All About Bloggingthe basics and the essentials

In the Beginningan introduction to blogging in just 5 minutes

Blogging Is• Publishing platform

• Set of technologies

• Community

• New style of communication

• Direct communication (no middle-men, no control)

• Social group (customs, rules & expectations)

Blogging Isn’t (Top 13 Lies)1. Blogging is just a fad2. It is just a PR channel3. I can't blog because I

can't write4. I don't have time to blog5. Blogs are a great

marketing gimmick, so I should catch the buzz wave and start one

6. Negative comments will harm your brand

7. Only the CEO should blog (open is open)

8. Competitors will steal your ideas

9. Blogs are purely an external exercise

10.Blogs give up too much knowledge to competitors

11.Readers might find out your products suck

12.Too many people are already blogging; you can't cut through the noise

13.There is no quantifiable ROI

Why Blogging is Important• Improved communication (email is

dead)• The ability to listen (and respond,

when appropriate)• A new type of medium (less

constraints, more “real voice”)• Easy consumer & market research

(the tools need improving, but what is there is better than anything most businesses have ever had)

• A “conversation”

5 Keys to Blogging Successif you only hear 5 (ish) minutes of this talk, hear this

The 5 Keys• Listen first

• Blog with a purpose

• Blog with passion

• Keep listening

• Be “real”

Listening: The Secret Weapon of Bloggers Everywhere

Strategy: Go Deep or Go Home

Passion: The Catalyst for Honesty

Listen Without Falling Asleep

Reality: Love It or Hate It

The Power of Positive Experiences

create an experience, transform your business

The Power of a Negative Experience

The Power of a Positive Experience

The Ladder to Customer Evangelists

• Saboteurs

• Reluctant consumers

• Regular customers

• Engaged participants

• Evangelists

The Truth About Brandsin your wallet or in your belly?

Is This a Brand?

Old Brands vs New BrandsOLD BRANDS •Image•Position•Transmitting•Business•Packaging•Hype•Board Room•Mainstream Media

NEW BRANDS•Experience•Passion•Engaging•Community•Conversation•Opinion•Living Room•Blogs

Closing Thoughts use the force, but use it wisely

Blogging Strategydo it right or don’t do it at all

Blogs & The Marketing Mixblogs are a part of, not separate from your marketing

What Are Blogs?• Frequently-updated Web page

• Unique voice

• Highly-networked social phenomenon

• Informal conversation between the blogger and readers

Myths About Blogs• Blogging is easy (be ready to work)

• I can start a blog in 5 minutes

• I’ll just post our press releases

• Nobody that matters reads blog

Before Bloggers

Companies

Consumers Media

Marketing Media Relations

After Bloggers

Companies

Consumers Media

Marketing Media Relations

Bloggers

3 Parables of Bloggingsolid examples of blogging strategy

Parable #1: English Cut

Lesson #1

Blogs Level the Playing Field

Parable #2: Zip.ca

Google Results for Zip.ca

Boris’s Blog

Feels Like a Scam

Zip.ca: Worst Customer

Service Award

Lost DVDs Again!

"ZIP" as in "zero" service

Lesson #2

Be Aware of, And Participate In, Blogs

Parable #3: Union Square Ventures

Lesson #3

Create Awareness With Your Customers

Your Blogging Strategykey choices for success

Key Decisions• Will You Blog?

• Will You Respond to Blogs?

• What Type of Blog to Have?

• Will You Allow Comments On Your Blog?

• Will You Track Blogs?

• How Do Service Issues Get Routed?

• What to Do With Negative Comments?

Will You Blog?The Value In Blogging•Communicate challenges•Handle issues effectively•Hear directly about complaints•Talk with your customers

The Alternatives•Track blogs to find feedback•Measure the impact of your message using blogs•Sponsor an industry blog to create awareness•Create resource blogs for your customers

What Type of Blog to Have?• Executive Blog

• Corporate Blog

• Educational Blog

• Community Blog

• Industry Blog

• … and more!

Will You Track Blogs?• 50 million of your customers are

blogging their experiences

• Simple / free services (Technorati, OpinMind, BlogPulse) through to more comprehensive / expensive ones

• Vast amount of consumer research available (Intelliseek, Buzzmetrics, Measures of Success)

What to Do With Negative Comments?

• Opportunity to create a positive experience

• Gain feedback on where processes or training may have failed

• Gain insight into how specific airports or partners perform

Dealing With Negative Comments

feedback is golden

Negative Comments• Whether on your blog or someone

else’s

• Opportunity to create a positive experience

• Opportunity to fix internal issues

When Responding to Negative Comemnts

• Find the underlying issue

• Acknowledge the problem

• Admit where you were wrong

• Ask to talk directly to the person (email or phone)

• Solve the issue (voucher, for example)

• Fix the cause

• Create a truly positive experience

A Story of Two Car CompaniesChrysler•Wanted to help•Didn’t admit the issue•Sent customer away

GM•Admitted issue•Paid repair costs•Fixed underlying issue•Featured customer in dealership magazine

Closing; Blogging is a Toolmake sure it fits your business needs

Success By Any Other Namesolid tips and discussion for achieving success

How to Start Bloggingthe first step in blogging is not to blog

How to Start Blogging• Don’t start blogging

• Read other blogs (1 week)

• Comment on other blogs (2 weeks)

• Start your own private blog (2 weeks)

• Link to other bloggers (2 weeks)

• Tell friends (2 weeks)

• Dance in celebration (1 minute)

• Keep learning how to blog (forever)

Blogging Servicesget up and running fast

The Services• Blogger

• TypePad

• Wordpress.com

• Yahoo! 360

• Blogware

Strengths• Ease of setup

• Decent customization

• Take care of the foundational stuff

• Handle “pain” areas (comment spam)

• Let you just write

Weaknesses• Lack of customization

• You don’t own the content

• Pain of exporting data

• Losing subscribers and readers if you move

More Info• Email me at jeremy@b5media.com to

get a free chapter of my next book, dedicated just to evaluating the blogging services.

Blogging Platformsmore control, with more work

Self-Hosting Your Blog• Total control of design, domain, etc.

• Better stats

• Ability to customize software with plugins / extensions

Platforms of Choice• Operating System limits choices• Linux: Wordpress, MovableType• Windows: .Text, Community Server

• Wordpress: Huge community, easy setup, great extensions

• MovableType: Limited license, decent extensions, difficult setup

• .Text / Community Server: Difficult setup, great extensions, great community

Gaining Trafficthe pride and joy of every blogger

Tips for Increasing Your Traffic• Use attractive titles

• Let users subscribe (RSS & email)

• Link to the source, and to others in the conversation

• Bring back old content (Related Posts, Best Of, etc)

• Use search engines to your benefit

• Put your blog address everywhere (business cards, email signature, etc)

Comment Spamthe biggest pain in the blogosphere

How to Deal with Comment Spam• About Comment Spam

• Anti-Spam tools (Akismet, Spam Karma, Blacklists, CAPTCHA)

• Closing old posts

• No-Follow

Search Engine Tipsno work, lots of benefit

Tips for Increasing Your Search Rank

•Permalinks (/year/month/postname)•Page Titles (Post Title | Blog Name)•Use Tags•Related Posts•Landing Pages•Google Sitemaps•Ping, ping, ping! (pingomatic.com)•Get backlinks

Thank You & Good Luck!