Fall 2008 - Marketing Dimensions from Felber & Felber Marketing

	Fall 2008

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I Have a Blog. Now What?

By Katy Landers
If I had a dollar for the amount of times I have heard that question in the last few months... well, you know the rest. Since its release, a growing number of people are reading our blog, Adventures in Marketing, on a daily basis. Many of our readers are wondering how they, too, can have daily content, devoted readers and the greatest treasure of all—comments!

John Sanelli, an engineer and business owner, has just started his first blog (with a little prodding from us). Sanelli's company, 24plug, provides robust and connected automated test solutions for scientists and engineers. What the heck do I know about automated test solutions and engineering? Nothing yet. What does an engineer know about blogging? Nothing... yet. But, do I know how to make blogging work for his company? Absolutely.

I did not sugar coat it for Sanelli, or anyone else, who has asked my advice about blogging basics. It isn't easy and it takes a strong time commitment. Most of all, it will take some time to reach hundreds (or even thousands) of readers on a daily basis; but, here are a few tips I have stumbled upon during my self-discovery blogging phase.

Get started already!

Pop quiz: What came first, the chicken or the egg? In Mother Goose's world this question cannot be answered—but in the blogging world it can. What came first, your readers or your blog? You have to first create a blog in order to have readers. Go ahead, take a chance and create a blog on one of the many free blogging sites out there such as Blogger.com, TypePad.com and LiveJournal.com.

"Content is king."

Rob reminds us of this weekly, and for good reason. Publish quality content readers care about and you will gradually build a loyal following. Current events, local interest topics and trends are always reliable topics for blogs. "Off topic" topics are acceptable, but keep the focus on the general theme of the blog. This type of consistency is the glue that keeps your readers engaged; after all, they found you based on your blog's focus, so stick to your theme.

Pace yourself.

Over exerting yourself with blogs is a common injury. Instead, set a realistic goal for yourself, being mindful of your schedule. Try the goal of one small entry per day, or one in depth blog per week. And of course, reward yourself for meeting (and exceeding!) these goals.

Be a blog reader, not just a writer.

Reading your peers' blogs may inspire you to write about different subjects. The more research you can do, the better informed you will be and the better your content will be perceived.

Leave your mark.

When you are reading other blogs and have something to say, leave a comment. When commenting, ensure to leave a link to your blog along with your name or "blogger ID." You will be thoroughly impressed with the amount of traffic your blog will receive. And, as always, use caution when posting on behalf of your company because your message then becomes the company's message.

Track your progress.

There are many sites out there promising to effectively deliver traffic statistics to you—some of them are good, some of them are horrendous. The best one I have found is Statcounter.com. It not only tells you the amount of visitors, but also where in the world they are located and which pages they looked at. Want to know which search or key words they used to find you? Statcounter.com can do it all.

Keep your cool.

Good things do come to those who wait—patiently. As an added incentive, the more content you have on your page, the higher the chance is of search engine spiders picking up different words in your blog.

Final advice.

When I started out blogging I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Presently, I am somewhere in the middle, hopefully moving towards the best. I have received nothing but positive compliments on the blog's format, content and functionality — despite my obsessive nature in always trying to think of witty topics.

So, what ever happened with Sanelli's company? I encouraged him to jump in head first and start his blog with current engineering trends and his thoughts on them. He opted to pay for his blog site to allow for more customization options and shows something a little more formal than the free alternatives. I am proud to say Sanelli remains committed to updating his blog, blogs.24plug.com, every few weeks and has strived to deliver excellent content. I wish him, and all of you, the best of luck with blogging.

Contact Felber & Felber Marketing at 330.963.3664 or info@felberandfelber.com.

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