Megan Glover's Blogging With Purpose

Indiana's Top 50 Blogs - I made the cut!

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Megan Glover

I received some great news this morning... the results are in, and I'm among the Top 50 Blogs in Indiana. Thanks to all who voted!

While I'm humbled so many of my family, friends and colleagues turned out to support me, there are truly some awesome bloggers that did not fall within the Top 50. I encourage you to take a moment to look at the entire list - it's a great representation of the innovative talent we have in Indiana.

Just click on the badge below to view the entire list.

Proof that brick and mortar purchases begin online.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Megan Glover

Our refrigerator went kaputs last week. After debating whether to fix or toss we decided to purchase a new one.

So, into a cooler all of our food went and our appliance shopping began. But, before we even stepped foot into an appliance store, I searched. I knew I wanted, a stainless steel refrigerator no larger than 20.6 cu ft,and 33 inches wide. (Small spaces in a house built in 1938!) I also wanted a good deal.

My search returned some great qualified results and I was really pleased to see a Compendium client, HHGregg, among the contenders. HH Gregg is a home appliance store that uses our blogging software to target keyword in organic search.

After an hour or so of "window" shopping online we'd identified a handful of refrigerators we wanted to see in person. We jumped in the car, went to the store, and within 45 minutes we had our brand new refrigerator paid for and scheduled for delivery the next morning.

While it was painful to incur an unexpected cost of a new refrigerator, my buying experience (thanks to search) was absolutely not. I'm just one "real-life" example as to how consumers are using search engines to find solutions to their problems. As a marketer... please make sure you follow HHGregg's lead, and be the solution I find.

Happy Birthday Internet!

Thursday, October 29, 2009 by Megan Glover

Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... without you I would have no joooob, Happy Birthday to you!

October 29th, 1969 marks the first day that information was transferred over network signals that would later resemble the world wide web. You can read more about the story here.

Now, I'm sure there are many contrary stories as to when the Internet was born, but one thing is undeniable... the Internet is a digital playground for marketers these days. If you're like me, always playing catch up!

As marketers, it's important that we understand what people (your prospects) are actually doing on the Internet so that you are able to focus on tactics that will actually reach them.

This graph by the Pew Internet and American Life Project gives us some great perspective:

My apologies it's so hard to read but essentially it tells us that Internet users are predominately doing two things:

1. Checking Email

2. Searching

And this is where business blogging comes in to play. Blogs have evolved into fantastic tools for search and getting businesses found on the Internet. Marketers are using blogs to target keywords they know they're prospects are searching for.

As we reflect on the 40th birthday of the Internet, might also be a good idea to reflect on the marketing tactics you're using to get in front of people using it.

Technorati's State of the Blogosphere

Friday, October 23, 2009 by Megan Glover

Last week I was lucky enough to represent Compendium at BlogWorld. Not only did we come home with a lot of wonderful prospective clients but we were able to attend some fabulous keynote sessions including the State of the Blogosphere by Technorati President Richard Jalichandra.

You can access the slides here.

Some of the most interesting findings for business bloggers:

Professional Bloggers (business is included in this category) are the fast growing segment of bloggers, keeping the "Blogosphere" healthy and stronger than ever.
Professional bloggers are focused on making money and attracting new customers.
Unique visitors and page views are used to measure success.
Content is usually topical driven (opposed to personal)

And, finally (and perhaps what I really found valuable), professional bloggers are using additional tools to help drive traffic and get found in search.
Compendium Blogware is just that. Compendium is a third generation blogging software that helps businesses get found in organic search for keywords you know your prospects are searching for. While I don't want this to turn into a complete sales pitch... I think the Technorati study has really opened the door for me to do so.

As professionals and businesses continue to enter the world of blogging for the purpose of making money and generating new business, it's even more important they align themselves with tools to help them get there. For more information about Compendium contact us at info@compendium.com. or find us on Twitter @cblogware.

Human Beings Expect Dialogue Offline... and Online.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Megan Glover

Let's role play for a minute here. Imagine I'm engaged in a phone conversation with a prospect who's not so happy about a marketing email that was sent with a misspelled first name.

Prospect: Hi Megan, thanks for your call, but I'm really put off by the last email I received from Compendium. My name is butchered, yet you still expect me to view a demo of your software?

Megan: Oh no, I'm so sorry, prospect. That's really, really embarassing. I'm looking at your record and it does appear as though your name is mispelled. I'm correcting it in our system as I talk to you... but I also understand this doesn't "undo" what happened. Please accept my apology and if you give me a chance to continue this conversation, I assure you it won't happen again in the future.

Prospect: You're right... it doesn't undo the initial error but I appreciate the prompt follow up and the sincerety. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

As humans, when we're engaged in face-to-face or phone conversation, we can use tone and expression to convey sincerity (or not, I suppose). Consumers expect the same sincere dialogue on social media networks and business blogs.

As an organization, when you chose to engage in social networks or business blogs you must understand and commit to the human dialogue (good and bad) that needs to happen with your audience.

Here's a great example of how one of our clients, Carhartt, is staying a head of the chatter by facilitating online dialogue. They actually have multiple blogs set up specifically for people to submit questions and stories. To make it easy, they use Compendim's Web-to-Post feature to automatically turn the comments generated in a form into a blog post.

As your organization "goes social", make sure you take some time to think about who's at the receiving end... human beings. If you talk to and engage with them as such, you're social strategy will be much, much more sincere.

Compendium's giving away a Nano A Day

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 by Megan Glover

I'm so excited to announce the launch of our new promo: Nano A Day.

This week only, view a demo of Compendium's blogging software and be entered into a nightly raffle for a brand NEW iPod Nano.

Nano winners will be announced via Facebook and Twitter (@cblogware) daily and via email at the conclusion of the promo.

There's nothing to lose. If you haven't see how Compendium's platform can help your organization be found in search, generate leads and acquire new business... then now is the perfect excuse to take action.

Online Retailers Gear Up for Busy Shopping Season.

Thursday, October 8, 2009 by Megan Glover

According to a recent WebPro's article 85.3% of consumers plan to shop online this year for the perfect holiday gifts (and price tags to match).

So... eCommerce marketers, the majority of consumers say they will be visiting the Internet to find the products you sell, what are you doing to ensure you are the store they find when they search?

At Compendium Blogware, we have a lot of eCommerce stores blogging. We have brownie stores, shoe stores, tire stores, and appliance stores. We have scrub stores, cheer stores, vitamin stores... and you get the gist.

For as much variety as we have in the eCommerce clients using our software, one thing remains consistent. Each of these companies chose business blogging with Compendium, to help their organization get found in search so that they are the site consumers choose when turning online to shop.

To give you a better example... we have a client, they sell cheerleading uniforms and gymnastic leotards. They target specific keywords like "all star cheer uniforms" and "design cheerleading uniforms"through our blogging software. Within the first two months of blogging they were able to generate $10,000 worth of business just but showing up for the keywords interested consumers were searching.

As we gear up for the anticipated rush of holiday shoppers, make sure you don't over look the importance of search and keyword selection.

A good reason to include blogging in your search marketing budget.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 by Megan Glover

Great report out yesterday by the IAB: Internet Ad Revenues at 10.9 Billion for First Half of '09: Show Slight Fall Off Year-on-Year in Tough Economy

The report shows that while Internet Ad spend has fallen slightly compared to this time last year, Search spend has actually increased; overwhelmingly, making search the most popular interactive advertising format for those surveyed.

What does all of this data mean for marketers? Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of IAB sums it up well:

In recent years the digital revolution has driven a transformation of how consumers experience advertising and media. As the economy improves, we’re confident that brands will devote an even greater share of their budgets to reaching consumers as they make interactive media a larger part of their lives.

As consumers make search and other interactive media part of their lives it's crucial that marketers find a way to be found in search and business blogs are great tools to help you get there.

Sweet Rewards for a Successful Retail Blogging Strategy

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Megan Glover

Fairytale Brownies, a long time client of Compendium Blogware, has just been nominated for Best Dessert of our Valley by Arizona Foothills Magazine. If you've not had the pleasure of tasting a Fairytale Brownie... you're truly missing out. And, if you have had the opportunity - please vote for our friends for best dessert!

We recently featured Fairytale Brownies in a marketing campaign called "In Their Own Words". We love sharing their blogging strategy's success because there is such a real - and all too common- story to tell... catalog and eCommerce business looking to increase visibility in organic search to sell more product and increase catalog subscriptions.

The results speak for themselves but within the first 6 months of blogging they were able to drive 10,000 organic visits to their blog and 110 orders!

To learn more about how you can elevate your eCommerce business online, just like Fairytale Brownies, sign up for a demo today!

Come See Compendium Blogware at Digital Marketing World

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Megan Glover

Wow - there's a lot of great activity and search marketing chatter taking place at the Digital Marketing World Fall Conference sponsored by Marketing Profs.

There's still time to register for afternoon sessions a few of which include:

Integrating Social Media into your marketing mix to achieve greater results.
Multi-touch approach to engaging and nurturing sales prospects.
Optimizing Website conversion rates

Full agenda here.

And, don't forget to stop by the Compendium Blogware booth and say "hi". Meghan and I. We'd love to chat with you about how businesses and organizations are incorporating business blogs into their online marketing strategies to acquire new business.

Will Blog for Search Traffic.

Thursday, September 3, 2009 by Megan Glover

I'm not above standing at the elevator each morning with a sign "Will Blog For Search Traffic"... because I know it works.

A perk of working for a blogging software company and using our own product is that we get to become our best (and sometimes our worst) client. This truly helps us become better consultants for our 450 clients nationwide.

That in mind... we challenged ourselves to a little experiment. We sought out to clearly define the correlation between blog posts and search traffic. With moderate incentives and weekly encouragement we know our bloggers (35 company wide) are able to generate well over 200 posts a month. Which is great; however, we were curious at what post number would our strategy go on "auto-pilot" generating consistent traffic and leads each month.

See for yourself what happened:

Compendium Volume of Blog Content to Unique Visits

Here's what we learned:

1. There's approximately a one month lag time between content creation and search traffic. Example: 200 posts generated in August will boost your search volume in September.

2. Our bloggers love encouragement and without it... they don't blog. This encouragement can be as simple as a candy bar on Friday if you've submitted a blog post OR a sticker for your laptop. Instant gratification works for our team!

2. When looking at unique visits it's imperative to factor in conversion rates (leads/unique visits). Are the people visiting your blogs of good quality and are conversion rates consistent? Writing content without much purpose can sometimes attract a not so relevant audience. It's important to find a balance between quantity and quality. Tracking weekly and monthly conversion rates will help you manage this.

We are a lot wiser coming out of this experiment and have a better grasp of what makes our own blogging program tick. For an in depth look at how to increase content creation and make your blogging program work for you, check out our upcoming marketing workshop: Breaking Down Successful Blog Content.

Do you have trouble writing effective blog content?

Thursday, August 27, 2009 by Megan Glover

Do you have trouble starting your blog posts? Is content creation the weak spot to your corporate blogging strategy? Do you want to learn how to wrote more persuasive, yet effective blog posts?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to check out our virtual marketing workshop: Breaking Down Blog Content on September 10, from 2-3pm EST.

Only 50 spots available, Register Today.

Have questions for the workshop... leave them as comments below and we'll be sure to address them during the event.

Social Networks - the new shiny object obsession?

Friday, August 21, 2009 by Megan Glover

I've just spent the last couple of weeks eating, breathing and living Social Media and Blogging.

Between the Blog Indiana conference (Twitter search #BlogIndiana for all the great feedback) and yesterday's webinar Getting a Grip on Social Media with Chris Baggott and Kyle Lacy, now more than ever I feel enlightened and yet, beyond confused about this social media phenomenon.

After all this enlightenment about social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, etc.. I'm still 100% convinced that business blogging for search needs to be the force behind your social efforts.

Case in point... the funnel below shows an accurate representation of the volume of traffic that each online source yields (data taken from the Pew Internet and American Life Project):

I think the funnel speaks for itself in terms of where priorities should be placed within marketing teams. That's not to say marketers shouldn't invest time and resources into social media networks, but be cautious not to put the"cart before the horse".

At the end of the day, marketers are in business to earn business for their companies. And, sometimes we can get distracted by shiny new objects, heck - it's a lot easier for me to tweet compared to write a blog post. But, end goal in mind, marketers need to be allocating efforts where their prospects are turning and; overwhelmingly, that place is search.

What the Internet can tell you about buying a bicycle.

Friday, August 7, 2009 by Megan Glover

I bought my first adult bicycle last night from our friends at the Bicycle Garage Indy (BGI).

For those of you who are a lot more "schooled" in biking than I, you probably know I didn't just buy a bike. Oh, no - I bought a bike then it dawned on me... well, how am I going to get it home? So, I bought a trunk carrier, then I realized if I wanted to ride this weekend I probably need a helmet. Oh and, don't forget the air pump!

Now, you might be thinking: why the heck make such an implusive buy on a Thursday evening?

In reality, it wasn't impuslive at all becuase I had done my research online before going to the store. I'd searched the Internet to to learn more about the type of bike to suit my needs, brands and most importantly, a local store that a.) carried the bikes I had narrowed down and b.) allowed me to test them out.

Turns out I'm not alone when it comes to online search before making an in store purchase. According to a 2009 study by eMarketer:

Web research has become a priority for value shoppers in today’s recession. Currently 86% of Internet users are online shoppers—they browse, research and compare products on the Internet, but do not necessarily buy online. As a result, though often ignored, store sales influenced by online research are three times higher than e-commerce sales.

For any brick and mortar store the moral of the study is this... people are going online to search for your products, don't under estimate the influence search plays in their purchases. That's why stores like BGI are blogging. They are utilizing their business blogs to get found in search and as a result are driving local traffic to their bicycle shop.

So, I'm curious... do you fit this mold? Are there any big purchases you've made lately that started with a search?

Search Engine Behavior

Thursday, July 30, 2009 by Megan Glover

People turn to search engines to look for answers to the problems they are trying to solve. Getting in front of these folks is imperative to the growth of your organization.

Blogging to help your business get found in organic search is one of these best ways to market your business online.

But, don't take it from me... check out our new Searchumentary video which features real-life people talking about their real-life search behaviors:

Compendium Blogware part of a powerful Internet Marketing Cluster

Monday, July 27, 2009 by Megan Glover

There's a nice mention from Friday in The Urbanophile about Compendium Blogware being amongst the best innovations in Indianapolis and part of a powerful Midwest Internet Marketing Cluster which is comprised of great marketing software and service companies.

For a better look at companies listed in this cluster, Doug Karr from DK New Media has compiled an outstanding list of nearly 70 companies located within the Indianapolis area.

As a homegrown Hoosier, it's wonderful to see such innovation close to home. What a great testament to the hard, hard work Compendium and others are doing to revolutionize the marketing industry.

Marketing with Purpose During a Budget Crunch

Friday, July 17, 2009 by Megan Glover

Crrrrunnnch... that's the action my budget took recently when challenged to cut the excess waste. Surprisingly though, it wasn't that hard to decipher what's excess vs. necessity.

Sure it's nice to have dollars to spend on branding, pencils and dry erase markers in rainbow colors, but the reality is... these items aren't acquiring new business. And, when challenged to cut marketing dollars it's important to look at the tactics that are actually generating leads and ultimately, revenue.

So, here are a few of the main ticket items that survived the cut:

1. Online Advertising: Banner, newsletter and Pay Per Click

2. Inbound Marketing: Website and Blog conversion strategy

3. Social Media Marketing: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

What do all of these tactics have in common... online marketing.

We decided to go nearly 100% online for a few reasons. First, we know our prospects are turning to search engines to find our software. How do we know that? Well, a quick Google Adwords search for "blogging software" suggests that there are over 22,000 searches for this term each month. And, that doesn't include the terms related to business blogging software and the like.

Second, online marketing is absolutely measurable. We have Google Analytics on our blogs and our websites which feeds leads into our CRM- Salesforce.com. It's very easy for myself and my team to evaluate what campaigns are driving leads each month. And, very easy for us to tweak if somethings not working.

Finally, online marketing is very cost effective. I could choose to spend my dollars traveling to conferences, spending tens of thousands on elaborate booth set ups... but at the end of the day if I can achieve the same (if not better) lead results via online strategies for fewer dollars.

Perhaps as things start to turn around in the economy I'll ease up a bit and start incorporating orange dry erase markers in the mix... but for now, I'm content running lean and in the process strengthening my knowledge share of online marketing and how to maximize demand.

Syndicating Blog Content

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Megan Glover

Your blogs should be at the hub of your social media strategy. There are a number of great reasons why companies need to syndicate this content to other outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. For brevity here are just a few:

1. You have great blog content. Chances are you spend a lot of time producing fresh and relevant content for your blog visitors and you need to maximize these posts. Re-purposing content is a good way to share online exposure.

2. It's a time saver. With marketing teams running lean these days, pushing blog content via "share this" gadgets is a super simple process and cuts down on staffers needed run your online marketing programs.

3. Generate more demand. It's simple math really... the more visitors that find your blog, tweet or Facebook link- the larger the net you're casting to convert visitors into prospects.

If you're not syndicating your blog content I challenge you to give it a try and see how it impacts your traffic numbers. And, this sounds like a used car salesman, I guarantee you'll notice a shift in referral traffic from those sites.

Business Blogging and Twitter

Thursday, June 18, 2009 by Megan Glover

A year ago Twitter was mainly used by early adopters, politicians and Ashton Kutcher. Now, everyone and their grandmother seems to be Tweeting to the tune of 14 Million US visitors in March 2009 (Nielsen Online).

There's been a lot discussion about this micro-blogging tool and the impact it's going to have on online marketing and more specifically, blogging. Check out a recent Marketing Profs post by Joseph Jaffe: Blogging is Dying; Twitter to Blame.

The truth is, Twitter and business blogs can be friends and coincide to benefit one another to drive revenue to your organization. Here are a few ways we are using Twitter and our blogs to drive leads and traffic to Compendium:

1. Blog Content is the hub for all social networking. Using RSS feeds we are able to push consistent and relevant content to our Twitter and other social networking accounts. Thus keeping the accounts always updated and saving valuable time by re purposing content.

2. Twitter is a great referral source. Linking posts provides a steady stream of referral visitors to our blogs. In fact, it's one of our top 3 referral sources.

3. Twitter builds community - blogs convert it. Twitter is a speck compared to 1 billion to 6 billion visitors search engines receive each month.

People use search engines to find answers to their problems and they expect that search engine to deliver. There are little to zero delivery expectations of Twitter (other than to see what my followers were up to over the lunch hour). And, any info they provide beyond that is gravy.

These are just a few ways we are using Twitter to support our blogging efforts with the purpose of generating new business. Without this underlying goal in mind... it's hard to define what other purpose it might serve. Click here to follow Compendium Blogware on Twitter.

Yes, start a blog - but for the right reasons

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 by Megan Glover

Here's a nice article I happened upon from Small Business Computing called: How to Set Up a Blog for Your Business. The article is primarily focused on ecommerce blogging but there are some basic tips that will benefit everyone.

I really liked that the article began with the basic questions that are so, so important. My only beef is that the article completely missed the blogging for search benefit that all businesses (ecommerce included) need to be focused on.

The article begins:

If you haven't added a blog to your online store, given the state of the economy, now is a good time to consider doing so, as they can be an affordable way to market your e-commerce site.

And, I agree. We have many e-commerce clients that have had great success with their blogging strategy. But more than just a blog... you need to realize the inherent search marketing benefit of blogging. Businesses need to be focused on using their blogs for customer acquisition. And, that's only tweak I might add to the article.

In lean times, marketers should be investing in search tools that are going to make you money and win more customers. Bottom line.

So, as you read this article consider two things:

1. Blogging is a search marketing tool and you can use it to impact your bottom line.

2. Compendium Blogware - is a Software-as a- Service blogging platform built for business and focused on SEM

A little plug, but hey... it's good to be aware of all of the robust options available not just the freebies!