Hi, I'm Ellie Cummins

Hi, I’m Ellie Cummins, a Business Development Manager here at Compendium.  While I have worked in sales and marketing for my entire career, the world of SEO, PPC, and CSS is new to me.  I am very excited to be a part of the team here at Compendium and to learn about internet marketing, social networking and the power of blogging, particularly for businesses.  I hope to share a little about myself and a lot about the benefits of Compendium and how you can be a successful business blogger. 

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Start A Business Blog In The New Year
Posted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
I have recently been reading some Marketing Profs and Marketo B2B articles dating back as far as 2006.  It is particularly interesting how well blogging integrates with the "tried and true" marketing strategies they recommend.
  • Provide research tools for buyers early in the sales cycle:  We know that a key component of research is the web 2.0 world is search.  A topically focused blog page dedicated to the search term is an excellent way for businesses to provide focused, relevant information to someone early in the sales cycle and enhance their experience by offering whitepapers, webinars, etc... while gaining permission to bring them into your database
  • Use landing pages:  It makes total sense to bring a searcher to the most relevant page on your site to buy, learn, etc... based on their search term.  Blogging with Compendium enables you to do just that by having relevant calls to action to "buy now", "learn more", etc... while also presenting the real live voices from within that company to help that search be engaged and feel great about working with your firm
  • Use automated systems and processes:  If there is one thing we don't need on our plates its another system to keep track of and monitor.  Our business blogging software enables keyword rich, topically focused landing pages to be automatically udpated each time a blog post is written.  Weekly and monthly reporting delivered to your inbox also takes out the hassle of figuring out how its all working for your business.
As you evaluate tried and true strategies for your e-marketing plans in the new year take a closer look at blogging for your business.  It may just be the best new years resolution your organization has ever made. 
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Big Bad Blog Clock?
Posted 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. 
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Depressed? Try SEO!
Posted Tuesday, December 2, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
Depressed?  Try SEO!

SEOmoz recently featured a great post on their blog regarding an increased interest in SEO by venture capital firms and why SEO spending and initiatives are top of mind for marketers even as depression, gloom, and doom are supposedly all around us. 

What better way to invest in SEO and in your people and culture than to start a business blog?  Compendium's multi user blog software can not only get your message out there to searchers and consumers but will engage your employees and drive your bottom line.


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Go Organic!
Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
Get Fresh, Go Organic!   

As a wannabe "green girl" and "foodie" I have begun to search out fresh local ingredients that are not only good for me but also good for the planet.  I even joined at CSA (community supported agriculture) that enables me to get a delivery of local, organic produce every week for about 6 months a year.  What does this have to do with blogging you ask?  Well not really that much but it is something that I believe in much like I am a believer in the power of organic search so there is the puny connection for you. 



Go Organic.... Online!
Marketing Profs recently did an article on touting the importance of organic search.  Their instructions to pay attention to page titles, URL's, calls to action, and more are echoed in the message here at Compendium.  We know searchers pretty much ignore the paid listings anyway so the power of winning in an organic environment is much more valuable - and most likely more affordable - than trying to outbid your competitors for paid terms.... Come to think of it maybe organic search is good for the planet... less money spent and frustration by internet marketers out there is bound to make for a more harmonious environment for all of us. :)

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Blogging Beyond SEO
Posted Tuesday, October 28, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
Compendium is a blogging software for businesses.  Businesses are certainly focused on profit.  By using Compendium they can achieve success on the search engines, get found on Google first, and dramatically increase the likelihood of a searcher clicking on their link.  But then what?  Every blog posted by our clients feature a clear call to action to do this, click here, talk to us, take the next step with us!  But why should a searcher do that?  Assuming they have landed on your Compendium blog that is very relevant to the "red vintage convertible Ford Mustang" they are searching for the content they find on that blog is vitally important.  Are they learning something new about this car?  Are they learning where they can find one and why that dealer is the best person to buy from?  Are they engaged by a post on how a "red vintage convertible Ford Mustang" will make them feel young and free again, perhaps how their friends and family thought they were crazy to buy one but now they all love it?  We all know marketing is about being ready with a relevant message when your customers are ready to receive it, not throwing your message out there and hoping it sticks... it is also becoming much more focused on human to human engagement and for a customer (searcher) to feel good about taking the next steps with your business
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Free Your Bloggers
Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
Today on the Profit From Business Blogging webinar Chris Baggott and Debbie Weil spent some time talking about who should and could blog for your company.  Should all employees participate in your company blog platform?  Should C-level people blog?  Are marketers the onlyl ones doing this?  Well, I think it depends.  It depends on your company blogging strategy, your goals (to blog for search engine optimization, show voice in various levels of the company, build your brand, etc...).  However based on both contributors comments today really any strategy can work.  Whether you have two or twenty bloggers, you can find employees to post, some of whom may already be blogging and are excited to share why they love their workplace.  It was also discussed that employee bloggers can be up to five time more likeable and engaging than a C-level (perhaps a ghostwriter) is.  Not onlyl does freeing your employees to blog  increase your chances of engaging your searchers it will also make your company look good in the eyes of the public and help your employees warm and fuzzy about their jobs.  Who doesn't want that warm fuzzy feeling!? Compendium has freed me to blog and I the warm fuzziness is certainly coming my way.  
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How can you be a successful business blogger? It's easy....
Posted Wednesday, October 15, 2008 by Ellie Cummins
What is the key to a successful business blog?  Considering I am new to Compendium and the SEO and internet world I am sharing my beginner knowlege here. As we know, the power of the internet for marketers is incredible.  Blogging is an incredible solution for businesses looking to win in SEO and get found in organic search resulting in increased lead gnereation.  To take it to the next level, business blogging with compendium will produce better blogs and quicker results for your business.  

Marketers today are no longer reaching out and often times interupting potential customers,  Google and others allow customers to go online and tell us what they are looking for.  A marketers job is now to make sure they are the first answer to the customers question, which is the keywords they search.  One solution to this is to use pay per click to be the first on the list however research has told us that people click on items in the organic listings near 95% of the time and the paid listings only 5%.  Therefore companies need a way to be at the top of that organic list.  That is where compendium blogware comes into play.  This blog post software will undoubtedly help your company be at the top of organic search listings for key words related to your products and services. So, the first step in successful business blogging?  Learn more about Compendium Blogware's SEO blogging solutions for your business and start your business on the path to success.
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