The Caffeinated Blog

Business Blogging Strategy Part 3: Sources for Blog Topics

Previously, I posted about forming your business blogging strategy - first about forming a strategy for starting a blog, then about your writing strategy as it relates to getting traffic.  I think what I should have done in between those posts is written about how to find topics to write about.  After all, you can't implement a traffic strategy if you don't know what you're going to write about!

Creativity is extremely important when it comes to writing blog posts.  What you have to realize when you're writing for a blog is that the content needs to have an authoritative edge, as well as a certain tone and style, in order to effectively engage readers.  I think this gives bloggers a lot of latitude for the types of posts they can write - news pieces, opinion pieces and reviews, lists, advice and tips...the list goes on and on.

This means that you have a wealth of sources available for generating topics related to your niche.  Here's a list of sources that I use:

• Blog search engines - search on sites like Technorati, Bloglines, and Google Blog Search to find the latest topics other bloggers in your niche are talking about.  Search using a broader keyword (like "social media" or "digital photography") so you can sift through the results for more specific topics.  Don't limit your results to what was blogged about recently either - if you can find topics that were written about several months (or years) ago, you have the opportunity to write a fresh take on the subject.
• Press releases - search through PRNewswire or PRWeb to find the latest press releases in your industry, then write either a straight news piece or an opinion piece.  Here's an example of a post I wrote in response to a recently released report.
• Twitter - what's the Twitterverse tweeting about?  The people you follow can offer fodder for topics, or you can check out conversations across the Twitterverse using Twitter Search.
• Social bookmarking sites - search sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious, or niche bookmarking sites to find popular blogs and topics that are being bookmarked.  Take a look at the comments and reviews that are posted as well - these provide valuable insight into the topic or individual post that can play a part as you write your own post.
• Your RSS feed subscriptions - what feeds are you subscribed to?  Check out your favorite feeds for possible topics.
• Online forums and Q&A sites - if someone is asking a question or looking for advice, then you have the opportunity to address that issue through your blog.  This can be especially effective if your business website already has its own online community forum - you can use your blog to answer questions from visitors on a personal level.  Otherwise, look for forums (using a forum search engine like Omgili) in your industry or niche and scope out the questions that seem to be asked often.  Check out Q&A sites like Yedda, Wikianswers, Yahoo! Answers, and LinkedIn Answers as well - you can write a blog post to address the issue, then answer the question on the site with a reference back to the post.
• Newspapers and/or industry pubs - possible topics aren't just found online.  Write your take on an interesting article you read in the paper that morning, or in a favorite magazine or trade pub.
• Life experiences - remember what I said about creativity being important?  Here's where it plays a major part.  Take a look at what is going on around you - at work, at home, on planes, trains, or in automobiles - and think of ways you can relate those experiences to something happening in your business, industry, or niche.  Metaphor can go a long way in blogging.

Do you have a blog?  What are your favorite sources for generating blog post topics?

Whole Lotta Link Love Special Edition: Social Media for the People

The reason I'm calling this week's Whole Lotta Link Love a "Special Edition" is because I've been reading a lot this week about what social media is supposed to be.  As the so-called "experts" in this space, we talk amongst ourselves about the latest tools, apps, and platforms - but what does all that mean to those who use social media just to be...well, social?  It doesn't mean anything unless we relate it all back to them in a way that interests them.  After all, that's why we do what we do.

Photo by temp13rec.

This week's links are all about what I call "Social Media for the People":

1. Chris Brogan wrote this must-read post about how social media experts should "be the bridge" between technology and the real world.
2. You may have read the recent report about how half of social media campaigns will fail.  This post from Jason Baer outlines some reasons why (hint: companies are not spending enough time conversing with their customers)
3. To be successful in social media, it's important to understand why people contribute to it.  This post on Social Media Today offers a more scientific approach to this question.
4. For those who need to translate real world ("traditional") terms into Internet terms, Julie Roads at Writing Roads posted this Internet-Reality Dictionary.
5. Lastly, here's an excellent video that puts social media into a whole new context that everyone loves: 

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Selling Cookies with Social Media

I love a good challenge, and Chris Brogan tweeted a good one:

"If Oreo cookies wanted a social media engagement to sell more cookies, what would you sell them? Feel free to blog the answer. All for fun."

OK, let's see...how can Oreo sell more cookies using social media?  First of all, here are some great ideas from the Twitterverse:

• @planetrelations: oreo campaign should include a Remember the Milk widget that sets a recurring task about adding cookies to the shopping list.
• @bradatpharma: Oreo avatars. I'd have an opportunity for people to offer new flavours, I'd have a feedback loop for taste testers...
• @NextInstinct: A blog, away from mothership Nabisco, named 'We got milk!' cute pics, dessert recipes, "where'd you dunk?" pic contest, etc

Here are a few of my own ideas:

• Online community competition where photos or videos of Oreo structures can be posted and voted on for great Oreo prizes.
• Oreo recipe exchange community - recipes can be voted on in a Digg-like manner (Dunked?), and community members can share posted recipes via social bookmarking sites.
• Oreo recipe widget with ability to create a grocery list and send to email or a cell phone.
• Christmas: kids can write a letter to Santa and send virtual Oreos and milk to him via Oreo community page (and they could get a "response" from him with a printable coupon for free Oreos).

Any more ideas?  I'm off to buy some Oreos... ;-)

Gettin' Widget With It: Using Widgets for Online Marketing

When we think about social media, we think about sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and the plethora of other social sites out there that seem to spring up almost daily.  Sure, social media is about being social - with a community or with a company.  But it's also about interactivity.

That's where widgets come in.  Widgets are these neat mini applications that have built in interactive elements, such as games, streaming content, calendars...the list is literally endless, since so many different possibilities can be developed.  Widgets can be added to a website, downloaded to a desktop, or even added to a mobile phone - which make them great viral marketing tools.  Plus, people like getting something of value for free - give them a cool widget with something really fun or really useful, and you've got new customers.

The other great part about widgets is that they're quite inexpensive to create.  Through sites like Sproutbuilder and KickApps, you can create your own widgets for free.  Note that some programming knowledge may be required for more complex widgets; but widget creators such as these provide you with pre-built templates and drag & drop interfaces for easy use.

So is widget marketing something you should do?  Here's what you should think about first:

1. What content can you put in the widget?  Do you have interesting news or articles posted on a daily basis?  Do you need a way to ramp up donations for your non-profit?  Do you have a weekly podcast?  These are just a few ideas for content you can put in your widget; but I would recommend looking at the content you have available now vs. what you would have to spend extra time (and possibly money) to develop.  You can always add more functionality (or create new widgets) later.
2. Does your audience want a widget?  Sure, you might have a great idea for a really cool widget; but will your audience go for it?  Go to Facebook and Myspace, where a variety of widgets are available for members to add to their profiles, and conduct a search to find those similar to what you would have to offer.  The number of downloads those widgets have will give you an idea of popularity.  But don't stop there - you can also conduct a similar search through a widget directory like Widgetbox.
3. How will a widget benefit your business?  Think about how you will build your widget in order to benefit your business as well as your customers.  Will you simply include links back to your website, or will you provide greater opportunity for a conversion?  While a widget is great for branding, you need to look at how you can tie it to some sort of conversion event - like a subscription to an email newsletter or RSS feed, completion of an inquiry form, or a sale.
4. Will you need help developing your widget?  Like I mentioned before, widgets can be pretty easy to create using the WYSIWYG platforms currently available; however, some widgets may be more complex and require additional programming.  If you don't already have programming knowledge, you may have to enlist additional help to build your widget (which may or may not cost money - depends on the resources you already have available).
5. How will you market your widget?  I've just mentioned Widgetbox, which is a widget directory where you can promote your widget.  There are other widget directories out there as well (just search for "widget directory").  There are tons of other ways to market your widget - on your own website or blog, an email marketing campaign to your current customer base, through Google Gadgets (Google users can add your widget to their iGoogle pages), Yahoo Widgets (widgets for desktops)...widgets are fun and creative, so be just as creative with your marketing ideas!

Tell me your widget marketing stories!  How have you used widgets to promote your brand and products, and how well did it work?  What advice would you offer?

Whole Lotta Link Love Friday, September 19

Busy, busy week - lots of client work for some great small businesses, planning a short autumn vay-cay next weekend, and putting together some great links for today's edition of...

Whole Lotta Link Love Friday!

1. It's amazing how much terminology is out there for viral marketing...and how much Dan Zarrella has included in his brand-spankin' new Viral Marketing Glossary.
2. Are you thinking of starting a corporate blog?  Here are some reasons why you shouldn't over at the PRStore.
3. I love this post QuickFix Copywriting, "5 Writing Crimes You're Probably Guilty Of".  I've been guilty of at least one of these before, but they all are easily fixed.
4. Frank Gruber (who lives here in Arlington - hi Frank!) posted this cool impromtu video for Contxts.com - I like the service, but I also like how this was done from the backseat of a car in San Francisco (how 2.0 is that?).
5. I've been evangelizing lately about online forums (and check out this post as well) - so, it's only natural that I would love this post over at Problogger with some excellent (and easy) tips for increasing membership for your forum.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Caffeinated Poll of the Week, September 17

The Caffeinated Poll has been on summer vacation for a few weeks, but I've brought it back.  Today, I want to know what form of social media or networking has worked best for your B2B company or organization. 

Depending on the business or organization model or how B2B marketers converse with customers and/or suppliers, different forms will yield different (and better) results. 

So, B2B marketers - what has worked for you?

How to Use Social Media for Market Research

You may think that market research is something you have to buy, like an expert-researched, highly detailed, 20-page report that’ll cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.  Maybe for large companies with money to burn; but certainly not for startups or small businesses with little or no budget.  Market research is information that is absolutely vital to the success of your business, so how do you get hold of that information if you don’t have the money to spend on long reports and focus groups?

Guess what?  Using social media sites, you can conduct your own market research – for FREE.  Not only that, you’ll be able to monitor actual conversations as they’re happening – something a 20-page report won’t do.

Here are 5 ways you can use social media and networking sites for market research:

StumbleUpon

Search for any topic on StumbleUpon, and you’re presented with not only a list of sites about that topic, but a sampling of SU users who like that topic.  Click on any of those users to find out key demographics, such as ages, genders, and locations, as well as their other topics of interest.

Here's a StumbleUpon topic page about coffee:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an especially useful B2B market research tool, since it allows you to communicate directly with and gauge response from people from all industries, levels, and locations.  By using LinkedIn Answers, you can ask questions about your products and services and target it to a specific set of users through proper categorization.

You can also use the search functionality to look for people on LinkedIn using job title, company, industry, and even personal interest keywords.  If you’re looking for demographics for specific companies, LinkedIn serves them up for you on a silver platter by presenting a full profile page for nearly every company listed on their site.  These profiles include company vital stats, as well as other really useful stats such as common job titles, top schools attended, average age, and gender percentages.

 

Twitter

Since Twitter is all about having conversations, you have the opportunity to listen in on those conversations to find out what’s being said about your market space, products, services, or industry.  By using a Twitter tool like Summize (which Twitter has newly acquired), you can glean powerful market intelligence in near-real time by searching for any topic.

Here's a search on the keyword "iPhone" using Summize:

 

Twitter is a micro-blogging service, and there are others out there like Plurk and Pownce.  Check out this post on how to use and manage them effectively.

Forums

Before Twitter, possibly even before chat – there were forums.  Web 1.0’s version of social media.  They’re still very much alive and thriving in practically every niche out there.  Just search for any topic plus the word "forums" on Google, and you’ll find a treasure trove of boards where your audience is talking about your products or services.

Here's the first page of results for search engine marketing forums:

Niche Social Sites 

More and more social networking and media sites are popping up for a variety of niche subjects, such as small business, web development and design, pets, women’s topics, cars…the list keeps growing.  Become involved with these sites, and you’ll gain valuable knowledge about your target audience and their particular interests.

What’s Your Business Blogging Strategy?

As a content writer and marketer (and don’t forget social media addict), I often advise my non-blogging clients to start a blog.  A blog is after all, probably the easiest way to enter into a social media and content marketing strategy, as well as inform and engage customers in conversations in order to gain their trust and their business.

I don’t, however, advise everyone to start blogging – not unless a solid and sustainable blogging strategy can be put into place.

It’s easy to just say "let’s start a blog” and then blindly sign up for one at Typepad, Wordpress, or Blogger.  But what do you plan to do with it after that?  This is where your blogging strategy comes into place, and here are some tips to get you started:

Determine if blogging is right for your business.  A blog doesn’t always work well with particular industries or audiences.  Do some research to find other companies in your niche that have blogs and look at how they use them, the overall quality, and readership.  You’ll gain some valuable insight into whether (or not) your company will benefit from starting a blog.

Determine your goals.  Why do you want to start a blog?  To bring in more traffic or get higher search rankings?  To talk about your products or services and increase press coverage?  To render opinions on industry-related news and inform readers?  This will help you to determine what kind of content will be written, how it will be written, and what kind of channels will be used to promote blog posts (like niche blog directories, social media and networking platforms, PR sites, etc.).

Decide who will write posts.  Depending on the type of content that will be posted, you’ll want to decide the best person (or people) to write posts.  You don’t have to choose just one person – many blogging platforms allow for multiple authors.  You can have one person who writes product and announcement posts (such as someone in a communications, marketing, or PR role), another who writes informative articles, another who writes editorial posts, etc.  You can even seek out guest contributors to write posts on certain topics.  Don’t forget that if one of your blogging goals is to bring in more search engine traffic, you’ll need someone who can optimize your blog posts.

Decide how often content will be posted.  This is completely up to you; however, you’ll want to post at least three times a week for the most impact.  New, fresh content posted at regular intervals will keep readers engaged and prevent your blog (and your brand) from looking stale.

Choose your blogging platform.  There are a few out there to choose from, and you’ll want to have a discussion with your hosting provider and/or your webmaster to figure out the best solution for your needs.  Make sure to look at factors such as security, integration and compatibility, design options, and support availability.

While blogging may be an easy way to engage customers and increase traffic to your website, it’s important to set your blogging strategy first before dive in head first.  You may find that it’s not the best option.

8 Tips for Effective Stumbling

I love StumbleUpon.  In fact, I'm addicted to it.  It’s easy to use (that Stumble button is right there in your browser bar), covers a variety of topics that appeal to a variety of users, and an excellent traffic driver (because it’s easy to use and appeals to a variety of users).  StumbleUpon is easily the top source of traffic for this blog, and I highly recommend it if you’re starting your own blog or website, or if you’re looking to venture into social networking for the first time in order to promote your business.

Having stumbled my way through the ins and outs of using StumbleUpon, I’m going to let you in on what I’ve learned along the way so you can make effective use of StumbleUpon for your own site.

1. Golden Stumbling Rule: Stumble upon others as you would have them stumble upon you.  Social networking is all about developing relationships, and when it comes to using for your business, there’s a little give and take involved.  Make sure to take time stumble pages of your friends, and you’ll reap the benefits in time when they stumble your pages in return.
2. Cardinal Stumbling Rule: Don’t just stumble your own stuff.  One thing that puts me off when I look at someone's StumbleUpon profile is seeing nothing but pages from their own site.  Believe me when I say that most of the StumbleUpon community (and the social media community in general) feels the same way I do.  Now, it’s OK to stumble your own pages every now and then.  Sometimes that’s what it takes to get the ball rolling.  But, do so sparingly.  Remember the show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”?  Contestants had only 3 lifelines, so they had to use them wisely.  Think of stumbling your own content as using a lifeline, limit yourself to maybe once a week or 3 times a month, and choose only your best content to stumble.
3. Build your network.  Seek out Stumblers to add to your network by searching for topics that interest you, and visiting the profiles of those who like those topics.  Keep an eye on your Friends page to see who has added you as a friend, and then visit their profiles.  Check out your “What’s New” page to see who has visited your profile recently.  
4. Look for “power users”. Power users have:1) discovered a lot of sites, 2) received a lot of thumbs up and reviews on their stumbles, and 3) have received a lot of good reviews for their profile. Befriend them – one stumble on your content from a power user can drive a boatload of traffic to your site.
5. Build relationships.  Review those in your network who have good stumbles.  They’ll receive notification when you review them, which may prompt them to review you in return.
6. Stumble early and stumble often.  The more you stumble, the better.  By “discovering” pages that haven’t been stumbled yet, you’ll draw attention to your profile.  Even if you stumble something that has already been discovered, your profile can still attract visitors (and in turn, your own content). 
7. Tag wisely.  Make sure to choose the best possible main topic in which to categorize your discoveries, and then tag using the most appropriate tags.  I highly recommend researching your tags by searching for them in the StumbleUpon search box.  The more stumblers who have marked that tag as a favorite, the better your chances of getting your discovery seen.
8. Don’t forget your bio!  Even though StumbleUpon “nofollows” links, you can still drive traffic to your site by including it in your bio on your profile.  Check out mine as an example.

Knowing how to use StumbleUpon the right way can not only help you to drive traffic to your blog or website, but also build business relationships with potential customers and partners.  It won’t happen overnight; but with careful cultivation, StumbleUpon can be an effective networking and marketing tool for you.

Social Media Optimization Part 1: Optimizing Your Social Profiles for Search

Most of my recent posts have focused on social media, and I’ve come to the realization that I haven’t been posting as much as I should about search marketing.  After all, “SEM” is part of my tagline, and it’s the foundation of my online marketing experience (“Back in my day, we only had one search advertising platform, and it was called GoTo.com!”).

So, I’m going back to my roots.  While I really love social media and networking, I have a passion for search marketing that I can’t deny.  So, that being said, I’m going to talk about how you can integrate your search marketing efforts with social media.

There are a growing number of ways for you to do this, like through blog posts, social site profiles, and videos.  And, as always, content needs to be the heart and soul of your strategy.  With good, strong, original content, you’ll not only drive traffic from search engines; but also from social sites.

But, what if you don’t have a blog or website yet?  Whether or not you do, you’re likely already (or starting to become) involved in social media, networking, and bookmarking sites.  It’s a great way to build up a cache of followers who will then happily visit your website when you have one.  So today, I’m going to give you some tips for optimizing your social site profiles to build your online reputation and a following.

Define your goals.  Why are you participating in social media and networking sites?  What do you hope to achieve for yourself by doing so?  What kind of audience are you trying to target or network with?  You need to be able to answer these questions before diving in head first, so you can determine which social media sites on which to build a profile and how you should build those profiles.

Choose your social sites.  Depending on your goals, you’ll want to choose relevant social sites where you’ll be able to blend in and network easily, as well as find and share content that interests you and your network.  Here are 5 business social sites to consider, as well as 5 more.  You can also check out this big list here.

What will search engines crawl?  By searching for my first and last name on Google, I’m able to find many of my social media and networking profiles and see what parts of those profiles the Google bots crawled.

 

Notice how Google doesn’t crawl any information other than my name from my LinkedIn profile; but crawls my bio information for Gooruze and SEOmoz.  Sphinn doesn’t even offer the ability to write a full bio, so Google just crawls the available fields.  This gives you a window into what information you should be putting into your profile, based on your pre-defined goals.  You may want to do this after you've already built some profiles, so you can search for them and optimize accordingly.

Do some simple keyword research.  Just like with SEO, you can do some keyword research to find one or two relevant keywords (not counting your name) to include in your profile bios.  Just like with everything else, these should be based on your pre-defined goals.  Then, after figuring out what parts of your profiles the search engines will crawl, integrate these keywords into your profiles by way of your bio, interests, headline, etc. – without overdoing it.  It’s also best to integrate them within the first 50-60 characters so they show up in the actual search result.

Note: since you don't have as much control over your social profiles as you would, say, your own website (and you don't have nearly as much text to work with), don't expect that you'll be able to optimize your profile to rank #1 for the most searched keyword in your niche.  However, a little bit of optimization works (I have found this out a few times myself).

Develop solid, original content.  Some professional social sites (like Gooruze and Biznik) will allow you to post your own original articles.  If you don’t have a blog, this gives you an excellent platform to develop good, authoritative content that will get crawled by search engines.  Look for social sites that give you this opportunity, and then make sure that your content will get crawled by search engines.

Are there any tips I’m missing here?  If you know of any tips specific to certain social sites that you want to share, please leave a comment!