The real “Step 1:” blog your passion
I erred when I said that finding your voice was Step 1 to writing a thought leadership blog. It’s not. Step 1 is to find your passion… and then blog, er, write about it. I say that from personal experience. And also from studying dozens of other effective business…
What I learned about authentic brand from a yoga guru
Caution: this is a digression. It’s about yoga. It’s about what I learned this weekend from Baron Baptiste. If you’re not a yoga practitioner… and before you start snickering… let me just tell you straight out that you’re missing something. Power vinyasa yoga – the sweaty, high-energy kind -…
read moreTop 5, er 7, tips for writing a blog
I asked a handful of top bloggers for their top Do or Don’t for writing a business blog. Here is what Microsoft’s Robert Scoble, Seth Godin, Halley Suitt and others told me. No, these folks are not CEOs or CXX execs but they know how to…
read moreMore on blog stats from Ad-Tech
Current issue of WordBiz Report offers a round-up of my observations from Ad-Tech in New York this week. Another good write-up of the Ad-Tech blogging panel from Jeff Jarvis in BuzzMachine. Jeff notes that the 35 million Americans who are reading top-ranked blogs (a number that is…
read moreBlogging your way to a job
A pointer to another article on this topic in today’s Toronto Globe and Mail: Net Diarists Blog Their Way to a Job. Thanks to WordBiz subscriber Barnaby Kalan for the tip. Barnaby is author of Outsourcing Yourself, a pithy little paperback that happens to mention the…
read moreBlogs as the new (improved) online publishing model
While I’ve been ranting, er, raving about the value – and validity – of business blogs, a parallel phenomenon has taken off in the past year that you may or may not be familiar with. It’s niche-content blogs supported by advertising. And they’re doing very well, thank you. Two…
read moreUse your e-newsletter Welcome message to get instant feedback
Here’s a great tip from Christoper Knight of Ezine-Tips on how to get maximum ROI out of the Welcome message you (should) send to new subscribers to your e-newsletter or ezine. He readily admits that it’s obvious: introduce yourself to your readers and then ask them to respond…
read moreIf you’re good, then blog… if you’re bad, don’t
That bit of wisdom from Gawker’s Nick Denton at yesterday’s blogging session at Ad-Tech New York. Update: oops. Actually, ’twas Jason McCabe Calacanis of Weblogs, Inc. who said that. In other words, if you are a “good” company that values – and practices – transparency, then…
Notable stat from Ad-Tech: more than 20% of U.S. Internet users have visited a top blog
Meaning one of the 20 dozen blogs that get a lot of traffic. This according to Rick Bruner, Ad-Tech blogging panelist and creator of BusinessBlogConsulting. I’m writing from Ad-Tech, the big buzz digital marketing conference here at the New York Hilton. Rick offered this intriguing stat as…
read moreFree download: Primer to Corporate Blogging
Grab a copy of the Beginner’s Guide to Corporate Blogging by CorporateBlogging‘s Fredrik Wackå. This is a well-organized, well-written 16-page PDF. I like his notion of the “six types of corporate blogs.” CEO thought leadership blogs fall into the “external” category whose purpose is relationship and brand building. …
read moreFree guide to Weblog writing style
New from BusinessLogs is a short white paper with style tips on writing a business blog. It’s a 101 guide but worth a right-click to get it. The BusinessLogs folks sensibly point out one key difference between personal vs. business blogs: once you start writing a corporate blog…
read moreBlogWrite for CEOs
I’ve launched a new blog! BlogWrite for CEOs
read moreCorporate fear of blogging
You won’t get fired. Really. Not if you blogwrite, er, right… um, correctly. Microsoft’s Robert Scoble rants about the fear of blogging… and how to get over it. First convince yourself. Then convince your boss – or your board if you’re the top dog – of the power of…
read moreStep 1: Find your blogging voice
Yup, you can blog your way to the top. Might have been far-fetched a year ago. Maybe even six months ago. But CEOs from Australia to the U.S. and a dozen countries in between are starting to blog. It’s a way to speak directly to your customers, your competitors,…
read moreBob Bly blunders when it comes to business blogs
Much as I respect B2B copywriter Bob Bly (I consider him a friend and colleague) he’s off the mark… waaaay off the mark when it comes to his column about business blogs in today’s issue of DMNews. He writes: “(blogs are) a complete waste of time —…
read moreStraight from Microsoft’s Scobleizer… his rules of the road for corporate bloggers
A week or so ago, I asked a handful of A-list bloggers to offer their top DO or DON’T for writing a business blog. I never heard back from Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s most famous blogger, aka Scobleizer. Figured he was too busy to reply to a small fish…
read more4 days until the election
I’ve made it a policy not to write about things political in this blog. But this election is too important and, like many Americans, I feel too strongly not to shout out. I’ll say it obliquely… If you have any doubts as to who to vote for on Tuesday, Nov.…
read more58 days till Christmas… holiday ideas for your site from 37signals.com
I ran across this page a while back but just found it again today. Here are dozens of ideas from 37signals to spruce up your Web site, emails and e-commerce strategy before the end of the year online buying splurge (you hope). My favorites: “holidize” your logo” …
read moreThe Four Letter Word That Can Get People Excited About Your Products
Let’s see… it starts with a B. An interview with the Scobleizer (aka Robert Scoble) perhaps Microsoft’s most famous in-house blogger. (On a Microsoft page, but useful nonetheless.)
read moreUseful article on RSS syndication
From WebProNews: Why Every Site Needs RSS. Includes links to how to create your own RSS feed. Pass on to your techie…
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