SEO Indianapolis

I'm no car buff, but that TV commercial really caught my ear.  "What do you get when you pit a Ford Escape against a Lexus?" the announcer asked. The answer, unexpected as it was arresting: "Bragging rights."

So I'll give you one better:  What do you get when you pit business blogging against pay-per-click advertising?  Bragging rights again. According to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware, "There are two basic ways to use search as an acquisition tool" (referring to acquisition of new customers): Pay-Per-Click and Search Engine Optimization."

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a form of paid advertising on the Web. (You the business owner bid on keyword phrases.  Every time an online searcher clicks on your listing, you pay a fee.) According to the Marketing Sherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Study, marketers using PPC typically target more than 1,000 of these keyword phrases in an attempt to rank among the top results for a dozen out of the 1,000 they've selected.

By contrast, blogs need to target only 1-2 dozen total keyword phrases (with the blogging company paying no fee when the sties get "found" and clicked on) to achieve comparable search results.

What if the "Lexus" isn't a PPC but a website?  How do blogs stack up against traditional websites?  Since search engines assign value to pages that are frequently updated, traditional website pages simply can't compete with more frequently changing content on blog pages. While a website page might be very keyword-rich, the cumulative use of keyword phrases over months and years , and over pages and pages of relevant content builds up the kind of "equity" that leaves traditional web pages in the dust.  Again, bragging rights for blogs.

As with any tool, blogging for business works only when - and if - it's used.  Good corporate blog posts may earn bragging rights when compared with other marketing tactics, but only if business owners actually keep up the pace.  The fact is, few entrepreneurs, even given the help of talented and passionate employees, can spare the time to post relevant, new material with enough consistency and frequency to improve search engine rankings.  Often a professional ghost blogger can help those owners earn bragging rights and convert online searchers to new clients and customers!

"Links are the lifeline of blogging," says homeschoolblogger.com.  Inbound links to your blog are tracked by "web crawlers" and help your blog move higher on search engine pages, SEO mavens explain.

Today, though, let's talk about different kinds of outbound links, and the different ways those can in fact serve as lifelines to your blog.

Internal links:
a) From your blog post to one of your own website "landing pages".
(You're using the link to guide the reader along a smooth navigation path, hoping to convert that "looker" into a buyer.)

b) From the present blog post to one you posted at some point in the past.
(If the reader wants more information and you've already provided further details on the subject in an earlier post, the link makes it easy for the reader to find.)

External links:
a) From your blog post to a news source or magazine article.
(In your post, you're showing how some current happenings relate to your product or service, or you're expressing your company's point of view about a news development relating to your industry. Linking to news sources lend credibility to your blog and positions you as the "go to" place to find out what's happening.)

b) To someone else's blog post on your subject.
(This type of link shows you're staying in touch with others in your industry and that you're confident you have special value to offer within a competitive environment. In fact, visiting others' blogs can help you improve not only your blog posts, but your products and services!)

c) To a website or blog you've quoted to illustrate a point.
(Linking to others is a form of networking.  I like to shoot an email to business owners whom I've quoted or mentioned.  They're usually flattered and quite often begin to follow my blog and post a comment or two on my site.)

When homeschoolblogger.com mentions that blog links should be readable as well as clickable, they're talking about hyperlinking the text.  In other words, rather than writing something like "click here" (which interrupts the flow of thought), you write in conversational tone and simply create a link that the reader can choose to ignore or follow by clicking.

There's a reason we call the internet a World Wide Web. It's all about connections and links!

Taped to the reception counter at the Tom O'Brien Chrysler dealer's showroom was a poster that immediately caught my eye: "125 Ways You Can't Tell the Difference", the headline read, referring to pre-owned autos versus new vehicles. Having just this month blogged about the power of using numbers in blog post titles to engage readers' interest, I thought this poster at the dealership a perfect example of the concept I'd tried to convey in my blog post. It was the number 125 on that poster that I found so arresting - could there really be that many ways?

Speaking of numbers, there are a number of ways that car poster can serve as 
a good tutorial for business blogging:       

Titles count (play on the word "count" intended)

A blog post title what draws an online searcher to progress to the content of the blog, because the title hopefully broadcasts two signals to the searcher:
 

1. They've come to the right spot to get the information/products/services they need
2. This blog post is going to be interesting reading.

The title counts with Google and friends from a Search Engine Optimization standpoint as well. In fact, that's why it's so important that you use the key search terms and phrases in the title of each blog post.

Focus counts.

Did I read through all of the 125 ways listed on that poster?  Of course not.  The title had already focused my mind on the concept of pre-owned cars. The very fact I was able to discern an actual list on the poster was enough for me.  Later, I thought, I might actually skim through the items, but the truth is, that poster had me at "hello".

Putting on my professional ghost blogger hat, I imagined how things might be if we were talking about a blog post, rather than a poster.  To engage online readers once they'd found the blog, I wouldn't go for the big numbers except in the title.  Instead, I'd:
 

• Focus on just a few of the pre-owned cars from the dealer's inventory, complete with photos (or even a video).
• Focus on just a couple of reasons you'd never know the difference between pre-owned and new without a Car-Fax report.
• Throw in some valuable hints on savvy car buying, showing readers how much the Tom O'Brien folks know and care about cars. 

Much more important, the blog post would need to convey how much the Tom O'Brien folks care about their customers' safety and comfort!

 

A favorite lunch spot for me is the Illinois Street Food Emporium in Indianapolis. Well, the other day, besides a very tasty salad and soup lunch, I got something extra in the form of ideas about ways to use blogs to drive business.

Here's how it happened: Waiting for my number to be called, I noticed something.  Fastened low on the wall near the door of the restaurant was a metal thing-a-ma-gig with coloring sheet handouts for kids to color.  That day's handout had an outlined picture of a snowman talking with some penguins.  There was space on the paper to fill in the child artist's name, age, and phone number, and a pocket in which to deposit the finished work.

My first thought was how simple, yet ingenious a tactic those coloring sheets were - keep the kids occupied while Mom or Dad finish up a conversation. (As a professional ghost blogger, I'm always alert for ways business bloggers can engage readers.) Then I realized there was even more to it than that - some kid was going to win the contest and get his picture posted up there and want to keep coming back to the restaurant, perhaps bringing Auntie or Grandma to see the beautiful job he'd done on the penguins! (One benefit of engaging blog post readers is they want to come back to your site, or bring your site to them in the form of an RSS.)

There was one thing missing about those coloring sheets, I realized. As so often happens, even the best of business ideas falls short in some detail when it comes to execution.  I saw snowmen and penguins, but nowhere on those coloring pages did I see the name, address, or phone number, or email of Illinois Street Food Emporium!  Coloring's a great way to keep the kids happy while they're in the restaurant (maybe they come back to show off their winning entry or claim their prize). But at least a third of the page was white space that might have been used for advertising.  Uh-oh - a business blog page with no Calls to Action! 

FutureNow's  Brendan Regan teaches business owners to "optimize a marketing outreach from the driving point to the landing page and on through to conversion." In other words, for any business blog to enjoy bottom-line success, there needs to be a smooth process, a navigation path,  that begins when a customer first becomes conscious of your existence to when you're closing a deal.  The CTA's, or Calls To Action on your blog page, even sometimes in the text of the blog post itself - need to be there and be square!

My children have children of their own, all older than kindergarten age, so what made me feel compelled to read that Indianapolis Star article about teaching kindergarteners? It was the number that aroused my curiosity: "9 Problems We Must Overcome".
 
The O Magazine title this month is "100 Things That Are (Actually) Getting Better". Somehow
I doubt that, minus the number 100, the title would have been as much of a grabber.  I know it was the number 100 that made me pause (It's hard, these days, to avoid the perception that a lot of things are actually getting worse, not better, and I just had to know what 100 things I might be missing!)

To freshen up blog post content, start with one idea about your product or service. Then try putting a number to it:

• 2 Best Ways To Eliminate Unpleasant Room Odors…
• 3 Discipline Problem Fixes to Try First….
• 4 Simple Home Remedies for Headache…
• 5 Home Décor Tips…
• 6 Knottiest Financial Issues in a Marriage….

The point of the "lists", of course, is to demonstrate ways in which your product or service is different, and to provide valuable information that engages readers, helping them see you as a go-to guy or gal to solve their problem or fulfill their need.

Who's on your list? Ted Demopoulos suggests you ask yourself, referring to other blogs and online resources in your "space".  Listing different viewpoints or tips from others, then clarifying your own position is one way to make your blog be the go-to site. 
"4 Different Viewpoints on Rearing Money-wise Kids…" is somehow more enticing than just "Viewpoints on Rearing Money-wise Kids", wouldn't you agree?

To top off the positives of using numbers in blog post titles, at least some SEO experts believe bullet points and numbered lists earn "Brownie points" with search engines.

Just one more reason to count the ways…

 

The larger a pepper, the less “hot”, is just one of the interesting tidbits I learned from a Whole Foods representative at the Indiana Health Expo the other day.  Peppers, in fact, could serve as a metaphor for blogs and websites, with shorter, “spicier” blog posts packing more immediacy than their longer, more formal website cousins. The typical website offers more detail and a broader spectrum of information on a company’s products and services, while blog posts focus on one idea with more intensity.

The first three ingredients listed on a food container, I learned at the Health Expo, are the most important, because ingredients are listed in descending order of how much of each is in the product. When it comes to business blogs, it’s important to use key words and phrases in the title and early in the text of each blog post. Those key words indicate to the search engines what the main idea of the post is going to be.

I found the Whole Foods presentation particularly engaging because it offered information I’d never heard before.  Offering information that is new to the typical online reader is a key principle of business blogging. The Health Expo speaker captured my attention with information new to me. I learned about a food called Quinoa (pronounced “keen wa”), which is a rice substitute high in dietary fiber, and about Greek Yogurt. New information is a winner for business blogging.  If you can’t offer brand-new information, your unique approach or “slant” shows searchers you’re far from run-of-the mill.

One of Suzanne Gunelius’ six tips on turning a business blog into a sales tool is “Provide Exclusive Information and Tips.”  A great example of that is a blog I read called Breathe Easy, which talks about about dog food. The blogger warns that comparing ingredients can be tricky, because, although two labels may have the same ingredient name, there can be a world of difference between two brands.” The recommendation is for buyers to look for the words “human grade” on the dog food label.  That’s the kind of valuable and detailed advice that distinguishes “human grade” blogs from the pack!

Between Shakespeare's Juliet asking "What's in a name?" and father-of-advertising David Ogilby's emphasis on headlines, there's simply no contest when it comes to blogging for business - titles matter! There are two basic reasons titles matter so much in blogs:

• For search - key words and phrases, especially when used in blog post titles, help search engines make the match between online searchers' needs and what your business or professional practice has to offer.
• For reader engagement - after you've been "found", you've still gotta "get read".  

In my magazine reading this week, I came across titles that illustrate just two of the many ways to make titles "pop":

The title of an advertisement in USA Weekend asks the question: "Do You Have Constant Ringing In Your Ear?"

If ear ringing is, in fact, a problem for the searcher, there will be a "Bingo!" I've come to the right place" response. But even if I somehow arrived at this site looking for, say, hearing aids or even diamond earrings, the title has an immediacy that grabs my attention, perhaps causing me to reflect, " You know, sometimes I DO have a sort of ringing sensation…"

The concept of asking readers if they're grappling with an issue or a need that you not only know about, but which you're accustomed to helping solve - that's perfect for the headline of a business blog post.

One title on the cover of O Magazine is a "grabber" in a different way: "100 Things That Are (Actually) Getting Better".

This title passes Ogilby's "acid test" by making you wish you'd thought about many things actually getting better, because most people suffer from the perception that a lot of things are getting worse nowadays.  The title's not only refreshing - it arouses curiosity. (Are there really that many things getting better?  What have I missed?)

One thing Indianapolis small business consultant Lorraine Ball thinks is getting better is blog writing. Ball attributes the improvement to Twitter and other social media, which focus on titles short enough to "Tweet".

Truth is, no clever or even Tweet-able title can substitute for well-written, relevant content in the blog post itself, content that provides valuable information to your readers. But, in order for blog marketing to lead searchers to become buyers of your products and services, your stuff has got to get read!

Sorry, Juliet.  When it comes to business blog posts, the answer to the question "What's in a name?" is EVERYTHING!

A couple of Michigan justices learned a new word when law professor Richard D. Friedman, consultant to one of the judges, mentioned that a point was "entirely orthogonal" to the argument in front of the court. After being met with a "What?" response, Friedman explained the point in question was "at right angles, irrelevant, and unrelated" - in other words, off on a tangent from the main issue.

The judges reportedly got a kick out of the new word, and so did I. As a professional ghost blogger and blogging coach for business owners, I've found going off on "tangents" can serve a real purpose in business blog posts. The business blogging challenge is both simple and daunting: How can the content of a business blog stay relevant over long periods of time, without becoming repetitive and even tedious (to both writer and reader)?

On the one hand, blog posts need to stay on task and on topic.  After all, the search engines helped readers find your blog by indexing it high on page 1 or 2 (on Google, Bing, or Yahoo precisely because the needs of the searcher (based on the phrase or question they searched on appeared to match what you're talking about in your blog posts - what you sell, what you do, and what you know about!

But on the other hand, there are two crucial motivations for not being repetitive in blog posts:

• Technical reason:  avoiding "duplicate content".  Search engines tend to penalize rankings of sites that duplicate content that's already in the blogosphere.
• Common sense reason: avoiding staleness and continuing to engage readers.

So, how do you keep talking, several times per week over periods of months and years, about essentially the same thing, without becoming either duplicative or stale?

Professor Friedman used a "word tidbit" that captured the concept of a "right angle" that veered 90 degrees "off" the main point.  The anecdote made the papers precisely because it was about capturing attention with something unusual and unexpected.

My Say It For You blog is about business blogging.  So why, back in August of '08, did I blog about an advertisement for a piano? I was being orthogonal.  Why? To show that in your business blog, you can convey to readers different levels of involvement are welcome and that ultimate buying decisions don't need to be made the moment a customer "steps into" your website.

Blog posts need to capture readers' attention in precisely the same manner, by presenting examples and illustrations that don't at first glance appear to relate to the subject at hand.

Don't get stale - get orthogonal!

If anybody's got a keen sense of what an audience wants, it has to be singer/actor Mel Tillis, who's been onstage for the past fifty two years.  Now age 77, Tillis is still going strong, performing 100 or so live shows each year, according to a recent article in Speaker Magazine.

Today Tillis performs at the speaker's lectern, giving motivational talks about how humor helped him through his career. In fact, I'm going to hear Mel Tillis speak at the National Speakers' Association Winter Conference in Nashville, Tennessee next month.

There are two points Tillis emphasized in his interview with Speaker Magazine's contributing writer Jake Poinier that I believe are worth sharing with all my Say It For You readers and clients, in fact with anyone using blogging to market a business:

         1.  Talking about the twenty different performances he'd done last November alone in the Branson theatre he used to own, the singer/comedian remarked "I'm always coming up with new anecdotes and stories, so it seems to work."  
   
This lesson is one bloggers need to learn, for sure.  Since maintaining consistently high rankings on search engines means maintaining the discipline of posting blog material by putting content on the Web over and over again over long periods of time, what makes the tactic work is finding new anecdotes and stories to keep the material fresh.

        2.  Tillis, Jake Pointer stresses, empathizes with one of the main challenges facing 
professional speakers.  "Sure, I get tired, like if I have to sing 'Coca Cola Cowboy' one more time, I think I'm gonna die. But what you need to do is act like it's the first time you've ever done it."

Whether composing blog post #17 or #577 for that business, the blogger needs to write as if it were #1. In fact, since blogging is a form of "pull marketing", attracting only searchers who have a need relating to what you do, what you sell, or what you know about, for most of those searchers, it will be the first.time they've ever read your blog posts!

"Every time I walk out there, it's a different audience," says Mel Tillis. 

Every time you step up to the blog "lectern" (or hire a professional ghost blogger like me to do it for you), that Tillis mantra can serve as the inspiration to deliver your blog message - in every single post - with gusto and panache!

Seasoned professional speaker Michael A Podolinsky, CSP, says to speakers, "Stick to your knitting.  In an attempt to impress the audience when you do a big presentation, don't change what you have been doing…", he says.

CVTips.com comes at the issue from the other end, advising job seekers to learn about the corporate culture of a prospective employer, getting a glimpse of some of the organization's core values.  "The more aware one is about the corporate culture of a particular organization, the more the possibility to strike the right chord with that organization."

Corporate culture? Isn't that something that's been done, way done? Well, says Inc. Magazine, "it's back. (It never left!) Your employees crave it.  Your customers will love it. And the one who needs it most is you."

I think the "two C's" (Corporate culture) relate to two of the "Four P's of Businss Blogging": Passion and Personality.  That's because, in business blog posts, as compared to brochures, ads, or even the website, it's easier to communicate the unique personality and core beliefs of the business owners.  Over time, in fact a business blog becomes the "voice" of the corporate culture, whether the "corporation" (or partnership or LLC) consists of one person or many.

The concept of revealing the corporate culture through blog posts doesn't have to mean you stick to one narrow topic, with each post offering the sort of detailed information you'd find in a catalogue or product manual. In fact, when I'm "meeting" a business through its blog, I like to get a sense that the owners are tuned in to the bigger picture of what's going on in their industry and to what's happening the everyday world around them. I want to know what they "make of it all" from their little corner.

Yes, I expect a business blogger to focus on what's relevant (that's the "expectation" of the search engines, as well!). But, the more revealing the blog is of the owner's slant on what's going on - and what should be going on and how - the more engaging and interesting I'm likely to find that business' blog posts.

You might say that sticking to one's knitting while still managing to knit something with a little personality to it is the real challenge in blogging for business!

 

Tucked inside the Murphy Building in Indianapolis is a vintage clothing store called IndySwank, and tucked inside the Indianapolis Star account of an interview with IndySwank’s owner are some great content ideas for business blogs.

Business bloggers often confide they have trouble continually coming up with fresh ideas for their blog posts and finding news ways to talk about the products and services they offer. The IndySunday Interviews Someone You Should Know article poses eight questions answered by Jennifer Rice Von Deylen, owner of IndySwank.  As a professional ghost blogger and business blogging trainer, I realized that answering those very questions could make for terrific blog content for any business.


HOW DO YOU GET THE STOCK FOR YOUR STORE?
If your business sells products, where do those products originate?  Do you create them? What sources have you chosen and why? Talking about your product allows you to showcase your own expertise in your field, your own outlook, and the ways in which your product is unique in the marketplace.

HOW DID YOU NAME THE STORE?
Rice Von Deylen explains that “swank” means really, really cool, adding her opinion that “We don’t take enough pride in who we are.” What does the name of your product and of your business say about the outcomes you hope to bring to customers?

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
In what facet of your industry have you chosen to focus your business efforts? Why?  How does the way you run the business make you different from your competitors?  In other words, what’s your style?  Rice Von Deylen’s answer to the question: “Urban.  I still try to be sexy and attractive, but not like Britany Spears.” Use your blog posts to help readers get the feeling they know the “you” in your business!

HOW CAN PEOPLE DISCOVER THEIR OWN STYLE?
Offer information in your blog posts that helps readers gain knowledge.  Customers who feel well-informed feel empowered to make buying decisions! Don’t for a moment be afraid of making your blogsite the “go to” place for information in your field.

Jennifer Rice Von Deylen's advice is perfect for business owners trying to promote their products and services through blog marketing: “For direction, take what you’re comfortable with and try to exaggerate it.”

I find it hard to imagine any better way to arrive at your own “signature style” for your business blog posts!

 

I almost didn’t go to see the movie “Nine”. The Indianapolis Star gave the film only two stars, quoting Roger Moore’s review in the Orlando Sentinel: “How can a movie starring six Academy Award-winning actors be such a bore?”  

Thank goodness, I caught that interview of the “Nine” cast on “Larry King Live”.  King said the film was wonderful, and, after hearing the actors share their experiences, I knew this was going to be a very special film I absolutely needed to see. (It was – I’d see it again!)

No need to worry - I’m not about to change the topic of this Say It For You blog from creating content for successful blog marketing into movie reviews!  What I am trying to express is that readers can be influenced in favor of or against something with relative ease.  It’s important that you know what is being said by other bloggers on your business topic, or even what might be posted about your business in particular.

I’m really talking about something bigger than just finding and controlling any negative reviews about your company’s product or service., Consistently combing the blogosphere to see what’s being said that relates to you is a great idea, no doubt, and your business blog posts are tools that allow you to put your own “spin” on any messages the public might be receiving from competitors or critics.

I’m talking about more than using analytics to track your blogs most popular posts and who’s reading your blog, although tracking and measuring results is a terrific tool to help you keep making the blog more and more effective as a marketing tactic for your business.

I just don’t want you, or anybody, to miss your “movie” the way I almost missed seeing “Nine”. I want you to go beyond the question I always pose to new Say It For You business blogging clients “Would you find you?” to become the in-depth interviewer Larry King was for me.

Once searchers have read your blog post, no matter what any other blogger or newspaper columnist was saying on your subject, they’re going to know your company is one they absolutely need to get to know!

Parents may be reassured by finding a video game rate “E” (for everyone), but that’s certainly not the best rating for business blogs. In order for blog posts to be effective as part of a business marketing plan, the content of the blog must be targeted towards a specific audience.

Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  The specific key words and phrases in the title and in the body of the blog post help the search engine direct those searchers to your blog.

Since blogging for business is a “pull marketing” tactic, the more targeted the content and the title can be, the narrower the “rating”, and the better chance your blog has of “getting found”.

The entire process of online search is based on bringing searchers to the right place to find the precise kinds of information they need.

According to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware, there are four qualities or variables that make blogs more successful than traditional websites in targeting and attracting the right kind of visitors: 

• Content-rich
• Specific
• Relevant
• Personal 

You’re writing a blog (or perhaps turning to a professional ghost writer like me for help) in hopes that searchers will not only read what you’ve written, but react favorably by becoming clients or customers. To achieve that outcome, advises blog consultant Mark White, “your knowledge  (of your target audience) needs to influence every aspect of your blog, including:

• What your blog looks like
• The content of the blog
• The style of writing
• The length and frequency of posts
•  How you elicit comments and feedback

In short, your business blog should not be rated “E” because they were never intended for everyone.  “S” for SOMEONE is the best rating for business blogs!

Hard to believe, but my little professional ghost-blogging company, Say It For You, is celebrating its third New Year's today!

The company’s work product, some 2,000 unique writing selections, can be found in clients’ corporate brochures, on client website pages, in press releases and even letters to the editor. Primarily, though, our pieces populate the blogosphere.

2009 was certainly a year of learning for me, and “text” material was everywhere.  I continued to follow big, nationally-known gurus such as Seth Godin and Ted Demopoulos, along with the many local marketing and social media mavens who’ve become my friends and blogging colleagues.

Ideas for content were sparked by magazine and newspaper articles, radio and TV broadcasts, and even billboards and print ads. I paid close attention to how I was treated as a customer by businesses I patronize and by the different charities to which I direct dollars. I devoured books on marketing, SEO, web design, and the vagaries of Google and friends. Networking groups were my classrooms.  Mostly, Say It For You clients were my best teachers.

2009 was also the year in which an informal “Say It For You Manifesto” took form, clarifying a business model that reflects the way I want to do business.

Say It For You is a premium ghost-blogging and blog marketing service that provides your business with enhanced potential for improved standing in search engine results but also highest-quality marketing content for a wide variety of uses. Our blog posts are more than just a collection of keywords; they are strong, thoughtful messages about your business
by writers with extensive business experience.

When you use Say It For You, you receive the following benefits in addition to impeccably written posts:

• A single writer dedicated to understanding your business and keeping abreast
• of topics in your industry. That writer is ready to interface with your SEO expert,     marketing consultant, or web designer.
• Say It For You works with only one client in each field of business, so that all research and promotional efforts are devoted towards benefiting you and your business.
• You will have personal contact with your writer, including regular in-person meetings or phone conferences. Your writer is always available to discuss content and strategy.
• The ideas and input of writers with strong background in business. Our writers have expertise in finance, marketing, operations, event planning, autos, seniors, international commerce, and more.

True, for Say It For You, this is only the third time to celebrate New Year’s.  But it seems that every day there’s something new to celebrate and to BLOG about!

Indianapolis Business Journal technology columnist Tim Altom isn't a fan of "Power Point fashionistas" who use all the animation trickery the program can provide.  "Too much, too fast, too self-conscious" is how he describes many of the presentations he's had to sit through.

I couldn't agree more, as I brought out in "Blogs, Like PowerPoint Presentations, Can Be Boons or Banes". I suggested thinking of each blog post as one slide in a PowerPoint.

Even Robert Gaskins, co-creator of PowerPoint, explains that the technology was never intended for showing an entire proposal - just a quick summary, and that relationship is precisely applicable to a business' blog posts relative to the corporate website.

Business bloggers would do well to pay heed to several of Altom's suggestions about effective use of Power Point slides:

1.   Slides should be used to set the stage for a conversation…Slides.work fine if they're meant only to cue and remind.
Blog posts can cue and remind as well, with each post focused on just one new piece of information, a unique approach to a subject, an anecdote, a myth busted or a problem solved.

2.   Altom put together charts from a client's own data, but in ways the client had not thought of, revealing things the customer hadn't seen before.
One excellent use of a business blog post is to do the same, presenting a new approach to familiar information.

3.   Most speeches can do just fine without slides. But there are occasions when you're not able to dialogue…
In fact, blogging for business is exactly such an "occasion". Pull marketing is all about attracting attention from the right kind of strangers, those unaware of the name of your business, who arrive at your blog because they are searching for something that relates to what you do. The dialogue cannot begin until those strangers find you online. 
 

• Too much: (keep blog posts short and focused on one idea)
• Too fast: (keep posts conversational and informal in tone)
• Too self-conscious: (keep it about them and their needs, yet don't be reluctant       to include calls to action in your blog posts)

The old saying “Practice makes perfect” was never the same once coach Vince Lombardi had pointed out that, no, it’s only perfect practice that can help players achieve perfection.  

Psychology professor K. Anders Ericsson, who has spent twenty-five years analyzing high-flying professionals, draws a somewhat different conclusion.  Elite performers in any field, he says, engage in deliberate practice, an effortful activity designed to improve performance.

For example, Ericsson says, most medical diagnosticians see a patient once or twice and then move on, repeating this process thousands of times over many years. The most successful diagnosticians, by contrast, spend time following up on their patients to compare what the physician was thinking at the time of diagnosis with the actual patient outcome. “Just because you've been walking for 55 years doesn’t mean you’re getting better at it,” observes Ericsson.    
   
While practice may need to be perfect to win football games or deliberate to excel in medical diagnostics, plain old practice can play a very important role in business blogging. Momentum in the online rankings race comes from frequency of posting blogs and from building up longevity by consistently posting content on the Web over long periods of time.

In Quamat’s The Go To How To Blogging Guide, the authors note that many start out blogging with the best of intentions, but then find themselves unable to keep up the discipline. Tennis coach Spencer Fields might have been talking about business bloggers instead of college tennis stars when he summed up the problem: “Often they start out strong, but fizzle toward the end.”

Playing a game where the rules are constantly changing poses special challenges - the answer to the question “What do search engines want?” might be different next week than it was yesterday. On one thing, though, most mavens appear in agreement: One secret to winning search is consistent posting of relevant content on the Web.

Given the multiple demands on most business owners’ time, the level of “deliberate practice” it takes to win online search rankings might fall, in many cases, to professional ghost bloggers like Say It For You!

The old saying about a chain being only as strong as its weakest link is certainly true of blogs.  Each time you publish a post, that post becomes the newest link in your blog chain. Actually, it becomes the first link in your blog chain, because all your posts remain on the Internet, appearing in reverse chronological order.

The chain concept is the secret behind blogging’s effectiveness in helping your company or professional practice get found.  “With blogs you’re casting a super-large net of keywords,” explains Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware. “By nature, blogs have more of the positive variables that search engines are looking   for when compared to a website,” he adds, citing four blog qualities:


1. Content-rich
Each blog post should offer expert information and advice in a professional, easy-to-understand way.  Visual aids such as the font you use, bolding, italics, photos, and charts can all add interest, but the main job of business blog posts is to assure visitors they’ve come to the right place, and to tell them why that’s so.

2.  Specific
Arriving at your blog, Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  Give them “Just-the-facts-Ma’am” satisfaction.

3.  Relevant
Keywords and phrases in the title and in the body of your blog post help search engines make as close a match as possible between the question and the answer, the problem and the solution, or the need and the product or service. Keep those “key people” – your blog visitors – in mind whenever you post!

4.  Personal
“Though we live with digital technology, it’s still an analog world,” comments Tony Fannin of Be Branded. Great marketing, he points out, is still about humans talking to humans, and blogs must give readers a sense of real people talking. (The essence of my work as a professional ghost blogger is to capture your personality and your message and express that to your customers and clients.) 

Before you hit “Publish” or “Submit”, give each of your blog posts the once-over to be sure that newest link in your blog chain meets the “Big Four” test!

Sales trainers speak of having a "unique value proposition".

Marketing guru Jim Ackerman recommends that each provider of products or services be able to complete this sentence:  "I am the only…………". 

Business coach Lois Creamer advises being crystal clear about who you are and what you do - and creating a "positioning statement"™ to tell others about it.

It's obvious the big question on buyers' minds is "Why you?", and that if you want their business, you need a succinct statement about what makes you special. In other words, what's the "only-ness" of

• your products
• your services
• your approach

Quite early on in building my Say It For You professional ghost-blogging business, I made a pivotal decision in the only-ness department.  Now, this may be controversial, and other ghost writers may think otherwise, but here's my idea of how things should work:

I consider blogging to be one tactic in any business' overall marketing strategy, with Say It For You becoming part of each of my business clients' marketing team. The goal is to hone the business' message and then get it out online, working to "win search" and increase business. So far, I think, everyone would agree. 

But, to me, this is like gearing up for a basketball or football game.  Our team members respect the opposing team and treat its members with courtesy and consideration, but, bottom line, we're out to win the game.  Every point we score means a point the other team doesn't.

Moving a blog from Page 19 on Google or Bing up to Page 1 means some other blogs are being moved down. The way I see it, I can't be a team player for both teams.  What that says to me is that I can't be a ghost blogger for two different florists, or two different patent law attorneys, two different restaurants, or two competitors in any industry or profession.. 

My team and I at Say It For You need to be dedicated to the task of conveying your only-ness.  And so, your business is going to be our one-and-only, no matter what game you're playing!
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