Blog Tips

It's true... YOU can be an all-pro blogger!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by Michael Burton

Chances of becoming a professional basketball player - 1 in 400,000

Chances of becoming an all-pro blogger - 1 in 1

If you want to be one of the 400+ NBA players suiting up every week, you can bet you have to be one of the best of the best to become successful. It takes years of practice, strength conditioning and pure athleticism to have a strong presence in the NBA.

But what about blogging? The odds couldn’t be more different. While you need to be a Kobe Bryant or a Lebron James to have the most “success” in the NBA, you don’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning writer to write “successful” blog posts.

Success in business blogging is for anyone who can talk about the things they know best: their business. As long as you use relevant keywords in describing your business and products, your blog will find success. Don't let the blogosphere intimidate you. When you're posting relevant content frequently, you will find success in blog software.

Looking for more tips on blogging? Check out some of our other company blogs and see what other Compendium bloggers have to say about the world of business blogging.

Not enough time to write a post for your blog?

Monday, September 28, 2009 by Michael Burton

If your answer is yes, then you are dead wrong. Trust me, I understand all the reasons why you do not have time to punch out a post, but you are only doing a disservice to your blogging solution and search marketing efforts. The reality is that it is very easy to write a quick and relevant post.

To demonstrate, I am writing this post at half time of the Colts/Cardinals game this evening. While I will not be able to complete this task in the time it takes Peyton to run the team down for a touchdown, I will not be far behind.

I, like you, have a very busy schedule. Life seems to just get faster and faste

r, but I still find time to blog. Here are some things that help me post and find the time to make these posts.

1. Put time on your calendar - The best way to write is to make time for it and purposefully block off your calendar.

2. Collect post ideas - In my Outlook, I keep an open task where I write down my post ideas as they pop in my head. This allows me to quickly focus on what I need to write about.

3. Keep it simple - No need to write a novel. Focus on one topic and then move on.

For some other tips on blogging check out one of my posts about getting into a blogging groove. For some post ideas, this is another great spot.

A Blog about a Cow

Friday, July 10, 2009 by Allison Bowen

After going to college in Indianapolis for four years, I thought I'd seen almost everything there was to see. But today, I think I'm even closer to really and truly seeing all there is see in the Circle City.

On my first Friday at Compendium Blogware, I walked outside for lunch and this is what I saw:

Yes indeed folks, that is what you think it is. There was a cow on the Circle in downtown Indianapolis! As it turned out, there was a dairy festival benefiting the charity of Colts player Marlin Jackson. Kids were smiling and huge helpings of ice cream, with all the toppings, were being handed out all over the place.

After walking back into work I quickly began telling everyone what I saw. What was their first response? "Blog about it!" Well, okay.... I guess I could do that.

At first I was stuck. How in the world can I incorporate a cow on the Circle into a blog post? As I asked my co-workers this very question, it suddenly all clicked for me. On a daily basis we tell our clients that it's not what you blog about it, it's that you blog. We stress the fact that blog posts are extremely easy to write; simply talk about an experience you've had or something that happened with a customer. Anything can be turned into a blog post!

Here at Compendium, we do everything we can to assist our clients in getting excellent search engine optimization results, therefore making them more money. We provide the best blogging software and are constantly giving them tips for blogging best practices. So there you have it. I just managed to turn seeing a cow on the Circle into a post about how easy it is to blog, which is something our company explains every day. It's amazing how simple it is to blog, isn't it??

50 Content Strategies for Your Blog

Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Douglas Karr

50 Content Strategies for Business Blogs

It's important to keep your content focused and use the keywords that your organization is targeting when blogging for search engine optimization (SEO). Below is a list of 50 different content ideas that you can create into blog posts to help your organization’s blogging strategy.

The most effective blog post is when you share your customer stories, successes and testimonials with your current readers. People trust references more than the marketing source!

Here's an example from Bicycle Garage Indy:
What are the most common questions from your sales prospects? If they are asking your sales team, they’re probably searching the Internet for the answer, too!
Write an in-depth post for each common question from your sales prospects, then write a single post putting it all together and linking to those other posts.
What are the most common questions from your clients from your customers? Educating your customers that your blog is also a great knowledge base is a great way to cut down on customer calls.
Write an in-depth post for each common client question then write a single post putting it all together and linking to each of the other posts.
What is the most rewarding thing about your job? Sharing your personal enthusiasm with your readers is contagious. People want to work with companies that are excited about helping them.
What’s the latest product change you’ve made or product you’ve introduced at your company. Why did you? Why would your audience be interested in it?
Discuss a problem that a client had that you were the ideal solution for. Include their feedback if possible, and a link to their website or blog. (Repeat post for each problem and solution!)
Discuss current events and how they might be impacting your customers. If you’re in the healthcare business, you should write about swine flu precautions. If you’re in the Real Estate industry, you should write about how mortgage processes are changing, etc.
Discuss your first client and how you got started in the business. If you’re an employee, when did you join the company and why were you chosen? Specifically, what impact do you have on your clients.
“Green” is a search that many people are after. Growing numbers of people want to work with businesses that ‘go green’. If you’re ‘green’, share that with your audience!
Review your sent folder for an email you sent to a prospect or client that would be of interest to everyone.
Discuss your company, its physical location, and how your employees interact locally. Providing a ‘human’ side to your company is important and builds transparency and trust.
Discuss resources that you utilize – are their consultants you work with? Magazines and books that you read? Are there web sites you utilize? Getting a picture of the resources you utilize to be successful in your job builds reputation and authority with your readers.
What’s the last change your company made that has impacted customers. If feedback has been positive, share it and the reason you decided to make the change. If the feedback has been negative, share why you decided to make the change and how someone can follow up with you to discuss it more.
What is the latest and greatest news that’s happening in your industry? How is your company adapting to the change?
Invest in a Flip Mino HD camera and a movie editing application and put a video on YouTube about leadership, your employees, or your customers. People LOVE seeing people. It’s about trust! Faceless companies are losing ground in the social media era.
Find a YouTube video that would be useful to your readers. Be sure to write a short, keyword-driven explanation of the video when you embed it in your blog post.
What tips can you tell your clients about your product or service?
Write an educational blog post with detailed instructions on how to utilize a feature, your software, how to contact you… step by step.
Post about someone else’s press release, news article or blog post that your company was mentioned in. Be sure to give some link ‘love’ back to the source!
How has your business changed over the last decade and what’s on the horizon for your business? How are you making your mark in the business landscape?
Are there any compliance or legal issues associated with your business that you should share with your audience?
What is your roadmap? Where is your company’s strategy changing and how will your clients benefit? It’s important for customers to recognize that they’re not simply investing in a static product – but that you’re moving forward with new products, services and opportunities.
Bloggers love to meet! When you’re planning a trip to a customer, a conference, or even a vacation, let your readers know (if you want them to find you!). Face-to-face time is valuable and it’s unfortunate when you don’t take advantage.
Promote the vendors that your company has positive experiences with. Your vendors will love you for it, and may be a little easier when it comes to negotiating contracts, etc.
Solicit assistance through your blog when you have a problem you’ve been unable to find a solution for on and off-line. Readers love to contribute to your success and also appreciate having a voice!
Promote new clients on your blog! It’s a great way to welcome new clients, informing your own employees, and letting the world know who your clients are!
Promote your press releases online! Repurpose content that has gone mainstream and is valuable to search engines and newsworthy from traditional media.
If you’re ecommerce, promote each of your products with a great description, perhaps some customer feedback and ALWAYS have a purchase link that readers can click through on.
If you’re not an ecommerce company, explain how prospects should approach your company, demo your products, or contact your sales team.
Did you get mentioned on other media, sites, or blogs? Be sure to talk about it on your own blog and provide visitors with a link to check it out.
What are your customers’ challenges to success? How are you helping your customers overcome those challenges? Be honest and forthright! (That’s why we’re doing this presentation!)
Where else can your customers find you online? Twitter? Facebook? Plaxo? LinkedIn? Different people utilize different mediums to communicate – be sure to leverage your blog across all of them and invite people in!
What feature, product, or service does your company have that no one uses that they really should be? Explain why it’s so great!
Find a great blog post by an industry leader and write a blog post adding to their content or intelligently arguing against it (be respectful!).
Blog about best practices in your industry… if it’s ecommerce, then speak to shipping, handling, security, etc. If it’s law, then speak to process, billing, resources, etc.
Are you sponsoring a tradeshow or event? Blog as soon as you secure the sponsorship and blog about your preparation leading up to it, why people should stop by, who they can connect with, etc.
Blog while you are at industry events and tradeshows. Providing your readers insight into what is happening in the industry makes them value you as an industry resource – even if it’s not directly related to your business but is with theirs.
Blog after you return from industry events and tradeshows and let people know the value of the event and how you’re incorporating what you discovered there.
Schedule a casual get together and invite customers and prospects. Making yourself approachable breaks down a lot of barriers in the sales process.
Write about how your most successful (or happy) clients are utilizing your product or service! What do they have in common? How can other clients incorporate those lessons?
Write about how your least successful (or unhappy) clients are utilizing your product or service! What do they have in common? What can other customers learn from them?
Solicit input from other bloggers on a topic. This is called a meme and helps you to ‘swap’ audiences and build backlinks to your own blog.
Share humor! What’s funny that’s applicable to your business? We once had a blogger submit a help ticket because they couldn’t print from their laptop.
Interview a customer! Share their insight on your product or service. Many times customers love the spotlight but they don’t actually want to write the content.
Interview your company’s leaders. Share their insight on your products or services. Many times leaders love the spotlight but they don’t actually want to write the content.
Do a virtual tour of your offices! Showing folks where and how you work makes your blog more personable and engaging.
Convert a PowerPoint into blog posts… each slide is a post! Explain it as you would if you were doing the presentation.
Find an applicable article in our “Content Ideas” and write about it. Be sure to link back to the source so folks can follow the article to its source.

If you have questions about what you should be blogging about or for more great content ideas contact our Client Success Team and follow Tips4Blogging on Twitter.

Can't Get Enough Blogging Info?

Friday, March 27, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

At Compendium Blogware there are several options available to our clients to receive more information than they would possibly want to know about blogging:

Client Marketing
Client Only Webinars
Compendium Webinars by Chris Baggott
Online Knowledge Base
Client Success Team
Product Support Team

The list could go on and on.... and guess what? It does!!

We have a free monthly newsletter that you can sign up for to get all the latest news about the happens here at Compendium, further information about whats going on in the Blogosphere, and general blogging tips. You'll also have access to:

Exclusive invitations to our upcoming events.
Access to brand new, never before seen blogging resources.
First hand blogging insights straight from the desk of our blogging experts.

So - are you interested in more? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, The Resource, today!

Blogging tips

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 by Brett Fritz

Here are a few short blogging tips to help get you started:

1. Blog about where your passions are!

2. Blog for a purpose! Set your goals and blog to reach those goals.

3. Keep your blog content relevant to your audience.

4. Chose blog software that will help you achieve your goals.

5. Blog often, let it become part of your routine.

6. Last, have fun blogging. Your audience will know if your are authentic or not.

Happy blogging!

Twitterfeed: How to Publish Your Blog's Updates to Twitter

Thursday, February 26, 2009 by Douglas Karr

I put this short video together for our clients. Publishing your latest blog posts to Twitter is a great way to publicize your blog and leverage the content to an audience that has shown interest in you or your company.

Compendium Blogware utilizes Twitterfeed to publish some of our blogs to our Tips for Business Blogging (Tips4Blogging) Twitter account.

How to Make Your Corporate Blog Standout!

Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

Marketing is all about how to get your Company or Product noticed so that you drive more business. The best marketers out there find ways to make their Company/Product stand out amongst everyone else in their industry. The difficult piece is that it is becoming harder and harder to stand out from the crowd.

For example, look at Superbowl ads. They used to be mild and mundane, but every year have become more and more elaborate, as they are all competing against each other to see who had the best 30 seconds of air time (there was a football game played??).

The same thing happens with a Corporate Blog. The blogs that are most successful are those that stand out amongst their competitors. So how do you accomplish that when there are companies out there who selfishly use the blog to sell their product and reinforce the idea that Corporate Blog's can't be trusted??

Here are a few tips:

A blog that is HONEST and TRANSPARENT will get noticed: All of the research out there shows that customers want to buy from someone they can relate to - someone with a similar experience. Customers will trust a blog that revel tidbits about whats going on inside the company, those that talk about customer problems and competitor products, those that talk like real people! Those that choose to write in a corporate voice will be ineffective.

Creating CONSTANT CONTENT that your readers can follow: Best blogging practices state that an individual bloggers should post no less than twice per week. This ensures that searchers and followers of your blog will find new content and feel up-to-date with what is going on. Nothing drives traffic to your site better than frequent content.

Blogs raise STAFF'S VISIBILITY: Giving your employees (of any rank or position) allows customers to see what type of people work at your company. It allows them to relate to these individuals.

SPREAD YOUR PRESENCE on the web: A company that has several social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, etc) is more credible than a blog that simply posts text on a weekly basis. It shows your customers that you want to be out there, want to be found and are marketing wisely to those generations that are up and coming.

Twitter-ing

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

I have a confession to make:

I have worked for Compendium Blogware for some time now, which is a technology firm, providing software as a service. I should be someone that is up-to-date on the "going's on" of the internet and social media world.

** Here is my confession - I have never created a Twitter account.**

There are several reasons for my lack of motivation to add yet another social bookmarking tool to my belt.

I already have several social media accounts to track
I update my Facebook status on a regular basis - does this not annoy my "friends" enough?
I honestly just didn't take the time to look into it...

So why now? What happened that I finally caved in and created a Twitter account? Two words: Doug Karr.

Many of you know him as our VP of Blogging Evangelism, but he is so much more. Doug has been an invaluable asset to those of us here at Compendium, with his never ending knowledge of Search Engines, and his ability to always keep us in good spirits.

So for all of those out there curious about Twitter here is a brief synopsis:

Twitter: is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

I find it similar to the "Status Updates" on Facebook, and nothing more. A great way to stay in touch with those you "follow" and always be in constant contact.

So what does this all have to do with blogging? Well its all social media of course and you can create twitter accounts for your Company, to go along wiht your Corporate blog. Just how Compendium has done, it allows us as a company to spread our presence on the web, and keep clients and employees up to date on tips for blogging, special events, etc!

Now what are you waiting for?

Compendium on Twitter: Click Here!

Compendium on Facebook: Click Here!

Compendium on YouTube: Click Here!

Sarah's Twitter Account: Click Here!

Blogging Tips From a 2 and 5 Year Old

Friday, January 16, 2009 by Abby Brosmer

Yesterday at our Company meeting, Ali Sales asked me if my two kids were old enough to start blogging. It made me think about blogging and who is the ideal blogging candidate?

Could a 5 year old pre-schooler blog for a Corporate Blogging Software Company? How about a 2 year old wild man?

Well, I can say one thing, they will be brutally honest, although they love sugar, there would be no sugar coating when they blog!

Really, let's think about it, what can we learn from a 5 and 2 year about blogging...

Honesty
Humor
Humility
I am sure they will use some very basic analogies
Talk at a level that almost everyone can understand
They never run out of things to say

So, next time you are ready to blog, think about a 5 and a 2year old. What would they have to say about your product or service. Maybe that will help you generate some content.

Join Us on Twitter

Friday, December 12, 2008 by Kristen Raves

Compendium Blogware is proud to announce that we are on Twitter. Each day we will give you a valuable blogging tips to help you create content. Over the past few weeks we have sent tips out revolving around the following topics:

Write a post about a current event and how it's impacting your business. If it's impacting you - it's impacting your prospects.
Blog about a recent whitepaper or research brief. Provide readers with immediate value - a link to download the paper.
Write in your own voice. Make your blog posts more personal by adding humor.
Take 10 minutes to write about how your clients use your product and/or service.

To find more of these helpful tips join us on Twitter by clicking here.

Big Bad Blog Clock?

Thursday, December 11, 2008 by Ellie Cummins

Blog Tactics By Marketing Profs

In hopes of sharing successful business blogging tips in my blog, and not being an expert by any means on business blogging... I find it particularly helpful to reference various resources I come across.

My Marketing Profs email today titled "The Big Bad Blog Clock" touted the importance of having a strategy for blogging, developing a dedicated team of bloggers, and having a system so that your posts to hit your blog at the most effective time. Compendium's philosophy and mine do mimic these overall strategies, and I would encourage you to be even a bit more "loose" with your company blogging efforts by freeing more than just a few people within the company to blog. Yes you will probably have a core team that enjoys it and is good at it but why not open it up and encourage all of your employees from the top on down to share information? This strategy, in my opinion, will ensure you have a variety of information and stories around all the reasons your company is great, not just the opinion of a few and that you will have multiple posts per week. With an admin layer in place, such as the tool on our easy blog software, you can ensure all info, no matter who is writing, is solid and correct for your business before it is live on the web. This tool along with bringing in multiple bloggers will help your business blog acheive the overall goal of engaging searchers and customers on a person to person level.

Blog Tip: How do you impact your region

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

What does your organization do in the community? It is important that you highlight what your company does for the community. Blogging about it is a perfect informal platform for you to let clients and prospects know how you give back to the community.

Blog Tip:

Posting about the impact your organization has on your community and region is a great way to create an immediate connection with your readers.

Example:
Here at Compendium a large part of our staff is participating in Jingle Bell walk/run for Arthritis this weekend. Its going to be a really cold weekend here in Indy but some great bonding I am sure! Look for pictures our our blog early next week.

Blog Tip: Be Genuine

Monday, December 8, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

As a company blogger one of the best things about Compendium's multi user blog software platform is that you have the freedom and ability to talk in your own voice. Your blog and your content works towards the overall organizational goals but the content is from your perspective.

People are interested in other people. Especially people that they can relate or connect to.

Blog Tip:

Write in your own voice from your perspective. This will make your posts more genuine and increase your audience engagement.

Blog Tip: Write about what's happening

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

What's the first thing you do when you want to know what's going on with a local, regional, national or international event? Google it of course.

People are constantly searching for more information on current events. Blogging about these events can help you get found.

Blog Tip:
Write a blog post about a current event and how it's impacting your business. Remember, if current events are impacting your business, they are most certainly impacting your prospects.

Blog about it.

Here's an example of this technique.

Blog Tip: Talk about your Clients

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

Bottom line - it's all about your customers.

Make sure you talk about them.

Blogging Tip:
Talk about your clients. Celebrate your client's success with them. Have you had any clients in the news lately?

This should be a fairly easy blog post to write. Just open up your local paper or business journal I am sure you will find at least one client with something going on.

Here is a great example of a blog post that discuses a client and how the client uses our product.

99% of Corporate Blogging Advice is Wrong

Monday, December 1, 2008 by Douglas Karr

First, I'll throw out a disclaimer that my percentage is made up. I keep Google Alerts on corporate blogging and read each and every blog post out there. I'd actually estimate 99% is a low number because I have yet to find really great (or even half-decent) advice for corporate blogging out there.

The majority of advice out there is written, re-written, borrowed and stolen from other inaccurate articles out on the web. Misinformation spreads like a disease on the net.

Other advice is written by professional bloggers who are adept to putting out publications, but do not depend on their corporate blog to drive conversions on other products or services.

These blogging publications sell ads and some make quite a bit of money doing it. As such, their personal business doesn't depend on the accuracy of the information that they are sharing, only the quantity and popularity of the content.

Additionally, you'll find a world of social media experts out there - some know how to implement open source blogging engines, some are graphic artists selling themes, and others are search engine optimization experts who know how to properly structure and write a blog post. Very few of them are trying to run a business off of their blog utilizing it as a strategic marketing tool.

If you're going to read a post on corporate blogging advice, make sure the source actually has both experience AND their business depends on the accuracy of the advice. Compendium Blogware's success depends on how well the strategies and platform assist our clients' business. Not only do our customers succeed in their strategies, a majority of them actually upsell their engagements with us.

Watch where you get your advice from. Look for real-world examples rather than blanket lists of business blogging tips. Don't believe the hype!

Blog Tip: Make Contact Info Easy To find

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

What do you want your blog readers to do?

Reach out and contact you of course.

Make it easy for blog readers to be in touch. Write a simple post about the many ways people can contact you.

Here are some examples of content to include...

Headquarters:

Phone: 317.536.6042
Fax: 866.746.7179
Address:
55 Monument Circle, Suite 1400
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Helpdesk:

Phone: 317.777.6255
Email: help@compendiumblogware.com
Online: www.compendiumblogware.com/help.html

LinkedIn:

Company Profile
Group: Business Blogging Network

Twitter

www.twitter.com/Tips4Blogging

Facebook

Company Profile

Here is an example blog post.

Blog Tip: Repurpose Emails as Blog Posts

Monday, November 24, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

If you think about it everyone is consistently creating new content in the form of emails. Email is a great way to get your message out to a specific person that you have contact info for.

How can you reach a much larger audience and people you don't have contact info for?

Write a blog of course.

An easy way to build up content on your blogs is to repurpose content that you have already written in your emails to clients and prospects.

Blog Tip:
Do you email? If so, take your last email to prospects or customers and repurpose it in a blog post.

View an example of this tip.

Login and use this tip to create your next blog post.

Blog Tip: Conversations should be blog posts

Friday, November 21, 2008 by Compendium Client Marketing

Witting blog posts should be easy. Especially if you think of a blog post as a conversation with a potential client. Keep it short, pity, and to the point.

How many times a day do you have a conversation with a prospect or a client?

Every conversation that you have could easily be a blog post. I am not suggesting that you give exact details of the conversation more so talk about the topics covered. For example if your talking to a prospect about the befits of your product make that same benefits list a blog post.

Blogging Tip:
Think about a conversation you had with a client or prospect today. Why is this conversation memorable?

Example use of the tip.

Click here to make use of this tip in your next blog post.