Blogger Software

Linking in Posts

Posted Thursday, August 28, 2008 by Sarah Sedberry

When talking to my clients there are always questions about how to get the most out of their blogging efforts. One of the steps that we recommend to all of our corporate bloggers is to use links in their posts ("Linkjuice" if you will), and with Compendium's platform, its very simple to do.

The reason we encourage linking in blogs is because Search Engines LOVE the traffic that is created when sites link to other sites. Therefore improving your search traffic, driving readers to your site, and increasing conversions and ROI.

To read more on this subject check out this article on SEOBook.com that highlights ways to improve your linking, and ideas for linking out to other sites.

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Round 2 of the Blogging Tournament

Posted Wednesday, August 27, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

We just finished our second round of the Compendium Blogware Content for the Crown. There was an amazing amount of effort put in from so many bloggers! Even though, BabyPlus did not make it to the third round I must commend them on their outstanding 29 blog posts! Great job and keep up the good work.

Who is going to win the gas cards and the fabulous Compendium Trophy? We are down to just 24 finalists. Congratulations to the following companies for making it this far:

To view the standings and see who is battling who in this blogging battle royale click here.

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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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Favorite 80's fad?

Posted Friday, August 22, 2008 by Sarah Sedberry

Since it's Friday, I decided to take a moment while drinking my coffee to write a "Casual Friday" post...

Recently, I had a friend of mine throw an 80's themed party. To my dismay I could not attend as I was out of town at the time. Although, she was kind enough though to replay all of the fun throw backs and happenings that I missed out on.

While recalling this to my colleague Kristen, another Client Success Manager here at Compendium Blogware, during our morning trip to Starbucks - it started us on a rambling of our favorite 80's fads. (Everything from New Kids on the Block, our favorite cassettes, Connect 4 and Operation, to the wonderful fashion trends of neon, knot ties in your shirt, spandex, and air-pump sneakers)

Our conversation continued on into the elevator for the ride back to our offices. In the elevator others jumped in on our conversation and soon we had good banter and had shared several smiles with our building mates.

Since we were having such a great time with this topic, I wanted to share with everyone else, and allow you to get in on the fun.

What was your favorite trend or moment to come out of the 80's?

In Client Success, we often will have discussions with our clients regarding content development and how they struggle to come up with ideas to blog about. Ideas can come from daily conversations, newsletters, frequently asked questions, industry news, other bloggers posts, and anything else that strikes your fancy. For example....the 80's! A corporate blog doesn't have to be dry. Check out this company blog post from our client Circle City Tickets who had fun with her post.

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Blogging Tournament - Round 2

Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008 by Sarah Sedberry

As the Olympics in Beijing start to wrap up, fear not as your competition appetite can be feed through the current blogging tournament taking place at Compendium. Where we have pitted our clients up against each other in a March Madness style, winner take all competition.

Results have been posted and you can see check out how the Corporate Blog's fared in the first round of the "Content for the Crown Tournament". Check out the tournament brackets here:

Compendium Blogware Blogging Tournament Brackets

Congratulations to the following clients who have made it out of Round 1 and are now blogging their way through Round 2...

On the line for these Corporate Bloggers is the coveted Content for the Crown trophy, along with a bottle of Champagne and $50 gas cards for the administrator and all bloggers - that in itself gets the competitive nature going when gas is hovering around $4.00 a gallon!

For those that got knocked out in the first round, don't fret as we will have more competitions in the future. Also, don't forget to keep that content going as we are still in the competition for Search Engine Results!

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Are you judging my blog right now?

Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008 by Megan Glover

Seth Godin has a great blog post today: Who's telling you the truth about your online personal marketing?

His post makes a great point about the the trend in marketing these days which I relate to transparency. He writes that, "people are judging you", and isn't that the truth.

Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instant Message, etc... have all opened the door fainting the line between personal/professional life. So how does a marketer ensure the judgments of his or her employees don't hurt the reputation of the entire company?

Why not embrace and incorporate those mediums into your own marketing? You know your employees, particularly your Gen X'ers, are all tapped in and participating... why not embrace it and make your presence known too!

It's actually one of the reasons Compendium Blogware was founded. Chris (our CoFounder/CEO) noticed while at ExactTarget that many of his employees were blogging. And, blogging about the company - but Chris had was unable to leverage the blog content they were cracking out.

That's why Compendium is built for multiple bloggers and has an administrative layer which allows you manage the blogger's message as you see fit. So, companies and organizations can give their employees platforms to blog on and yet reap the marketing benefits such as SEO. Not only that, but you're providing a real-life voice to speak out on behalf of your organization which ultimately... humanizes your marketing.

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And The Winner Is...

Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

Week 2 of the Content for the Crown blogging tournament, and we have some winners. This past week brought on some friendly, yet firm competition. Every client gave it their all, and in the end we had 48 teams advance to the second round.

Round 2 started on Monday and already people are battling it out. What are they fighting for? Not only will these teams receive the coveted Compendium trophy, they will also have the pleasure of winning $50 gas cards for the administrator and all bloggers. Now, who would not want that when gas prices are $4.00 a gallon?

Thank you for all teams who participated and we look forward to seeing how this pans out. To view the brackets click here.

Congratulations to the following clients:

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Don't think "website in" think "search engine out".

Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008 by Lindsey Young

In our CEO Chris Baggott's latest white paper, he quotes William Flaiz of Search Engine Watch:

"“People don't go to Web sites anymore. Web sites come to them. This is, perhaps, the best way to explain the impact of search on the online experience.”

I was experiencing how very true this is, just last night. You see my fiance and I are huge Purdue football fans. (I went to Ball State, but I've been adopted in) I was searching for some new gear for us this season, namely some hooded sweatshirts, jersey's, etc. as we go to all home games. What did I do? I Google'd it. I didn't know any of those companies, or their website url's. But by searching for what I wanted, I sure did find plenty of people wanting to help me find my Purdue gear!

This is exactly why so many people are coming to Compendium for help with their business blogging. They want to be found, and we get them found! If you haven't already read this white paper, I'd highly recommend it to any potential bloggers. Go to our website and check it out! Blog for your business!

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Creative Content from BabyPlus

Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

Congratulations to BabyPlus for making it to the second round of the Compendium Blogware Blogging Tournament of Champions. BabyPlus not only creates a lot of content, but they are creative about it as well. They are averaging almost 5 posts per blogger per month which is paying off.

How do they get their bloggers to write content on a constant basis? They do so by having fun. As you can see from the pictures in this post, they motivate their bloggers by keeping them laughing. Giving them popcorn is not "corny" as you can see, it is entertaining. They also award each other with the "Best Blogger of the Month" award which is a hot commodity at this place! It is a coveted certificate naming one person as the "best in blog" for the month.

Not only are BabyPlus' in-office motivation tactics creative, but so are their blogs. The content they write is always fresh and new. BabyPlus does a great job of incorporating current events into their posts. Another reason they are receiving such a high number of visitors is that they do a nice job of creating fun and interesting titles. Good job BabyPlus, see you in the next round!

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Official Blogging Tournament Rules

Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008 by Chantelle Flannery

The tournament began on August 11th and we are now moving into round two. Customers will compete to advance in a Compendium organized blogging tournament based on number of posts written by the client, week-by-week. The Blogging Tournament is designed to create some spirited competition amongst our customers in a battle of the ultimate team game—business blogging. You will be pitted randomly against another Compendium customer in the ultimate blogging championship.

Tournament Rules

You need do nothing to enter the tournament. To participate write blog posts as you normally would, or with a great deal more frequency to more effectively compete.
Winners in the tournament will advance from a field of over 100 on a weekly basis based on the amount of posts generated by each team.
If there is an equal number of posts between the two teams over the course of the week the previous week’s posts will be used to determine who will advance. We will review as many of the previous weeks as necessary in order to break the tie.
A week's worth of posts start on Monday and end on Sunday.
In order for a post to count it must be considered legitimate blog posts. This means that the post must be at least 5 sentences long and contain at least two keywords.
Remember that you’re writing on a corporate blog so talk about appropriate topics that relate to your industry and company.
Please note that sticky posts don’t count.

Tournament Prizes
The winner of the Championship earns a handsome trophy denoting blogging superiority and a bottle of Champaign. There will also be a $50 gas card for the account Administrator and a $50 gas card for the top blogger on the team. The other three final teams will receive a $50 gas card.

Tournament Contact Information
Please have fun with the tournament - use this as a tool internally to mobilize around content development. Keep an eye on Chantelle Flannery’s blog and the tournament bracket for updates.

Write content. Get found in search. Convert traffic. Demonstrate ROI. Crush the competition in business blogging, tournament style!

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Blogging from Blog Indiana

Posted Saturday, August 16, 2008 by Megan Glover

Sitting here in the lobby at the IUPUI Campus Center where Blog Indiana is taking place. A great turn out, lots of great bloggers and a really impressive line up of sessions and speakers. Here are some examples:

What makes a great corporate blog,

Blog Review/Critquie Open Discussion,

Showing off you blog.

Blog Etiquette and Ethics

Great to be around blogging enthusiasts from Indiana and beyond. Blog Indiana runs today and tomorrow - there's still time to register for the afternoon and tomorrow's sessions. You can do so here: http://conference.blogindiana.com/

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Blogging Indiana!

Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 by Sarah Sedberry

This weekend marks a great event in downtown Indianapolis, and no I'm not talking about Gen-Con. I'm referring to Blog Indiana 2008!

Blog Indiana is a 2-day blogging and social media conference, hosted at IUPUI, that aims to promote education, innovation and collaboration among Indiana’s fast-growing blogging community. There will be several keynote speakers at the conference, including our very own Chris Baggott.

This blog conference for both experienced and new bloggers alike. Sessions will include topics such as blogging for beginners, using blogs in your business, monetizing your blog, political blogging and more advanced topics. So if you are a blogger looking to get started, looking to add a corporate blog, or wanting to capitalize on the success you're already having with the blog for your business - this is a conference you should attend.

Compendium Blogware will also have a booth at the conference, so feel free to stop by and say hello to two of our Business Development Managers, Jenni Edwards and Eric Romer. They will be happy to help answer any questions you may have about blogging for your business.

Happy Blogging!

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MSNBC talks about Corporate blogging

Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 by Eric Romer

I saw this video over on Debbie Weil's blog, and it apparently aired a couple weeks back on MSNBC. They do a pretty good job highlighting the value of a "blogger-in-chief".

I like that Bill Marriot handwrites his blog posts -- there's something nostalgic about that in a technology-driven world. But at the same time, that can be limiting. Relying on an extremely busy CEO, and someone to transcribe his notes, is a bit tedious.

Free up the employees to create content. They're communicating everyday with potential customers on phone and email, why not a blog?

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Real World ROI Webinar

Posted Thursday, August 14, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

I am excited to announce that my client Visit Tampa Bay is a highlight in the webinar today. They have been an exemplary client of ours and we are pleased to "show them off" Congratulations Jeremy and the rest of the bloggers!

This webinar will cover what we call "Real World ROI". Basically this means that we are showing you how to cover the costs of the blog and then some. The "and them some" can mean more visits to your website, the visitors buying your products or services, or even starting your own community within the blog.

You can still sign up for the webinar by clicking here. It is not too late! Sign up now.

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A Battle of the Greats

Posted Wednesday, August 13, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

You might not be aware of this, but the greatest spectacle on earth is taking place right now. No, I am not talking about the Beijing Olympics. What I am talking about is the Compendium Blogware Blogging Tournament of Champions.

As it is also commonly referred to as "Content for the Crown", this tournament is an all out fight to the death. Well, not really. It is, however, a tournament to determine which of our clients is producing more content than all the others.

In round 1, we have two of our greats going up against one another. Roto-Rooter and Conclusive Marketing are two of our clients that constantly produce well organized and informative content. They continually follow "blogging best practices" by producing at least two blog posts per blogger each week. Their dedication to constantly updated content certainly pays off for them. Not only do they see their blogs ranking on the first page of Google, but they are both receiving more traffic. Coincidence, we know not.

Good luck to both teams. We look forward to reading your blog posts. To view the brackets, click here.

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Times Are Changing

Posted Tuesday, August 12, 2008 by meghan peters

The days when you would write a letter to catch up with a friend are long gone and have been for some time now. In this day and age if someone wants to catch up with a friend they can be found texting, emailing or possibly even reading their blog! Now is a great time to jump on the technology band wagon because you never know what is going to come next in the technology world. However, this is great news for organizations and their marketing tactics.

I recently read an article from IMedia Connection that I thought captured the essense of blogging from a human perspective perfectly. In the 2008 Compass Partners/BlogHer Study they found that "Traditional advertising has become so commoditized. Now we pay attention to what our friends say." said Jory Des Jardins from BlogHer Inc. The Compass Partners study goes on to show that some people rate bloggers' writing as more credible than traditional media.

Click here to view the complete article:
It's a Bloggers World; learn to fit in

With this shift well on its way, organizations need to embrace the future of blogging. Those who stick with tradition are sure to be left behind because one thing is for sure - Times Are Changing!

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Corporate Team Building

Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 by Kaila Woodside

A few weeks back Compendium took a weekend to do a little team building - via white water rafting. The trip was amazing and everyone came back with a new energy and feeling of real camaraderie. Wilderness Voyaguers, my rafting company of choice in Ohiopyle is actually one of Compendium's clients. So as opposed to blogging immediately after our trip on our blog - I made a guest post on the WV blog. You can check it out here.

Wilderness Voyaguers has taken to blogging for search and they keep their blog updated with fun happenings in Ohiopyle as well as infromation on the trips they offer. Following blogging best practices with the help of their Client Success Manager, Sarah Sedberry- they will surely be one of our next top corporate bloggers.

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Full Disclosure on Blogs

Posted Sunday, August 3, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu

In a recent ruling, the SEC will recognize corporate blogs as public disclosure. IR Web Reports states that, "...companies can rely on their websites and blogs to meet the public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure), according to new guidance unanimously approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission today."

This means that more companies will be utilizing public forums such as blogs to relay their most critical company facts and issues to the public. Long gone are press releases, welcome to the new age. From now on organizations will be communicating by using blogging platforms such as Compendium Blogware.

Not only does online distribution meet these disclosures, the art of search engine optimized press releases have the unique ability to appear in search engines tied to the key words your blogging about. This is where Compendium can offer businesses the ability to distribute news with added SEO functionality. When paired with a well-written, SEO optimized press releases, blogs can more than satisfy disclosure, they can inform your customers, investors, and clients on exactly where your company stands.

Additionally, people will be utilizing their social networking sites such as Facebook and LInked In to share these blogs with their social groups. Not only do these sites socialize content and link conversations across the web, they also help bloggers and other journalists write more effective and media rich content.

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Want to Find Top Blogs?

Posted Thursday, July 31, 2008 by Chantelle Flannery

I know that sometimes I get writers block when I sit down to write a blog post. When I get stuck I always start with surfing the net and reviewing some of the most popular blogs for good ideas. I find that reading other blogs helps me develop better concepts/topics and gives me ideas on content formatting.

Finding blogs online is not a problem the problem is narrowing it down to the most popular and relevant blogs. The best place to start is to use the top lists that are already out there....

Technorati Top 100 Most Popular Blogs
Top100Bloggers.com
Digg's Top Stories (not all blogs)
del.icio.us Most Popular Bookmarks (not all blogs)

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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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