Lorrie was asked to prepare 10 educational webinars for the Scheinfeld Center to support their goals by educating Entrepreneurs on what else, WEB MARKETING.   She covers a wide array of topics and we’ll share the video’s over the next couple of weeks!

One of my favorite topics is blogging!  It’s an easy, fun way to talk about your business and demonstrate your expertise!   Join Lorrie as she shares “The Six Secrets to Successful Blogging to Boost Business”!

Want to learn more about blogging!  The Wild Web Women can customize training to fit YOUR business and teach YOU how to do it!

Lorrie Thomas was recently quoted in a two-part series in TechNewsWorld, addressing many of the blogging questions above.   “Making a Place for Yourself in the Blogosphere” Part One addressed how to start a blog.  Lorrie’s advice…JUST DO IT!  Utilize the great (and many times FREE) blogging platforms such as Blogger and WordPress and start blogging!   “Be yourself and give great content!”

Part two of the series delves a little deeper into the question “Now what?”  Once you have decided on the platform, design and voice of your blog you need to find a way to create valuable content and get people to read your blog!  Lorrie suggests having a “clear theme and being a content  aggregator.”  You don’t have to go it alone or create all the content yourself.  You can link to other blogs or articles and have guest bloggers add valuable content for your readers too.  There are some great tips in this article on how to build content, adhere to the rules of the web world and drive traffic to your blog.

Happy Blogging!

For some more great insight on blogging, check out our e-book “To Blog, or Not to Blog“!

Like with many things besides the pie vs. cake debate (pie is clearly better!), there is no clear answer to the blog vs email marketing debate.  There is also room for both – have your cake and eat your pie too!  Lorrie and Kate virtually sat down to create some guidelines to help get you started.

Before we get into it, though, let’s break down what form they take most often:

A Blog: A blog is a stand-alone destination or part of a website on which content is published over time.  It becomes a repository of (hopefully) valuable information and links, and people can visit to read, view or listen to your content and interact with the author(s) by leaving comments any time they want.  People can subscribe to your blog using an RSS feed, which delivers the latest content from your blog to their Feed Reader or their email inbox.  You need a platform on which to create your blog, like Wordpress or Blogger.

Email Marketing: Email Marketing is a subscription-based service in which you send content (like a newsletter) via email to a list of people who have subscribed to receive it.  What you send can include text, images and links, but needs to adhere to some of the limitations of being viewed through email.  Often, there is an incentive to entice people to sign up for your newsletter.  You need a service that allows you to create a way for people to sign up, manage the subscription list, and send emails to them.

So how do you know which to use when?

Here are few things to consider when deciding how to cash in your web marketing chips when it comes to blogs and email marketing:

• Both a blog and email marketing let you craft some content and publish it out to the world.  In the case of the blog, it’s available any time to anyone.  In the case of email marketing, it’s available only to those who subscribe to your list.  So, you want to make sure the content you create for your email marketing campaign is not only valuable, but that there’s something unique you’re offering through it that non-subscribers wouldn’t have direct access to.  Otherwise, what’s the point in subscribing to your list?
• An email is transient, it’s there in your inbox, then it’s gone (either buried or deleted).  A blog is a constantly available, searchable resource.  So while it’s important to inform your blog audience of time-sensitive news items,  you want to be sure you’re including content in it that has a shelf life and can be referenced again and again.
• Read the rest of our considerations on Kate’s other blog, Outbox Takeout – including the influence of Twitter & Facebook and how to keep your customers aware of your business…

There are benefits to both, and you don’t *have* to choose.  Luckily there are free ways to do both (MailChimp & Wordpress for example).  Often it comes down to your budget for time and money.  If you can’t truly commit to both, and follow through so that they both have a chance for success, then put your time and money into one.  Which one?  That decision is based on the goals for your particular circumstance, but often a blog is the best place to start.

That’s because a blog often establishes the reason why someone would want to be interested in you in the first place.  It’s a chance to show your expertise while your content repository and readership grow publicly.  It’s a place that can be linked to to widen your net and a place that can show up in search results.   It’s a place people can interact with each other and you can communicate directly with your site visitors.

A great case study is Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden.  Her site, which is primarily comprised of her blog, also offers an email newsletter.  She uses the email newsletter to point to things on her blog that her readership may have missed, but also to add a few extra touches that aren’t available on her blog, like additional stories and photos, or information about her new book.  I look forward to receiving the newsletter in my inbox even though I read her blog.

So, as you go off to consider your options, make sure you look at models other people have tried that you like.  Is there an email newsletter that you really love or hate to get?  Why?   Is there a blog that you wish had a way to subscribe for more information?  How come?  If you’ve ever unsubscribed from an email marketing campaign, what led you to that decision?  The answers you come up with, along with the information here, will help you make the decision that will best work for you!

Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world.”

-Albert Einstein

Possession of all the knowledge in the world is not enough.  Instead use your imagination and creativity as a guide because many rules as we know them no longer apply.

This quote is NOT an excuse to throw the books down and stop learning.

Creativity without brains is a painting in the attic, when it should be on your website or posted to a blog.

And brains without creativity is a printed newsletter being snail mailed to customers instead of being emailed to your target market and also repurposed on your blog and on your Facebook fan page.

Use your brains, knowledge, expertise, and VALUE to creatively teach and educate your audience that you are the right service /product/ organization for them.

For more motivational marketing quotes, follow me on Twitter @NickiG

1. Your web traffic patterns
2. When you have something valuable to say
3. Media relevancy (buzz)
4. Your audience

1 – Blog based on your individual web traffic patterns. Web Marketing Therapy’s site traffic tends to decrease a lot on weekends, as we serve professionals who are working on their business (mostly Monday through Friday).  I tend to blog more during the week because my Google Analytics web data tells me when people are on my site.  As The Marketing Therapist, I have to listen, so I pay attention to patterns and action then act in line with my audience’s behavior (see point #4).

2 – Blog when you have something valuable to say.  When you have something that you have to purge, BLOG IT.  Don’t worry about the day, just get it out there.  Content is king on the web.  If the content serves and supports your readers (and has value), then post it.  If you feel like you want to blog M-F, then you can always set the post to auto-launch during the week.  It is easy to queue up blog posts so they launch at a later date.

3 – Blog around media relevancy.  If there is industry news that is buzzing in your industry, then it is PRIME TIME to blog about it.  Piggyback on what is out there in the news and blog your point of view as the trends hit.  Media relevancy can be holidays, media-popular news, seasonal stuff (tax time, summer swimsuit season, etc.)

4 – Blog based on your target audience’s needs.  Who are you trying to serve?  What content can you blog that will HELP them?  Blog focusing on your audience and content that will serve them, not so much days of the week.

Amber Wallace, our Web Development Counselor, has read that early in the week is better (posting Monday if you’re only going to post a couple times a week, etc.), but she has also read that Thursday afternoons are good.

Our overall take away as your virtual marketing support system is that the answer to “when is the best day to blog?” depends on the blog traffic, your target audience, and you have tools like Google Analytics to track that.

One last tip, see when comments are coming into the blog and LISTEN to the feedback you get off your site.  You can learn SO much when you just open your eyes and see what feedback you are getting (comments, tweets, retweets, data, etc.)

-The Marketing Therapist

New Web Marketing Rules – How to Blog Effectively
Guest Blogger: Aaron Lamar

Getting started
*If you are going to start your own blog, but not sure what you want to blog about, FIRST create a list of things you like or are good at and are knowledgeable about.  Everyone is good at something and it has never been so easy to access knowledge online. (this is partly due to the extensive forums and blogs!)

*Don’t get discouraged if you don’t think you have anything to write about because you do! You have a movie of your life playing in your head that only you are the director of. Use personal experience to benefit your blog.

Choose a blogging platform that you like and can understand. My favorite and is the most widely used is WordPress. It is free to use and can make your blogging as easy as it should be.

Getting Inspired
*Action, Action, Action!! Don’t sit and wait around for the “someday I’ll have something to write about or maybe something interesting will happen to me so today I can write about it.” Act on life!  Be pre-emptive and have an open mind to experience your own life.

*Play the game instead of watching it.  Sitting in the stands can be fun for fans, but they really want to be playing the game. The best way to get inspired is to play the game and see results. Once you see results, you’ll have something to build on.

*Be unreasonable.  If a friend invites you out and you automatically say no, rethink why you are saying no and evaluate your options.  Most of the time we are too comfortable being comfortable.

*Get Creative
The best way to get creative is to completely detach from what you perceive is the way you should act or be (or in this case write).  Write what you feel is interesting, then position your blog into that niche.

*Shift out of the normal way you do things and you’ll see that being original or creative isn’t hard, it just takes some guts.  Don’t confuse the two.. it isn’t hard to have guts it just takes being in the moment.

*Have fun and don’t be afraid to be goofy or make fun of yourself, cause that is what it is all about anyway.

Choosing a Blog Platform
Choose a blog platform that resonates with you and you feel comfortable with..research your options and ask questions beforehand.

*Some questions you may want to ask before choosing:
-What are your Goals?
-What is your Budget?
-Are you technologically able?
-What are other bloggers using?
-Are you going to host it yourself, or have it hosted for you?

*As I look at some of the most successful blogs, I see that they use a variety of platforms…that’s the great thing about blogging, success is not reliant upon the tool you use, it’s about how you use it!

Keep on a Schedule
*Create a schedule and stick to it. If you feel like you don’t want to blog every day, then set up guest bloggers just to keep new and fresh articles coming weekly if not daily.

*If you have set up a schedule and your readers are used to it, then you will disappoint them by not giving them what they are use too.  Disappointed readers = Unhappy blogger.

Keep on keeping on, it will be worth it in the long run
*Most unsuccessful blogs are due to non updated material and no new articles. They simply stop writing new and interesting material and people lose interest.

Target your market
*Check statistics and find your niche (most platforms come with statistics to help you access what market to target.)

*If you need additional stats then Google Analytics is your answer. Google Analytics is  a web analytics solution that gives you data into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, extensive, flexible and easy-to-use features let you see and analyze your traffic data.  With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites while targeting the right markets.

*Just don’t get statistic crazy and be offended if no one visits your blog every day. These things take time and can’t be built over night.

Make Friends
*Find blogs that also share the same ideas and then collaborate with them.

*Comment on their blogs regularly with your own voice and opinion.

*Become an Authority of your content and share your knowledge to everyone else.

Be a lover not a hater.
* Embrace the New Web Marketing Rules – Blog Effectively

TANOSHIMU
(enjoy oneself)

About the Author:
Aaron Lamar is a student at Santa Barbara City College, a dedicated traveler, blogger, computer science major and all around cool guy.  You can learn more about him online at http://dedicatedtraveler.com/

When we author our expertise, we become authorities.
Note the “key” word in this powerful status description: Authority

That first post in cyberspace put me on the map - check out my first blog post!  I was merely a speck on that map, but before I knew it, that post came up when my name was Google-d, it was something I could share in my resume AND it took my expertise as a web marketer and put me in a new expert status.

Your customers want a point of view (POV).  GIVE IT TO THEM.  Keeping ideas to yourself is selfish.

Share to help people help themselves and you may never know what it will do for your career in the process.

Life is too short to be ordinary – Be EXTRODINARY.  Blogging can change your career.  What are you waiting for??

As we promised on the show, here are links to Misty’s Inspirational Lounges:

• My Inspiration Lounge: Best of the Web Inspirational Messages and Sites
• Misty’s Inspirational Blog
• Inspirational Lounge TV for Inspirational Videos and Awesome Conversations
• Misty’s Zazzle Store for Inspiring Gifts

Starr says: Blogging “is like telling a secret to the town gossip… it’s the only way to ensure that most everyone is privileged to your information.”

There is SO MUCH BRILLIANT CONTENT in our professional minds, but if we do not publish it, then it cannot be working for us.

Make the web work for your organization…the web is the new town gossip, only you get to start the rumor on your terms and have it read the way you want!

Starr, thanks for letting me post your post! 

Thank you Measurement Standard Blog for the cool picture

Tune in to the next Ask the Marketing Therapist Blog Talk Radio Show (TODAY at 10:30 am Pacific time) to learn how to make your marketing multi-task.

Lorrie and Nicki will discuss ways to save time and money while employing social media marketing best practices.  Learn how to import your blog feed to your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts as well as other cool tools to make your marketing multi-task!