Content Strategy and Words for Business on the Web • • Feature Post Sales vs. Marketing

Blogs

« Previous Entries

Thanks to Word Sell’s Co-Conversationalists

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Comments are what distinguish blogs from other forms of online communication. At their best, comments are conversation contributions, so I’ve taken to thinking of Word Sell commenters as Word Sell co-conversationalists. Thanks to all of you for making Word Sell a place to learn and share ideas about writing and marketing. We’ve had lots of new conversationalists stop by recently, which is very exciting.

I know it takes time for you to visit, read, and contribute to conversations. I really appreciate the time you take doing those things here, and hope you will let me know how to make Word Sell an even better place to spend time. THANK YOU ALL!

There’s been quite an international flavor to our conversations lately as well. I believe we have people on the list below from Israel, Scotland, Australia, Germany, England, and the U.S. Did I miss anyone?? (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (20)

 

4 Star Social Media, Writing, and Marketing Links

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

A detailed, highly informative explanation of how to use LinkedIn from Jennifer Laycock.

From Traffikd, A Small Blogger’s Guide to Social Media Marketing. Practical advice for those of us with limited budgets and time.

From Tibi Puiu, an incredibly thorough analysis of direct blog ad sales. This could be the winning monetization model for many types of blogs — maybe yours? I’m going to give it a try.

David Meerman Scott reports: Gobbledygook banned by English and Welsh authorities. Score a victory for plain English.

Deb clears up a grammatical problem, the difference between “e.g.” and “i.e.”.

A deep conversation about inspiring words and eloquence, started by Robert Hruzek, goes on!

How Long Does It Take You to Write a Blog Post? Lorelle VanFossen asks — and answers with exceptional clarity.

Anita Campbell relates Real Life Examples of Business Owners Using Social Media. I think real stories are most helpful in understanding the potential of social media. They get you past the theory and technology.

Zemanta Pixie

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (9)

 

Are You Putting your Blog to Work?

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Whenever a company starts thinking about launching a business blog, the question inevitably comes up about time commitment. All this writing takes time, they will say. We don’t have time to do it. Well, there’s no question writing takes time. And, if all you’re going to do is publish posts and let them sit there, you may or may not see much benefit, at least in the first several months.

Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something!
What people sometimes fail to see is that your blog posts are an arsenal of persuasive sales and marketing materials you can deploy at a moment’s notice to hit very specific targets. For instance –

If I want to introduce the concept of business blogs to a client or demonstrate I’ve been in the field for a while, I might send her this business blog post. (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (10)

 

Thank You, Commenters

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Blogging is all about conversations. Lately, the conversations around here have been quite lively, and I really appreciate everyone who has stopped by and shared ideas. I’d like to especially thank these folks, who have made so many contributions to the discussions that go on here.

Thank You!

Andrew, your perspective is refreshing and your thinking is always clear and challenging. “There are probably many factors which contribute to emotion or passion. However, I feel that one of the key determinants of genuine passion or emotion is your level of belief.”

Rosa Say, your Hawaiian perspective is unique, and a healthy influence on writing and marketing topics.

Yvonne Russell, you recently complimented me on being a good connector; if I am, it’s because of following the example of bloggers like you. Your Writer’s Cafe Weekend posts are blog conversation at its best. (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (13)

 

About Wendy Piersall, Sparkplugging, and Twitter-Uppers

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

sparkplugging, Wendy Piersall

Many thanks to Wendy Piersall for publishing two of my posts on her fabulous Sparkplugging blog. Sparkplugging covers quite a range of topics relating to work-at-home business, and I was excited to cover a couple new areas, on the topics of business cartoons and business humor.

Wendy also organized our recent Chicago suburban Tweetup, which was great fun. Had a chance to meet and get to know some very fine folks, including –

Derek Semmler
Barbara Rozgonyi
Kim Fenolio
Jeff O’Hara
Carloyn Shelby
Jerome Hughes
Karen (@DeafMom) (And her charming interpreter, Katie)
Jim Goodrich
Wendy Piersall

Hope I didn’t miss anybody. Special thanks to Jerome for explaining the ins and outs of Twitter. It’s much less of a mystery now.

Can’t wait for the next Tweetup!

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (12)

 

Resistance to Blogs Is Futile

Thursday, June 5th, 2008


Let’s talk about the future of blogging in the context of science fiction.

Of Blogs and the Borg I Sing
Star Trek: The Next Generation was a mind bending television series, way ahead of its time. The most terrifying and prophetic creation in all of Next Generation-dom is the Borg.

The Borg is an alien race characterized by collective consciousness gone wild –

The Borg are depicted as an amalgam of cybernetically enhanced humanoid drones of multiple species, organized as an inter-connected collective with a hive mind, inhabiting a vast region of space with many planets and ships, and sophisticated technology. They operate towards one single-minded purpose: to add the biological and technological distinctiveness of other species to their own, in pursuit of perfection. This is achieved through forced assimilation, a process which transforms individuals and technology into Borg, enhancing individuals by adding synthetic components. (from Wikipedia)

(more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (4)

 

Sales Rep Blogs - Branding Opportunity … or Not

Friday, May 30th, 2008

In the past few weeks I’ve noticed several business blogs started up by B2B and B2C sales people. Some of these bloggers are talking about their industry and services; others are talking about personal stuff. Either way, these folks are using their initiative and being very smart. They’re opening up a new channel to communicate with customers and attract new ones.

From the company’s point of view, I’d want to be out in front of this trend. Can you imagine a firm with 10 or 100 or 1000 sales reps all running their own blogs? What would that do to the firm’s branding, with every blog looking different and communicating a different message?

Danger! Avoid Brand Fragmentation
Companies should take the initiative. Why not create an area on the corporate site for sales blogs? Give the bloggers as much freedom of expression as possible, naturally, but at least provide a consistent blog design and commenting policy. Better to reinforce a firm’s existing brand than sit by passively while 10 or 100 or 1000 new brands are created.

Am I stating the obvious? Do you know companies who are sponsoring sales rep blogs now?

– Brad Shorr, Word Sell, Inc.

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (5)

 

Shifting Values Support Business Blogs

Thursday, May 29th, 2008


Over the almost 30 years I’ve been in business, the communication landscape has changed incredibly. However, if you’re an executive who is isolated, as I was for a long time, you could easily miss it. But I think all these changes explain why business blogs are becoming popular, and why they will be everywhere in the not too distant future. Are you seeing the same changes?

Filters vs. no filters. In the old days, power was defined by how many screens you had in front of you — a switchboard operator, a personal secretary, a Vice President of Nobody Knows What He Does. Today, leaders speak directly to the market through blogs, at shareholder phone conferences, on national radio and TV. Power is defined by transparency. The CEO (misnomer) Blog List I follow has 272 listings as of February 1 2008. (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (8)

 

Finally, My Updated Blogroll

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Been trying to get caught up on my blogroll, along with trying to digest scores of outstanding new blogs I discovered via SOBCon08.

New additions to my updated blogroll —

Erik Potter I’ve been reading Erik for a while; since he started blogging, actually. He writes from the heart.

Kristen King A SOBCon connection. She writes with zest about writing — I like it!

Chris Cree A really nice guy with admirable aspirations and real spirit. Met though Bob Hruzek. (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (10)

 

How to Start Reading Blogs

Monday, May 26th, 2008

Cartoons by Word Sell
When I speak to small and medium size business audiences on business blogs, there are usually a fair number of people who have never read a business blog. Truth be told, reading blogs is the best way to understand them, and taking a thoughtful survey of the blogosphere is the first step in determining whether a blog is right for your business. So, if you want to start reading business blogs, here’s what you do.

1. Learn what RSS feeds are and how they work.

2. Open a Google Reader account so you can start subscribing to blogs. Google Reader is intuitive and widely used and has a lot of useful indexing and sharing functions you might want to use down the road. (more…)

Join the discussion, leave a comment! (10)

 
« Previous Entries