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College Blogging from an Admission Counselor perspective

Monday, October 5, 2009 by Brian Millis
I couldn't be happier about this article from the New York Times about M.I.T. embracing student blogging as a major marketing tool.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/education/02blogs.html?emc=eta1

Before joining the Compendium Blogware team, I spent a year as an Admission Officer at DePauw University (my alma mater!).  While I traveled states like Ohio, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, and Indiana marketing the value of liberal arts and DePauw University, I realized something very valuable that this NYT article now validates.students are online

Prospective college students don't want another glossy brochure with cliche tag lines about diversity, the low student to faculty ratio, and incredible facilities.  In fact, most 16 and 17 year olds rarely even look at the snail mail that reaches their home.  This is the Facebook generation, the MySpace kids, the Tweeting youth of America.  They're certainly not at home waiting on the mail to bring the next post card. They are all online.  They connect to millions of other prospective students just like themselves in a matter of seconds. They do hundreds of searches a week as they research their college decision.  And that is why student blogging is such a vital tool that all colleges should be embracing.  Those teenagers I met while recruiting for DePauw wanted to know about the campus atmosphere, and they wanted to hear it from the the most qualified source; the students.

So this does not surprise me at all that top universities like M.I.T. are taking student blogs to the next level.  But does this mean that the fears and risks are not on the minds of the admission office, every dean across the country, and every board of trustees?  Nope.  They are all still worried that student blogging will put them at risk and tarnish the school image. 

That is why our enterprise level blogging software is so important to consider.  We have easy to use administrative features that allow a school to unleash their student blogging army while still maintaining control of the message.  We can customize the blogs to match the university branding without losing that blog feel that makes it more human than a web site. But most importantly, Compendium's platform is the only solution that can maximize the SEO value of all this amazing student blog content.  With us, colleges can guide their students with important topics, good ideas for better blog posts, and the highest level of security.  For an example, just search this:  Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges  and look for DePauw's blog at the top of the search ranking.

Hey Admission Office, would you like to use safe student blog content to win on your most important search phrases that support your mission statement and encourage the best and brightest to apply to your institution?  If so, email me at bmillis@compendiumblogware.com or call my direct line (317) 777-6254 and I'd love to share more about my experience as an Admission Officer and how it relates to the world of blogging.



Now I know my ABC's...

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 by Mitch Burk
I've now posted 26 blogs relating the blogging world to the alphabet.  Within these blogs, I discussed some better blogging practices and what makes Compendium different than other blogging platforms.  

Some of them were a stretch, but in all seriousness, Compendium works.  If you're looking to acquire business through blogging, take advantage of any of the following:

-Download a case study and learn about how our clients are seeing success
-Attend a webinar and hear first-hand from Compendium's CEO how to utilize our blog software
-Download a white paper and take an inside look into the blogging world
-View a demo with a sales associate and get a $50 gift card

Also, all of the letter pictures included were photo's I've taken in the past few months... if you're interested to see more, don't hesitate to ask!

Steps to writing better Blog Content - STEP 5 - Be Creative

Friday, June 19, 2009 by Brett Fritz
The last step, STEP 5 - Be Creative.  After today, I will have written about five steps that will help you and your organization write better content on your blog for business. 

Today's step is easy....simply put... be creative with your content.  If you go back and read through my blog posts you will see that I have written about so many different topics and themes.  Some of which may have not made any sense at the time (sorry about that!).  The point is to be creative with your content. 

Always try to relate back your creative side on the content post with your blogging goals.  Remember that using your blog as a tool for SEO means that you want to be found via search through the keywords that are found in your blog content.  So, as creative as you want to get, always try to relate it back to your keywords you want to win on search.  Make the post relevant to your business but make it interesting so your audience does not fall asleep when reading the content. 

Having a blog for business is a a great tool and being creative with your content will help you attract and retain an audience that wants to read (or hear or see) what you have to say.

Do us, your audience, a favor and Be Creative on your blog for business!

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.

Steps to writing better Blog Content - STEP 3 - Outline/Draft/Write

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 by Brett Fritz
Today is STEP 3 - Outline/Draft/Write, as we roll out some great steps on how to help your organization write better blog content for your business blog. 

This step reminds me of my high school English class.  I always wanted to just write my book reports one time and be done with them.  In doing so, I often had errors that I could have avoided if I would have just listened to my teacher when she told me to - outline my paper, then draft it, and then write the final version for submission. 

Keeping to this formula will help you when you write content on your blog for business.  Remember that when you put any content on the web, it is going to be read be it good, bad, or indifferent.  Why not just be sure that the content is decent before making it go live on your blog. 

Maybe this means that you just spend a few extra minutes to read through your content before you submit it.  Going over what you just wrote will help you catch small errors that you may not have seen in the first place.  Also, be sure that you spell check your content.  Although, I say that spell checking is important but remember this post I did a few weeks back:
Overall, giving your blog content a second look will help your content be clean and fresh for your audience.  It will help you remember what your blogging goals are in the first place and be a reminder to keep to those goals that you set forth. 

This step is just a simple step that should be considered when talking about blogging best practices.  I hope this step is one that you will consider using if you are a seasoned blog writer or you are still learning how to set up a business blog for the first time. 

Happy Blogging!

Steps to writing better Blog Content - STEP 2 - Brainstorm/Mind mapping

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by Brett Fritz
Today is STEP 2 - Brainstorm/Mind Mapping, in the roll out of steps to helping you and your organization write better blog content for your blog for business. 

I think that this step is one that gets overlooked far too often.  I like to ask companies this question, "when you start a new marketing campaign do you just start writing your marketing pitch and whatever comes out is what you use for the campaign?"  No, you and your team do some brainstorming and map out what the team feels would be the best message to get out to your audience what will give you the highest and best return on your investment. 

Writing content for your business blog should be treated the same way (Most of the time.  The exception to this rule is when you just have a great idea and you want to post it on your blog before the idea disappears from your head - in this case, don't brainstorm, just write the content and clean it up as needed!). 

There are several articles on the web that talk about different brainstorming techniques to consider when writing blog content but I think the most important technique to remember is this:

Write about the keywords that you want to be found on search for.  These keywords should be the problems and questions that people are searching online for to find the answers to.  Your blog content should be the answers for the searcher! 

If your blog content is all about how you love to go bird watching, you will be found by people searching for bird watching keywords.  If this is not what you want to be found on, then do not write content about these keywords!

If you brainstorm in teams, you might find that other people have ideas that you can feed off of and ultimately get double the amount of great content on your blog!

Brainstorming is a key step to writing good content for your blog for business.  I encourage you to make this technique a natural, and productive, part of your business blogging goals!

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!

Blog Champion

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry
WinnerFor those that were following the heated competition between Doug Karr (Social Media Domination), Jess Wehner (Better Blogging), and myself in last week's internal posting battle here at Compendium Blogware, I thought I would give you the final update on who closed it out Friday at 5:00 pm.  Yes, loyal readers ~ yours truly!

For those that are interested to know, yes I did partake in several victory laps around Doug's desk and have recruited several designers to help me create a fantastic art representation of my win to combat his wonderful devil design...

In all seriousness though, the competition was a great way for the Marketing Team to get us revved up here at Compendium to create more content and therefore drive more traffic to our site.  What are some ideas you and your blog teams have used to create more content to your corporate blogs?  Currently, the Client Marketing Team is hosting a March Madness event so don't forget to log in today to participate. 

*We are always brainstorming here to find ways to encourage our clients to continue posting keyword rich content as that is the best way to ensure results. Feel free to share your ideas, and you never know - your idea might be our next one! * 



Blogs and Dictators

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 by Brett Fritz
Ok how are blogs and dictators (or a dictatorship) related in any capacity?

A dictator is defined as a ruler who is unconstrained by law (thank you wikipedia).  Some people may feel that google is a dictator when it comes to search results - google provides results of only what it wants, there is no way for change it!

In some ways, this is correct.  Google does have guidelines by which they rank what results appear in what order.  The misconception is that there is nothing to do about it.  Sure, you can not cheat google -- they will find out you are cheating them and get you!  You can however provide google with exactly that they want to rank your information relevent. 

Compendium Blogware provides you with an affordable blogging software that will give google exactly what it is looking for.  Our easy to use blog software will provide your organization with results, all tied back to ROI.

There is blogging and then there is Better Blogging - from Compendium!

How To Convert Your Website Traffic

Thursday, February 12, 2009 by Compendium Client Marketing
One of the most important aspects to corporate blogging is the ability to prove ROI. How can you prove the value of your blogging system? Show the value that the platform provides as a lead generation tool.

What do you have to do to get blog traffic to convert into leads?

Create a killer Call To Action (CTA).

Let's start with the basics from Compendium's Better Blogging Guide... the CTA process:
CTA Conversion Process
  1. Step One: An internet user searches online via a search engine (most likely Google)
  2. Step Two: Searcher finds your blog in the list for search results and clicks through to your blog
  3. Step Three: Blog visitor reads the content on your blog
  4. Step Four: Blog visitor is engaged and interested in what you have to say so they click on your CTA
  5. Step Five: CTA link takes the blog visitor to a unique landing page where they supply you with contact info thus resulting in a lead
Now that you understand the process it's important that you create CTAs that are engaging.

Stay tuned for the next post in the series Better Blogging - From Compendium: Engaging Calls To Action.

Technology and power

Friday, February 6, 2009 by Aaron Stanton
Technology invariably increases the power of those who have it.  It's a two edged sword - when it's hard to replicate and expensive to make in the first place, it becomes something that only people who already have wealth and power will get.  If it's easy and inexpensive to mass produce, it will become something everyone can use, which makes it an equalizer.  There's a fine balance to be had here.

Blogging software is one of these equalizers.  It winds up taking some of the power the traditional media used to have and putting in the hands of, well, everyone.  Since everyone can now blog, how do you stand out from the crowd?

Use better blogging software, of course.  Put some more power in your hands.

BlogWell

Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Brian Millis

This conference in Chicago is called BlogWell.  I wonder if this was just a happenstance play on words, or a well thought out description for a blog conference?  What do I mean? 

BlogWell:  Like when your boss yells, "Hey Brian, you better blog well today!"  Is this a conference that will help me accomplish that task?  Hopefully I will be a better blogger after this event, and as I'm finding, practice surely helps.  

Blog WellOr is this a Blog Well, as in a space full of blog information where businesses come to replenish their cup of knowledge about a better way to market to a growing online audience? 

I'm hoping for the second definition for two reasons.  One, I think it's much more creative.  Two, because Compendium is a sponsor at this conference, which means we are knowledge that this list of businesses seek for ideas on a better corporate blog strategy.  Well (no pun intended), they came to the right place.

Better blogging software from Compendium

Thursday, January 15, 2009 by Julie Murphy

What makes our job at Compendium rewarding?  It's providing an affordable blogging software solution that sets clients up for success.  Many businesses know how to set their goals but the reality is small to medium businesses may not be confident in how to get there!


In steps Compendium Blogware!  Compendium is a demand generation and customer acquisition tool to help companies win the organic search battle.  Blogging with a purpose.  The compending process takes in information by organizing key words relevant to your organization and casts a wide net to win on organic search.  The outcome is simple....humanizing your look with real interactions, providing relevant content to the searcher, and winning the battle for demand generation and customer acquisition!

Design world catching up with technology, 2.0

Thursday, January 8, 2009 by mikey mioduski

jon mcvey talks about technology and design

I was perusing the Communication Arts Interactive Annual's panel of judges. Each judge has a little bio, as well as a nice snippet of video talking about interactive design. I recommend checking them out.

Jon McVey, of ZAAZ, has some really intersting points, as do all the judges. He says that technology and innovation are constantly pushing ahead, blazing new trails, creating more business ideas, markets and activities.

But, in McVey's opinion, the design world is just now catching up with the web 2.0 stuff, and haven't had the time to give the polish that they would like to.

This should be really exciting to anybody involved in 2.0, because blog design is only going to get better from here.

Good design to me means easy on the eyes. Inspiring to look at. Simplicity. Crystal clear communication. Awesome creativity.

To my boss Megan, better design means lower bounce rates. Higher conversion rates.

Whatever floats your boat! Bottom line is, better design equals better blogs.

Design and technology can and should work together, and it's an exciting time to be involved. I think there is a natural tendency to design our blogs and websites based on "what we've seen before." But keep in mind, what we've seen before might not be the best solution creatively. What works for some might not work for you.

As Toria Emery of Goodby Silvertstein and Partners said, the creatives and the developers haven't really worked in unison until recently. Remember, design on the whole is just now catching up to the innovation of 2.0. So keep this in mind when looking to design your own personal blog or your business blog. Look at examples of blogs and sites that you like. Look at those that you can't stand! Ask yourself why they work or do not. Most importantly, ask yourself what works for your specific company, product or passion.

Apply directly to business blog.

 

Manage Sidebar Links Dynamically

Monday, November 17, 2008 by Douglas Karr
Some blog software applications have the ability to manage links within their system.  Companies utilize those links to promote the latest articles or news items about their company.  Links are important, though, and should not be constrained to your business blogging application.

If you're blogging for SEO, it's a great idea to share your links external from your blog.  My favorite bookmarking system is Del.icio.us:
Blogging for SEO Links and Bookmarking with Delicious
The nice thing about bookmarking systems like Delicious is that Search Engines utilize them to determine relevance... if a lot of individuals bookmark a link, it's relevant to the description and keywords that it's organized under.

If you're a huge fan of Firefox, there's an incredible Delicious add-on that allows you to save, edit, and manage your delicious bookmarks right in the browser so you never actually have to visit Delicious.

Utilizing an RSS Sidebar widget in Compendium, we can publish your bookmark  feed directly to your Compendium Blog.  This approach is a vast improvement than managing your links strictly within the application because search engines see the links promoted twice now, once in Delicious and once in your sidebar.

That's better blogging - from Compendium.

Christmas Blogging

Thursday, November 13, 2008 by Kristen Raves
It is not even Thanksgiving yet and I am the type who has the Christmas tree decorated.  Therefore, I figured why not post a blog about Christmas.  If you are a company who sells products or services and runs Christmas specials then blogging is for you.

Our better blogging software can help your company get on the fast track to selling your products.  The more you post about specials, discounts, and promotions, the more people will find you in the search engines.  Clients of mine such as Big League Tours and Greenfield Liquors have gift certificates that they promote this time of year.

Christmas is the time to blog and be found by individuals who are searching for what you are offering.  Get on the blogging train and start leveraging your marketing tactics!


Blogging Slacker

Thursday, October 16, 2008 by Abby Brosmer
OK - So I am the official blogging slacker and not living up to the recommended 2 posts per week!  Like some of you, I got busy and side tracked from one of my core responsibilities.  So, how am I going to remedy this and get my head back into the game????

Here are some blogging tips to content generation:
  1. Schedule some time on my calendar - this will ensure that I have time set asside to dedicate to blogging
  2. I have signed up for some Google Alerts - I always recommend to our users to sign-up for RSS feeds to keep up on their industry, but Google Alerts are just another great tool to help generate ideas!
  3. Blog about what is happening on a day to day basis here at Compendium and more specifically within Implementation
  4. Quick and to point - keep your blog post short, direct and to the point.  This helps you readers engage quickly and allows you to complete your post quickly too
These quick tips will help you and I to keep up our best practices in blogging and better blogging results for our companies.

How can you be a successful business blogger? It's easy....

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
What is the key to a successful business blog?  Considering I am new to Compendium and the SEO and internet world I am sharing my beginner knowlege here. As we know, the power of the internet for marketers is incredible.  Blogging is an incredible solution for businesses looking to win in SEO and get found in organic search resulting in increased lead gnereation.  To take it to the next level, business blogging with compendium will produce better blogs and quicker results for your business.  

Marketers today are no longer reaching out and often times interupting potential customers,  Google and others allow customers to go online and tell us what they are looking for.  A marketers job is now to make sure they are the first answer to the customers question, which is the keywords they search.  One solution to this is to use pay per click to be the first on the list however research has told us that people click on items in the organic listings near 95% of the time and the paid listings only 5%.  Therefore companies need a way to be at the top of that organic list.  That is where compendium blogware comes into play.  This blog post software will undoubtedly help your company be at the top of organic search listings for key words related to your products and services. So, the first step in successful business blogging?  Learn more about Compendium Blogware's SEO blogging solutions for your business and start your business on the path to success.

Leveraging Social Media: Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn

Thursday, October 9, 2008 by Douglas Karr
Exposing your corporate blog to your social network is a fantastic means of building exposure for your company, products or services. Syndicating your content is an advanced business blogging technique that works by putting your content where prospects and clients are!

Here are few places where you can start:
  • If you're on Facebook, add the Blog Network App and add your blog!
  • If you're on Plaxo, edit your profile and add your blog's feed to the Website tab (if you get an error with the feed, simply add a "/" to the end of the feed address).
  • If you're on LinkedIn, add your blog to your LinkedIn profile under Websites.
  • If you're on any Ning networks like Navy Vets, Smaller Indiana or Indy Dads, you can typically add your RSS feed to your profile, click the My Page tab.
Syndicating your blog will help it reach more people.  If those readers are within your social network, they are more likely to engage with you as well!  If the social network you've syndicated your blog loads the content in their public pages server-side, you may also benefit from backlinks with the search engines!

What are all the networks you participate in? Are you syndicating content from your corporate blog everywhere you can?

That's better blogging- from Compendium!

25 Ways to Market Your Blog

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 by Kristen Raves
We focus on a wide variety of marketing tactics surrounding our blog writing software. In a recent article by Lee Oden, he goes on to discuss each one of his secrets to blogging for search engine optimization. I do have to disagree with his second point where he names his favorite blogging platforms.  This is probably due to the fact that this author is not familiar with our better blogging software.

One of the major differences between Compendium and our "competitors" is that we walk you through each one of these 25 marketing initiatives.  Where as, the other blogging tools allow you to set up a blog and then leave you to figure it out on your own, we hold your hand through the entire process.  Our client success team is trained to get your blog off the ground and have you ranking on keywords as soon as you possibly can. 

Free Webinar

Using Blogs to Generate and Nurture Demand into Closed Business.

Hosted by Richard Cunningham, VP Marketing of Right On Interactive and Chris Baggott Co-founder, CEO of Compendium Blogware. Thursday, December 3rd 2009.
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Abby Brosmer-Rivera Ali Sales Brian Millis Chris Baggott Chantelle Flannery The Client Corner Dereck Martin James Litton Jennifer Buscher Jenni Edwards Jim Hyslop Jess Wehner Krystal Featherston Kaila Woodside Megan Glover Meghan Peters mikey mioduski P.J. Hinton Randy Cox Sarah Sedberry Chandra Chavez Julie Murphy

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