Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wed. on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with @TheRiseToTheTop, David Siteman Garland on How to Build Buzz for your online Content. After running three companies, and not finding a good resource for small business marketing info out there, Garland founded The Rise To The Top, a local TV show, daily online show, and website rich with content to meet that need: helping entrepreneurs and small business owners learn to market themselves in a fun interactive way. For more information: http://www.therisetothetop.com.

Smallbizlady:  If you want to build an online brand what top three things should you do first?

David Siteman Garland: The first thing you need to do is quantify your niche and business model. At the end of the day, you have to make money. Where is it coming from? What is your niche? How broad and specific is it? Do you need money right away or can you moonlight doing this until you make enough income? Do you have a product now or do you want to develop something later?

The second thing you need to do is to setup or have setup for you an interactive website. You can start with a nice, well designed, functional wordpress blog. The key here is to have a design that sticks out. There is way too many poorly designed website out there. Imagine someone is coming to your website and they are a really important member of the media or a potential customer and your site looks like 1992 with a little graphic of a digging man. It isn’t going to fly.

Finally, start trying your hand at creating content. The key here is to create content that is educational, inspirational and/or entertaining. That is what spreads and build your brand. The idea here is to become a trusted resource as opposed to a product pusher.

Smallbizlady: If you decide to create online content, what are your options?

David Siteman Garland: There are lots of options but it all starts with platform, which is your home on the web.

First, play to your strengths and also how your community or potential community likes to consume information.

Video? Audio? Text? Those are the big three you have to choose between or mix ‘em. (you can add in photos as well). Bottom line though is to have a plan and experiment. A good quote from youth speaker Josh Shipp is to assume half your audience is blind and the other half deaf.

Next up is deciding your platform. Will be it be a blog? Wordpress? Tumblr? Posterous? Go off your existing website or a new domain?

From there, it goes into researching, implementing and promoting.

Smallbizlady: What is the easiest way to create online content?

David Siteman Garland: There isn’t a magic formula.

However, that being said, there are certain types of content that do really well online: How Tos, Unique Interviews, Tips, Tricks, Lessons, Stories. Anything that is all about the community.

The easiest thing to do is try something. You need far less equipment now than even a few years ago. Text is just a computer and the Internet. Add in a microphone for audio. Add in a pocket camera and you have video.

You can always examine your niche to see what is popular and what other thought leaders are talking about. How? Via searching on Twitter and sites like Alltop.com. You will see the cream of the crop and it should spark ideas on creating content.

Smallbizlady: When should you start developing your online content?

David Siteman Garland: Now! But, first make sure you have somewhere to post it. Your home base. Remember, we are essentially leasing space for free on social media sites. We don’t own them. But we do own our website. It is our real estate.

In my opinion, it is always the right time to start. No need to over think it. You might have a product now or you might develop one in the future.

Smallbizlady: Should brands think like media sources and publishers? Why is that?

David Siteman Garland: Absolutely and this is one of the fundamental concepts that will lead small business owners to success in the future.  It used to be your only outlets to attract customers/clients was traditional media, advertising location and other old-school methods.

The web has changed everything.

Sure it takes hard work, but brands have to view themselves as publishers. Their own media source of experts. Bloggers. Video Bloggers. Podcasts. You create your own media and go directly to the consumer with it.

Think about this for a second. Who would you trust more? Someone that is always promoting their product or someone that offers a library full of unique videos, how-to articles, interviews, etc. The part-media source, part-business wins every time. Plus when you are a media source, you are showing your expertise which can lead to traditional and new media coverage.

Smallbizlady: How soon should you start trying to monetize your online content? Should you have a revenue model in mind going in? And do you have any revenue suggestions?

David Siteman Garland: Yesterday (just kidding). But seriously, you can start now on day one. There is an illusion of size online. Meaning, you have to be really, really big to make money from your content. It simply isn’t true. If you got 50 new customers, would you be happy? How about 5? I know, I would. You don’t need hundreds of thousands of people to view your content for you to be successful. Imagine if 1 person engaged with it and that person was the key to millions of dollars and connections. Would you be happy?

I would think of multiple revenue streams and then you don’t have to put all your eggs into one basket. I would say you need to keep revenue in mind early on. Otherwise you have a hobby. That is fine, but at the end of the day, you need money to run a business.

Here are 7 ways to monetize your content:

• Sell your own product/service
• Affiliate marketing
• Selling yourself (consulting, speaking, etc.)
• Sponsorships
• “Traditional Advertising” (banner ads, etc.) (not recommended)
• Content marketing
• Sell content to syndicators

Smallbizlady: Should you pay for a marketing company, or PR firm to create content for you?

David Siteman Garland: This is one of those tricky situations. In my opinion, no. Why? Because no one knows your content and company better than you.

A PR/Marketing firm might be better suited to help spread your content, bring in partnership opportunities, guest blogging opportunities, etc.

If they are savvy and forward-thinking, they might be able to help with headlines, research and content suggestions.

In the end though, it is best to do it yourself.

Smallbizlady: How do you bring in viewers/readers online?

David Siteman Garland: Great question. And there are many more besides these:

• 1) leverage what you already have. If you have customers, tell them. Via email. In person. On receipts. Tell Mom and Dad. If you have a store, put signage up.
• 2) (and this is really first) make sure your site is setup like peanut butter. Easily spreadable. Have the basics: A retweet button, Facebook share, RSS feed, way to stay in contact via email subscriptions, etc. And remember to know your audience! Are they tech savvy? If so, they might use StumbleUpon, Digg and other Social Bookmarking Sites.
• 3) Social media as a relationship building tool and not just a way to broadcast your message. Be a human. Interact with other folks in your niche. Give people a REASON to follow you. As long as you are giving first and helpful, there is no reason you can’t promote.
• 4) Guest blogging, guest posts, interviews. Nothing better for bringing in the traffic!
• 5) Paid content. Some high-end sites are offering unique ways to “pay to play” where you might sponsor a content series (such as videos) and other unique models with the goal of bringing in traffic and subscribers.

Smallbizlady: What if you don’t want to create online content but still want to get involved with other content creators as advertisers/sponsors/partners?

David Siteman Garland: Two options:

1. Become a content DJ. Find the best/most unique/funniest stuff in your niche online and bring it together in a unique way for folks. Perhaps a Top 10 List.
2. Sponsor A Content Creator

If you absolutely don’t want to create and want to get involved with online content OR you do create and want to leverage the audience of other sites, there is a new trend in content marketing. It is a blend of sponsorship + advertising + PR.

This means perhaps you sponsor a video series, or a series of blog posts. Not simply throwing up a banner ad. You business becomes PART of the content.

Smallbizlady: How should you go about creating content to be promoted on bigger sites?

David Siteman Garland: Use your content as a handshake. Lets say there is a huge site. The first thing I would do is create content related to that site for my niche. For example, lets say you sell soap and want to be featured on Soap.com (made up). I would write an article or create a video promoting Soap.com. Perhaps it would be an article on their top five articles over the past month. Or encouraging your community (big or small) to check them out.

Then, I would reach out to them on social media or email. Introduce yourself and share the link. Ask for nothing. All you are doing is starting a relationship.

I would also make sure to have a presence on their site. Leaving thoughtful comments. Promoting their content on your social media pages. Give love to get love.

Once the relationship is formed, suggest a piece of content. Or even better (and more ambitious), just write or create something (WITHOUT PERMISSION) and send it to them. You would be surprised what might happen!

Smallbizlady: You mention on your blog that there’s a rise in creative paid content. How can entrepreneurs capitalize on this paid content?

David Siteman Garland:

1. Identify key sites you want to get involved with. Use Alltop.com to search your niche and/or Google Blogsearch.
2. Reach out the site owner and say you are looking for something outside-the-box of a basic advertisement and you want to get involved in the content.NOTE: Any reputable blogger will tell you that trust is a big thing with audience. Therefore, if you have a bad product, most bloggers won’t blindly promote it. Make sure it is a fit for you and the audience.
3. If you really want to get the ball rolling, suggest something. For example: Lets say you sell soap and you find a soap blogger. Suggest a 3-part series sponsored by your soap company on the big mistakes in buying soap, or best soap-buying practices.

See where I’m going here?

Of course you have to a budget for this, but if you target correctly, it should pay off ten-fold. Would you rather spend hundreds of thousands on a big mass media ad to get 100 customers? Or spend some money maybe a few thousand with a blogger/content creator in your exact niche for the same 100? Or 50? Or 20? Or maybe even 200?

Smallbizlady: Tell us about your model for creative content sponsorships and has it been successful?

David Siteman Garland: We use the model listed here for The Rise To The Top and RISE.

The first rule is simple. We would NEVER EVER promote a product we don’t use, would use, or trust. Unfortunately, we have had to turn many down but we never want to break that trust and bond with our audience.

If a company approaches us with a product/service that is perfect for an entrepreneur, we come back with suggestions. For example, lets say you have a really cool app maker for the iPhone and want to promote it to entrepreneurs and it is a quality product. We might suggest a 3-part video series sponsored by your company. Part 1 might be 5 reasons your company needs an iPhone app. Part 2 might be the 3 ways to promote an pp. Part 3 might be the key mistakes to avoid when making an app.

In each episode the app company will be mentioned, plugged, and they often offer something directly to RISE viewers. For example enter the promo code RISE for 10% off.

We make the content interesting and fun. Then we syndicate it out to our 20,000+ subscribers, social media following, etc.

And as you know, the best thing about online is that it stays up and gets passed around long after the episode comes out. That is good for Google Rankings, sales and more.

Plus, we noticed many traditional media sources come in and spot unique companies and the PR buzz continues up and down the food chain.

Smallbizlady: Do you have any additional tips on how entrepreneurs can benefit from developing online content?

David Siteman Garland: The value is there if you put in the time, energy and at some points money. The biggest thing is patience. This is all a process.

Also, stay in the loop on the latest trends, tricks and resources. It always seems things are getting smarter, faster and cheaper.

The benefits of online content/blogging are limitless. First, it positions you and your company not just as a business but as a thought leader/expert. This can lead to media interviews, partnership opportunities, recruiting opportunities, and more. Plus good ole’ Google loves the content.

Second, you build an audience to spread the word for you. Nothing better than word-of-mouth on steroids.

Third, it is personally rewarding and a lot of fun. More fun is a good thing, right?

Here are two links to content on David’s site that adds even more depth on the topic of content marketing:

• http://blog.therisetothetop.com/2009/11/10-big-marketing-predictions-2010/
• http://blog.therisetothetop.com/2010/01/rise-6-7-ways-monetize-online-content/

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

Melinda Emerson, known to many as “SmallBizLady,” is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Coach and Social Media Strategist who hosts #Smallbizchat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs.  Her first book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months was released in March 2010.

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wed on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with @WayneHurlbert. Wayne is a well known SEO and internet marketing consultant. He is also a highly regarded speaker and business book reviewer. His advice on business blogs and social media is sought after by leading companies worldwide. Wayne blogs at  http://www,blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com Blog Business World. Wayne also hosts the twice weekly internet radio program  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/WayneHurlbert Blog Business Success

Smallbizlady:  What is SEO and why is it important for small business?

Wayne Hurlbert: SEO  or search engine optimization is all about your small business website becoming easier to find by the major search engines including Google, Yahoo, and MSN Bing. Small business websites can compete successfully with their much larger competitors by becoming more search engine friendly. For a search engine, the size of the company is not important. What matters is that the site be most relevant for a search for a specific keyword phrase. SEO is not about tricks, but about providing good relevant content for people searching for information.

Smallbizlady:  Should a small business owner think in terms of target markets with SEO?

Wayne Hurlbert: Yes. Just as a small business marketing plan seeks out its ideal customer, SEO efforts should be targeted toward potential customers searching for solutions to their problems, as consumers or business people.  This means a combination of SEO for raw rankings on the search engines; SEO for e-commerce; SEO for branding your company,  products and services; SEO to generate leads for later sales: and SEO to maintain your company reputation. The good news is people will be searching for all of these types of information, and by providing relevant information on separate pages on your site, you can achieve high rankings for any or all of them.

Smallbizlady:  How do I know what keywords and phrases to target on my site?

Wayne Hurlbert: You must do some keyword research. First of all, write down all of the phrases that you believe fit your site, in 1 to 4 word phrases. Try them in different combinations. Ask your trusted employees, customers, and vendors what phrases they would use to find your site. You can also use Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal or Google’s Search Based Keyword Tool  http://www.google.com/sktool/ Both will give you additional ideas about heavily searched keyword phrases relevant to your site.

Smallbizlady:  Are links into my site important and how can I get more links?

Wayne Hurlbert: The first step is to provide link worthy content. Your site should be much more than simply a brochure site. That type of site doesn’t rank well as it contains little real information to attract links, and links provide the power to boost your rankings. Be sure to provide informational pages that show expertise in your industry, provide tips to help customers solve real problems, and additional specialty pages of possibly product reviews, industry news. useful tools and downloads, and other ideas suitable to your site. All of these pages can attract links. A blog page on the site is very powerful. Bloggers are free and generous linkers who will readily link to information and posts of interest to their readers. Blogging platforms like Wordpress provide ease of blogging, as another set of pages, within a website. The blog posts provide many more relevant keyword phrases, that also rank well in the search engines.

Smallbizlady:  How do I start to optimize my site for the search engines?

Wayne Hurlbert: Start with your domain name. If it’s not already determined, attempt to create a site domain that is relevant to your product and service. This is, of course, not possible for the main domain name if it already exists, but keywords can be added to the URL of each interior page, giving them URL domain power. A critical area on any site is the title tag. That is the wording that appears in the blue bar at the top of your browser. This is the title of the page, like a book title. The interior page title tags are like the chapter names in a non-fiction book. They tell the search engine what is the topic of each page. The title tag should contain your most important keyword phrases for that page. The company name doesn’t have to appear in the title tag, and if it does, place it to the right of the page. Search engines consider the most left placed keywords the most important. Don’t use the same tag on every page. Every page is distinct and needs a separate title tag.

Smallbizlady:  How many keyword phrases should each page contain?

Wayne Hurlbert: Don’t fall into the trap of writing for the  search engines. Write for your customers. If a page is difficult to read, or looks artificial and badly written, no one will stay on your page anyway. Those are customers who are lost. When writing copy on a page, keep it relevant to the topic of your site, and write for real people. There is ample evidence, especially from blogs, that writing good informational copy will rank highly, as well as being easy to read. As you write, your important keyword phrases, in various orders and combinations, will appear naturally anyway. Never write for the search engines. Always write for people. Be certain to include your company contact information including street address, and any relevant and frequently used local or regional location terms, to build local search.  A local focus in the title tags will also boost your rankings for customers seeking your products and services in your city, state, province, region, or country.

Smallbizlady:  How do I create links that work better for SEO?

Wayne Hurlbert: When you create a link within your site, to another page on the site, never use words like “here” or “click here” on the clickable link line. The wording on the clickable link line is called link anchor text and is very important to the search engines. It also tells the search engine what the page being linked is about, as the link anchor text is like a mini-title for the page. Use the keyword phrase, most relevant to the page being linked to, that you want to raise in the rankings. Don’t use the same link anchor text all of the time though, as that looks spammy to the search engine. At the same time, it misses the opportunity to use alternate but still relevant link anchor text to boost yet another keyword phrase.

Smallbizlady:  How can I add links into my site from offsite sources?

Wayne Hurlbert: One of the best techniques for adding additional inbound links is articles. Submit your articles to the many article sites on the internet. Be sure they link with appropriate link anchor text to the most relevant page on the site. Some article sites permit a second link to the home page as well. Be sure to use both if available. Offer to write articles for other sites and blogs. Many webmasters and bloggers will be happy to add your article along with a link back to your site. Be sure to add your site to legitimate internet directories, but avoid at all costs link farms and other linking schemes. You can drive traffic, but not much link value though, from forum signature lines, Twitter profiles and post links, Facebook pages and LinkedIn profiles. Having a YouTube page can also help your rankings, and it too can be optimized.

Smallbizlady:  Should I worry about being penalized and banned from Google?

Wayne Hurlbert: Google is not out to get you. They want to eliminate spam from their rankings. As long as you follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines http://www.google.com/webmasters/, and never use any dirty tricks or “black hat” SEO, your site will remain penalty and ban free. Don’t let yourself be fooled by anyone offering quick rankings through questionable means. Those rankings may never even materialize anyway, but Google could penalize or ban your site for using them. You can indeed rank well in the search engines with ethical “white hat” SEO techniques. There are no quick fixes. Good theme relevant content on your site will win out in the end.

Smallbizlady:  Can I optimize the photos and graphics on my site?

Wayne Hurlbert: Yes. In fact, optimizing your site photos and graphics serves more than one purpose. To optimize a photo or graphic, you have really two optimization opportunities. One is the caption line below the photo or graphic. Use a descriptive version of a relevant keyword that is suitable to describing the picture. Use a mouse over alt attribute tag to describe the photo or graphic as well. Use a short relevant keyword phrase different from the caption to double your phrases. For people who surf with graphics off on their browser, the mouse over also tells the visitor what is in the photo or graphic.

Smallbizlady:  How soon can I expect results from my SEO work?

Wayne Hurlbert: Google and the other search engines send their spiders, the little computer bots that crawl your site, out all of the time. Results can appear quickly if good relevant changes are made. Some results may take longer. Some keyword phrases are much more competitive than others, and are much more difficult to optimize for higher rankings. As a result, SEO is a process, not an end in itself. SEO is a continuous work in progress, as you add more pages, fine tune your title tags, rewrite your copy, and add more links. Before starting your SEO program, check the rankings of the existing site for your keyword phrases to create a base line. With that base in place, you can monitor your improvements, as they happen, on a regular basis. Don’t be alarmed by short term blips downward. They happen. Instead, optimize for the long term, using sound ethical SEO techniques for the long term. You can then ride out any ups and downs that can happen in the search engines.

Smallbizlady:  Are number one and page one rankings in Google enough for success?

Wayne Hurlbert: SEO is only one marketing tool in your internet tool chest. Top rankings are of no value if no one who visits your site becomes a customer. Note the real value of writing for people, and not the search engines. The purpose or purposes of your site go far beyond the vanity of ranking on the first page in Google. Those rankings are only one part of your marketing plan. Be sure the copy on the page speaks to the customer, provides valuable information, and generates leads and sales. Note that well written copy ranks well, and builds your customer base, helping your business to grow. SEO is a tool, but it’s not a magic bullet. Use SEO wisely, however, and your small business will compete successfully on a global basis, against much larger competitors.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

How to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

Melinda F. Emerson, also known as Twitter’s SmallBizLady is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media. She hosts #SmallBizChat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs.  She is the founder and CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, an award-winning strategic communications firm. She has created productions for such companies as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Comcast. Her first book Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works!” was released in March 2010 by Adams Media.