Blog software

Dear Dancing Ann... Indianapolis misses you

Posted Thursday, August 28, 2008 by Eric Romer

Compendium is based in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, overlooking Monument Circle. We love this city. Our CEO Chris Baggott often talks about how he was here for some time, then lived in Chicago and New York... but found his way back to Indianapolis, and he's here to stay. This is his home, and Compendium's home.

As a Software-as-a-Service company, we can service clients all over the world, but it's always great to build strong relationships with our own neighbors. We have several clients here in town that use our blogging software, but I want to highlight one of our newest partners, the Indianapolis Conventions & Visitors Association (ICVA). They are a great group of people, and their blog covers all kinds of things to do around town.

I went to lunch with Karissa and Jeff from the ICVA, and we started to talk about the Public Art Project... particularly "Dancing Ann", who was removed from her brick base on Aug. 20th, apparently to fix one of the LED screens.

Jeff and I debated a little, realizing that Dancing Ann was not the same as Sara Dancing, formerly located at Illinois and Maryland. Both were designed by Julian Opie, a British artist contracted by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Jeff and Sara had a close relationship, as did Ann and I (I live in the area where she was permanently placed).

So, Dancing Ann, if you are listening... please come back. When I walk to and from work each day, there's a piece of me that feels empty inside without your unique style of dance. Now all that is left is this brick foundation. Luckily there are other great art projects, events and things to do from the ICVA blog that I can take my mind off this tragic loss....

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Lucas Oil Stadium - Measuring Success

Posted Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by Eric Romer

Pictured: Eric Romer, about to catch a touchdown pass on a slant route in the end zone? Suit him up, Dungy.... he looks ready.

So, I had the opportunity to tour Lucas Oil stadium last weekend, and it was a pretty amazing sight. As a Colts fan, this is like Christmas. The excitement in Indianapolis has been building ever since Lucas Oil broke ground. Despite some disputes about funding of the project, this beautiful structure has a serious allure to it.

One of the things I kept hearing during the public tour was people referring to the stadium as "The Luke". I must admit, it was pretty catchy, and fans love putting their own nickname to personalize their city's new baby. But as you would imagine, the sponsor is not so happy about the nickname.

I've always been curious how you measure the worth of a stadium sponsorship. Spending $122 million on naming rights for 20 years is no cheap purchase, even for a large manufacturer of oil products. I hear about the ROI of advertising dollars all the time, but this I think stadium sponsorships in general fall into what Corporate Blogging expert Debbie Weil describes as "Return on Influence". It's next to impossible to measure sales that directly result from Lucas Oil Stadium, especially when people refer to it as "The Luke". Forest Lucas was quoted in an IBJ article saying:

"Calling the stadium 'The Luke' doesn’t sell a dime’s worth of products for us. This will be a place we intend to show Lucas Oil to the world, so we’re eager to protect the integrity of the name.”

I get Mr. Lucas's frustration, but there's not a whole lot you can do when something catchy spreads with fans, especially as sports columnist Mark Rosentraub stated in the article, "exposure through the Internet can spread the nickname and entrench it in people’s minds even faster than traditional media."

My suggestion? You can't beat 'em, join 'em. Find a a way to ride the "Luke" wave, and join the conversation. Social media, affordable blogging software and other web-based tools allow you to be present, and help drive those internet trends.

Despite the nickname concern, the sponsorship "engagement" (2008's buzz word) that occurs inside the stadium, interacting with the Lucas Oil brand experience, the dragsters, race-car simulators, etc. is very creative and sets a new precedent in sports marketing.

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Sponsored Blogging Not Your Best Bet

Posted Saturday, August 23, 2008 by PJ Hinton

The Valleywag blog had a great post tonight about the ineffectiveness of sponsoring a celebrity blogger. Citing Seagate's sponsorship of Robert Scoble's blog as an example, post author Owen Thomas notes that the computer storage manufacturer's stock price has decreased significantly since the sponsorship began. The post goes on to cite some interesting statistics.

In April, a study by Canadian research firm Pollara found that word of mouth works — nearly 80 percent said they'd buy products recommended by a friend or family member. But word of mouse? Only 23 percent said they'd buy something touted by a blogger. "This shows that popularity doesn't always equate to credibility," Pollara executive Robert Hutton told MediaPost. "Marketers might have to reconsider who the real influencers are out there."

This is an reinforcement of the case that Compendium CEO Chris Baggott been making both in his presentations and blog posts like one from late May, where he wrote:

2. Celebrity. So many journalists covering Social Media focus on Celebrities and celebrity bloggers. There are 20,000,000 businesses in the United States…and this doesn’t count non-profits. Hearing stories about Jimmy Wales, Michael Arrington, Kerry Miller or Jonathan Schwartz is great if you’re People Magazine, but this is Business Week. Tell me about real businesses using these tools. The story at Sun Microsystems isn’t the story of a CEO/Celebrity blogger (Jonathan's Blog), the story is the thousands of normal everyday Sun employees that blog. Who are they? What are the benefits to the organization? (hint…it’s not touchy-feely....the ROI is found in winning searches and converting those visitors to prospects….)

The takeaway message for businesses is that you'll get more mileage for your marketing dollars if you invest in a company weblog, continuously stocked with content by plain-spoken employees who believe in what you're doing. Compendium's Multi User Blog Software helps you achieve that goal.

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Why Companies Should Have a Blog Post Approval System

Posted Friday, August 22, 2008 by Chris Baggott

I'm the only person in the history of our own blogging program to have to pull a post after it's gone live. Could it have anything to do with the fact that I'm the only person in the Company that doesn't have his posts go through a review process?

I recently wrote a blog post about something I thought I overheard at a recent Indianapolis blog software conference.   Turns out that I heard inaccurately. Ooops!

As you know, from a Business or Corporate blogging standpoint, we here advocate widespread employee blogging.   Employees generate the best content, telling real stories about real people, by real people. Compendium clients see signifcantly higher SEO benefits from this sort of blogging and much higher searcher engagement.

But...as I've proven, it's not without risk.   This is why we have incorporated a workflow system so that all employee posts have to be reviewed by someone else.   It's not that your employees are malicious or that you are trying to squeeze the life out of them and their content.

It's just that blog authors tend to let passion get in the way of judgment & for a business it's just a blogging best practice to keep an eye on your content before it can do you any harm.

I'm not mean, but the most junior member of my team would have looked at this post and said: "Chris....are you sure this is what you are trying to say?"

There are a lot of blogging benefits, and only a couple of risks. Once bad content goes live, you can't get it back...only ask for forgiveness.

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What do Rafting and Blogging Have in Common?

Posted Friday, August 8, 2008 by Ali Sales

A lot if you're an employee at Compendium Blogware. A few weeks ago we took the entire company on a whitewater rafting trip to Pennsylvania. The event was planned by our very own Kaila Woodside, who was a whitewater rafting guide for several years in Ohiopyle. Not only is she a fantastic part of our sales organization, Kaila can steer you through a drop the size of Niagra Falls.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but as someone who's never rafted below, that's just about what it felt like for me.

What did the company get out of our whitewater rafting event? Of course we got team building, bonding, and all sorts of great stories (and pictures), but we also got a lot of great blogging content. And that content helps visitors that show up at our business blogs understand that yes, we are a company that provides blogging software, but we're also an organization full of smart, fun, and hard working individuals who aren't afraid to roll up our sleeves, dig in, and kick some butt.

A big part of any company blogging program -- regardless what industry you're in -- is showing your human side. That's why I'll leave you with this great picture of me and my raft mates on the Yougheny River!

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Compendium Welcomes the Eugene Chamber of Commerce

Posted Friday, August 8, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

Compendium Blogware is happy to announce that our newest client, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, is blogging. Not only are the blogging, but they are already seeing results! In just one month of posting content they have seen all but one of their keywords ranking in Google.

How have they accomplished this in such a short time? The answer is, and will always be, content. The way to get better rankings in the search engines is by adding updated and relevant content on a regular business.

Blogging for SEO is a growing business trend that companies are continuing to see the benefit of. Our blogging platform is easy to use and makes blogging fun. The Client Success Team at Compendium will help you get your blogs off the ground and provide you with continuing support for the life of your blog. We are here for questions, consulting, and getting your company the results that you are trying to achieve. What other blog software can say that? Well, none to be exact.

If you would like to view Eugene Chamber's Blog click here. Leave them a comment while you are at it!

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Google ramping up YouTube ads

Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 by Eric Romer

I came across an blog post from Saul Hansell in the New York Times' Bits blog that highlights what most of us regular YouTube users have noticed lately: an increase in ad-supported videos.

The author points out that the ads are more reminiscent of "the gaudiness of MySpace than the sterility of Google," and describes how the Kings of Search are trying to get a return on their $1.65 billion investment when they purchased YouTube last year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of behavioral targeting when done properly, and not intrusively like Facebook's Beacon nightmare. For example, the image above has a text ad in the top right corner for Obama's book, which is probably relevant to a person watching a video about the man. But, like Saul said, it's a little harder to justify "enhancing user experience" with a Nissan ad that pops up on the bottom.

As online video grows (which it will), I'm sure this model will be tweaked and improved. However, right now, it's very much a "shouting" method of marketing. The first time an ad has no relevance to me, I stop paying attention. This only needs to happen once or twice (Myspace is a prime example), and then I tune out.

For businesses trying to reach their target audience, corporate blogging software allows you to create very relevant, personal content for those in the market to buy. The best "behavioral targeting" is to deliver highly relevant, recent information to those seeking it. As the digital shift continues, every organization will have a company blog in the next 3-5 years.

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Startup Weekend - Indianapolis Sept 12-14

Posted Tuesday, August 5, 2008 by Eric Romer

Through an interaction with a potential client today, I was introduced to an intriguing event: Startup Weekend. The basic premise is a group of highly motivated developers, marketers, entrepreneurs, and business-minded people gather for a weekend to pump out ideas for companies and projects - and they actually develop them from start to finish. Wow.

This immediately made me think about the 48 Hour Film Project which was recently in Indianapolis. I've had a couple of friends who've participated in the past years, and I always thought, "what a cool concept!" You have a set period of time to start from scratch, and end up with a finished film project. Well, now there's something similar for those with entrepreneurial minds (by the way, I just spelled entrepreneurial without the red-underlined AutoCorrect feature popping up - I was very proud of that)

So, this is event is coming to Indianapolis September 12-14, and I'm planning to participate. It's been an incredible experience transitioning from a global corporation with thousands of employees to working for a small startup software company of 25 people. And I love it. The startup atmosphere is contagious, and our blogging software company in Indianapolis is no exception. Being on the front lines of an ever-evolving and rapidly growing company is like nothing I've experienced before.

I encourage you to check out the event if you have an interest in this type of thing. If it sounds boring, check out GiggleSeed, one of the companies born from Startup Weekend Columbus.

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Boating... and business blogs

Posted Monday, August 4, 2008 by Eric Romer

I had a great weekend at a friend's lake house, which consisted mostly of relaxing, boating and eating. However, I managed to sneak in some talk about business blogging as well.

One of my biggest struggles with being on the cutting edge of a new blog software is how to break it down to layman's terms. In any form of communication, you have to speak the language of your audience. If I'm talking to a business that is well-versed in SEO and Paid Search Advertising, my discussion will be more granular and technical. However, some people don't want to know how the engine works, they just want the car to run.

Our host for the weekend, Harry, was intrigued by Compendium's solutions for business, but needed a quick explanation. OK... so what's the best way for me to describe what we do, cocktail in hand on the boat, so it's relevant to Harry? I got it... his hip replacement surgery next week.

Me: So, before your surgery, did you do any research?
Harry: Well, yeah, of course.
Me: Did you use a search engine?
Harry: Like Google? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did.
Me: Well, what we do is provide software to businesses, and in this case it would be a doctor/surgeon/health care provider, to tell relevant stories about hip surgery and recovery. So, when you, the potential patient, goes to do research, you find a human being giving you up-to-date, relevant information. It looks similar to a website, but with more of a conversational, personal communication.
Harry: Sounds like it makes sense...
Eric: (pulls out iphone) Here, let me show you...

Then I went on to do a Google search of a Compendium client. If you want to hear how this process works from one of our clients, Tampa Bay Convention & Visitor's Association, click HERE to sign up for the Webinar Thursday, Aug. 14th.

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Using Corporte Blogs to Disclose Information to Investors

Posted Friday, August 1, 2008 by Megan Glover

The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) announced this week that corporate websites and other forms of online media such as blogs will be a permissible vehicle to disclose information for investors.

Here's a good article that gets to the heart of the ruling.

So why is this so important for enterprise blogging solutions, like Compendium? Couple reasons:

1. Need - the need for corporations to have blog software is only going to increase.

2. Legitimacy - occasionally we'll get the question, "is blogging a fad?" We know the answer is "no" but now we have the federal government promoting blogging for business as a "recognized channel for distribution."

And, for businesses - gosh what better time to embrace a blogging strategy, and save up a little cash that would otherwise go to releases! So now among other things business can blog to:

disclose information
get found in organic search
humanize their marketing
and, blog to acquire new business.

There couldn't be a more profitable and deserving time for businesses to start blogging.

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Video and Business Blogging: Fun and Profitable

Posted Thursday, July 31, 2008 by Chris Baggott

Big Corporatations try and make things so complicated. I always say that innovation starts at the bottom...the so called Minor Leagues. Think sports marketing, everything cool in sports marketing (bat night, concerts, fireworks...even frisbee dogs) started in Minor League Baseball.

This is especially true in business blogging. With the advent of Affordable blogging software, some of our best bloggers turn out to be coming not from the ivory towers of the fortune 500, but from the SMB's. Forget Jonathan Schwartz or Robert Scoble...

If you want to emulate great Blogging Best Practices, pay attention to Lizan Brand.

Lizan is focused on Blogging for Search. She highlights high value and unusual products using all the best SEO tactics including the right keywords, geo targeting and blended search favorites like video. Why?

So when someone is looking for a specific product or a drink recipe in Greenfield or any of the surrounding communities like the big city of Indianapolis, she's the number one choice.

As a result, she has been featured in the Indianapolis paper which is over 20 miles from her store. This week she was featured in DMNews (trust me, she doesn't consider herself a direct marketer) and the things that she blogs about, she is now buying by the case. This is the best thing about Business Blogging, telling a great story about things that move your business forward.

Sure Greenfield Liquors sells 6 packs of cold Miller Lite, but her profits come from high end wine and Liquor. Blogging on these topics rings the cash register.

Watch this video and see if you don't end up thirsting for a Root Beer Cocktail :-)

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Does the Thought of Corporate Blogging Make Your Head Explode?

Posted Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by Ali Sales

You're not alone. This article, 25 Tips for Marketing Your Blog, made me think of how daunting business blogging can be for any kind of organization.

There are some good tips in this article, don't get me wrong.

It's just a lot to think about, and you're a busy person, right? I am a big fan of using subject matter experts (SMEs) as much as possible. I don't want to be an accounting pro or a legal pro -- I want to have a basic understanding and then pay and rely on people around me to help.

Okay, so you know where I'm heading with this:

Wouldn't it be great if you could do the same thing with a corporate blogging program?
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a blogging partner who can worry about all the details so that you can focus on writing content for your company blogs?
Oh, and wouldn't it be great to use a blogging solution that lets you log in, type your content, and then the blogging software itself structures that content in a way that helps you get found in the search engines?

Well, stop the head explosion and accept that you don't have to know all the answers in order to get started. You just have to find the right partner, and by default, the right blogging tool.

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Blogging for Search: Text Book Example

Posted Wednesday, July 23, 2008 by Megan Glover

At Compendium Blogware, we drink the kool-aid. We blog to get found in organic search and our compending software helps us maximize the keywords we're targeting in search.

So -it's always fun to share some real-life examples of blogging success! We had a prospect (now potential client) find us through our blogs yesterday. Here's how it happened:

1. Prospect was looking for blogging software.
2. Prospects googled "Blogging Solution"
3. The Compendium Blog "Blogging Solution" appeared as the #1 search result.
4. Prospect browsed the blog to affirm the information was on point.
5. Prospect clicked on the Live Chat Call-to-Action, which triggered me!
6. Prospect and I chatted she was interested in a demo.
7. Prospect was forwarded on to Business Development
8. Prospect is now a Sales Ready Opportunity - and might close within the month!

Does this pattern of events sound familiar?

Personally, when I'm searching for something, my search starts and ends in the organic section of a search engine. That's why, as a marketer, it's your job to get found in organic search and blogging is a tool that will help you do so.

And, with the right calls- to- action on your blogs you will convert blog visitors into potential customers. In our case, a simple Live Chat feature appealed to this particular prospect. View it here.

Do you have Blogging ROI stories to share? If so, Compendium wants to know about them. Please send blogging ROI results to: megan@compendiumblogware.com.

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Two ears, one mouth

Posted Tuesday, July 22, 2008 by Eric Romer

Seth Godin has a great blog.. despite my disagreeing with his "Limits of Meta" post from last week. He's published various books on marketing, and has an amazing knack for simplifying concepts.

His recent post titled "Are they ready to listen?" talks about the concept that most marketers forget:"is my audience ready to listen to what I'm telling them?"

I really like this concept, and totally agree that it's vital to a business's communication with potential customers.

This can be related to all facets of life. For example, I went to a concert on a Sunday night in Indianapolis recently. The bands were all talented, and the promoter worked hard to flyer the city and get the word out. But, people don't want to go out on a Sunday night... regardless of how good the act is.

The same thing applies to business, as Seth points out: "The tragic mistake of demographics and media planning is that they overlook the single most important issue: is the person you're talking to ready to listen?"

Guess what?? The web has changed marketing. Search engines give you (a company) the power to LISTEN, instead of shout at prospects with traditional forms of media... hoping they are ready to hear you. Business blogs allow you to be found easier in Google, engage readers with relevant, conversational content, and convert them. Simple as that.

Easy blogging software allows this process to happen with little effort. Start creating content today, and spread those two ears out over the internet. Now, you can sit back and listen... When people WANT you to talk to them, you'll be there.

To see this in action, Google "blogging solution", and see what the top 1 or 2 result (out of 11 million) is in the organic results.

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Should You Allow Comments on Blogs

Posted Friday, July 18, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

Individuals and organizations who are using some of our competitors (and for sake of being respectful, I will not name names) are running into problems with people commenting on their blogs. A reader will leave a negative remark and the accused has no way of monitoring or deleting the comment. In fact, there have been some lawsuits over unlawful statements and comments that are made on blogs and websites.

In a recent article by Wendy Davis, Roommates.com was sued for civil rights violations. With this said, our prospective clients are usually nervous when it comes to the commenting portion of our business blogging software.

Our blogging platform allows the individual or company to view all comments before they go live. Compendium's advanced system give them the power to approve and decline all comments that people leave. Therefore, nothing will be shown on your blog site that you did not approve. To view what our comment section looks like, you can view my blog. Additionally, our comment section requires that the reader fill out a captcha which does not allow for people to spam your site.

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If you don't blog, how do you tell stories?

Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 by Chris Baggott

Seth Godin has a quote at the beginning of "All Marketers are Liars".

"Either you are going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant."

Websites are for facts and figures.....blogs are for stories. Every company has stories that come up every day. Customer interactions, product innovations, problems solved. An employee based blogging strategy empowers your people to tell these stories! it's a business blogging best practice.

Compendium Blogware is a perfect example. As a blogging software company in Indianapolis we empower all of our employees to participate in our blog strategy....they blog, the software organizes the content around keywords and topics.

Not only do we drive a ton of organic traffic, we get to tell a lot of compelling stories.

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Great Ideas For Blog Writing - Thanks Chris Brogan

Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 by Jenni Edwards

I like Chris Brogan, I generally just think he seems like a nice guy and has a good blog; so I read it pretty regularly. This is a side note, but I think one thing that might be left off of this post that I was inspired by today was just that "be a nice guy". Compliment others, let others know when you find something cool or neat, share your knowledge, admit your faults in your blog...all just simply part of being nice. You may not get a lot of people reading your corporate blog regularly like Chris does, but when people do find your blog through search they will like you, stick around, read more and ultimately 'convert' --- all based on them 'liking you'.

Anyways, what Chris did share is a comprehensive list of blog tips. Below are a few favorites that apply to many of us business bloggers from the various compiled articles:

Don't over think it. (It's a blog not a dissertation.)
Comment on other great blogs.
Mix it up.
Above all else, be human.

And my major rebuttle to all of this is "Platforms Aren't That Important"...really Chris? Would you send out your e-newslettters from your personal account instead of an email service provider? I think it is important that businesses at least consider a business blogging platform that is built with both their administrative needs and goals around organic search in mind, but as you said Chris --- to fully disclose all of your affiliaitions --- I do work for a blogging software company.

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Blogging about... Blogging?

Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 by Eric Romer

So, I recently made a joke to someone that my blog was all about.... well, blogging. Seems a bit redundant at times. But I guess I'll ask the people reading to let me know if it's a complete bore. Hopefully it sheds some light into your business, and how you can better communicate through multi user blog software.

But I do like Seth Godin's post today "The limits of meta", in which he uses the example of a website that makes money by teaching you... how to make money with a website.

It reminds me of how I used to feel about teachers. You go to school for 15+ years, learning from teachers how to.... go to school and teach? I always thought people should have some other life experience before leading a classroom. But now I have friends that are great teachers, and started right out of college.

I digress....

The point is, our blog software is meant to help your business GET FOUND, engage people with relevant content, and convert them into a customer… or subscriber… or whatever it is you want them to do once they find your organization.

My blog, and other Compendium blogs are excellent examples of this. Looking at keywords that have driven traffic to our website vs. our blogs over the past year -- our blogs drove 3x as many non-paid keywords than our website. We're talking over 1,000 keywords we would have never captured from organic search without blogs!

So, sorry Seth, it may be redundant... but this stuff works. And I'm going to continue to blog... about blogging.

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One Size Doesn't Fit All

Posted Wednesday, July 9, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

Many people think that when it comes to blogging, one size fits all. In other words, they think that one platform will work for every type of business out there. This is not true in today's fast moving technological world.

In the book, Break From the Pack by Oren Harari, he explains why one size does not fit all. When people are looking to blog and they come to Compendium for solutions, we get asked why we are better than the rest. That is because we are different from every other blog creation software company out there.

If you want to blog for your business then you need the right tools. This includes an affordable blogging software that you can customize to your website and business. It also means that you are able to have many individual bloggers contributing to one site. In return you are utilizing the blog site to gain new clients, sell more product, and market your product or service.

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Fear of a Blog Planet

Posted Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by Eric Romer

I had a "mini-dinner party" with two friends last night from college. It was a pretty good deal, as they provided the food & wine, and I just offered up my portable tailgate grill & kitchen. I'll take that arrangement any day....

So, as we were talking, one of my friends said she loved company blogging at her old job because it allowed her to be more creative. It wasn't formal press release writing, which can be a bit dry.

My other friend asked "do people really read blogs?", which was an honest perspective I think many people have. I used to think the same thing, and I'm 93% sure it's just that word: BLOG.

It has a connotation that seems elite, or only for the tech-savvy. That's simply not true. The word "blog" comes from "web log". With simple blog software, t's just an easy way to log/journal/document your life or business on the web.

Don't fear blogs - they're here to make communication easier in a constantly evolving era of technology. A corporate blog allows your business to easily communicate on a human level.

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