Blog Management

The Girlfriend’s Guide to Blogging

Posted in: Blog Management | November 22, 2011
The Girlfriend's Guide to Blogging

This week I received an email  from a longtime girlfriend who is interested in launching a blog.  I was actually surprised by this, because Mary (name has been changed to protect the innocent) has a fulltime job already and it is not marketing related.   She had an idea for a blog and wanted advice on how to get a blog started. My girlfriend is not alone.  I receive dozens of emails each week from people wanting blogs and websites created for their “idea” and I can tell at least 75% have no clue what to do or where to start.  The classic signs of this state of confusion are the Read more

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The Indisputable Power of the Blog Post

Posted in: Blog Management | July 13, 2011

Today is vacation. I sit alone, quietly drinking coffee, as the rest of my family and our friends sleep. It is our annual family vacation up north and this is the first morning. As I sit with my cup enjoying the sunrise over the lake, I begin reading Engage by Brian Solis. I am bothered. Not by the book, but by a conversation I had with a prospect a week ago. Yes a week ago. The woman was an SEO referral from another marketer I know in Detroit. We had a wonderful conversation about her company’s lack of SEO and outdated website. When I mentioned blogging, she told me “they will not Read more

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Twenty Tips for Creating the Perfect Blog Post

Posted in: Blog Management | October 15, 2010

When I said I blogged five years ago, people looked at me as if I was crazy.  Well I was, but blogging didn't drive me to insanity.  Today it is a bit more mainstream and bloggers are everywhere. I actually like blogging.  I enjoy it and it has been a huge help to me professionally.  Last weekend I attended WordCamp Detroit and I was surrounded by bloggers.  I wasn't prepared for that one, as I use WordPress for website design and I guess I assume everyone in the room would too.  Was I wrong.  There were bloggers everywhere.  Many who had day jobs and blogged at night about their Read more

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Thirty Top WordPress Plugins

Posted in: Blog Management | October 1, 2009

If you've ever used WordPress, you know the mass of WordPress' functionality resides in the plugins.  Any high quality theme, blog, or website is loaded up with plugins.  The problem is not the ability to locate plugins, but the plugin's actual ability to work without the need for special coding. Below is a list of my favorite plugins.  These plugins are both functional and easy to use.  The augment WordPress' core functionality and require little or no coding. Add to Any: Share/Save/Bookmark Button - Help readers share, bookmark, and email your posts and pages using any Read more

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Blogger Turns Ten and Still Dominates Competitors

Posted in: Blog Management | September 3, 2009

Blogger is a Google application that is used by millions of people each month to produce and host personal and business-related blogs. Last month the application turned ten years old, which is rather old for Web2.0 applications. My first blog was hosted on Blogger and remnants of it still exist there today. While I’ve used Blogger in the past, I personally, have officially defected to WordPress, as I quickly outgrew Blogger’s functional capabilities. This little birthday celebration led me to wonder if Blogger is as popular as it once was years ago. I also wonder how it fairs Read more

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Get a Good Ping List and Ping Me Baby!

Posted in: Blog Management | August 27, 2009

Ping list? What is a ping list and why do I need it? Website traffic is the answer! A ping list is a list of websites that will be notified automatically each time your website posts a new blog entry. It is simple, effortless, and a critical aspect to obtaining website visitors. You post a new entry or update an existing entry and these websites will automatically be notified of this activity. Now that I’ve told you about pinging, you may ask how do I know who to “ping”. A complete list of ping URL’s is provided below. If you are using WordPress, all you have to do is input Read more

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This Ain’t Your Nephew’s Blog

Posted in: Blog Management | March 19, 2009

Blogs, schmogs. My nephew blogs. They're for kids. Why does my company website need a blog? This string of unfiltered comments is a realistic example of the response I receive when spewing the virtues of business blogs. While many smart and intelligent businesspeople question the purpose of blogs, they do server a tangible purpose and they are important to the overall success of a corporate website. The most common misperception is that blogs are solely written and read by the teen set or worse, by unsocial computer nerds who blog about topics no one ever reads. This thought process is 100% Read more

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