Friday, June 5 Dave Rigotti spoke at Social Media Breakfast Toledo #3 on the "Do's and Dont's of Business Blogging".
Dave provided an in-the-trenches overview on how to get started blogging and how to maximize your blog's effectiveness on your business or organization.
Along with presenting case studies on how organizations have successfully incorporated blogs into their marketing mix, Dave answered common questions such as:
* Should I blog?
* How do I get started?
* What should I write about?
* How do I integrate a blog into my current marketing efforts?
* How do I maximize effectiveness?
* How do I measure effectiveness?
* What are some resources for getting started?
Unraveling Multimodality with Large Language Models.pdf
Do's And Dont's Of Business Blogging
1. Do's and Don’ts of
Business Blogging
Dave Rigotti
June 5, 2009
1
2. “WIIFM”
Learn basics of blogging
Link current marketing
Maximize and measure effectiveness
Links to most used resources
Learn from real corporate blogs
through case studies
2
3. Should I blog?
Useful
Unique
Updated
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/592835533_979
5acd412_m.jpg 3
4. How do I get started?
1. Designate a blog leader
2. Identify an audience
3. Use WordPress
4. Get key people on board
5. Start and and continue creating great
content
6. Establish tone and frequency
4
5. What should I write about?
Anything your readers might like
Avoid the constant “pitch” blog
REMEMBER: It’s a direct, two-way
communication
5
6. How do I integrate my
current marketing efforts?
Meatball Sundae by
Seth Godin
Include current
marketing content
on blog
Include blog in
current marketing
6
7. How do I maximize
effectiveness?
11 plugins every WordPress blog should
have
1. All in One SEO Pack
2. Google XML Sitemaps
3. Popular Posts
4. Subscribe To Comments
5. Twitter Tools http://www.bloghighlight.com/wp-
content/uploads/wordpress/wordpress
6. WP125 -plugin.gif
7. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
Ask for readers to participate
7
8. How do I measure
effectiveness?
Exposure is good
Engagement / action is
better
Make sure you’re
measuring the right
things!
http://www.classicleaners.com/T
ape_Measure.jpg
8
9. What are some other tips?
Publish RSS in full-text, not summary
Tell stories and facilitate a conversation
Make it easy to comment
Encourage company-wide
engagement
Legality of content
9
10. What are some resources?
Software: http://wordpress.org/, http://wordpress.com/
Webmaster Centers:
http://www.bing.com/webmaster, http://www.google.
com/webmasters/, http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.co
m/
Webhosting:
http://www.liquidweb.com/, http://mediatemple.net/
Theme: http://diythemes.com/thesis/
Further Reading:
http://www.problogger.net/, http://weblogtoolscollectio
n.com/, http://www.dailyblogtips.com/
10
11. Case Study #1: FreshBooks
http://freshbooks.com
/blog
Similar design
Value-add content
Great use of content
type (text, pictures,
video)
Easy to subscribe to
Overview of FB and
the blog
11
12. Case Study #2: 37signals
http://37signals.com/s
vn/
Single out products in
sidebar
Human component
Lots of interesting
content
Recent tweets
Clear search bar
Easy to comment
12
13. Case Study #3: Aptera
http://aptera.com/blo
g/
No connection with
main site
No events on
calendar
No search
No most popular posts
Sporadic post dates
13
14. The takeaways.
1. Not for every organization
2. Two-way conversation
3. Create great content
4. It’s ok to ask, if you’re willing to give
5. Engagement is better than exposure
14
15. Thank you for your attention.
Please continue the discussion on the Ning
community and my blog or Twitter.
E: mail@daverigotti.com
T: @drigotti
B: http://daverigotti.com
L: http://www.linkedin.com/in/daverigotti
15
16. About the author.
Dave Rigotti is a
writer, speaker, and Internet
marketer. He’s work(s/ed) with
some of the most well-known
and influential brands in the
world, conducting search
engine optimization and
developing marketing
communication strategies. In
July, he will be joining Microsoft
as a consumer-focused
marketer on Bing (formerly Live
Blog: http://daverigotti.com
Search), Microsoft’s search
Twitter: @drigotti
engine. Read more by clicking
here.
16
Hinweis der Redaktion
Everything has come from my learnings as being a blogger since 2005 and consulting for some of the most well-known brands on blogging. I’ve also worked with a number of SMBs as well.
When blogs were first introduced, it used to stand out, just because a company was doing it. However, there are now hundreds of millions of blogs. With low barriers to entry it seems every one is doing it, but many aren’t doing it right. Purple Cow by Seth Godin. Blogs need to be useful (to audience), unique (to audience), and updated (to audience).
Someone with connections in the company that can be committed to the project – even outside of workPast customers, possible customers, community, industry, internal, etcCan either be Wordpress.org or .com… but I prefer .org because of the ability to greatly customize.That can understand the needOtherwise the blog is pretty uselessContinuity
Examples of content readers might enjoy: Pictures of the office or events Exclusive content, coupons, or items Industry reviews, analysis, or insight New product releases or product demos
Read the blog post. Here are some of the “best” ones that related to maximizing exposure and engagement. It’s ok to ask readers to participate, for feedback, etc. Actually, I encourage it. Respond to it and take action.
Exposure is visitors, views, etcEngagement / action is comments per post, ReTweets of blog post, Tell a friend” uses, etc