Publicity and bloggers

I have written a few times about the value of blogs to your public relations and publicity efforts.



By keeping and maintaining a business blog, you have a built in press release, updated on a daily basis. All you have to do is alert the mainstream media.



Now, there is a new twist on the same theme.



Jay Solo was writing about the problem of receiving his first comment spam. I just got some comment spam on this blog, and I don't know how to remove it from my third party commenter.



While the evils of comment spam were being pointed out, Jay made another interesting observation. The spammer, craving attention to their rather pitiful efforts at being regarded as humanity, could have done the following:



"The smart thing would be for them to have created a blog as an adjunct to their site, covering internationalization and other business issues. Then they could have introduced themselves to me (and other bloggers) for a plug or a link, or maybe offered to get on the list of future CotC hosts. Boom, you're on Google! Heck, contacting someone like BusinessPundit with a "press release" of sorts might have gotten you a mention. Just as you'd hope to get by sending press releases to the mainstream business press."



The interesting part here is the discussion of how other bloggers can be sent press releases. It's so obvious, it is often overlooked.



Many of the major bloggers have traffic approaching that of small to medium sized daily newspapers. Some lesser lights, but still heavily visited, have over 1000 unique readers per day.



Bloggers are now ideal targets for press releases themselves.



Since most bloggers (well maybe not Jeremy Wright) have a constant need to find "a topic". It's one of the most difficult parts of the...I just can't resist saying this...the blogging experience.



Topics are gold, whether for the blogger or the mainstream media (who call them story ideas.



Press releases solve the blogger's dilemma.



Instant topic!



The blog owner who sends out a release to the larger readership bloggers, and selected niche bloggers, may find a mention on the so-called "A List". The resulting influx of traffic, should send the previously unknown blogger's visitor counter logs, into a major upward spiral.



When you send out your press releases to the mainstream media, don't neglect to send them to other bloggers in your niche area.



You may find your blog mentioned elsewhere.

E-mail as a posting idea

E-mail.



Blog comments.



Both are huge, and usually untapped, sources of blog post ideas.



Reading and even posting selected e-mails from readers, is a healthy source of post inspirations and concepts for even the most prolific bloggers. Highly regarded baseball blogger Aaron Gleeman is one of the blogosphere's most exhaustive writers. I say that in a good way. He writes abundantly on his favourite subject.



And I mean abundantly!



Despite his multitude of story ideas, Aaron Gleeman often posts parts of e-mails to help create entries. He takes the ideas from the e-mails, and puts them through his usual indepth analysis. The result is a post, on a topic of proven interest, to his readers.



Comments on blogs form another fertile garden of ideas for blog posts. You have first hand, ready at your fingertips, statements from your readers. They have, in effect, spoken. They have told you what they want you to discuss. All you have to do is write about it.



Similar to using your site counter visitor logs, your e-mail and commenters show direct evidence of your visitors' interests. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't have taken the time to write, commnent, or in the case of keywords, search for your blog.



Don't treat your e-mail as spam (unless it promises enlargements and alleged improvements of various body parts).



Don't consider your comments section to be throwaways.



They are direct messages from your most interested and loyal readership. Let them help you make your blog better.



Take a hint from Aaron Gleeman and let your readers help write your posts.

Blog stats: helping your readers

It's often considered to be bad form, according the stiff upper lip types who care about such niceties, to post about your blog statistics.



They say it's not interesting to your readers. Perhaps it is boring to some readers, but I am personally very interested in other bloggers' stats.



Maybe I'm a minority of one, but I like to know how long you've blogged, your total number of posts, and how many incoming links you have. I care how many visitors find their way to your blog, and from whence they arrived. Was their road in via a link from another blog or website, or did your reader find your corner of the internet from a search engine?



Those are interesting quesions you should be addressing. They are not only for your own benefit, but that of your visitors as well.



I have advised my readers to analyze their visitor counters before. By reading the visitor logs, you can determine if your visitors are heavily new ones or repeat returnees. Those bloggers who find a high degree of turnover in readers, and little repeat visitor traffic, may find a requirement to change their subject matter. After all, if no one returns to read it, perhaps it's not all that exciting to anyone.



If you are getting a heavy influx of visitors from search engines, your blog is probably optimized well for those keywords. Those are topics in which your readers have shown an interest. After all, if they searched them and clicked on your link, they must want to read about those subjects. I would suggest writing more posts on those keywords.



Keeping track of your incoming links, and the type of blog that links to yours, is also of interest. Of particular interest to you, should be the blogs that link to yours without asking for a return link. They linked to your blog because they enjoyed reading your subject matter. Be sure to include a few posts of interest to them, as their own readers probably will enjoy your material as well.



it's always interesting, to me at least, about how many blog posts you have written in total. Longer running blogs should have fairly strong daily traffic and regular return visitors. If that is the case, your blog is certainly providing information of interest to your niche readership.



As always, keep a close watch on the ratio of your new readers to your returning visitors. Too few returnees could be an early signal of readership decline. Heed the warnings, and provide some extra good and targeted posts, especially for those regular readers.



By being a bit "navel gazing", you can help provide the type and quality of posts your readers desire.



Don't think of yourself a hit obsessed blogger, but rather as a reader concerned blogger.



Use your statistics to benefit your readers.

Yahoo search is all new

For those not aware of the wild, and occasionally wacky world of internet search engines, former search powerhouse Yahoo is getting back into the game, in major league style.



Yahoo is challenging industry dominant Google search, with a fresh new algorithm, that is creating some different search results from Google.



When Yahoo purchased moribund search engine Inktomi (mainly a pay for inclusion company), it was thought by some observers that Yahoo would simply use Inktomi's technology.



Not so, it seems.



Yahoo has added search engine talent and they have created a fresh new way to search for what you want to find on the internet. Now, as a searcher, if you can't find what you want on Google, perhaps Yahoo might find what you seek.



There is also rumour that internet giant Microsoft is positioning its MSN search to try to gain search market share as well.



Competition is good if it helps to create better search results and better search engine products for both website owners and searchers. As long as money is not simply used to battle for market share, in a massive zero sum game, the search engine community may see some exciting days ahead.



In any case, webmasters and bloggers will no longer have only Google to consider for traffic and search engine optimization. There are some more players on the field.



Let the games begin.

Business blog: how to article

I just had published a fairly indepth article entitled Blogs and Search Engine Optimization published on the SEO Chat website.



For those of you who are not familiar with SEO Chat, it's a site and forum where the main topics of discussion are getting higher search engine rankings for your blog or static website.



In my article, I discuss how adding a business blog to your web based business, can help your site move up in the search engine result placements.



In general, the Blogs and Search Engine Optimization article is strongly in favour of adding a blog to your site.



Because of the blog secret weapons, of abundant freshly added content and many incoming links from other blogs and websites, the blog provides exactly what the search engines demand.



There is a lot more there as well.



Surf on over to Blogs and Search Engine Optimization.

Blogging up to date

Hi all.



I have been out of the blogging picture, so to speak, with illness.



I am attempting to catch up on the comings and goings in the blogging world, which turns with amazing rapidity. Even a few days of missed blog entries, and a regular blog reader can be left in the cyber dust.



I am reading as I type, with my usual abundant windows open. Yes, I use Windows 98, as David at Swagu will attest.



Catch all of you later.

Where are my posts?

I am very ill with something I managed to catch, but I don't know what it is. I am posting half awake and half asleep.



I'll be back with posts soon.



Thanks.

Business blogs vs e-mail newsletters

As recently as a couple of years ago, people looked forward to receiving your company's opt-in newsletter.



Is that the case anymore?



Opening an e-mail box, only to see hundreds and even thousands of e-mails, is a sight that scares off even the most e-mail loving person. Included in that batch of unread messages are many good informative newsletters. You may have specificially signed up just to receive them.



Unfortunately, they often get lost in the flood of spam e-mails you most certainly did not request.



Many times, installed "spam filters" will block out your fully authorized permission based newsletter entirely. Your message never reaches its intended audience. You may never know.



While fully permission based opt-in newsletters are still welcomed by most recipients, there is another alternative.



It's business blogging.



The great thing about maintaining a business blog is there is no need to worry about it being blocked by spam filters. Since a blog is not sent by e-mail, it can't be blocked.



A blog can't be accidently deleted along with unwanted spam sales pitches either. Newsletter recipients often set aside some requested e-mails for later, but instead wind up deleting them in the end. Unread, with dozens of other "saved" e-mails.



Barring a failure of your internet server, your business blog is available at all times. All it takes to read it is a click of a bookmark.



It takes time and effort to build up a permission based e-mail newsletter subscriber list. That is no different from adding more readers to your business blog. Both require strong marketing and promotional efforts to be successful. There are no easy methods for gaining more readers in either case.



In many ways, a blog is more timely than a newsletter. The blog can be updated several times a day, while a newsletter is more likely to be sent every two weeks. Even a weekly newsletter can't be as immediate as a daily blog.



That is not to say that a fully opt-in, permission based newsletter is a bad idea. In fact, it is far from it. Properly used, a newsletter can provide great information and product offers to your subscribers right on their desktops. They still have a powerful place in your marketing and customer relations programs.



The main purpose of an e-mail newsletter is the same one as a business blog. Their role is to build up a relationship of familiarity and trust with your readers. In that capacity, as a customer relations vehicle, both have their places in your business.



While most entrepreneurs look to the conventional e-mail newsletter, perhaps it's time to look at the less used blog approach. The e-mail newsletter is an established method of reaching customers. That's why it's popular. That's also why it has been invaded by spammers.



Properly used, an e-mail newsletter campaign can remain effective. You can reach your customers and maintain a steady relationship with them.



On the other hand, a business blog can be equally effective at communicating your message to your customers.



Because the business blog is still in its infancy, it's on the cutting edge of business communications and public relations.



Isn't that where you want to position your business?

Visitor traffic: Building with fun

You want more visitor traffic, I'm sure.



Well, maybe you have enough already, but you can always use a few more friends, right?



Have you ever tried using those personality quizzes that appear on so many blogs? Since most people succumb to the temptation to answer the quiz questions, except me of course. Mostly.



The various quizzes can gain your blog a bit of extra visitor traffic, and some links of acknowledgement for your questionnaire discovery. Or curses raining down around your head, but that's a story for another day.



An example of one such quiz is the following (courtesy of Jen Speaks:



Which Historical Ruler Are You?



Quizzes of that type are found on many popular blogs, and some blogs have become popular hangouts because of the personality tests found there. While none of the tests purports to be an authority, or even remotely accurate, they are fun for many people.



Another type of popular traffic builder are those visited places maps. You see them for the world or the United States.



Here is one for the USA, courtesy of The Accidental Jedi, who notes that she found it from her husband, Jay Solo's blog. Notice how these things travel from blog to blog.



Your Visited American States Map



These various blog pop culture favourites can help you get a few more visitors to your blog.



And no, I didn't bother to fill out the historical ruler quiz.



I already own a ruler. It measures in both inches and centimeters.

Internet sales: Make it easy to buy

Buying products online should be easy right?



Well, if you read some of the concerns at Nice Dream, that doesn't seem to be the case.



Online retailers may not be putting the same effort, into their internet e-commerce ventures, as into their brick and morter stores. Digression: Why do the internet commerce folks always refer to physical retail outlets as "Brick and morter" anyway?



Concerns in the e-commerce failures article range from slow loading pages, to terrible site navigation, to simply making it very hard for the customer to buy anything.



Those concerns are basic to retailing. If anyone working retail in the offline world were to employ such obviously bad practices, they would be fired. How did internet retailing customers and outlets get treated so poorly?



Making the product easy to buy is basic sales procedure. Being able to find the items you are looking to purchase should be a logical first step. Make the products attractive and easy to add to the shopping cart is only good site practice.



I would suggest that before launching any internet sales site, that you actually test shop it yourself. Have some staff, friends, and family try it. Select as many testers as posible, and don't choose the most internet savvy among them. Find some testers who are new to the internet, as they will find obvious problems, sidetracks, dead ends, and bottlenecks almost immediately.



Stand near the test buying people, but don't influence them in any way. Merely have them shop around your site, select items, and attempt to purchase them.



You are there only to observe. Write down where the test buyers click and where they go from one page to the next.



You might be surprised that your ideas, of how people navigate a site, may not be anywhere close to how real users click around. Keep track of how many mouse clicks it takes to actually complete a real world purchase as well. A buyer won't stick around for a fifteen click buying marathon.



Think of your internet sales department as another retail branch and treat it like one. After all, it's a round the clock sales staff for you and your business.



Treat your customers well, design a sales friendly site, and watch your internet profits grow.