Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Jason Gergely
Blog, which is short for Web logs, is almost like an online journal or diary that is visible to the public. You can blog about pretty much anything on the face of the earth. If you want to blog about Global Warming and your opinions on it, there is someone out there that will most likely read it or there might even be a blog about it already. You can talk about your kids and how much you care about them and how you think everyone should raise their child because your children grew up so well. There is probably a few out there already on the idea of parenting. Some people find a feeling of relief when they blog because it is almost like typing without thinking. Just get an idea in your head and let your fingers go (unless you use the old school way of “hunt and peck”, in that case it will take a bit longer). There are great benefits to blogging too. In fact, I didn’t start blogging until I started my internship here at Compendium Blogware and now I feel that I should write something each day (crazy… I know). I realized the power that blogging can give to a company. By using a business blogging technique, a company can increase its search engine optimization which can and most likely will lead to more sales. If you are reading this right now and have never blogged before… go ahead and try it.
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Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Kristen Raves
I hear it everyday in my role as a Client Success Manager, "I can't", "I don't have enough time", "I am too busy". PJ, our Senior Software Engineer at Compendium, wote a fantastic blog post about a useful little site called Dr. Wicked's Writing Lab. It is a website designed to force you to write. No excuses can be had on this site, they will not have it.
When you get to the homepage, all you have to do is fill in the box with your goals. Your goals are: word goal, time goal, and what setting you would like it on. You can chose from a variety of intensity levels such as Gentle Mode, Normal Mode, Kamikaze Mode, and Electric Shock Mode. This site is not only amuzing, but it is extremely helpful.
Some of our Client Success Managers tested this out today and found out how usefull it is when creating a blog post. Even though we are a blogging company it can be difficult to find time to write. This is something my clients struggle with daily and this tool can be a fun way to manage your time. Next time you are writing, visit the site and see how it can work for you.
When you get to the homepage, all you have to do is fill in the box with your goals. Your goals are: word goal, time goal, and what setting you would like it on. You can chose from a variety of intensity levels such as Gentle Mode, Normal Mode, Kamikaze Mode, and Electric Shock Mode. This site is not only amuzing, but it is extremely helpful.
Some of our Client Success Managers tested this out today and found out how usefull it is when creating a blog post. Even though we are a blogging company it can be difficult to find time to write. This is something my clients struggle with daily and this tool can be a fun way to manage your time. Next time you are writing, visit the site and see how it can work for you.
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Kristen Raves
A question that I seem to get more and more from customers is "Should I use affiliate programs on my blog." The answer, it really depends on your business. If you use the affiliate marketing programs, will they help add to the success of your organization?
In a recent article by Darren Rowse, he gives 10 tips for using affiliate programs. He adds great insight on how to best leverage these sales marketing programs by doing the following:
In a recent article by Darren Rowse, he gives 10 tips for using affiliate programs. He adds great insight on how to best leverage these sales marketing programs by doing the following:
- Consider Your Audience - Step into the role of your reader when considering what they would want to see on your blog. Avoid adding affiliates that have nothing to do with your business.
- Genuine Recommendations and Personal Endorsements - Try them out yourself to ensure what you are recommending for others is something that you would use yourself.
- Link to Quality Products - Have you ever been sold a "lemon" car? Even if you have not, you have probably known someone who has. This is not a good feeling so avoid selling unsatisfactory products.
- Contextual Deep Links - These work best because they pair up like products/services with what you are blogging about.
- Positioning of Links - Do not position them above any calls to action or products that your company is selling. Keep them visible but not to where they will take action on the affiliate before they do your product.
- Traffic Levels are Important - You can build traffic by adding content on a consistent basis.
- Diversify without Clutter - Avoid too many flashy ads on your blog site. These will just confuse your readers.
- Be Transparent - Don't try to fool your customers, they know what you are doing.
- Combine with Other Revenue Streams - If you have other marketing revenue streams combine them. Like the old adage, two are better than one, it is true in this case as well.
- Track Results - Tracking your results is key. Obviously, if it is not working you do not want to waste money on that program. If it is working, continue promoting it on your blog and enjoy the ROI!
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by
Sarah Sedberry
“Search is a larger, behavioral reality that impacts corporate strategy.”
In a recent book called Branding Only Works on Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin, the author rightly points out that marketing strategies that don’t include a heavy element of search won’t work well for for a company. One of the reasons why social media is a great tool for content marketing, such as writing a compelling blog post, is that it’s an opportunity to build search equity.
This is where Compendium Blogware steps in and is able to enhance your efforts, and allow your company to be found in the organic search results of a searchers query.
Writing about things that people might search for is a great way to find some new people at your door who might want a look at your product. Consumers who might otherwise have never heard of your, or worse yet, found your competitor in search results and gave their business to them.
Think about your own behavioral patterns...when you are looking for information in a search engine, who are you more likely to click on? The sponsored ads on the side of the page, or in the top 5 organic search results? What is your company doing to ensure its place on the first page of Google?
Posted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by
Jess Wehner
I wanted to highlight a couple of our newer clients to give an example of the variety of business's that use Compendium's Blogging Software and to congratulate these companies on writing lots and lots of content.
These companies do a great job of posting frequently. They all get more than 2 posts up per week and I'm pretty sure if you asked- they'd tell you it's a pretty easy task to do.
- Luxury Index- is an online marketplace where affluent internet users worldwide can buy, sell, rent, or list luxury goods and services. I always enjoy reading their blog to read about the latest habits and styles of the "rich and famous".
- US Watches- is a division of Specialty Retail Shops. They sell watches online to people who are passionate about their timepieces. They have a huge selection of watches on their website and lots of watch information on their blog.
- Dr. Clue- provides team building solutions for corporations around the nation. Specifically, they are experts at creating scavengar hunts that immerse teams in challenging, clue-solving adventures.
These companies do a great job of posting frequently. They all get more than 2 posts up per week and I'm pretty sure if you asked- they'd tell you it's a pretty easy task to do.
Posted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by
Jess Wehner
If you're ever starting to get bored with your business blog and are looking for a way to spice things up- why not pick up a camera and make a rap video about your company? That's what Kristen Raves and I decided to do a couple weeks ago when created our very own blogging video based off SNL's digital short- "Lazy Sunday". Using video in your blog is a great way to engage your readers and increase your organic search engine traffic.
Kristen and I had a really fun time writing the script and pulling this video together to create "Lazy Monday". And we definitely couldn't have made it happen with out the help of her husband- Brian Raves (who truly is a video genius) and Krystal Featherston, who helped shoot some of the footage for us. And I should probably also give a shout out to Abby Rivera, who put up with us through out the day while we filmed this digital short. You can see her hard at work in the background!
Watch below to see it all come together...
Kristen and I had a really fun time writing the script and pulling this video together to create "Lazy Monday". And we definitely couldn't have made it happen with out the help of her husband- Brian Raves (who truly is a video genius) and Krystal Featherston, who helped shoot some of the footage for us. And I should probably also give a shout out to Abby Rivera, who put up with us through out the day while we filmed this digital short. You can see her hard at work in the background!
Watch below to see it all come together...
Posted Sunday, November 9, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
A good reason to blog for your business is to boost your company's reputation. Search engines find your content, and search engine users find you. If your content is compelling, a relationship may be established. Your blog is a chance to make a first impression with a potential customer.
Amid all the buzz of blogs and business, something usually gets short shrift -- application security. The multinational law firm Pinsent Masons maintains an IT and e-commerce issues blog called OUT-LAW.COM, and a recent post takes up this issue.
Citing some statistics and advice from a white paper by computer security system vendor Network Box (free registration required), the post gives some ideas on the scope of the issue and recommendations on what a blogger can do to mitigate the risks, which include potential damage to your company's reputation.
The white paper identifies comment spam and SQL injection as the top threats to a blogging environment.
Comment spam is one of the ways that malicious third parties can abuse the visitor content creation features to your detriment. This was one of the forms of "virtual blight" that Google spam fighter Matt Cutts discussed in his talk from this past Wednesday.
Compendium addresses from several angles:
Cautious parameter validation on the server side provides a first line of defense. The next line is using care in how query strings are formed. Consideration of these points is an integral part of our development process, not an afterthought. Moreover, they are backed up with regular code reviews and continuous refinement of our coding standards.
Unfortunately, bugs are a tough thing to completely eliminate in the real world, so vendors typically have to issue security updates. The Network Box white paper recommends that corporate blog applications be updated when new releases come out.
Here is where relying on sotware as a service, like Compendium Blogware, has a distinct advantage. Instead of tracking when a vendor updates and then going through the process of rolling out the new version to production, the hosted application provider takes care of the updates for you. Here at Compendium, releases are usually pushed out on a weekly basis, so when isues are found, it won't be long before a fix is on the way.
When you base your corporate blogging platform on Compendium Blogware, many of the issues of maintaining a secure blogging environment will be taken out of your "worries" tray. Isn't that a price worth paying?
Amid all the buzz of blogs and business, something usually gets short shrift -- application security. The multinational law firm Pinsent Masons maintains an IT and e-commerce issues blog called OUT-LAW.COM, and a recent post takes up this issue.
Citing some statistics and advice from a white paper by computer security system vendor Network Box (free registration required), the post gives some ideas on the scope of the issue and recommendations on what a blogger can do to mitigate the risks, which include potential damage to your company's reputation.
The white paper identifies comment spam and SQL injection as the top threats to a blogging environment.
Comment spam is one of the ways that malicious third parties can abuse the visitor content creation features to your detriment. This was one of the forms of "virtual blight" that Google spam fighter Matt Cutts discussed in his talk from this past Wednesday.
Compendium addresses from several angles:
- Comment forms require a name and a syntactically valid e-mail address. The comment will be rejected if these form elements are not provided.
- A CAPTCHA must be successfully completed, otherwise the comment will be rejected.
- The text of the comment is stripped of all HTML tags.
- URLs are converted to hyperlinks with the the
rel="nofollow"attribute to prevent spammers from feeding off of your search engine reputation. - Comments must be reviewed and approved by the company's local blog administrator before going live. There is no way for the spammer to bypass this.
Cautious parameter validation on the server side provides a first line of defense. The next line is using care in how query strings are formed. Consideration of these points is an integral part of our development process, not an afterthought. Moreover, they are backed up with regular code reviews and continuous refinement of our coding standards.
Unfortunately, bugs are a tough thing to completely eliminate in the real world, so vendors typically have to issue security updates. The Network Box white paper recommends that corporate blog applications be updated when new releases come out.
Here is where relying on sotware as a service, like Compendium Blogware, has a distinct advantage. Instead of tracking when a vendor updates and then going through the process of rolling out the new version to production, the hosted application provider takes care of the updates for you. Here at Compendium, releases are usually pushed out on a weekly basis, so when isues are found, it won't be long before a fix is on the way.
When you base your corporate blogging platform on Compendium Blogware, many of the issues of maintaining a secure blogging environment will be taken out of your "worries" tray. Isn't that a price worth paying?
Posted Saturday, November 8, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
The relevance of the Long Tail with respect to search is a recurring topic among the blogging employees of Compendium. A Long Tail search marketing strategy attempts to win on niche keyword searches that are specific to the business rather than more generic phrases that may be more frequently targeted.
A recent post over at ReadWriteWeb, a popular read among us here in the Engineering team, reports on some new findings by SEO and web analytics specialist Dustin Woodward, Using statistics collected by Hitwise, Woodward found that the Long Tail is a lot longer and more substantial than anticipated. Quoting from the ReadWriteWeb post (emphasis mine):
What does this mean for a business trying to get found by potential customers? It means that there is a very good likelihood that your potential customers are using specialized keywords to find the products and services you're selling.
Another notable can be found at the end of the post:
A well done blog, keyword rich and frequently updated, will boost your profile in search engine results, and with Compendium's keyword blogs, your employee-created content is automatically organized across different search keywords, so you can get elevated search results on the Long Tail.
If this isn't a good reason to blog for your business, I don't know what is.
A recent post over at ReadWriteWeb, a popular read among us here in the Engineering team, reports on some new findings by SEO and web analytics specialist Dustin Woodward, Using statistics collected by Hitwise, Woodward found that the Long Tail is a lot longer and more substantial than anticipated. Quoting from the ReadWriteWeb post (emphasis mine):
The top 100 search terms account for 5.7% of all search traffic and include keywords like 'myspace,' 'google,' 'bank of america,' and ' yahoo mail.' Those numbers are not unexpected. However, the top 1,000 search terms only account for 10.6% of all search traffic, and even the top 10,000 search terms only drive 18.5% of all search traffic.Note that these statistics filter out keywords that would refer to adult content, so that we're referring to searches that have a greater potential relevance to mainstream businesses.
What does this mean for a business trying to get found by potential customers? It means that there is a very good likelihood that your potential customers are using specialized keywords to find the products and services you're selling.
Another notable can be found at the end of the post:
Also, looking at this data is yet another good reminder of the fact that search has replaced bookmarks and memorizing URLs for a lot of people. Most of the top search terms like 'google,' or 'usps,' are, after all, identical to their URLs.For many, search engines have become a web content database in which search terms are the primary key.
A well done blog, keyword rich and frequently updated, will boost your profile in search engine results, and with Compendium's keyword blogs, your employee-created content is automatically organized across different search keywords, so you can get elevated search results on the Long Tail.
If this isn't a good reason to blog for your business, I don't know what is.
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
meghan peters
The marketing industry is much like technology, things are constantly changing and you can never feel ahead of the curve. I'm sure every company has felt the strain of keeping up with the newest marketing trends.
Blogging has been characterized as a fleeting trend in an effort to try new marketing efforts. And not only labeled a trend, but a trend that won't last. I find it hard to believe that blogging is just a trend, not only for the fact that I work at a blogging company, but for the simple fact that we have dozens of clients that see the great benefits that blogging has to offer every day. Many of which have the revelation that blogs can be more useful then an actual company website.
When you work for a blogging company and see new clients join the Compendium family daily you gain a renewed sense that blogging is here to stay for the long haul. I would suggest jumping on the bus before it's full!
If you need a little more research on the benefits that business blogging has to offer check out our Whitepaper: Considering Blogging?
Blogging has been characterized as a fleeting trend in an effort to try new marketing efforts. And not only labeled a trend, but a trend that won't last. I find it hard to believe that blogging is just a trend, not only for the fact that I work at a blogging company, but for the simple fact that we have dozens of clients that see the great benefits that blogging has to offer every day. Many of which have the revelation that blogs can be more useful then an actual company website.
When you work for a blogging company and see new clients join the Compendium family daily you gain a renewed sense that blogging is here to stay for the long haul. I would suggest jumping on the bus before it's full!
If you need a little more research on the benefits that business blogging has to offer check out our Whitepaper: Considering Blogging?
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
Kaila Woodside
Corporate blogging is a great way to bring your expertise about a particular industry, product or service to those who are searching. However - don't forget to let your personality shine through.
A tool that was introduced to me by Compendium's Creative Designer - Mikey Mioduski as he was putting together the blog role on our website. I was interested in bringing in some more personality through music - however, not everyone at Compendium is as interested in music as I am. So, he recommended that I use IMEEM. IMEEM allowed me to pick my favorite songs and then provided an embedding code.
I know sometimes I get annoyed when music plays on a site and you have no way to turn it off - but IMEEM operates much the application you see in MySpace and allows you to pause and play the music as you see fit!
And because Compendium is a great software as a service tool, you can also embed music videos too! Oh, blogs and business is so very fun!
A tool that was introduced to me by Compendium's Creative Designer - Mikey Mioduski as he was putting together the blog role on our website. I was interested in bringing in some more personality through music - however, not everyone at Compendium is as interested in music as I am. So, he recommended that I use IMEEM. IMEEM allowed me to pick my favorite songs and then provided an embedding code.
I know sometimes I get annoyed when music plays on a site and you have no way to turn it off - but IMEEM operates much the application you see in MySpace and allows you to pause and play the music as you see fit!
And because Compendium is a great software as a service tool, you can also embed music videos too! Oh, blogs and business is so very fun!
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
Lindsey Young
Halloween is my favorite holiday. What's not to love? The leaves turning, the air turning crisp, the feel of the holiday season approaching! It's my favorite time of year. And who can resist the dressing up! And...being the animal lover that I am...dressing up my pets (see inserted photo). I know, I know, a fine line between cute and cruel, right?A blog can be so many different things, and today instead of being informational about blogging for business, I'm adding that "human" side to our marketing and making it personal! I have started reading all of my clients blogs on a pretty regular basis. I find that the ones I enjoy reading the most are the ones they add a personal touch to. I know that I can learn about their business, but I enjoy learning about them as well. Behind these company blogs are what really matter...the employees who write them.
So on that note, I hope everyone had a great Halloween - from everyone who stayed
home and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters, to people like me who go all out, dress up and still act like I'm a kid! Have a great autumn everyone!
Posted Friday, November 7, 2008 by
Doug Karr
One way to have add an incentive for your employees to blog for your business is to put their goofy mug... on a mug!
Maybe not... but I really did get a kick out of this, though. Thanks to our Marketing Department!
Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by
Jenni Edwards
"Relevancy starts on-page and is confirmed off-page."
What am I talking about? SEO of course! This actually comes from a comment on one of Chris Brogan's recent posts "The Vital Importance of Links". (note my well thought out anchor text to help Chris out here). This comment from Jacob Morgan really answers the big question as to the importance of linking for SEO and for a business blogging strategy. At Compendium we are constantly being confronted by questions about link-building...and while no, this is not our business --- we do work with our mature clients on doing this and how they can best do their own blog seeding, however, as Jacob points out Step One of a successful page is related to on-page factors, or in other words --- CONTENT! Once this is under control...content is recently and frequently updated; organized around keywords into narrowly focused, highly relevant pages then it is time to seriously consider a do-it-yourself or hired non-spammy link building strategy. Even with that --- no one will ever link to you naturally without some great content. So before sidetracking your business blogs with a link building strategy, get the on page factors solved with an easy to use blogging platform.
Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by
Eric Romer
Is it more effective to persuade the uncommitted, or motivate the committed?
This question came to mind while reading Seth Godin's insightful post "Marketing lessons from the US election". He approached the election from a marketer's point of view, not from a partisan perspective. There were lessons learned, and new techniques used in this year's election that will be studied for years to come. However, I just want to focus on his concept of "motivating the committed" as a marketing strategy.
It reminds me of an exercise that marketing consultant Gerry Tabio took me through while I was working in radio advertising sales. His point was that traditional "demographics", in which most agencies and big national advertisers base their buying decisions (Adults 18-34, Women 25-54, etc.), are too broad. An 18-year-old and 35-year-old are two very different people, with different behaviors and buying patterns. You can't talk to them like the same person, which is why niche marketing and permission-based marketing are more effective.
He also pointed out, similar to Seth, that you can't persuade the uncommitted. And if you can, it's a much harder battle than motivating those that are interested. One of my favorite examples of this is sushi. We broke a group of 18-34 year olds into three groups:
So, stop wasting time on persuading the uncommitted's. You'll work twice as hard, and have a lower return. Strategic business blogging allows you to target niched groups based on the way they are seeking information. You have the ability to work smarter, not harder. By giving humanized, relevant content to people that are interested in specific information, businesses and organizations can drive tangible actions at a higher success rate.
This question came to mind while reading Seth Godin's insightful post "Marketing lessons from the US election". He approached the election from a marketer's point of view, not from a partisan perspective. There were lessons learned, and new techniques used in this year's election that will be studied for years to come. However, I just want to focus on his concept of "motivating the committed" as a marketing strategy.
It reminds me of an exercise that marketing consultant Gerry Tabio took me through while I was working in radio advertising sales. His point was that traditional "demographics", in which most agencies and big national advertisers base their buying decisions (Adults 18-34, Women 25-54, etc.), are too broad. An 18-year-old and 35-year-old are two very different people, with different behaviors and buying patterns. You can't talk to them like the same person, which is why niche marketing and permission-based marketing are more effective.
He also pointed out, similar to Seth, that you can't persuade the uncommitted. And if you can, it's a much harder battle than motivating those that are interested. One of my favorite examples of this is sushi. We broke a group of 18-34 year olds into three groups:
- Eat sushi at least once a month
- Eat sushi rarely
- Never have, never will
So, stop wasting time on persuading the uncommitted's. You'll work twice as hard, and have a lower return. Strategic business blogging allows you to target niched groups based on the way they are seeking information. You have the ability to work smarter, not harder. By giving humanized, relevant content to people that are interested in specific information, businesses and organizations can drive tangible actions at a higher success rate.
Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by
Chris Baggott
I love getting AdAge every week. Although it's print, the headlines are enough to hopefully get marketers of all stripes to realize that the old way of interruption marketing is doomed.Take this week's top three:
- Media dollars drop despite election year
- Will Print Survive the next 5 years?
- As ratings fall, nets take on ad-skipping
Couple this with an IBD story about the decline of ad networks and why social media sites are struggling to monetize and a marketer has to realize that the fact that you are making a pitch because I happen to be (reading a paper, watching a show, or visiting a website) consuming content isn't going to work any more.
Companies now have to focus on real acquistion tactics and costs...and the only mass acquistion tool that is prove to work is search. More specifically data driven organic search.
With data driven SEO, the marketer is delivering their message up to a search term. Corporate Blogging empowers this by being easy to use and providing real blog content generated by employees and constituents. I'm not talking about basic blog software, but software designed for business blogging. the best blogging software is a software that aligns content around keywords and topics.
by leveraging content and targeting specific keywords (in the hundreds or thousands) you are anticipating a need...waiting. Data tell us that x number of prospects will be researching using the terms you identify. Rather than interrupting 100x hoping to get to x, you just wait for X to come. Then politely say: "hey, we can help".
Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by
Jason Gergely
If your company isn't blogging yet, they are missing out. If your company has a website and want to really be noticed every time someone types in keywords that pertain to your business, your company needs to be blogging.
When people use a search engine such as Google, many times they are looking to solve a problem they have. If your company website, and is ranked high in that search you are more likely to find more business... right? By blogging, your company will increase its Search Engine Optimization and when someone is looking for an good or service that your company has to offer, they are more likely to find your company website, or at least your company blog at the top of the ranking. By having your employees blog for ranking, and talk about their work, their clients, and your product or service you are increasing your data to be more recent, frequent, relevant to the search. Hmmm... isn't it ironic that those are ALL the things that Google is looking for when they search through the internet to fulfill a search inquiry?
When people use a search engine such as Google, many times they are looking to solve a problem they have. If your company website, and is ranked high in that search you are more likely to find more business... right? By blogging, your company will increase its Search Engine Optimization and when someone is looking for an good or service that your company has to offer, they are more likely to find your company website, or at least your company blog at the top of the ranking. By having your employees blog for ranking, and talk about their work, their clients, and your product or service you are increasing your data to be more recent, frequent, relevant to the search. Hmmm... isn't it ironic that those are ALL the things that Google is looking for when they search through the internet to fulfill a search inquiry?
Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by
Megan Glover
On the curtails of election day 2008 I couldn't help but make a small political pun.
Seriously though, as a marketer change is your best friend! Change is what allows you to test, measure and adjust certain aspects of your efforts.
Change is what you should be doing on a weekly basis to test your blogging performance. But, what constitutes a successful business blog?
Here are the metrics we use to evaluate our blogging strategy on a weekly basis (for ourselves) and for our clients:
Applying tangible metrics and goals to your blogs will change the way you think of blogging for business. What other metrics are you tracking that add to your bottom line each month?
Seriously though, as a marketer change is your best friend! Change is what allows you to test, measure and adjust certain aspects of your efforts.
Change is what you should be doing on a weekly basis to test your blogging performance. But, what constitutes a successful business blog?
Here are the metrics we use to evaluate our blogging strategy on a weekly basis (for ourselves) and for our clients:
- Unique Traffic
- Bounce Rate
- Read Time
- Traffic from Search
- Conversion (Blog Leads/Unique Traffic)
- Landing Page Conversion (how are our CTA's performing)
Applying tangible metrics and goals to your blogs will change the way you think of blogging for business. What other metrics are you tracking that add to your bottom line each month?
Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by
Brian McKay
Small Business Blog
I read the quote, "Less Hulk, more Bruce Lee," in a Fast Company article about Micheal Jager of JDK. The message was that marketing smart means thinking less like the Hulk (ie. Television, radio, print, and mass media in general), and more like Bruce Lee (ie. Internet marketing, viral marketing, Blogging, and non-traditional low cost creative outlets)
Hulk Brands and Businesses
Coca Cola, Nike, NFL, "Frank TV," Oprah, and P&G are all brands that leverage mass media effectively. They understand that with strong creative and a ton of volume they can earn your attention with non-permission marketing. They invest millions in television, movies, radio, billboards, and print media of all varieties to reach you everywhere they can. They will also gain significant sports sponsorships and celebrity product endorsers to further sway you toward their brand. This is a phenomenally successful method... If you have the means.
Bruce Lee Brands and Businesses
Facebook, UnderArmour, Ben and Jerry's, and Wikipedia are all brands that have leveraged fan support and non-traditional media to grow their businesses. They gain your permission and acceptance even before you find them. Your friend heard about them or you found them on search. The word organic is used all the time now, but these brands have fully embraced the idea of growing from the people and trusting them to share their brand. These brands make a little, go a long way. They don't look intimidating but BAM! The next thing you know they are everywhere!
With the right Blogging Platform you can apply the Bruce Lee mentality and cast a wide net over the search engines to have a Hulk like impact on your brand. The goal of search is getting found for the right reasons more than your competitors. Blogging can be that mechanism for your business.
Click to the right and let's get a real conversation started.
I read the quote, "Less Hulk, more Bruce Lee," in a Fast Company article about Micheal Jager of JDK. The message was that marketing smart means thinking less like the Hulk (ie. Television, radio, print, and mass media in general), and more like Bruce Lee (ie. Internet marketing, viral marketing, Blogging, and non-traditional low cost creative outlets)
Hulk Brands and Businesses
Coca Cola, Nike, NFL, "Frank TV," Oprah, and P&G are all brands that leverage mass media effectively. They understand that with strong creative and a ton of volume they can earn your attention with non-permission marketing. They invest millions in television, movies, radio, billboards, and print media of all varieties to reach you everywhere they can. They will also gain significant sports sponsorships and celebrity product endorsers to further sway you toward their brand. This is a phenomenally successful method... If you have the means.
Bruce Lee Brands and Businesses
Facebook, UnderArmour, Ben and Jerry's, and Wikipedia are all brands that have leveraged fan support and non-traditional media to grow their businesses. They gain your permission and acceptance even before you find them. Your friend heard about them or you found them on search. The word organic is used all the time now, but these brands have fully embraced the idea of growing from the people and trusting them to share their brand. These brands make a little, go a long way. They don't look intimidating but BAM! The next thing you know they are everywhere!
With the right Blogging Platform you can apply the Bruce Lee mentality and cast a wide net over the search engines to have a Hulk like impact on your brand. The goal of search is getting found for the right reasons more than your competitors. Blogging can be that mechanism for your business.
Click to the right and let's get a real conversation started.
Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by
Doug Karr
Many companies are initiating costly (but revenue-generating) landing page strategies. What's a landing page and how is it different from your web site? A landing page is specifically constructed for a consumer to land on from an advertisement, form submission, email link, or search result.
A landing page is typically invisible to the visitor on your website. For example, if I owned a chocolate store in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, I might have 3 search engine optimized landing pages - each page's content would concentrate on the geographic location of my shop as well as what folks might be searching for.
Best fudge in Ohio would lead me to the Ohio page. That page would have compelling content as well as a distinct call to action.
Think about it... a search engine landing page has 3 distinguishable characteristics (Additionally, I would expect it to have tracking as well!):
A landing page is typically invisible to the visitor on your website. For example, if I owned a chocolate store in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, I might have 3 search engine optimized landing pages - each page's content would concentrate on the geographic location of my shop as well as what folks might be searching for.
Best fudge in Ohio would lead me to the Ohio page. That page would have compelling content as well as a distinct call to action.
Think about it... a search engine landing page has 3 distinguishable characteristics (Additionally, I would expect it to have tracking as well!):
- Search engine optimized construction.
- Compelling content
- A Call to Action
- Search engine optimized construction.
- Compelling content
- A Call to Action
Posted Monday, November 3, 2008 by
PJ Hinton
Back in April, Compendium CEO Chris Baggott made the following statement in a post to his blog:
Take for example a recent post by Kevin O'Keefe on his blog Real Lawyers Have Blogs. A fellow law blogger had commented on how hard it was for a new blogger to build up a loyal readership in an area that's already saturated with popular bloggers. O'Keefe responded by saying (emphasis mine):
O'Keefe cites the reputation enhancment that blogs can bring, and it's not just the boost you get from citations from your peers. It's also the elevated reputation you gain from search engines as you write frequent posts on matters that are recent, relevant, and keyword rich. It's why blogging for SEO is so critical to blogging success.
Stop thinking about Blogging as a top-down, CEO thought leadership thing, and stop thinking that you are going to implement a “Social Network” and all your fans will come out of the woodwork to post their praises.This is a position we continue to stake out in promoting our product, and it's an idea that's starting to catch on with others.
Take for example a recent post by Kevin O'Keefe on his blog Real Lawyers Have Blogs. A fellow law blogger had commented on how hard it was for a new blogger to build up a loyal readership in an area that's already saturated with popular bloggers. O'Keefe responded by saying (emphasis mine):
I don't believe you should decide whether to blog on a subject based upon the existence of other blogs on the niche. In fact, there can be an advantage starting a blog on an area of law where there are a number of successful blogs.This is exactly the point we have been making. You grow your business by acquiring new customers who find you're out there providing services that they might need.
The goal of a law blog is not just to become one of the most widely read, ie, in the top 3 or top 10 in employment law. Blogs can be used very effectively for networking, reputation enhancement, and business growth even where there are other popular blogs on the subject.
O'Keefe cites the reputation enhancment that blogs can bring, and it's not just the boost you get from citations from your peers. It's also the elevated reputation you gain from search engines as you write frequent posts on matters that are recent, relevant, and keyword rich. It's why blogging for SEO is so critical to blogging success.
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