Basic Blogging for Business

Welcome to my blog!

Hi there!

My name is Allison Bowen and I work in the Client Success Department at Compendium Blogware as a Client Success Specialist. I'm a recent graduate of Butler University and am excited to dive into the world of blogging for business.

One thing I know for sure is that writing a post does not need to be nearly as complicated as many people make it seem. The purpose of my blog is to show you that blogging for business is actually quite basic. You don't have to be a journalist by trade or even a fantastic writer to create an awesome post that can win your company business. I'm here to give you the help you need as you too dig further into the vast world of blogging.

On a personal note, I'm orginally from the very northeast corner of Indiana and absolutely love any and all water activities!

This 'Blogging Stuff' Really Works!

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Allison Bowen

Late yesterday afternoon I had yet another experience that made me stop and think "Wow! Compendium's blog software really IS amazing!" Now don't get me wrong, every day as I learn more and more about our system I realize how extraordinary it really is. But at the same time, it's easy to tell others that we have the most powerful blogging software on the market. It's another matter entirely to actually see our product in action.

As the official client training host here at Compendium, I am continually looking for ways to improve our training webinars. Recently, I have begun to create a survey that will be sent to each attendee after the session.

Yesterday, while researching, I simply Googled the words "Training Survey Questions." Like most normal searchers, I clicked on the first option that was returned. As I arrived on the page, I was surprised at how familiar it looked. Not really putting two and two together, I read the content, which answered my questions perfectly and then took a deeper look at the page. All of the sudden it clicked -- this page was a Compendium blog! Cvent, a Compendium client, happens to specialize in just what I was searching for. I clicked through on many of their calls-to-actions and was very excited to find the results I was looking for so easily.

This experience proved to me once again that blogging for search works. Why not reach out to Compendium today and learn more about our software?

You've Copy/Pasted from Word. Now what?

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

You have written an amazing blog post using Compendium's simple blogging software and suddenly notice that your blog post is not appearing correctly. And your font is not the same as the others. What in the world?

Well, then you remember that you copy/pasted from Word. Oops! Now what? Microsoft Word and other similar text editing programs apply hidden formatting that interferes with all web formatting.

There is a way to save your post and regain that awesome blog for your business.

All you need to do is simply copy your text and paste it into a Notepad file. Then copy your text from there and paste it back into the text editor. Voila! It's that easy! Notepad will automatically strip your text of the formatting. You will need to replace your links and images, but it's a lot better than rewriting the entire post.

And -- you'll remember better next time! :)

Tips from Training

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

As the resident training webinar host here at Compendium, I've picked up a few tips that might be helpful to you as you begin you blogging program. Not only should you follow the blogging best practices that your client success manager shares with you, but you should also know about a few tedious little details...

#1 - You're all excited to start blogging for search, you've gotten your new username and password and you go to our login screen. And...your password doesn't work. What in the world? Here's often the solution - type the temporary password directly into the login screen! I know it's a weird password, but trust me. Copying/pasting this password often inserts weird spacing that will cause the temporary password not to work. Be sure to type it into the login screen.

#2 - We told you we have an easy to use blog software program and you discover we really do. You're all proud of yourself for uploading the perfect picture, but now it seems to be too large. You go back into the picture and try to modify the sizing from within the image properties box. Still too big. Instead of going back and forth and getting frustrated, try this trick. Click on the picture and drag the edges! Just like many text editing programs, with Compendium's system, you have the ability to change the picture size simply by dragging the edges.

#3 - You've written the best post of your life, submit it, it's been approved and suddenly you notice that the font looks different than the rest of the posts. Why? Well, did you copy and paste from Microsoft Word? Word and other text editing programs actually contain hidden formatting that interferes with all web formatting. Copy/pasting from anything other than Notepad can cause your posts to appear with different text, your images to disappear and many other problems!

The iPad and Social Media

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

Okay, so I'll admit it - I'm often very bad at turning on the evening news or even picking up a daily newspaper to see what is going on in the world. I used to feel bad about this and promised myself that when I got into the "real world" I would be better at staying connected with the world. Little did I know that the outside world would actually connect itself with me...

Take for example the new Apple iPad. I have an iPhone, but that's about the extent of my Apple knowledge. Unless there is a big, exciting update coming out for my phone, I really can't say I follow the products.

These days though, I can't get away from recent news. On the day of the big iPad release, I woke up, checked my Twitter and saw a number of tweets regarding the new product. On Facebook, people were talking about what it would be like. Blog posts on Mashable were all about the new item. So of course, what did I do? I did a Google search to see what all the hype was about. And what do you know -- without ever watching the news, suddenly I was up to date on the day's happenings!

The same thing can happen for your company. There are all sorts of way to drum up excitement for a new product release. First, start with the best blogging software - Compendium's of course! By writing a blog for search engine optimization, you already have a leg up on your competition. You can then highlight your blog posts on Twitter and Facebook and go from there. Start today -- who knows, your new product might be the next big thing I see on Twitter!

Online Marketing Panel

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

Last night I had the opportunity to be a part of an amazing online marketing panel at Butler University, hosted by the Butler American Marketing Association. As a recent graduate of Butler, I always jump at any opportunity to return to my alma mater. I knew our panel would be interesting, but I had no idea HOW interesting!

The other two participants in the panel were from local online marketing companies ExactTarget and Bradley and Montgomery. While it may seem like we all do very different things (ExactTarget focuses on e-mail marketing and BaM focuses on campaigns), in reality all of our companies connect with each other through the world of online marketing.

I was very surprised to hear the questions that the students had about blogging for search and what search engine optimization is. I discussed Compendium's corporate blogging software and how easy it is for companies to win search results through the use of a blog.

The woman from ExactTarget discussed how much information companies really have on their clients and how they can customize e-mails based on a customer's profile. Who would have thought?

The BaM participant spends much of her time focusing on search marketing and various SEO tools for her clients and discussed how quickly the trends in social media change. She even receives phone calls from L.A. at midnight at times when a Twitter trend changes!

Although we are all from different areas of online marketing, one theme rang true throughout the evening. If you want your company to succeed in today's market, you need to have an online presence in some form. You may have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, but that's simply not enough. Why not try Compendium's simple blogging software today? It could prove to be cruicial to the success of your business!

Twitter and Blogging

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

In the world of Product Support, one of the questions we often get is actually in regards to another form of popular social media today - Twitter. Whether or not you actually "tweet" yourself, you know you've heard the type surrounding the site lately.

The question we receive is this: "Okay, I've been using Compendium's powerful blogging software and am seeing results. But how do I incorporate my blog posts into Twitter?"

There are a few days to accomplish this goal, but the easiest is to use a service called Twitterfeed. By signing up for a free Twitterfeed account, you can use the URL of your RSS feed to simply and painlessly feed your blog posts to Twitter. Each time you write a blog for business, the first few sentences of your post and a URL that links to the rest of your post will automatically appear as a new Twitter update.

That's the amazing thing about the world of social media. Somehow, it all integrates together.

Blogging Gets Results

Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Allison Bowen

Quite a few months back I wrote a blog post about our new Orr Fellowship blog. In that post, I promised to keep you updated on the result of our efforts to blog for search engine optimization. Well unfortunately, I have failed miserably with the commitment. But trust me, it's not because we're not seeing results!

In fact, I have been blown away by the results that we have seen just by using Compendium's simple blogging software. Since I am a Compendium employee, I know how amazing our product is, but even I was surprised!

With just around twenty posts, we have already risen to the top of Google's search results for the following words:

Distinguished Post Grad Jobs
Entrepreneurial Jobs Indianapolis
High Growth Companies Hiring New Grads
Post Graduate Networking Indianapolis
Indiana Small Company Jobs

There are also a number of other keywords for which we are rising to the top. Amazing! Not only does our blog allow us Fellows to connect with each other, it also allows us to reach potential Fellows. As undergraduates begin searching online for jobs after graduation, they'll come across the Orr Fellowship blog.

Blogging is quickly becoming a powerful recruitment tool for the Fellowship. What could it do for your company? Every company is looking to recruit someone -- buyers, clients, you name it. Compendium provides the best blogging software that will allow you to engage with your clients while still obtaining the search results you are looking for. Give us a call today!

The Colts and Social Media

Friday, January 15, 2010 by Allison Bowen

As any Colts fan knows, this is one important weekend for football. If you're not a football fan, I'll clue you in - this weekend is the first playoff game for the Indianapolis Colts! This Saturday night at 8pm, the Colts will face off versus the Baltimore Ravens. And let's hope the outcome is a good one...

You might be wondering what in the world this has to do with a blog software program or blogging in general. What does any form of social media have to do with a playoff game?

Well let me give you a few examples of the social media hype surrounding the big game:

1.) The Indianapolis Howl at the Moon manager decided to make a few comments online and open his bar to Ravens fans. The result? A "Boycott Howl at the Moon" Facebook group was formed that now has nearly 4,500 members. Even the local news media covered the story.

2.) The Twitter wars are on. Nearly every tweet that appeared on my Twitterfeed today had something to do with the "#Colts". For example: "spamspam RT @whelanandealin: It's really cute, all these #Ravens fans who think they're not going to get LIT UP by the #Colts tomorrow (via @GusSent)"

3.) And of course there's the blogging... You can find blogs on every topic under the sun that relates to the match up. Check out the "18 to 88" blog for example.

Now think about this - what if your company received even a quarter of the social media coverage that this game has generated? What would that do for your company's sales? Blogging is a great place to start when diving into the world of social media. Contact Compendium today to see how our easy to use blog software can change your business.

And just in case you haven't had enough of the Colts, check out these comics! GO COLTS!

Gary Varvel: The Big Blue Review - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

Fantasy Blogging Experience

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

On any given Friday in the Compendium

office, you'll notice quite a bit of blue. Why? Located in the heart of Indianapolis, Compendium is home to many die-hard Colts fans. And let us tell you... It's a great time to be a Colts fan! As the Colts continue winning on the field, those individuals with Colts players in their Fantasy Football League are pretty pleased as well.

As I sit and listen to those around me discuss the strategies and success of their leagues, I've begun to wonder... What if we created a fantasy blogging league? For each blog post written, users could gain a certain number of yards. The first user to score a touchdown wins a prize! Or blog admins could make the event even more competitive users. Writers could choose their "players" (fellow users) that they would like to play each week. If that person doesn't write a blog post, they don't gain the yardage! While there are many ways to spin this scenario, one thing is for sure -- motivating your users can be fun!

In order for Compendium's powerful blogging software to do its job, posts need to be written. It is the responsibility of the blog admin to make sure that their users are posting as much as possible. There are all sorts of ways to motivate your writers, but here at Compendium we like to encourage you to be as creative a possible. A blog fantasy league is just the beginning... What will you come up with??

Tips & Tricks from Training - #8 "Search content"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

After you've been blogging with Compendium's blog software for awhile, you may begin to wonder what other features the system contains. For example, what if you know you wrote a post a couple of years ago and would like to go back and look at it, but can't for the life of you seem to find it live on your main blog page?

No problem! Compendium has a feature for that! The "search content" feature within the template editor allows users to search for any blog title or content. Users could perform a search for one specific phrase they used in a previous post. All the posts containing that phrase would appear.

In order to access this feature, verify you are logged in to your user account and select "Manage, Posts" in the upper left hand corner. Halfway down the page, on the left hand side of the screen there is a space to "search content." Make sure the radial button above is moved to "All", enter the phrase you are looking for and select "Go." There you have it!

ADMINS - Did you know this same feature is available within the admin moderation panel? With Compendium's easy to use blog software, you can perform a search for any content you'd like to see. If a post was previously approved, you can now decline the post to pull it down from being live, or choose to approve a previously declined post in order for it to appear live.

Happy Cyber Monday!

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

We've all heard of Black Friday, the infamous day when hoards of people rise in the wee hours of the morning to find the best deals and get a head start on their Christmas shopping. But have you heard of Cyber Monday? Neither had I. That is until this year...

Wikipedia explains that Cyber Monday is a marketing term that refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday being the busiest day of the year for retail electronic commerce in the United States.

Who knew? Not only did I hear about this day from one of our software developers (who was very excited about it), I also began receiving a mass amount of e-mails advertising specials for the big event. HP, Overstock.com, the e-mails were flooding in.

This got me thinking... Compendium sells the most powerful blogging software available. Why don't we advertise for Cyber Monday? I can't think of a better Christmas present to give your company executive! Okay, okay, this may actually be something that you would need to discuss with them first. But why would a company not want to increase their search engine optimization simply by blogging? The results will blow you away!

Contact Compendium today to find out more about our blog software. You don't really need that new big screen for your company lounge. What you really need is a new blogging program that will certainly increase your search results!

Happy Cyber Monday!

Tips & Tricks from Training - #7 "Admin Comments"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

We've all been there... After writing your first post using Compendium's easy to use blog software, you sit anxiously at your computer awaiting a response from your blog admin. Will you receive an approval e-mail? Or was your post declined? Either way, when your admin takes an action on your post you'll receive an e-mail notification.

This e-mail may mention that your admin has left you comments on your post. But where do you find these comments? That's easy!

When logged in to Compendium's blog software under your user account, simply select "Manage, Posts" in the upper left hand corner of your screen. This will bring up all the posts you have written, just be sure the radial button is moved to "All." Simply click on the post you'd like to see and choose to "Show Detail." You will now be able to see "Admin Feedback." If your post was declined, your admin may have noticed a few spelling errors they'd like you to correct. You may edit the post and resubmit it for your admin's approval. If your post was approved, your admin may have left you some positive feedback!

It's always a good idea to check and see if your admin left you any feedback so you are aware of any changes you should make, or even what you're doing right!

Tips & Tricks - #6 "Adding a Picture"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

One of the best ways to spice up a long, text-heavy post is to include an image! When it comes to pictures, it's important to remember that in order to use an image effectively, you'll need to be able to show the relevancy between the picture and your post/organization. You would never want to include an image that is not relevant.

With Compendium's easy to use blog software, adding an image to your post is simple. Click on the button that looks like an image (five in from the left within the template editor) and a box will appear. You'll have the option to browse your computer for the image or insert a URL. Next choose to "Insert this image."

The second screen will give you the opportunity to provide an image description, change the width and height of your image as well as the padding. Padding is simply the whitespace around your picture that controls how close the text gets to the edge of the image. I personally like to put four, but you may have a different preference. You can also select how you would like to align your image. By selecting the second tab at the top, you can also provide a URL that you would like your image to link to.

Once you've chosen all the correct details, simply select "OK" and you're set! Once your image has been inserted, you may also move it around with your mouse, or change its size by dragging the edges.

Blogging for business has never been this easy!

Tips & Tricks - #5 "Copying/Pasting"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

If you too took many computer classes throughout your school days, you probably have the same love and appreciation for Microsoft Word that I do. You've typed papers in Word, written outlines, brainstormed, you name it. For any basic text you've wanted to create, you've used Microsoft Word. So why would you not use it when you begin blogging for search?

Unfortunately, our beloved text editor has a dark side - formatting. All Microsoft Office products actually contain a hidden formatting that interferes with all web formatting. Therefore, if you attempt to first write your post in Word and then copy it into Compendium's blog software, you may start to notice a few peculiar things happening. Your fonts may not be standard across all blogs. Calls-to-action may start disappearing or in fact, the post may not display at all. You just never know what tricky thing will occur!

So what should you do instead? First, we recommend writing your posts directly into the text editor. It's simply the easiest option. However if you do prefer to copy and paste your text, always be sure you are using Notepad. Notepad strips text of all formatting and is standard on all PCs. It may not look like Microsoft Word, but it sure works a lot better!

ADMINS - Watch for users that may be copying/pasting from Word! This can cause all sorts of issues to your blog page. A good way to tell if someone has copied/pasted from Word is the font. If it looks much different than every other post that has been submitted to you, it may be because the user used Word.

Tips & Tricks - #4 "Setting Your Timezone"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

As you sit down to use the world's best blogging software (Compendium's of course!), you may wonder what in the world the red bar at the top of your template editor is telling you to do. Set your timezone? Where? Why would you want to do that?

Setting your timezone is actually an important step to complete when preparing to write your posts. If you would ever choose to schedule a post for a future release, it would be crucial that your timezone is set correctly.

The process of setting your timezone is extremely simple! When logged in to your user or admin account, simply click on the "Account" button in the upper right hand corner of your screen. From there, you have the option to set your timezone. Select "US" and then choose your region. From within this account screen you can also choose to modify your name, e-mail, blog title, description and more. Click at the bottom to "Save Changes" and your timezone will be set! The red bar will no longer appear at the top of your template editor.

ADMINS - From within the admin moderation panel, you may notice that all times show up in the "UTC" timezone. UTC is an international time scale which is commonly used in astronomical and aviation publications and more. Local timezones can be expressed as an offset from UTC, e.g. Indianapolis is UTC-5 that is, 5 hours behind UTC. Our blog software uses servers that run on this timezone, hence why this time appears in your admin screen.

Tips & Tricks - #3 "Blog Title"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

When you first log in to the Compendium blog software for the first time, you'll be asked to complete a four-step setup process. This process is very simple, but often users get stuck on one part -- the blog title.

What is a blog title? What should yours be?

A blog title is different than a post title. Post titles are specific for each post you write and appear at the top of the post. A blog title is the title you choose for your user blog page. When a reader clicks on your name as an author, they'll be taken to your user blog page, which contains all of the posts written specifically by you. At the top of this page, they'll be able to see your blog title!

Actually titling your blog may take some thought. It should reflect what you are going to be writing about or what you do at your company. It may or may not use a keyword phrase. Also, this blog title becomes part of the URL and can not be changed. While you can later go back and re-title your blog through the account screen, your original title will always remain in the URL.

When developing the title, you may also wish to consider how you would like to promote your blog within social media, e-mail signatures, etc. For example, my blog title here at Compendium is "Basic Blogging for Business." If you look above my sticky post, you'll see my title.

Good luck!

Tips & Tricks from Training - #2 "The Sticky Post"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

You may have heard your blog admin throw out the term "sticky post" at some point when discussing the Compendium blog software. But chances are, you have no idea what that term means.

Let's see if I can help you out. A sticky post is very simple to write and is definitely something that you will want to set up upon first beginning to blog for business. A sticky post is essentially just your bio post. It will remain stuck at the top at the top of your user blog page and will not sort out to any of your keywords. You will only see this post appear on your user blog page.

Let me stop there a second. What is your user blog page? Compendium's business blog software not only creates a main blog page (where all posts written by each user will appear), but also user blog pages. If a reader clicks on the name of an individual post author, they will be taken to the user blog page, where all posts written by that user will appear. This is also where the sticky post will appear!

In your sticky post, you may wish to discuss what you do at your company, what you'll be writing about, even a few of your favorite hobbies. Just be sure to relate your post back to your company and relate to your readers!

Make sure you check the "Sticky" button in the template editor before submitting this post to your blog admin. This will ensure that the post truly is a sticky post!

Tips & Tricks from Training - #1 "Scheduling for Future Release"

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Allison Bowen

With the holidays quickly approaching, you may be planning that much needed vacation. The last thing you are going to want to do during your vacation will be write a blog post! But what if you promised your boss you'd complete at least three posts before New Years?

No problem! Compendium's easy to use blog software has the solution for you! With our business blog software, you can easily choose to "Schedule for future release." What does this mean? You can write a post at any time and submit it to your admin for approval. Even if your admin approves the post, it still will not appear live on your main blog page until the date you chose to schedule it.

How do you accomplish this feature? When using Compendium's blog software to write your post, simply click the button at the top of the editor (next to "Sticky") that reads "Schedule for future release." You will then have the option to select the date you'd like to use!

ADMINS - Did you know that an asterisk next to the date of a post your user has submitted for approval means that it has been scheduled for a future release? You can click on the "Show Details" button to see the date the post has been scheduled for!

I'm a Blog Admin! Now What?!

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Allison Bowen

As an employee for Compendium Blogware, my job every day is to help our clients with our blog software. This often means that I find myself updating calls-to-action, explaining how clients can add users and answering other various questions that our users and admins might have.

But recently, the tables have turned. I have now become a blog admin myself! Now what do I do?!

Both Amber Mohling and I are fellows with the Orr Fellowship program. The Orr Fellowship program provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students searching for their first salaried, full-time position following graduation. It's been a great opportunity for both of us!

Well wouldn't you know it, we recently were able to set up an Orr Fellowship blog. And I'm the new blog admin! Check it out -- http://blog.orrfellowship.org. I now find myself actually performing some of the duties that we discuss with clients each day. So as a new blog admin, what have I done? Followed Compendium's blogging best practice tips, of course!

Updated our calls-to-action
Added ShareThis to our blog (visit here and send the code to help@compendium.com)
Encouraged my bloggers to blog frequently and consistently
Made sure each blogger has a sticky post set up
Monitored my Google Analytics statistics (admins should get them each Monday by e-mail)

It has definitely been an adventure, but I'm really enjoying being a blog admin. When I saw the number of click-throughs from our blog and our most recent search results, I was thrilled. Compendium really does provide the best blogging software!