blogsites.biz

Blogging Insight in a Tire Store

Yesterday I was sitting in the waiting room of a tire repair shop waiting for my tire to be fixed. As I munched on the free day-old popcorn I picked up the most recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine and started leafing through it. What a great magazine! I almost asked the guy at the counter if I could have that issue, but thought that might look a little weird... so instead I came home and found everything I wanted on their website.

I'll be pointing you to a few different articles in the coming week or two related to blogging and how blogging will help you grow your business. The first is an article by Guy Kawasaki called "Blog-a-Thon" and discusses the evangelism of a blog - check it out here.

What point stuck out to you the most? For me it would be #6: Acknowledge and respond to commenters. This is something that I've really tried to focus on over at Normal Rockstar and I believe people have appreciated the effort. It takes very little time, but the payoff can be great.

New Year's Goal for Blogsites.biz

I just finished posting over at Normal Rockstar about an article I came across explaining the difference between New Year's Resolutions and goals. I am embarrassed to look at this site and discover that I haven't posted for a number of months here already... brutal. Here is my New Year's goal for the Blogsites.biz blog: do a minimum of one post per week. So you can hold me accountable to that - starting this week. So stay tuned!

Oct. 4th is "Free Burma Day" for the Blogosphere

If you haven't heard about this yet, you need to jump on board. Tomorrow bloggers around the world will be uniting in support of the people of Burma as they rise up to oppose the militant dictatorship currently in control of the government in their country. I will share my story of my visit to Burma tomorrow as part of my blogpost for Burma. In the meantime, go to Free-Burma.org and register to be a part of the day.

Benefits of Corporate Blogging

If you've been hearing a lot of chatter about "corporate blogging" but are unconvinced that this is a good investment for you or your business, consider the following benefit [HT: Jennifer]:

• Corporate blogs are a way to disseminate important and timely information to your visitors, customers, or other audiences about your company before that information is sent out by someone else (and more directly than using a press release alone). This allows the company to appear more transparent with members of their market.

For the rest of the benefits, check out Jennifer's article.

Merlin Mann and "Inbox Zero"

Merlin Mann over at 43Folders has put together a fantastic series entitled "Inbox Zero" dealing with how to manage and control the onslaught of email we get each and every day without being stuck in our Inbox all day. If you prefer to read some of his pointers, click here. You can also watch a presentation he gave to the folks at Google regarding this concept below.

I've been using his philosophy for the last couple of weeks now and it has been really helpful. But where I've noticed the BIGGEST improvement has actually been in my coworkers, many of whom were previously notoriously bad when it came to email (I would send out time sensitive emails and not hear anything for days). Since they have been implementing Mann's strategies, they have been extremely efficient and responsive. Give it a shot - it may be just what you need to help get you out from under that pile of email in your inbox and free you up to enjoy the day!

Technorati Tags: email, google, inbox zero, productivity, merlin mann

"ROI" or "Reach and Influence"?

One of the hardest questions to answer when discussing blogging with a potential client the question of ROI - return on investment. Will the money I spend on this result in as much or more money coming back to me or my business/organization? This is always a deciding factor in the business world - quite frankly, I would be asking the same question if I was in their shoes.

What makes this such a hard question to answer is the fact that it's dealing in the wrong currency - dollars. The value of blogging CAN translate into hard cash eventually, but more importantly these days is one's ability to reach customers directly and dialog with them. So instead of talking about ROI, we need to be talking about Reach and Influence. Click here to read a great post on how to measure the reach and influence of your blog. [HT: Anne Gentle]

Blogsites.biz in the Blogosphere

Blogger and road dog Spence Smith writes about Blogsites.biz this morning in his post, "Blogsites.biz and Why You Should Start a Blog." Here is part of what he has to say:

"In one of the [Blogsites.biz] posts, there is a phrase that sticks out to me. It says 'blogs are increasingly driving editorial judgment'. Do you know what that means? Here's a great example. Tonight I googled 'American Airlines Blog'. The search page came up with a bunch of complaints about American Airlines. Ouch...So, I googled 'Southwest Airlines Blog'...AHHHH and there as the first entry was www.blogsouthwest.com - Nuts About Southwest. The search page turned up all positive comments about Southwest Airlines.'

Thanks for the endorsement, Spence!

Need to Convert Your CEO into a Blog Evangelist?

Here is a great article by Andy Komack on how to convert your CEO into a blog evangelist. Here's a quick summary of the article - make sure to read the whole thing:

"Hey, other client who has a blog, but doesn’t see how to use it effectively! Yes, you! Didn’t you tell us that one technical comment on a blog post many months ago saved your software team “three weeks of development time”? CEO, you took the time to let us know that you read an article in the Wall Street Journal about CEO blogging and (I think) you said you were ready. What happened? Read THIS POST! I’m a CEO. I’m blogging."

Click here for the rest of the story.

Looking for a Job? Start a Blog

Forget resumes, online job boards and even old-fashioned networking. The hottest way to land your dream job is to write a blog. Experts say blogs can give employers insight into your writing ability and how you think. Plus, a more in-depth look at your qualifications than a standard resume.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Have a Small Business? Start a Blog

Do you have a small business? Do you have a blog? Is "blog" not even in your vocabulary? Here are 5 reasons to start a blog if you are a small business owner:

1. Improved search engine optimization.
2. A blog is an inexpensive form of public relations and marketing.
3. A blog can be more effective than traditional methods of turning prospects into customers.
4. Blogs can help you receive immediate customer feedback.
5. Blogs are easier and less expensive to manage than full-fledged Web sites.

Click here to read the rest of the article.