Going public: PR blogging through disaster

Disaster can strike a business at any time. Despite an entrepreneur's careful plans to handle any possible emergency, life has a way of throwing the odd curveball. Sometimes those major issues feel like a hailstorm, and it's landing right on your head. Of course, that's only the beginning.

The phone is ringing off the hook with members of the news media wanting answers. Customers, creditors, and suppliers are suddenly into full panic mode about the solvency of the business. Even trusted staff members are quietly dusting off their resumes and making calls around the city about alternative employment. Somehow, the message has to get out to every stakeholder that like any storm, this too shall pass.

It's time to post to your business blog and enter full scale public relations mode. This is not the moment to run away and not talk to anyone. While avoidance of the issues, and a distinct desire to stay clear of the news media are natural reactions for many people, not talking is precisely the wrong approach. Get to that keyboard and start blogging. Tell your side of the story as openly and honestly as possible. Establish a climate of mutual trust and respect with everyone involved.



When posting information about the disaster, it's very important to get the facts out to everyone. Members of the media, clients, suppliers, creditors, and the general public will go to your business blog seeking your statements on what happened, and why. They will want to know your response to the situation, and a timetable for implementation of the planned solution. While not everything will be finalized at posting time, and plans may still be very preliminary, share as much information as possible. Transparency is a hallmark of blogging. During a crisis, it's doubly important.

If you don't provide the facts of the crisis, the information blanks will get filled in anyway. More often than not, rumours and wildly innacurate stories will begin to circulate. If no word appears from your offices, people will suspect the worst. They may even accuse you of trying to hide something. It's your responsibility to the company, and to the public at large, to set the facts straight.

Address each issue openly and honestly. Don't hide from the false stories that always seem to circulate in any disaster situation. Discuss those rumours as well. It's up to you to fill in the blank spaces with the company side of the story, as truthfully as possible. Snowjobs and falsehoods won't hold up for long, and are best avoided at all costs. They destroy your trust and credibility, and will make the situation even worse.



With your PR blog, you can update the problems and possible solutions in real time; as they happen. At the speed of the computer, your side of the story can be around the world. Because a blog is a fluid and open medium, there is no upper limit on the number of posts that can appear on the matter at hand. Every new piece of information can be added to the blog, fresh from the old drawing board. Keeping the blog comments open will facilitate questions from readers, and provide opportunities for more indepth discussions, of the latest turn of events.

Instead of keeping the media, other interested parties, and public in the dark, the blog lets the light shine in on the problem. Once discussed openly and honestly, it won't seem quite as serious any longer. Solutions will be seen as being on the way. The openess and transparency of the blog, combined with your willingness to openly discuss the issues, will enhance the reputation of your company. Honest answers are not always forthcoming from every business. Your public relations blogging effort will set your company apart from the pack, and build your business and personal reputation.

When the crisis passes, as they inevitibly do, your transparency and open lines of communication will provide a solid foundation for a recovery. Instead of suspicion, your company will receive community support. In many cases, the business may even be strengthened by surviving the ordeal. Your PR blog will deserve much of the credit for that reputation enhancement

The sun will indeed come out tomorrow.

Tags: public relations, PR blogging, media, transparency.

Internal blog links: SEO help from your blog's past

High search engine rankings are important to most bloggers and website owners. To achieve those page one search placements, a combination of interesting and informative content along with many links to your blog are needed.

Let's talk about links today. To be more specific, let's discuss the often overlooked links to your blog or website's internal pages, located in the blog archives. When most bloggers and website owners think of links, they naturally consider links to their home page first. After all, the blog or website home page is the most obvious and visible page to be on the receiving end of an inbound link. Too often, the very important links to internal pages are forgotten, and get lost in the shuffle. Their latent SEO power is let go to waste. A bit of link planning can turn that lost SEO strength into higher search engine rankings.

Blogs in particular receive an abundance of incoming links to internal blog pages. Think of every time that someone linked directly to one of your blog posts. As that page moves into the blog archives, that internal inbound link remains alive, and providing link popularity to power to that page in particular; as well as the entire blog in general. Incoming link power is spread through the entire blog, as the pages are interlinked, helping all of the pages rank well, to some degree.

It's thought that the search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search place varying, but high degrees of importance on internal site links. It seems logical that search engines would credit internal posts and articles, as links to internal pages are a strong indicator of valuable and important site or blog content. As a result, they help boost the blog or site's search engine rankings. Both the linked page and the overall site or blog benefit.



Not only is the link important, but so is what is referred to as link anchor text. While the jargon term is interesting, link anchor text is simply the wording that appears on the clickable link line. Those words that are set to be clicked will often contain keywords relevant to the content of the receiving page.

Bloggers often use very powerful link anchor text, often without concern for the resulting SEO benefits, to describe the receiving post. Bloggers are usually more concerned with sharing information and interesting blog posts, and less with search engine rrankings. With that keyword rich link anchor text in place, the inbound link packs much more search engine punch.

When linking to your own archived blog posts, be sure to use descriptive wording, relevant to the post receiving the link. Words like "read more" or "click here" should be studiously avoided, and not be used as link anchor text. Of course, you may want to rank for those phrases for reasons unknown and entirely bewildering. In that case, use "click here" if you so desire.

Links from other blogs or traditional websites, to your internal site pages, can work wonders in your search engine placements. With the addition of keyword rich link anchor text, that linked page can turn your blog or site into an SEO dream.

Isn't that resulting top spot in Google something to get excited about!

Tags: internal links, link anchor text, SEO blog, Google.

Carnival of the Vanities 199 at The Bull Speaks!

The 199^th edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities appears at the technology and political blog known as The Bull Speaks!.

Carnival of the Vanities is the original collection of blog postings, assembling some of the best and wide ranging bloggers on the internet.



This week's The Bull Speaks! hosted Carnival of the Vanities entries include politics, literature, science, humour, technology, business, and economics.









I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Vanities as well.

My post is titled "Achieving success: Fighting your fears" where I discuss how feeling fear is part of being human. It's a natural human emotion, but an extremely powerful one. Fear can either paralyze a person into total inactivity, or cause an adrenaline rush to the finish line. Overcoming your fear is one of the most important keys to your business and personal success.




To participate in the Carnival of the Vanities, or any of the other blog carnivals, one of the easiest techniques is to use the all inclusive carnival entry form at The Conservative Cat.





Another participation option is to simply e-mail your entry to the new e-mail address:

cotvmail -at- gmail -dot- com

As I suggest elsewhere, hosting and contributing to the various internet blog carnivals is a great promotional idea for your blog.

Next week's 200^th edition of Carnival of the Vanities appears at Jay and Deb Solo's business, politics, and family blog known as Accidental Verbosity.

The topic will be a Rob "Acidman" Smith tribute edition of Carnival of the Vanities. All entries accepted, as always, but specifically encouraging entries that are about Acidman, posts of his, topics dear to him (southern food, vile exes, family, painted nails, the evils of cats, guns, Jawja, you get the idea...), etc. Tribute posts needn't be very recent as is normal for CotV.

In the meantime, head on over to the The Bull Speaks! hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.

You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new and interesting blogs.

Tags: Carnival of the Vanities, blogging, carnivals, promotions.

10 Ways To Make It Great: Phil Gerbyshak

You see it every day. More and more bloggers are becoming book authors. As natural writers, bloggers are almost predestined to write their thoughts in book form. My good friend and fellow blogger Phil Gerbyshak (pictured left below) of Phil Gerbyshak Challenges You To Make It Great! has joined the publishing world with his first book. Following his creed of business and of life, Phil offers us 10 Ways to Make It Great!.

Distilling his can do philosophy into ten easy to understand ideas, Phil provides a framework for success in business and in one's personal life. A dynamo of energy and enthusiasm, Phil's personality fills the book, in the same way that his boundless exuberance epitomizes his business blog. As a blogger, Phil writes in an informal, entertaining style, resulting in a pleasurable read as you learn his secrets to success.



Phil Gerbyshak (pictured here), blogger and author

As expected, Phil Gerbyshak is using the power of blogs, and enlisting his large network of friends and associates to help create a buzz. As we already know, blogs are one of the most powerful viral marketing and word of mouth advertising vehicles available.

For writers navigating the crowded seas of book marketing and promotion, blogs are an essential tool. As a result of his networking skills and blogging connections, Phil has received a growing number of glowing reviews for his book.

Be sure to pick up a copy of 10 Ways to Make It Great!.

The book is available in both hard copy and as an e-book. You can't get much easier than that!

You too can find at least 10 Ways to Make It Great!.

Tags: Phil Gerbyshak, 10 Ways to Make It Great, book marketing, author blogs.

Carnival of the Capitalists at Fat Pitch Financials

This week sees a investment approach to the travelling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists makes a visit to personal finance, investment, and stock market blog known as Fat Pitch Financials.

This week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists highlights some of the best bloggers writing on the internet today.

Blogging topics presented include entrepreneurship, management, market trading, internet commerce, marketing, the national and global economies, and technology.

As you would expect from Fat Pitch Financials there are many discussions of personal finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and investment.

It's always great to read and discover the many high quality blogs out there in the blogosphere.

We don't always get to them all, and this edition of Carnival of the Capitalists has introduced many of us to some brand new ones.



I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Capitalists as well.

My post is titled "Marketing" When does it pay?" where I discuss how marketing a product and service is an art and a science, to use an overworked but well marketed cliche. Because the results of marketing are often vaguely defined, the entire department is often targeted for cutbacks.

If you wish to submit an entry to next week's, or any Carnival of the Capitalists edition, e-mail your entries to the new address:

cotcmail -at- gmail -dot- com

You can always use the handy entry form at Gongol.com where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Talk about making it easy to be included!

Another brand new form for sending entries to all of the internet carnvivals is provided by The Conservative Cat. This is a great one stop entry drop, for all your blog post entries, for every blog carnival.

Note as well that Carnival of the Capitalists. has a new URL at http://thecotc.com/. Be sure to update your links and bookmarks.



If you are searching for new and exciting ways to expand your blog's readership, you should seriously consider sending an entry to Carnival of the Capitalists.

Merely being included in the company, of the first rate regular Carnival of the Capitalists contributors, will enhance the reputation of your blog.

The extra visitors sent to your blog won't hurt either!

The growth and staying power, of Carnival of the Capitalists, is beginning to catch the attention of people outside the blogging community. Each hosting, brings a fresh assortment of new readers, to the various blogs involved.

The visitors aren't only bloggers anymore.

Readership is expanding to include the mainstream media, various government and private organizations, many businesses, and other interested people from beyond the blogging community.

Many people are introduced to some tremendous blogs that they might otherwise have missed.

Next week's Carnival of the Capitalists will be at Andrew Hughes' technology and economics blog known as AnyLetter.

In the meantime, click that mouse over to the Fat Pitch Financials hosting of Carnival of the Capitalists.

If the great posted entries don't convince you to click, or the possibility of finding some brand new blogs to read doesn't do it, then Carnival of the Capitalists certainly will offer some ideas on investment and start making your pitch for financial success. (groan)

Tags: carnivals, capitalism, business, marketing.

Conversations with experts: Penny Sansevieri - Free teleseminar

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line

Super Savvy Self Promotion for Your Book

Wednesday, July 12, 2006, 8:30 p.m. ET - Free

Guest Expert: Penny Sansevieri, Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

Marketing a book doesn't have to be an overwhelming task. All it takes is some time, careful planning and a dash of creative thinking. This program combines savvy ideas with effective and cost-effective strategies to get your book the attention it deserves. We'll even discuss free marketing opportunities available to all authors! You'll learn what marketing options offer the biggest payoffs in sales and what
traditional methods are best to avoid. Bonus: You'll also learn how to get free publicity for your book!



Penny C. Sansevieri (pictured left), CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting edge book marketing campaigns.

She is the author of five books, including Book to Bestseller which has been called the "road map to publishing success". To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at Author Marketing Experts, Inc..


Register for this conversation with Penny Sansevieri:

ConversationsWithExperts.com

If you missed any Conversations With Experts, you can become a monthly member of a private blog. As a member, you gain access to the entire Conversation With Experts audio series of guest experts, past and present.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

Tags: teleseminars, Penny Sansevieri, book marketing, book publishing.

Activist blogs: World changing words

Activist blogs are becoming a more important feature of the blogosphere. With the acknowledged power of blogging for business and for non-profit organizations, it's reasonable to expect that blogs would become a powerful tool for changing the world. The immediacy of blogging, and the ability of the blogger to communicate the world changing message in a personal way, makes a blog a valuable weapon in fighting the good fight.

You'll know the activist blogs when you see them. While your first thought might run to the various political blogs, I am referring more to the blogs that are issue related. For example, an activist blogger might write about the environment, abortion, legalizing drugs, globalization, or missing children, just to name a few controversial and emotion packed issues.

Activist blogs usually are single issue oriented, and for good reason. The blogger wishes to concentrate the entire blog's efforts toward a single and often highly controversial goal. Along with those various hot button issues, there will be controversy and negative feedback, as part of the overall package. The blogger is then able to start a conversation with like minded readers, and with potential converts to the cause.

A blogger for the cause will learn from experience the highs, and unfortunate lows, that go along with activist blogging. Not every day will be pleasant, as opposition to the viewpoint will be frequent and not afraid to be heard. Blogging for change will result in negative feedback. That is part and parcel with the blogging genre, and should be expected. As a result, planning for problems is essential.



Blog comments for an activist blog will be busy, lively, and very often filled with personal attacks and worse. It's important to maintain a balance of comments, and to avoid the temptation to delete opposing viewpoints. Comments must be left open, as free and open discussion and debate are essential for an activist blog. Comments might be even more important on an issue oriented blog than on any other type.

I would suggest that the only comments to delete are obvious spam, and remarks devoid of any value. That would include comments that were racist, sexist, lewd and profane, threatening of violence. With many controversial issues, the danger of threats is very real, and not to be taken lightly.

Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of comments will be discussions of the issues at hand. Care must be taken to avoid the tendency to over moderate the comments simply to prevent controversy, or even disagreement. Let opposing viewpoints stand, to encourage more comments and debate, on the topics. The resulting back and forth discussion will help everyone to better understand the issues.

A blog certainly provides some very powerful techniques for aiding your chosen cause, and working toward those important goals. The blog will enable your voice to be heard in a crowd of other worthwhile organizations. The search engine visibility alone, makes the exercise a powerful one indeed.



Daily posts on your cause will keep readers returning for more information, either through bookmark, link, or site feed. Other people working to achieve the same societal changes will also link to your blog. Don't be afraid to post contoversial issues, as they often invite the most attention to your cause. Be aware that a wider reading audience will also include some very vocal opposition to your position on the matter.

The mainstream media is constantly searching for spokespeople on various issues. A blogger is an ideal person to fill that role. With daily postings, and the necessary research to fill them, the blogger is very well informed on the topic. As an activist blogger, with a rising public profile, you may be called upon to speak or comment on your blogging issue. During a crisis or major event involving your issue, you may be called upon to comment on a moments notice.

As such, you will need to have contact information on your blog. Be aware of the risks involved, and provide a non-personal, issue only e-mail address. Keep your blog e-mail address separate from your personal ones at all times. A single address, dedicated to the blog is the best option to prevent personal attacks. If they do occur, you are able to change addresses very quickly as well.

Whether you are tying to change the world, or just your own little corner of it, activist blogs might provide the ideal outlet for your goals. Changes in ideas and attitudes happen one person at a time. It only takes one person to get the ball rolling, and to take a stand. Others will follow your lead, and perhaps join your cause. It won't always be easy, and often discouraging, but your issues blog will be an important step toward achieving your goal.

Start your activist blog today, and start a conversation about your cause, whatever it might entail.

You might even change the world.

Tags: societal change, activist blogs, blog comments, e-mail.

SEO advice: Hire the best

Inaccurate and unreliable search engine optimization (SEO) advice is available with alarming regularity, it seems. You can find it almost everywhere you look on the internet.

Bad advice lurks in your e-mail as spam from shady fly by night companies calling themselves SEO professionals. Suggestions on improving your website’s position, found in the various internet message forums, ranges from tremendously helpful to downright terrible. Instead of boosting your blog or website in the search rankings, bad advice abounds that can at best drop your rankings below their current levels. At worst, bad advice can result in outright banning from the search engines entirely.

There are articles on SEO, widely read and believed, that offer not only questionable opinions, but are riddled with factual errors. Self styled SEO experts can be found toutinh their skills on their websites, waiting to ensnare the unwary.

Following such dubious advice, some novice website owners could make some terrible errors, that could drop their website’s placement in the search engine rankings. Some of the advice can even get a website banned from the search engines, for violation of their webmaster guidelines.



Webmasters unknowingly read and hear bad SEO advice on a constant basis. Often, the advice is packaged in a fairly well written format, and carries a fairly authoritative tone. What many website owners don’t know, is how to select the solid and useful recommendations, from the concepts best ignored at any cost.

The internet in general, and search engine optimization in particular, are still very young in terms of years in existence. The idea, that SEO can even make a difference, to a website’s ranking in the search engines, is a concept still very much in its infancy.

The opportunity for the internet version of snake oil salespeople, and for outright charlatans, is certainly very high. The lack of peer review of information, creates an ideal environment, for both the dishonest huckster and the simply incompetent advisor.



The best defence for any website owner is to read carefully, and weigh the pros and cons of all advice on offer, prior to taking any drastic action. Find some reputatable SEO advisors and seek their opinions.

Weigh the various suggestions offered to find agreement and consensus. Check with your business associates if they have employed the services of an SEO professional; either currently or in the past. Ask them if that individual or firm delivered on their promises, and achieved strong search engine rankings with clean, white hat SEO techniques. Be sure to find out if they would employ that SEO professional again, and if they would refer them to other website owners.

Avoid any advice from anyonw who utilizes or suggests practices that violate the webmaster guideline recommendations of the search engines themselves.



Whether the advice arrives from self styled experts, message forums, e-mail newsletters, or from a search result, it’s important for the website owner to be very cautious. While not all SEO advice is bad, there is much out there that needs to be taken with an entire shaker of the proverbial salt.

Search engine optimization advice is certainly a webmaster beware system.

Don't get caught following harmful advice. Your online business survival depends upon it.

Tags: SEO, Google, search engines, SEO professionals.

Achieving success: Fighting your fears

Feeling fear is part of being human. It's a natural human emotion, but an extremely powerful one. Fear can either paralyze a person into total inactivity, or cause an adrenaline rush to the finish line. Overcoming your fear is one of the most important keys to your business and personal success.

A person can be afraid of many things. Some may seem trivial to others, but to the person feeling the terror, the experience can be one of panic and an inability to function. Overcoming those fears is necessary, and in the end, empowering for the individual. Fear of failure can also be accompanied by fear of success. Let's fight and slay those dragons together.

The first step to achieving your personal hero or heroine's journey is to admit that you have fears. List the things that frighten you. Give them names and write them on individual pieces of paper. Suddenly they look isolated and weak. Now, tear them up and scatter them to the winds. You know your fears and you have taken the first step toward their conquest. When the dimensions of the dragon is known, you can measure its size and strength. It has an upper limit of speed and power. It also has many weaknesses. The dragons we all fear can be beaten. They are not invincible at all.



After you understand that what is being feared has exploitable weaknesses and is not all powerful, it's time to take up the sword and do battle. Every day, do one thing that you fear. It may be as simple as trying a new route to work or a new look in clothing, makeup, or hair. It could be as daunting as finding a new career, a new client, or starting an entirely new business.

Remember that others have traveled the same roads in the past, and have done so with success. While the road may hold dangers, it also holds rewards and triumphs far outweighing any problems that might arise. Every goal reached and fear conquered is another sign on your road to achievement. One day of success definitely trumps years of disappointment; and those great days will become more frequent as you continue your quest.

Fearing failure is often cited as a major reason for budding entreprenuers to not start a potentally profitable business. Instead of working toward making their dreams happen, these people let fear of failure stop them. It's important to note that fear of failure is a self fulfilling prophecy. The business will indeed fail as the entrepreneur won't take the steps necessary to make the business a profitable venture. Instead of making those sales calls to potential custoners and clients, they fear rejection. When avoiding those marketing calls, keep in mind that it's not the caller being rejected, it's only the offer at that time. Besides, people who didn't buy your services missed a golden opportunity to solve their own problems.



Right?

As an action step for today, write down your fears and then tear them up in pieces and expose them as weaklings. They are all bark, and possess no bite at all. After the fears are addressed, do something every day that frightens you.

As you move each day, from scary task to scary task, you'll discover that your steps will become ever larger ones. No longer afraid to make routine sales calls, you will be making contacts with ever more important and influential people. At the same time, your success will grow.

Slay those dragons of fear and achieve your goals. Become the successful person of your dreams. It's only a step away on your triumphant personal journey of achievement.

Tags: overcoming fear, achieving success, action plans, entrepreneurship.

Carnival of the Vanities 198 at The Business of America is Business

The 198^th edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities appears at Sterling Hunter's business and economics blog known as The Business of America is Business.

Carnival of the Vanities is the original collection of blog postings, assembling some of the best and wide ranging bloggers on the internet.

This week's Carnival of the Vanities entries include politics, literature, science, humour, technology, business, and economics.



I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Vanities as well.

My post is titled "Decision making: Plans into action" where I discuss how for many people, making business decisions is a very difficult task. Torn by fear of making a mistake and blindly hoping the problem will go away by itself, no action is taken at all. It's a difficult concept for many people to grasp that doing nothing may also be a mistake.



To participate in the Carnival of the Vanities, or any of the other blog carnivals, one of the easiest techniques is to use the all inclusive carnival entry form at The Conservative Cat.





Another participation option is to simply e-mail your entry to the new e-mail address:

cotvmail -at- gmail -dot- com

As I suggest elsewhere, hosting and contributing to the various internet blog carnivals is a great promotional idea for your blog.

Next week's edition of Carnival of the Vanities appears at the technology and political blog known as The Bull Speaks!.

In the meantime, head on over to the The Business of America is Business hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.

You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new and interesting blogs.

Tags: Carnival of the Vanities, blogging, carnivals, promotions.