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How to publish a blog post on Wordpress

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Many people unfamiliar with blogging feel like publishing a post involves all sorts of coding and computer-like techy stuff. Not so. It was like that one day, but now it’s really simple. Here’s a quick run down of how it typically works on a Wordpress blog.

1. Go to http://www.puredriven.com/wp-admin
2. Type in our Username and password.
3. Then on the left, click “Add New”
4. Paste in your text for the post. (Use the “Paste from Word” icon, or the “Paste in Plain Text”) when copying content from a Word document. This eliminates style issues. If you don’t see those two icons, then on the right, you should see an icon that if you scroll your mouse over it says “Show/Hide Kitchen Sink” which will reveal these icons, and an icon that allows you to indent text.
5. Once you’ve got it looking like you want it to, click “preview.”
6. If for some reason some spaces aren’t showing up in the final version, click to the html version of the blog post, and stick this piece of code between the areas you need an extra line of space in:

7. Now copy your headline into the headline slot in the “SEO in One Pack.”
8. Copy the first couple paragraphs of the post into the description.
9. Adjust the description and headline for the posts, to fit into the number of characters it advises. Ideally both will include a keyword or two.
10. Then copy your headline into the headline slot at the very top of the page.
11. And copy the description into the box below the blog’s text.
12. Add keywords at the bottom of the “SEO in One Pack.”
13. Then on the right, at tags.
14. And then below that, add some categories the post should be included in.
15. Then hit save as draft, or publish.
16. Directly above the “Publish” button, is a “Publish Immediately” button. If you have several posts, you can also tell Wordpress to publish them at a specific time. So you could load two or three, get them ready, and not have to visit the blog again for that week. And the blog will publish the posts at the date and time you set.

Tags: blog marketing, blogging, Wordpress
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Blogging for business basics

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Here’s why your business should have a blog. And what to do with it, once launched.

Blogging in essence is a way to build an online audience.
1. You (or someone you work with who likes to write) starts blogging
on a very niche topic you know a lot about. Mustang cars, if you’re an auto dealer that sells parts for them, for example.
2. What you’d talk about, is the sort of stuff you’d talk about with other Mustang lovers.
What you love about them, what you don’t, what you’d like to see changed about the
products, who they’re sold, etc. Lots of shop talk, industry talk, etc.
The goal would not be to gain thousands of followers
necessarily, although that could happen with the Mustang group, or a blog
for Ford enthusiasts. The goal would be to get a few dozen, and then a few
hundred people to get your blog posts e-mailed, or subscribed to in an RSS
feed (real simple syndication).

Regardless of how dull the outside world might consider the issue, the more
specialized the field, the more likely it is that people within that very
defined niche will be interested in your content (primarily because no one
else is writing about it, and with such expertise) You’re uniquely qualified
to share your expertise and insights, because you work with the materials
every day. The more niche the topic, typically the smaller, but more loyal,
the following. And loyalty, not numbers, is what really matters.

Blogging over months and sometimes years (preferably two or three times a
week), will build you a dedicated following, which:
. Means more people within your industry or circle of Mustang lovers will get
to know you, and contact you for wisdom and advice. (And then buy your
products if you’re selling anything.)
. Means that you’ll increasingly be asked by traditional media
sources to guest write for their magazines, be interviewed on TV and radio,
etc., boosting your credibility and profile as an expert, in turn helping
boost sales by itself. Even popular blogs regularly feature guest bloggers,
which is another avenue to get your message and company in front of your
best potential customers.
. Means you can then create products with a ready-made clientele
more than happy to buy from you, because they’ve gotten to know and trust
you.
. Gives you instant credibility with would-be customers who are
checking you out online before coming in your store. If it looks like you
know a lot about your topic, you’re going to look like someone they’re
willing to pay.

The more popular your blog becomes, the more likely it is for your readers
to write back, and offer suggestions on your products and methods. Not only
will you learn a lot from writing, but a blog serves as a free, large focus
group for new or existing products. Some blogs I read receive 20 or more
comments per post.

When you blog regularly it elevates you in Google search rankings. This over
time helps you sell more of whatever you were selling online to begin with.
Thanks to the blog, you come up when people search for Mustang cars, not
just the name of your business.

Many bloggers spend time commenting on blogs of similar topics. This gets
your name and products in front of all those readers, and connects you with
others who enjoy the same passion for Mustangs for example. Had it not been
for the blog, you would have never met these people.

Many people have also built consulting businesses in their fields, thanks to
a blog giving them the exposure they needed to become a recognized expert.

As you can tell, a blog can open up new opportunities, but it can initially
mean months and months of hard work, with few or seemingly no readers at
all. So if you or your staff don’t like to write, it’s not a good fit. Of
course, increasingly people are creating video blogs, instead of just blogs
filled with text and pictures.

In your case, physically showing on videos insider tricks of how you repair
difficult issues on Fords for example, could be a focus.

Because your articles live on the Internet forever, many bloggers find that
their old posts will be discovered and passed around through social media
channels for months and years to come.

For more information:
If you’re interested in learning more about making money with a blog,
obviously feel free to contact me directly, or a good online community where
we talk about these sorts of issues in great depth regularly, is in the paid
community of http://www.thirdtribe.com. Note: there is a monthly fee to be a
part of it.

Here’s a good post on what it takes to be a successful blogger.
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-marketing/11-must-dos-for-the
-serious-blogger/

Or if you want to pick up a book to understand the basics of making money
through blogging (and social media in general, which is integral to a
successful blog) read “The New Community Rules: Marketing On The Social Web”
by Tamar Weinberg.

Photo Credit: Foxtongue

Tags: auto dealers, blog, blog marketing, blogging, blogs, computing, how do you, internet, make money, make money blogging, mustang, mustang cars, niche blogging, niches, sell online, social information processing, Social Media, talk, topic, world wide web, write start
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Google Needs To Know You Exist, So Tag Correctly

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

This is the eighth installment in a series titled, How to Get Your Client on the Front Page of the New York Times, explaining how PureDriven helped vault the Google Twin Ports initiative (focused on Duluth, MN and Superior Wis.) to national prominence in its effort to win Google’s attention and become one of the few sites where Google will build an ultra-high speed fiber network. I’ve written this series in hopes of sharing with businesses, politicians and grassroots organizers how to best gain offline and online attention for your cause, event or organization.

Lesson 8: Developing An Online Tagging Strategy

is Critical to Getting Seen Online

Photo Credit: Jason Morrison

In our efforts to attract Google to Duluth, we knew we wanted the public involved, and we knew we wanted everything we did to be seen by Google. Your business also needs to get exposure, once you’ve invested the time having a website developed, or put your Facebook page together. So is lots of words and pictures the key? Yes, and no. If you have a gorgeous website, but no content, then Google won’t see you, and therefore neither will anyone else.

If however, you have a lot of content, but not the right keywords in certain slots, that can seriously hamper your efforts.

So first, define your strategy. For example, we wanted attention in a lot of different places, so everywhere Google went online on the issue of Google Fiber, a video we shot, an article done on us, something we wrote, or our Facebook group would display prominently.

Our strategy was to make our entire online effort strong, not only googletwinports.com.

So we focused on optimizing every piece of content we put out. We told people exactly how to write their headlines, so collectively our YouTube videos would rank high for terms like “Google Fiber.” We wanted hefty levels of chatter and engagement. So we had volunteers chatting all day long on our Facebook Group, keeping people engaged in the process.

If your business wants exposure online, step one is normally creating the website or blog. Step two meanwhile, is making sure the pages are all tagged correctly. For a short primer on where to stick keywords, visit our first search engine optimization instructions page. And to see where those tags physically go, click on our second search engine optimization page.

One caution however. We’re currently upgrading our keywords, so what to pay attention to are the spots they go in. Pay no attention to the words in the boxes. If you need help choosing keywords, visit this excellent site called Google Insights For Search.

So Remember: If you want to be found on the web, you’ve got to have content filled with keywords not just in your copy, but also in the correct spots on each of your website pages.

Go ahead and post questions or comments down below, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

To read the first post in this series, visit “Google called, so we vaulted our client to Page 1 of the New York Times”

To read the second, visit “In Campaigns, Little or No Money Sometimes An Advantage”

To read the third, visit “When Running Big Projects, Simple Tools Work Best”

To read the fourth, visit “Steer – Don’t Order – Volunteers For Best Results”

To read the fifth, visit “My Mistake Was Not Viewing E-mail as Critical”

To read the sixth, visit “If You Can’t Be Yourself, Be Someone Else”

To read the seventh, visit “ A Google Fiber Tip: Connect, Don’t Chastise Competitors “

Tags: business, Campaigns, duluth, Googletwinports, grassroots
Posted in Blogging for Business, Google Twin Ports | View Comments

A Google Fiber Tip: If You Can’t Be Yourself, Be Someone Else

Friday, May 7th, 2010

This is the sixth installment in a series titled, How to Get Your Client on the Front Page of the New York Times, explaining how PureDriven helped vault the Google Twin Ports initiative (focused on Duluth, MN and Superior Wis.) to national prominence in its effort to win Google’s attention and become one of the few sites where Google will build an ultra-high speed fiber network. I’ve written this series in hopes of sharing with businesses, politicians and grassroots organizers how to best gain offline and online attention for your cause, event or organization.

Lesson 6: If you can’t be yourself, someone else, literally
Meet my good friend, Speedie Gigabit,
This little man was created by local designer Brian Barber, and it was possibly one of the most successful ideas of the campaign, which I initially balked at.

Luckily, PureDriven as a whole and the rest of the volunteers at Google Twin Ports loved the idea of the character. My main complaint was that it served as yet another project our staff didn’t have the time or resources to manage. In fact however, it turned out to be a fantastic way to rally our supports and speak to them on Facebook. Here’s why it worked so well for us, and you might want to consider having a mascot or single person represent your business online.

1. It gave our volunteers a unified voice online. Right now, if your business uses a Facebook Fan page that you are an administrator of, every time you make a comment, it’s like the company logo responding. If you’d rather respond as an individual, you have to remove your administrative privileges from the Fan Page, and then get someone to make you an administrator again, when you want to change the page in some way. Here’s an example of when I post something on our company’s Facebook page.

Even though I’d like the person to know who I am, responding as the page’s owner, makes the logo appear, where ideally, I’d like my face to be.

In some cases, an employee might also want to respond to a customer. But if he or she responds as an individual, an introduction explaining he or she works for the company would have to preface every comment.

But a mascot, or even one person creating a personal profile on behalf of the company, solves that dilemma.

Whether it’s a person or a mascot, the personal profile can respond to comments and take part in conversations, with a clear, singular voice, instead of multiple individuals respond to comments, or having the company’s logo appear by each answer.

But in the world of Facebook and sites like it, real pictures of real people are preferred. And people do business with people. So having a picture of a real person on Facebook and especially Twitter to represent you, is ideal.

Because our campaign was a regional effort, we went with the mascot. It provided a “person” yet didn’t identify the entire campaign around one real face, as would be best for solo-entrepreneurs and candidates for office.

On a Facebook Groups page there is no company logo issue, but you still want that unique person or logo people can latch on to. And even if you’re a private individual with your own business, having two private accounts – one as you, and one as your public persona – is often most effective on Facebook.

A friend of mine runs a new business called Sgt. Steve, for weight loss and coaching. His real name is Steve, but when he responds to a customer or potential customer, he uses a separate Sgt. Steve account, to go along with the persona, and to keep people from wondering, “Is this someone named Steve, or THE Sgt. Steve?”

So how do you create a second private account?

All that’s required is a second e-mail address. If you don’t have one, just sign up for a free one at Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail.

So Remember: Having an additional private Facebook account to speak to customers either with a picture of a person or a mascot, can give your business or organization more of a voice online, and it’s more personal than a logo talking to a customer.

To read the first post in this series, visit “Google called, so we vaulted our client to Page 1 of the New York Times”

To read the second, visit “In Campaigns, Little or No Money Sometimes An Advantage”

To read the third, visit “When Running Big Projects, Simple Tools Work Best”

To read the fourth, visit “Steer – Don’t Order – Volunteers For Best Results”

To read the fifth, visit “My Mistake Was Not Viewing E-mail as Critical“

Tags: Campaigns, client, duluth, duluth-superior, Google Fiber, Google Twin Ports, Googletwinports, grassroots, Pure Driven, puredriven
Posted in Blogging for Business, Campaigns, FanPage, Google Twin Ports | View Comments

Blogging For Business 101: Basic Strategy Tips

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Hello community,

I know all this blogging and social media stuff can seem like a giant headache when you’re at the starting line, but remember, it’s the tortoise who won the race. If you simply try to take one minor step forward each day, six months later you’ll feel like you’ll be ready to hang your social media and blogging shingle out, and start selling your services. This morning I was working with a client on developing a blogging schedule, and I figured I would share with you what I told them.

Decide what your blogging goal is. Is it to generate more leads? Sales, if you have an e-commerce site? Build an audience, and then have affiliate links?

Once you’ve figured out why you’re blogging, first get accustomed to writing posts and building an audience, because without those two pieces in place, the rest won’t work. Set up a blog just to practice on at Wordpress or Tumblr.

Take a calendar and set up a blogging schedule. What are you planning to write about THIS FRIDAY, for example. Are you publishing once a week? Fine. What day each week do you publish a post?

I suggest stockpiling posts, and be watching for topics you can talk about that are timely, or have been in the news lately.

For example, (say your blog is about personal finance) take this volcano incident as an opportunity to write a few paragraphs on how to prepare finances for going on an overseas trip. What are five or ten items they should do or keep in mind? And what contingency would you advise, just in case they run into a major traveling headache, such as with this volcano in Iceland. If you can peg an item to a news event, that gives the post extra heft.

Who is writing each post, and who approves them? Try to make this a two-person process, ideally.

How to write each post:

Each blog post should only be short: four to six paragraphs (occasionally shorter or longer ones are fine). Or if it’s a top 10 list, 10 short sentences or paragraphs are fine. Think of each blog post like you’re providing a few quick tips to someone who is already late for a meeting, and is only half interested in what you’re saying.

Don’t use most blog posts as primarily a sales pitch for coming in and doing business with you. It will turn people off. Consider your blog as a very soft sell mechanism. Obviously the blog includes all your contact information if someone wants further assistance. People over time will read the blog, and learn to trust you, and eventually pick up the phone. But they won’t read for long if there’s always a big sales pitch.

It’s fine to talk about your services in a couple blog posts once a month etc. But this isn’t a hard-sell letter. You’re building quasi-friendships online with good, free information, with the intention of these people getting to know you, and eventually wanting to call you.

Each blog post should also have one key word sprinkled in the blog post several times.

Keywords for an investment firm might include for example: Stock market, Retirement Planning and
Financial Planner

How to choose keywords is a blog post for another time.

Every few posts, have a top five, or top ten list.

Also consider doing a series of (about 10) posts on the same subject that you think people will repeatedly be interested in and return to. Such as: “What you need to know to get your financial house in order.”If the series is highly read, you can then turn those posts into little e-books for free downloads.

Try and include a call to action on most posts. Or a simple question. “What do you think?” at the end of the blog posts, to encourage conversation.

Include a keyword in your headline.

Add a picture when possible. You can find many for free at flickr.com

So those are a few of the basics every business needs to grab, before they start blogging.

For great advise on everything related to blogging, visit copyblogger.com

Posted in Blogging for Business, Social Media Strategy | View Comments