Successful Blog

How to Avoid the 6 Most Common Business Blogging Mistakes

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By Landon Lourell

If you have your own business, then you’ll definitely want to make sure that you use all of the tools available to you in so that you can reach as wide an audience as possible and start building up a platform. One of the most powerful platform building tools out there today is blogging.

Before you jump in and unleash your first blog on the business world, you’ll want to make sure that you’re doing it the right way. Put your excitement to the side for just a moment and do some research to see what makes a blog popular and what makes a blog a complete waste of time for you and your audience. There are six mistakes in particular that a majority of bloggers seem to make that can tarnish your business blog.

1. Neglecting to Include a Bio

It doesn’t matter how magnificent, insightful and informative your blog posts are, readers want to know who you are and what kind of business you have. Be sure that you have a full ABOUT US page somewhere on your blog, preferably in a location that’s easy for readers to see. On the ABOUT US page, include a bio and either a picture of you if you’re the sole proprietor of your business, or a picture of you and your staff. Doing this allows your readers to connect with you and your business instead of you just being a faceless, nameless blog.

You should also be sure that you have either your name or the name of your business prominently on your blog. The header is one of the best spots for this. By including your name in the header, you’ll make it easier for search engines to find you and your awesome blog posts. Your name and the name of your business are your brand, always remember that.

2. Lack of Contact Information

Think of what it’s like reading one of the best blog posts you’ve ever read and wanting to get in touch with the author only to find no sign of contact information. Readers shouldn’t have to spend time going over your blog with a digital fine-tooth comb trying to find an email address, website address or phone number where they can reach you or a representative of your business. You never know how many valuable business connections you can make with your blog, but you won’t make any at all if no one can reach you. Be sure to add contact information on your ABOUT US page.

3. Lack of Information About Your Services

Let readers know what type of services you offer. Be as specific as possible when describing your services, so that you don’t confuse anyone and make sure that your blog posts are relevant to the kinds of service you offer and the industry that you’re in. You’ll get a lot of raised eyebrows if you’re an economist writing blog posts about how to put antique cars together.

Your blog should be a place where you share information, interact with your audience/potential customers, and offer free tips. Readers don’t want to feel like they’re reading a sales ad for your business every time they visit your blog. There’s nothing wrong with a plug here and there, but focus more on giving than getting.

4. Having Too Many Blogs

There’s no need for you to have multiple blogs if you have multiple services; all that does is give you more posts and things to write about on the one blog that you have. If you decide to have multiple business blogs, one or more of them is sure to be neglected. Some blogging platforms give you the option of having more than one page for your blog where you can post about different subject areas. Readers don’t want to have to bookmark all three of your business blogs when it’s better and easier for the both of you for you to just have one blog. If your readers receive an email notification every time you post a new blog and you update all of your blogs on the same day, you’ll clutter up their inbox, which is a huge no-no.

5. Not Including a Link to Your Website

Be sure that you include a link to your business website on your blog. Think of your blog as another chapter in your novel. Give your readers a table of contents so they know exactly where to go when they’re in need of a certain type of information. With links, you’ll want to be careful that you don’t have too many of them as this can potentially scare readers off. In today’s fast paced world where most people have a short attention span, who has the time or the desire to click through ten different links? Besides a link to your business website, include links to any articles or guest blog posts that you’ve written or that your business is mentioned in.

6. Making Commenting All But Impossible

Making readers jump through a variety of hoops just to leave a comment will more than likely frustrate them and cause them to abandon the whole thing. When you get a sizeable audience, you might have to be more diligent about keeping out spambots, but in the beginning you don’t really have to worry about them too much.

While these are the most common blunders to avoid on your business blog, a few more you’ll want to avoid include filling your blog with unnecessary graphics, having long load times for your blog and blogging inconsistently. Have fun with your blog and make it your own, but make sure that you have a few ground rules in place before you start.

What are some of the most glaring errors and missteps that you’ve noticed on other blogs, business or otherwise?

Author’s Bio: Landon Lourell is a marketing associate with MonsterDisplays, an online source for trade show displays. Landon is passionate about all things business marketing related and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others through blogging.

Don’t Sweat the Page Views

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By Michelle Rebecca

Yes, today’s online business leaders have it hard. There’s a ton of competition and a lot of complexity involved in dealing with certain kinds of market realities. It’s hard to monetize a web project the way that businesses monetize other kinds of investments and campaigns.

However, some of those who are promoting a business and its products or services online can get too wrapped up in various kinds of technical fixes for these issues, and may tend to disregard the bigger picture. Meanwhile, big companies like Google are trying to promote big-picture thinking that adds to the general quality of the Internet.

Effective Online Management and User Interest

Even though online business owners know that Google has made a raft of changes to its algorithms, punishing content mills and other generic SEO sites, many of those managing web projects are still obsessed with the idea that they can manipulate page rankings through metrics like keyword placement metadata and back linking.

Busy managers who want results without coordination simply plug page view analytics into automated job managers that they think will force outsourced marketing or content people to spit out the magic formula for growth. What these businesses are neglecting is the idea that natural interest is derived naturally from creating actual benefits for Web viewers.

Preserving Traditional Practices… and Branching Out

It’s not that businesses need to disregard all of their analytics or drop all of the market research. Targeted content and user analysis has its place. But beyond just micro-managing technical results, web project managers who free up content producers to explore new avenues connected to “the meat space” (the off-line world) can see a lot of improvement in their return on investment.

Time and time again, online entrepreneurs who take risks have seen their sites blossom as the consumer audience for a particular industry starts to read more, link more, and share more of what they have to offer. This generates web results in a system with longevity, where yesterday’s linking and page optimizing created quick floods of web traffic that taper off when Web viewers understand they have simply been directed by a search term.

Web project managers who understand all of these new dynamics often source projects differently. Instead of getting a low dollar bid for a few landing pages or some generic high-volume domain SERP optimization, they hire industry professionals and qualified freelance journalists to create actual content that explores the flesh and blood realities of an industry and offers readers material from the real world rather than rehashed phrasing from a Google analytics result.

That can drive a lot more vitality and power into a web campaign than anything dreamed up in an SEO laboratory.

Author’s Bio: Michelle is a blogger and freelancer. She’s written about almost every topic under the sun, and loves constantly learning about new subjects and industries while she’s writing. In her spare time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs. Check out her blog, SocialWeLove, and follow her on Google+.

The Ron Popeil Method of Problem-Solving

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My favorite Ron Popeil commercial was always the rotisserie chicken machine. “Set it and forget it!” Who doesn’t want to have delicious, juicy chicken roasting in their kitchen, being basted by a machine?

Showtime rotisserie machine

Stay with me a minute while I equate your brain to that self-basting rotisserie machine.

Your unconscious mind is capable of doing a lot of heavy lifting while you’re going about your daily tasks. According to a University of Alberta study, it’s constantly evaluating whether objects in your environment are helping you move toward your goals or away from them.

Your unconscious can be creative, even while you’re vacuuming or playing golf or filling out timesheets.

So if you’re trying to come up with a new idea, a blog topic, a cartoon, a product design, it pays to “set it and forget it.”

This mechanism is the basis for Think and Grow Rich, The Secret, Oprah’s dream boards, and enough self-help books to fill the Grand Canyon.

But wait, there’s more!

You can try this in your very own home for the low, low price of….nothing!

Step One – What’s Your Problem?

Think very vividly and in detail about the parameters of your problem. Say it out loud to yourself, write it down, describe it to someone else. Just define what you’re trying to solve (perhaps you’re just looking for a great blog topic).

Step Two – Go About Your Business

That’s it. Totally forget about your issue, and concentrate on another task that’s unrelated. Do the laundry, file your taxes, finish that re-branding project, anything that distracts you from the problem.

That’s when the magic happens. Delicious, juicy, rotisserie chicken, just for you.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Plagiarism: How to Cope with Every Writer’s Worst Nightmare

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By Tiffany Matthews

Do you remember the first story you wrote? Throughout high school and college, I have often written short stories and poems for friends just for fun. Although these tales and poetry have accumulated over years, they remain as they are–scribblings in notebooks that have now gathered dust at the bottom of my drawer. Some of my friends think that it’s a waste, arguing that these stories should be shared with the world. In fact, they have suggested that I try my luck writing for sites like fictionpress.com. Many writers have gotten their lucky break from this site, signing authorship deals that have made their publishing dream a reality.

In the beginning, you might feel content enough to keep your writings private. But as time passes, you will feel this need to share these tales with others, hoping that they will touch others the way they have touched you. I, too, have felt this need for sharing stories but one worry has always held me back from posting them online–plagiarism.

Everyone is Vulnerable…

All writers are vulnerable to plagiarism. Although self-published authors may be more vulnerable, still, it doesn’t mean that those who publish with reputable publishers are safe from this. In fact, just recently, author Lorelei James’ work was plagiarized. Apparently, someone took All Jacked Up, a title from James’ Rough Riders series, and posted that book chapter per chapter on a free stories website. Everything was exactly the same save for the hero and heroine’s names.

So how can we protect ourselves from this?

Precautionary Measures

Plagiarism has been going on for a long time and this problem is not going to disappear overnight. For any writer who becomes a victim of this, it is one of the worst things that can ever happen to you. Those who love their craft know just how devastating it is for someone to steal their work and pass it off as his or her own. It is almost akin to losing a child. To protect the work of our hands and heart, it is necessary that we implement precautionary measures.

Copyright and Google

Since we know that plagiarism can happen at any given time, one of the things we can do is to register for a copyright. It will not stop a person from plagiarizing your works, but at least you will have sufficient ground for legal action. Copyright registration may vary from country to country so do some research before you do. If circumstances lead you to file to a lawsuit, you don’t need to worry about expensive lawyer fees. You can use prepaid legal plans, which can have budget friendly monthly subscriptions.

Once you have your copyright, you can then set up Google alerts regarding your work. Customize your alert to include your book title, quotes, book passages, your name and more so that you will be aware of news about your book. This will also make it easier to track if someone has been posting your stories elsewhere and claiming to own them.

Connections are Important

Fellow authors make great critics and friends especially if you can trust them. If you are able to form a solid network of writer friends, they will be your support when the issue of plagiarism crops up. They may even be influential in recognizing your work which is being passed off as another’s. You can seek their advice on how to proceed with filing a plagiarism case.

Be Assertive and Take Action

When your work is stolen, you feel violated because you were the one who birthed that literary masterpiece. If this does happen to you, don’t try to repress your emotions. Rant if you must but don’t do anything that would hurt your own reputation. Instead, you should buck up and take legal action. Don’t let this event keep you from writing again. Instead, learn from it and you’ll gain an even deeper appreciation for your work and other writers’ works.

Do you take any proactive steps to prevent plagiarism of your work?

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego California, Tiffany Matthews is a professional writer with over 5 years of writing experience. She also blogs about travel, fashion, and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com, a group blog that she shares with her good friends. In her free time, she likes to travel, read books, and watch movies. You can find her on Twitter as @TiffyCat87.

The Intrinsic Value of Stories and How They Change Lives

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By Tiffany Matthews

Why do we tell stories?

In the olden days, stories were told around campfires to pass time and to pass on the history of our people. They were lessons wrapped in myth, meant to teach us about the ways of the world and principles that our ancestors before us once stood for. Today stories continue to be an influential medium especially through clever storytelling.

As children, we grew up listening to and eventually reading fairy tales, only to be told later by adults that these classic tales are not true. Real life is no fairy tale and that we should not believe in happily-ever-after. Neil Gaiman refutes this and has emphasized the importance of stories, even fairy tales, through this statement:

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

In his children’s book, The Graveyard Book, Gaiman further reiterates the value of stories and how one story can change a person’s life.

“We who make stories know that we tell lies for a living. But they are good lies that say true things, and we owe it to our readers to build them as best we can. Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story. Someone who will grow up with a different landscape, who without that story will be a different person. And who with that story may have hope, or wisdom, or kindness, or comfort. And that is why we write.”

Another author, Stephen King, confirms the power of stories and how they can influence lives. Writing tales that resonate with readers goes beyond fame or wealth. In On Writing, King said:

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well.”

Stories allow us a brief respite from the daily pressures of life, an escape into a place where anything and everything is possible. Though these tales may revolve around fictional characters, they reflect the same struggles that we go through and inspire us to overcome these challenges just as they were able to. This is why I agree with Gaiman’s sentiment, that one story could change your life forever.

A story about a woman reconciling with a long lost father may seem ordinary to people, but to one person, it could be the catalyst that would launch him or her on a quest to find an estranged parent. That touching tale could spur you into action and hunt for that missing parent through Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn (this is more on the professional side though), a social database like Mylife.com or whatever means you could find. It could take you on a journey you never expected and discover the infinite possibilities you never considered before.

Stories are powerful things, portable magic that you can share so that others too can find the inspiration they need to defeat–both literary and real–dragons.

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

3 Steps to Finding Your C-Spot

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I’m talking about blogging, people.

Your C-Spot is your creativity spot, your happy place, where you feel your flow, mojo, juices, ideas, you get the picture.

Sometimes it feels as though great writing is like lightning in a bottle–fleeting and electric. But I think you can do some specific things to capture the lightning.
Writing is like capturing lightning in a bottle

This is our homework assignment for the coming week.

Step One – Find the Perfect Time of Day to Create

Let’s use a sample writing prompt (in case you need one). Write for 30 minutes on the subject of “what I learned from my first job that I’m still using today.” Liz has written some inspiration for finding your writing voice. When you’re ready:

  • Day 1, write first thing in the morning, right after you eat breakfast.
  • Day 2, write in the afternoon, after you’ve already gotten your non-writing tasks done.
  • Day 3, write just before bedtime, when it gets quiet in your house.
  • BONUS Day, if you normally write during the week, try a weekend (or vice versa).

Take note of how your “flow” feels in each time-frame. Was it easy to write, or did you stare at the screen for a bit?

Step Two – Find the Perfect Physical Location to Create

Using the same writing prompt (substitute your second job), choose three different locations where you can write. Try your dining room table, your desk at work, in bed with your laptop, out on the porch, wherever you feel comfortable.

Did this affect your writing?

Step Three – Add Ambiance for Creative Flow

Some people need to have music playing in the background, and some need to write in absolute silence. Using what you already know about your style, experiment a bit with your writing environment. Light candles, turn the TV off or on, put on noise-canceling headphones, try writing with pen and paper instead of a keyboard…go crazy.

How did that work? Did changing the ambiance change your attitude? Did it spark new ideas?

At the end of the experiment, you can try mixing and matching your time of day, physical location, and ambiance to find your perfect “C-Spot.”

Want to share yours?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Image: Flickr CC