looking for fun, energetic and hard working people to join our team. If you're looking to advance your career in the internet marketing software industry I encourage you to check out our open positions and send us your resume. We'd love to meet you!

To learn more about Compendium Blogware, check out our website.

Just Do it

Monday, March 15, 2010 by David Burks

Blog for Business- Just Do It

Social marketing is the evolved state of word-of-mouth marketing, using new, Internet-based social media. Social media includes a plethora of social sites people can use to spread the word about their business or Website. Social marketing offers the advantage of being inexpensive, but at the same time, it provides a highly targeted audience. In the correct and experienced hands, social marketing can multiply the profits of any business by increasing the number of customers.

Social marketing is best done through various social media channels such as blogs, social networking websites, picture and video sharing sites, and targeting social bookmarking sites.

Compendium specializes in blogging software, providing a hub for all social media efforts. To learn more about Compendium Blogware and our software, visit www.compendium.com.

SEO is a matter of opinion

Thursday, March 11, 2010 by Julie Murphy

Who do you listen to when it comes to leveraging SEO tools? In today's world everyone is speaking about blogging for search. Blog for business with the most effective easy to use blog software that allows you to concentrate on a content management system built to populate landing pages that in turn create keyword rich pages.

Leverage the very words that searchers are using to find you, get found and get results. Everyone wins! You are served a top result and the searcher finds what they are looking for.

Blogs are fantastic SEO tools, just make certain you are using the best blogging solution!