blog-promotion Archives - Page 52 of 78

Bloggy Question 35: Rockin’ Blogger

January 28, 2007 by Liz

Road Trip

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week. I offer this bloggy life hypothetical question. . . .

A long time friend, a rock promoter, is town with the coolest band. You’re jealous and jazzed at the same time. It’s the kickoff to the concert tour for their latest CD.

Folks have been waiting for three years. The concert has been sold out at the stadium for months now, and there you are with box seats and full back stage access. This is better than anything you and your friend pulled off in college.

You took a week off work just for the occasion.

You’re in with band. It’s like you’re with old friends during set up and sound checks. You’re no music slouch yourself. The sound guy lets you listen in on the headset.

As rehearsal moves on, you pull out your laptop and start blogging your usual blog posts for the week.

On a break, the band comes over to see what you’re doing. The lead singer says he tried blogging, but couldn’t blog and write music too. He asks you a string of questions about your blog and blogging in general.

Then the day before the band leaves town, your fine friend says, “They want you to come with. They want you to blog the entire road tour all 12 months of it — $10K/month, all expenses paid, fine hotels, great food, big cities, Europe, UK, South Africa, Singapore, Australia, Japan.

It means being out of your job, your apartment, and on the road for your life in a matter of days.

How do you respond?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Words We Search with, Words We Sell with

January 23, 2007 by Liz

When Words Fuel the Internet

Words are the fuel of the Internet. We type the name or description of a product, service, or topic into a search engine, and the search engine takes us to it. With luck we get where we would like to be. Easy enough from our end — usually.

Of course, our search words have to match those that marketers use to describe their product. And therein lies the problem. Sometimes as marketers, we are too clever for our searchers, or as my husband would argue, “Peach is fruit, NOT a color.”

In his post Words That Work at Marketing Profs, Gerry McGovern, uses the book “Words that Work,” by Frank Luntz to show that the words we sell with are often not the words we punch into a search engine. Take a look at Prof. McGovern’s examples:

However, according to Overture, in December 2006, 730,958 people searched for “used car,” while only 949 searched for “pre-owned vehicle.”

Nearly 73,000 people searched for “housewife” (122,000 searched for “desperate housewife”), while only 43 searched for “stay-at-home-mom.”

Over 30,000 searched for “gay marriage” while 19,000 searched for ” same-sex marriage.”

While about 17,000 people search for “impotence,” over 100,000 search for “erectile dysfunction,” proving that some words are indeed falling into disuse, even from a search point of view.

The point is that the words that might bring us to products — cheap office supplies, budget hotel — aren’t the same words that sell us when we get there — office supplies at great prices, campy hotel. Prof McGoven wonders whether we need to use more than one set of terms to describe things. Hmmmm. I don’t know.

I keep thinking that transparency and deep knowledge of our customers as people would lead us to write copy that naturally avoids the problem.

I’d love to know what you think.

— ME “Lia” Strauss

A Pre-Publishing Checklist for Feeding the Spiders

January 9, 2007 by Liz

Making Sure the Investment Pays Off

Yep I write every day and I publish. That’s way I make sure that my voice is heard. I also want to be sure that my words are visible. I like to see that the spiders serve them up in Google.

Prorating the time that I spent gathering ideas, I’ve probably spent 60-120 minutes on average post. Time writing is time working. Time spent is an investment. It’s time I could be using talking to bloggers and talking with clients. Before I hit publish I make sure that the time I’ve invested pays off as well as it might. I’ve made a short Pre-Flight Publishing list that I run down, before I pass say, “Go.”

Pre-Publishing Checklist

Is the content keyword rich? By waiting to read for keywords until after all other checks, I make sure that I don’t forfeit quality to pray at the altar of SEO. Now, I can look for keywords my readers might search for and make sure that they find the relevant content that I have to offer. I won’t be reaching, and they won’t be disappointed. Current relationships will stay strong, and new readers will be pleased with what they encounter here.
What tags might I add that belong with this post? Tags can help search engine spiders properly index my post. Post tags are definitely blog, brand, and business promotion. If your blogging software doesn’t easily allow you to tag your posts, there are plug-ins and hacks for every platform out there.
What related articles do I have that readers might be interested in reading? Offering related articles for readers to read more when they finished my post, gives people more information about a subject they’ve already shown interest in. It also gets readers more involved with my blog, my business, and my brand.
The intra-link that you make at the end of your post shows people how your content relates and is relevant throughout your blog — this helps search engines index it as well.
Are there opportunities for trackbacks? If I’ve mentioned another blogger’s work or if what I’ve said meshes well with the conversation on another blog, I’ll send a trackback to let that blogger know.
Is this this a one-in-a-million post that I should self-promote to other blogs? If I’ve written the post that reveals how to get Google Goodness from every post, I write a brief introduction of myself and your post and send a personal email to a select two or three bloggers.
I make it’s a one-in-a-million post, and I explain my reasons for thinking it’s a match with their blogs. If you don’t read a blog, don’t send a link. Period. Either way, it’s a long shot that a post really is the one-in-a-million post that we think it is. Still, there’s a right and wrong way to let folks know. If you’re going to do that, do your homework first, the person receiving the email will notice. Believe me they will.

When I’ve made these few checks I feel better that I’m sending off my work in great shape to make the most of the time that I’ve invested.

What other practices are on your pre-publsihing checklist?

–ME “lis” Strauss

Blog Promotion: How to Write for People and Search Engine Spiders
10 + 1 Things to Make Me Love Your Business Email

Promotion: Free Press Release Sites — Using the List

January 8, 2007 by Liz

Free, Press Releases — What Does that Mean?

Free — 10 : not costing or charging anything — Merriam-Webster Online
Press Release — press release, release (an announcement distributed to members of the press in order to supplement or replace an oral presentation) — Wordnet at Princeton University

Great Find: Blogging Secret Free Press Release Sites!!

Permalink: http://bloggingsecret.blogspot.com/2006/11/free-press-release-sites.html

Target Audience: Anyone who has news to announce to an online audience

Using the List

I’ve not been to every site on the list. Nor would I take for granted that every service is free. I know that, PRWeb, possibly the most well-known press release service online, has fee-based offerings. Each of these sites provides guidance for beginners and direction for reaching the market most effectively. Read through the press releases they currently have on display to see which are most compatible with what you want to share news about. That will be the pr site that’s the best fit for you.

I’ll use PRWeb as a model for what you might look for in support. They provide templates, tips and guidelines for the press release writer. The tips and guidelines show writers where focus attention in preparing content to prepare a strong press release. Points in this section include:

Is your news “newsworthy?”
Start strong.
Write for the Media.
Not everything is news.
Does your press release illustrate?
Stick to the facts.
Pick an angle.
Use active, not passive, voice
Economics of words.
Beware of jargon.
Avoid the hype.
Get Permission.

You might notice that what they’re suggesting is quality writing and content.

To visit the entire list of Blogging Secret Free Press Release Sites!! click on the title below.

No one needs all of the places on this list. You might read through a few, if you need a broad and specialized education in using press releases. Next, check their services to find the best fit for the support you need. Then, look through the press releases at each site for those that match well with your product launch. Finally, you might also do a search on Google and Google Blog Seach to find which of these sites are being talked about on the PR blogs.

Do you know the sites this list? Which have you used and which do you recommend?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Promote Your Business at Working at Home on the Internet

January 7, 2007 by Liz

What a Great Service!

Joe Hauckes, at Working at Home on the Internet is offering a great service. He’s opened a Featured Home Businesses Section on his blog.

Great Find: /featured home businesses/

Permalink: http://workingathomeinternet.com/WP/featured-home-businesses/

Target Audience: Folks who will use your services and products

Content: Joe is showcasing home business in what he calls a Free Promotion for a Day Post. It’s free promotion and relationship building that lasts much longer than a day. You’ll find that rules for inclusion are well-stated and easy to follow. Take advantage of Joe’s offer by clicking the title below.

Promote Your Home Business on Working at Home on the Internet

Thanks, Joe, for supporting home businesses in this way.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Bloggy Question 34: Time Is Money, but Content Is Free for the Paraphrasing!

December 17, 2006 by Liz

Creative Problem Solving

For those who come looking for a short, thoughtful read, a blogging life discussion, or a way to gradually ease back into the week. I offer this bloggy life hypothetical question. . . .

Your friend has recently broken through the barrier and gotten her first client. You’re delighted for her. She’s just delighted. Things seems to be going smoothly with everything. Her client likes her work. Her blog is getting traffic. You like to see people succeed.

You were feeling happy for her too. Until yesterday.

Yesterday you were listening to a podcast she used to talk about regularly. In the middle of it you started thinking, “Gee, this sound familiar. I must have listened to this before.” But you know you haven’t, because you haven’t listened to a podcast in over two months and this one is 3 weeks old.

You start to remember something. A bad feeling comes with it. Still it bothers you enough that you have to check it. You pull up your friend’s blog to find the same content is there in print. It’s paraphrased sure enough, but there’s no denying that the ideas are in the same order.

You think back to how you friend used to talk about that podcast all of the time and now doesn’t. You think about how she used to complain about having no time between meeting client deadlines and keeping up with her blog to get new clients. You think that the two might be related.

How do you respond?

–ME “Liz” Strauss