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Building Your BrandBuilding Your Brand by Blogging

Christine PilchChristine@GrowMyCo.com413.537.2474

© 2009, Christine Pilch, Grow My Company

What’s the difference betweena blog and a website?

• Content• Contento Regular & frequent blog updateso Most recent info on top

• Syndicationo People can subscribe via software that automatically p y

pulls in new posts

• Conversational

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Website Blog

Informative but static Regularly updated

Why do people blog?

• Demonstrate knowledgeg• Position yourself as an expert• Increase visibility & credibility• Build network• They have a passion for the topic

E t t i & i f• Entertain & inform• Sell products & services

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Selling on a blog

Link to Esty Shop

Building your brand through blogging

• Generate buzz about your product or servicey p• Use blog as customer service extension• Establish an additional communication channel• Address negative press• Deliver information efficiently

L h d t• Launch new products•Add a human component to your business

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Popular blogging platforms

• Blogger – free, do-it-yourself with templates& plugins

• Wordpress.com – free with templates• WordPress.org – open source & free with many plugins, but you must build your blogand decide on hostingand decide on hosting

• TypePad – paid service with do-it-yourselftemplated design and expert customer support

The anatomy of a blog

• Title• Posts• Company information• Archives• Subscription option(s)

Li k t th bl• Links to other blogs• Search

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Making a commitment to blog

• What is involved?What is involved?• Writing posts• Adding photos• How often should you post?• Shared authorship

Identifying your audience

• What are their demographics?• What do they want/need?• What do they like? Believe?• What are their ambitions?• What inspires them?• What pleasures/pain do they have?• How can you satisfy the above?

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Writing your posts

• Proper grammar, spelling and punctuation tare a must

• Try to draft them within the blog editing environment for easiest formatting

• Write in a casual styleThink before you post• Think before you post

• Use white space and be as brief as your audience demands

Overcoming the topic hurdle

• Coming up with ideas• Keep your content fresh, timely and

relevant• What are others doing?

Remember that people only read• Remember that people only read something that adds value to their lives

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Promoting your blog

• Add your blog URL to your email signature d l tt h dand letterhead

• Comment on other blogs with a link back to yours

• Post links to your blog posts on your social media sitesmedia sites

• Start a fan page on Facebook

Tracking your blog’s statistics

• Review your site stats regularly• WordPress has a plugin• Typepad has limited statistics available in

the admin• Watch frequency, where visitors come

from what they look at how long theyfrom, what they look at, how long they stay, browser info, repeat visitors

• Google Analytics is a great tool

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Sample of Google Analytics Info

Statistics glossary

• Hits• Page views / impressions• Unique visitors vs repeat visitors• Subscribers: email vs RSS

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Stay within your niche to

• Brand your company• Earn loyal readers• Develop a community• Keep advertising relevant• Optimize blog for search engines• Optimize blog for search engines

Handling comments

• Moderated or not?• Use them to promote conversation• Handling bad ones• Dealing with spam• Dealing with criticism on other• Dealing with criticism on other

blogs

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Monitoring your competition

• What do they do well?• What do they write about?• What do they neglect?• What questions come up in

comments?• Who are they writing for?• How often do they post?• How many comments do they get?

Jazzing up your blog with podcasts

• Injects some personality• Adding your voice and/or image

helps build a relationship with your readers

• Upload to a hosting servicep g

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Jazzing up your blog with photos

• Blogs without photos are boring• Break up text & monotony• Add visual interest• Where to find royalty free photos• Editing images• Editing images

Editing photos

• Better to upload at the size & resolution you want to displaywant to display

• Google Picasa is free, robust image editing software

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Google Picasa

Making money from your blog with advertising

• Paid advertisingText based ads• Text-based ads

• Banner & button ads• Contextual advertising keeps ads

relevant to your readership• Beware cluttering your blog with too

much advertisingmuch advertising

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More ways to making money by blogging

• SponsorshipsP id t• Paid posts

• Sponsored reviews• Beware cluttering your blog with too

much advertising• Professional blog content writer• Affiliate marketing thru Amazon.com

Tips

• See who links to your blog in Google i li k d ivia link:yourdomain

• Use Google Alerts to monitor yourself & the competition

• Read your posts out loudRemember that your blog is about• Remember that your blog is about your reader not yourself

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Resources

• One Cool Site: Blogging Tips -http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/

• 250 free photo sites -http://mediamilitia.com/250-free-stock-photography-sites/

Introduction to Microblogging

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Use

• Meet new people

to

Meet new people• Offer & solicit assistance• Build relationships based on trust• Monitor your brand• Position yourself as an expert• Remind contacts that you’re here

Home Page• This is your home page

Set up Twitter here

Post your update here < 140 characters

Custom background can be created, but start with a default

Tweets by those you follow

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Using

• Tweet under personal name

as a business tool

• Refrain from unprofessional conduct• Be helpful• Monitor your brand• Utilize it as a customer service function• Always strive to offer value• Engage, don’t preach or push

Using TweetDeck

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Christine PilchSocial media speaking & training

Christine@GrowMyCo.comChristine@GrowMyCo.com413.537.2474

GrowMyCo.comLinkedin.com/in/ChristinePilch

Twitter.com/ChristinePilchFacebook.com/GrowMyCompany

© 2009, Christine Pilch, Grow My Company