Business-Blog-Consultant » blog basics

Why Blog?

jano — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:57:57 +0000

There are many good reasons to create and maintain a blog… these are my top 6:

1. Relatively easy and cost-effective web solution

* Don’t need to be a “techie” to create a blog

* Real time, fresh, relevant content

* Easy to maintain and post

* There are many free blog platforms

* Your time and commitment is the main resource needed

2. Create higher Search Engine Rankings

* Blog posts are coming up more and more frequently in search engines

* Again…fresh, relevant, keyword specific content is the key!

* Your blog can be an extension of your website – have a link to your primary real estate website on your blog

* Don’t (over) sell your listings or yourself on your blog – use your website for the promotion and selling

3. Build a community

* Your blog is an opportunity to communicate with both current and potential future clients and customers

* Create a buzz with compelling content that keeps readers coming back for more – maintain loyal customers by providing the information they want

4. Position yourself as a niche market/industry/local market expert

* Write about your area of expertise in the business

* Use your blog to provide specific content and info to groups like:

§ Your SOI/Past Clients

§ Geographical Farming Areas

§ Other Niche Markets (FSBO/Expireds/High Rise/Condos/Land, etc)

5. Marketing and branding

* Your blog can further promote your local brand and add to your overall marketing presence

* Just remember – the blog forum is more about community, networking, communication, sharing information – not just selling.

6. Generate Leads

* Ultimately when you provide valuable, informative and compelling content on your blog and

* develop a relationship-based approach to sales and

* demonstrate to the reader/visitor your human side, your unique voice, your transparent-self… I, for one, believe it can turn into business!

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6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Creating a Blog

jano — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:53:27 +0000

Here are some considerations and questions to ponder before you launch in to the world of blogging.

1. Are you committed to posting on a regular basis–weekly at a minimum – to several times per week? There are many, many abandoned blogs in the blogosphere. It’s pointless to start a blog if you are not willing to commit the time and effort to keep it current.

2. Do you have something to say? to contribute? Do you enjoy writing?

3. Can you provide compelling, valuable content for readers?

4. Do you read other blogs? Are you familiar with who is saying what about your industry, market, niche, interest? Have you checked on the competition in your area? Who is blogging and what are they saying? How can you differentiate yourself from other blogs?

5. Do you have an existing website with articles, content and information you can link to from your blog?

6. Are you involved in the blogosphere? Do you participate? Comment on other blogs? Are you a part of any online group or forum discussion? Have you checked out Active Rain? (See My post on Reasons to Join the Active Rain Real Estate Network for more information). This is not a critical component to becoming an effective blogger. I have simply found that participating in the community of bloggers helps me stay on top of trends and what works!

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Anatomy of a Blog

jano — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:49:33 +0000

This post explains the various components that make up a blog. There are several blogging platforms to choose from. I recommend WordPress or Typepad. Business Blog Consultant is on a self-hosted (HostGator.com) WordPress.org blog using a premium theme. My Real Estate Coach Blog is on Typepad.

Design Options

Most of the blogging platforms have a variety of template designs and format options. After deciding on a theme, you’ll want to decide if you want the 1, 2 , or 3 column format. I prefer the 2 column format. So, let’s use my blog as the example to describe the various elements. This premium theme is designed to have the look and feel of a website. So, the home page is more like a landing page with key areas and a flash-style featured image in the header. Once you click on a link, you enter the actual “blog”.

Most blogs have a distinct header which contains the blog name and tagline. TIP: The title and subtitle should tell the reader what to expect in your blog.

Main Section

Next, the middle or main section contains the blog posts. The most recent at the top and then listed in reverse chronological order. The posts are your content for the blog – mini-articles, commentary, information, etc. Each post has a specific title and date. My page is set for a maximum of 10 posts on the front page.

Other features of the blog post:

Categories – relevant keywords or tags for the post. Categories are a critical navigational and organization tool for your blog. Choosing the right categories will help readers find your content later. Note that there is a CATEGORY area in the sidebar for quick navigation to all posts on a specific topic. You can have multiple categories for a specific post.

Permalink - A permanent link (or URL – webpage address) to the specific post. This allows other bloggers to link to your post on their blog. It is also a link to the permanent location of the blog post for future reference or use.

Comments – A key distinguishing feature of a blog vs. a traditional website. This is where a reader can post their comments to your individual post. Your blogging software will have options for approving and even allowing comments.

Trackback – A way of tracking a thread of comments/conversation on a particular post. For example, I write a post on my blog. You write a post on your blog and include my trackback URL. My blog will now update the original post with a link to every blog that has tracked back to me, allowing me and my readers to see who has commented on the post and what they have said.

Social Links - This widget/plugin allows a viewer to share the post on their favorite social networks and services.

Sidebar Features

Categories – a navigation method to find posts on a topic – discussed above

Archives – links to all posts by date. Another way to find posts. Remember, after the front page has 10 posts (or whatever you choose) the older posts can only be found via categories or archives (or if your know the specific Permalink or Trackback URL)

Recent Comments – an option to list the most recent approved comments from readers

BlogRolls – This is a list of links to your favorite blogs, resources or websites.

Search – many blog platforms have a useful search feature so visitors can search for posts using various keywords.

RSS, email – very important feature! This is how readers can subscribe to your blog. All the major blog software platforms have this as an automatic feature. I highly recommend getting an account with Feedburner.com and using this service for your RSS feed and email subscription.

Pages - With this feature I can add specific Pages – much like a website.

Misc Widgets – There are a myriad of extras to add to your sidebar. You can simply Google WordPress plugins or widgets. If you are using a WordPress.org blog – the WordPress Plugin directory is very useful.

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Resources & Links for New Bloggers

jano — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:26:39 +0000

Here’s a compilation of resources, blogs and links I have found useful for prospective and new bloggers:

From ProBlogger…

Lorelle on WordPress – Blogging Tips -what bloggers won’t tell you about blogging

Lifehacker – 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger

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How & Where to Find Blogs

jano — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:00:48 +0000

There are a variety of Blog Search Engines to assist you in search of blogs on your favorite subjects.

Two of my favorite sites are: Technorati and Google Blog Search.

Search tip for Technorati: Type in the keyword(s) of what you are looking for in the search bar. Let’s say you were looking for blogs about “Real Estate Coach”. After you type in “real estate coach” in the search bar – you will be directed to recent posts that are “supposedly” relevant.

Technorati defaults to “posts” with relevant keywords for your search. I recommend clicking on the “blogs” filter to find specific blogs about the subject you are interested in.

Google Blog Search is similar in that your keyword search will return specific blog posts (with the most recently and relevant posted content first) on the subject – not necessarily a blog dedicated to that subject.

A google blog search of “real estate coach” on July 5, 2009 returns:

If you haven’t already noticed, blog posts and blogs show up in the natural results of searches in traditional search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc.

So, are you getting the big picture yet? Is the power of this blogging thing sinking in? Did I mention that I did not have to pay to show up on the first page of Google for my keyword search. Now, before you get too excited, we have to talk about keywords, the popularity and competition for certain keywords (like “las vegas real estate”) and things like the power of long tail searches. But, that’s for another day and more advanced topics. Suffice it to say that having a frequently updated, keyword relevant blog on your topic of choice has major business benefits!

Here’s my challenge to you… get out there and search the blogosphere for your favorite topics, hobbies, competitors…whatever. See who, what, how, where, when and why people are blogging. Start to get comfortable and familiar with it. Take note of what style or voice appeals to you. Make some comments on blogs. Participate…don’t be a lurker!

One final tip. I have discovered some of my favorite blogs by checking out the blogrolls of blogs I subscribe to! Blogrolls are a list of links to other blogs or websites that the author of the blog you are visiting recommends.

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Who is Blogging?

jano — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:05:30 +0000

The short answer…anyone and everyone! From the average citizen blogging about their daily life to celebrities to politicians to businesses (Fortune 500 companies to small business owners). Whether you want to blog about your hobbies, passions, city, neighborhood, rants or raves, or the Las Vegas Real Estate Market – the blog is the platform to find and share your unique voice, reach your target audience and interact with others.

An early, popular blog is Dooce.com which chronicles the life and times of Heather Armstrong (formerly Hamilton). Heather made national headlines when she got fired from her job for blogging about her workplace. As Heather puts it on her about page:

” My advice to you is BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET.”

Some Popular Blogs I Recommend:

Seth Godin- Best-Selling author, Entrepreneur, Marketing Guru

Scobleizer- Technical evangelist, started this blog while at Microsoft

Problogger- blog to help bloggers

Zen Habits- productivity, goals,GTD, great tips on many subjects

LifeHacker- productivity, Getting Things Done

How to Change the World – Guy Kawasaki blogs about empowering entrepreneurs

Mashable - is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news

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Types of Blogs and Blog Posts

jano — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:18:52 +0000

The majority of blogs are text-based. You can make your blog more creative and interesting with the effective use of photos, graphics, audio and/or video content. Some cool tools to consider using for adding multi-media content to your blog:

Flickr – for photo storing and sharing. Flickr has a built-in blog feature that allows me to upload a photo to my Typepad blog.

You Tube – Upload and share your videos. Easily upload and embed video to your blog

Specialty blogs include:

* Art (Artlog) - Post art work in a blog format – “can consist of any type of visual/audio Art such as: images, music, sketches, drawings, paintings, photos, videos, CG, etc.”

* Photos (Photoblog) – Posting and sharing photos

* Audio (Podcasts) – You can upload an audio file (MP3) to your blog or go to the next level with Podcasting. A podcast allows a listener to subscribe to your series of audio or video recordings through an RSS feed and download to their IPOD or MP3 player.

* Video (VLOG) – You Tube, and BLIP.tvare popular platforms.

Once you have your blog started there are numerous forms or types of blog posts to consider. You might post:

Your opinion, thoughts, rants, raves on a particular subject
Links to other blogs or websites with your commentary
Your review of an article, book, website, etc
Informational content (Realtors might post about their local market conditions, real estate news, neighborhoods, new communities or projects and other relevant content.)
Interviews or profiles
Informative, how-to, or instructional content on a subject

Darren Rowse of Problogger.net discusses 20 Types of Blog Posts and battling bloggers block in this post. Also from Problogger: 7 Types of Blog Posts which always seem to get links and traffic

Also check out The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging…And When to Use Each One for more ideas.

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What is A Blog?

jano — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:24:25 +0000

Blog is short for “Web log”. A blog often looks like a website with pages and navigation links. You know your on a blog if you see dated entries or blog posts on the home page. Blogs will have posts in chronological order with the most recent post appearing at the top of the page. Blog posts will also be assigned to one or more categories – and you can generally find a list of categories in the sidebar.

Here is the definition of a blog from Wikipedia:

“A blog (a contraction of the term “weblog“)^[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”

The blogosphere refers to the community of blogs and bloggers all over the world. Which brings up the subject of Social Networking and Web 2.0. If you haven’t already discovered it – the world in general – and in particular the Internet – is changing rapidly. Web 2.0 is the evolution of the web from an array of static websites (Web 1.0) providing information and limited communication to an interactive, real time, almost living and breathing entity with a life of its own.

Just take a moment to reflect on how you can interact with others all around the globe in so many ways now. Online dating services are an early example of the power of social networking. According to Wikipedia:

“U.S. residents spent $469.5 million on online dating and personals in 2004, the largest segment of “paid content” on the web, according to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and comScore Networks.” And that was 2004 statistics!

At the end of November 2004, there were 844 lifestyle and dating sites, a 38 percent increase since the start of the year, according to Hitwise Inc. However, market share was increasingly being dominated by several large commercial services, including Yahoo! Personals, Match.com, American Singles, and eHarmony.

It’s a job to keep up with all the new sites and technology we are bombarded with almost daily it seems. Have you heard of or experienced FLickr (photo sharing), LindedIN (Business networking), del.icio.us (Social bookmarking site), Twitter (micro-blogging platform), My Space, or Facebook (social networking site)? I bet your kids or your friends kids have. I also know some of your competitors and business contemporaries are on the cutting edge of the latest technology and are currently using the power of Web 2.0 for their business.

Here are some new words and phrases to get used to and learn about:
* social bookmarking
* social networking sites
* wikis
* podcasts
* RSS feeds A way to subscribe to and determine when new content is on a blog or site
* RSS feed readers – Here’s a link to common readers and a feed to my blog
* tagging – Think of a tag as a simple category name. People can categorize their posts, photos and videos with any tag that makes sense.

Recommendation: Go to a blog search engine like Technorati or Google Blog Search and start surfing some blogs of interest or see what the competition is up to in the blogosphere. Get familiar with the setup and flow of a blog. See what you like – formats, styles, the blogger’s voice. Try subscribing to a few and or making some comments -get involved in the blogosphere!

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Welcome to the Business-Blog-Consultant Blog!

jano — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:32:13 +0000

Welcome! I am Jan O’Brien – blogger, speaker, trainer, coach and consultant. The purpose of this blog is to share information and resources on how to blog for business. Topics covered will include everything from the basics of launching a blog to marketing and promoting your blog to the effective use of social media and networking sites.

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