The Out-Smarts Blog and Podcast

The new Wired magazine arrived today and in it (p132) is a great map of “The Secret Life of a Blog Post” - a cartographic view of what happens between hitting publish and your post reaching its audience. Apparently when you post, your musing goes through several scrapes, pings, indexes and crawls automatically before reaching the reader.

Well that might be the case for blogs hosted in a blog service like Wordpress but I have found that for corporate branded blogs that are an extension of a companies web site that this is not the case at all: you have to do the legwork yourself if you want your blog to be picked up by all the right creepers.

Here are some tips:

• Always remember to set up auto pings or manual pings with blog engines like: Technorati so that these servers know your blog is out there and crawl it for updates and new posts.
• Remember also to submit the blog URL to search engines and set up auto pings with those too.
• And lastly submit your blog feeds to RSS aggregators or appropriate on-line media mashers.

Once you’ve done that go back to the map, track the process and you should be good.

1. Use Twitter to market to you audience (assuming your audience are Twits that is (or should that be Tweets?). It can be used for branding and networking effectively. Dosh dosh lists 17 more Twitter marketing applications and innovative Tweet uses.

2. Participate in the blogosphere. Find blogs pertaining to your industry or your target audience and get commenting. You would be amazed at how this can help spread the word.

3. Find out about new technologies that make it easier for people to do business with you - like Skype - the on-line phone service or that help you present your offering more effectively - like Flickr the photo site -  and make full use of them on your website.

4. Get creative with video clips about your company: make them quirky, funny or alternative and post on YouTube. You never know, this could be the next big meme.

5. If your not comfortable with writing blog comments or posts or are camera shy, why not consider a Podcasting your message. Its much easier than you think.

6. When you find interesting articles, pages or clips, share them with your others in your field. I Stumble but hear that Magnolia and Deli.cio.us are great for this too.

7. Join Facebook, MySpace or Linked In (or all three) and get networking. You know the old adage about a friend of a friend being your friend too: its so much easier to do business with people you’ve been referred to by a friend or colleague.

8. Use Internet advertising technologies such as AdWords or Facebook Social to reach and promote to the right audience.

9. Forums or chat rooms where your audience collaborate are great ways to get involved, join the conversation and establish expertise with a wider audience.

10. Get wiki with it. Join Wikipedia and share your knowledge (but be careful not to be blatantly corporate or your posts will just get deleted) with the global audience.

I attended a great presentation last night at the Professional Women’s Network meeting here in not so sunny Vancouver. It was all about leadership and it was great to hear that I am not the only one who gets her knickers in a twist (metaphorically speaking off course!) in advance of unknown situations.

The speaker, Tana Heminsley talked about measures that you can take in advance of challenging meetings to make it easier on yourself. I found them particularly interesting as many of these can be applied to new blogosphere participants, nervous about joining the conversation.

Preparation - in advance of a meeting Tana pointed out that its always good to find out as much as you can about the subject matter, research the topic and get a feel for issues. Same goes for the blogosphere: before commenting on blogs or launching your own blog its important to research and find out what people are already saying about your area of interest, find out what the hot topics are and watch and learn about whats appropriate in a blog and whats not.

Formulate - Once you are comfortable with the kind of information flowing in the blogoshere, it is time to contribute. Formulate your opinions on the topic in question - its always good to write them down so that you can reference back if need be. Get ready to join in.

Confidence - when contributing to the blogosphere always believe in your abilitities. You know as much as the next person and probably more and your opinions are valid - always remember that. Have confidence to launch your own blog and/or comment on others especially on a high profile sites that may make you nervous. Feel the fear and get on with it!

Reflection - its always good to reflect on your posts or comments. Don’t just write them and forget. Think about what you said, how you said it and feel proud that you were able to communicate your opinions in the way you did. Consider ways that you can get your points across more effectively next time or how you can improve on your posts to make them more interesting for your audience.

Becoming active in the blogosphere needn’t make you nervous. With a little preparation up front, a pinch of confidence and the ability to reflect and improve your contributions, you will banish blog nerves. Thanks to Tana for the inspiration!

At a session I attended this week at CES questions were posed of 4 panelists on the subject of taking the blogosphere seriously. The panelists consisted of industry experts including “rock star” blogger (the mediator’s title not mine) Ryan Block from Engadget. Here are a couple of the questions posed with my slant on the answers:

Who isn’t taking the blogosphere seriously? Answer - there are 70 million blogs out there and thousands more added daily if corporations aren’t taking it seriously then a heck of a big chunk of their client base is. Simply put there are people who get it and people who don’t. Those who do are reaping the rewards and those who don’t face extinction.

When asked how the panelists would approach convincing a CEO to blog, the general consensus seemed to be that if a company isn’t using the blogosphere (either to listen or to communicate) then they risk losing control of their brand completely.

Judging by the turnout at the session most CESers were more interested in gadgetry than the fine art of blogging - more fool them perhaps. For more ruminations from the panelists:Taking the Blogosphere Seriously, Consumer Generated Media, David La Plante, Really? This is my job.

We just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas and what a blast that was with over 2,700 vendors showcasing everything from the latest, skinniest, largest TVs to desktop clocks of all things. I went to the show with great intentions of blogging from the floor but alas my laptop died en route. Not to worry I thought - I’ll be able to access the Internet at a booth and indeed that was the case but my intentions were thwarted once again as I was unable to find the site because I had a symbol in the wrong place of my long convoluted login URL. What a cheek I have to call myself a blogger when instead of real time posts I am reduced to this - 2 days later….

Still the whole experience was good as it gave me focus at an otherwise overwhelming event. My focus: to find the device of my dreams that would enable me to easily blog regardless of where I am. In my hunt I looked at smart phones, laptops and other PDA type devices and I want to share my 2 favorites - those that I drooled on at the booth and dream about using to make my blog life easier.

The first is Sony’s latest Micro PC the VGM-UX490N/C. At about the size of a book and opening to a small keyboard and screen I could easily carry this device to blog anywhere and even better, it has the full functionality of a laptop 3 times the size. Sony gets around the issue of the small screen being difficult to read by incorporating a neat zoom mode.

The other device of my dreams was the Samsung SPH-P9200 another micro PC this time with an extendable keyboard that would make blog input much easier. Unfortunately Samsung had a blanket ban on photography at their booth (why this is I have no idea given that its images are freely available to anyone who cares to Google it) so I can’t share any more of my own grainy images :o) but check it out anyway and you’ll see what I mean. Unfortunately the device doesn’t seem to be available in Canada yet so I’ll have to be patient on that one.

Next time I go to CES I’ll be taking one of these sweet tools with me and I will blog from the floor…. I wonder which one it will be?

Back in the last century the web was seen as a great way to create an on-line brochure. The idea was that if you had a web presence you could be attracting new business 24/7 while you were sleeping. Alas the days of the static website have come to an end. Its simply not good enough these days to slap up a web site and leave it to stagnate for months. There’s nothing worse from an audience perspective than returning to a website that hasn’t changed since your last visit or worse a site that has dated “news”. I don’t know about you but when I go to a site like that I assume the company is kaput and go elsewhere.

A website is no different from having a phone, if no one knows your number then no one is going to call, if you don’t answer or return your calls then having the phone is pointless. Interaction is key. Likewise a website is simply a tool to facilitate business but if there’s no interaction you may as well not bother.

Fortunately technology has also come a long way in the last decade or so and its becoming easier and easier to create dynamic user experiences that will keep visitors coming back. A blog, for example is the perfect way to ensure that your site is updated regularly and it encourages users to interact. RSS feeds are another way to make your site fresh by linking to applicable news feeds or posts from iconic blogs in your industry. Using photo and video technologies to showcase your offering and allow for an enhanced user epxerience is made simple by the likes of Flickr and You Tube. None of these techniques cost much to implement but the impact of these on the effectiveness of your web site can be huge.

Brr Brr Brr Brr - is there anybody out there?

One of the best ways to drive more traffic to your blog is to have as many incoming links as possible. I found this great post at Hubspot that provides a list of blog directories you can easily submit your blog to as well as useful links to other related information and resources.

Julie Anderson, VP of Marketing at PeopleMaps was kind enough to share their experiences with corporate blogging on our Facebook discussion forum. PeopleMaps puts blog technology to good use for different purposes in their organisation:

“PeopleMaps has been blogging for a while - and we do it in a few different ways:

We use our main company blog as our news channel out to all our audiences. We ask new customers to subscribe to email updates to be sure they’re kept up to date with our activities. We don’t blog all the time on this channel - people are too busy to read our news every day!

We use 2 other blogs to speak to two separate audiences - our consumer audience and our corporate audience. This allows us to be specific in our topics - and builds up our traffic independently from our website SEO and online advertising activities.

Internally we blog to keep various other groups informed of our activities - e.g. our shareholders. These blogs are private as we don’t want just anyone to read that info - the blog technology is just really easy to use and a great way to push out information informally, without relying on email.

Oh, and we use Typepad currently as it was the easiest platform to get started with. We’re messing around with WordPress for some other activities though.”

Splashed across the front of today’s Vancouver Sun is the so called “future of books” - the Amazon Kindle: an electronic reading device that allows readers to enjoy up to 200 books at once. Retailing at $399 the Kindle also supports blogs, magazines and newspapers allowing the busy exec to access some good reading whenever the chance pops up.

Using a model similar to Apple’s iPod and iTunes, users simply connect to Amazon from wherever they may be (using advanced cellphone modem technology built in to the Kindle) and buy books or subscribe to dailies and mags. Amazon keeps a back up so you don’t have to worry if your Kindle is stolen and connection fees are built in to the price of the content you buy so your cell phone provider needn’t even know. According to the promotional video the battery lasts for hours and the screen is easy to view (its monotone granted, but it does look quite simple and the font size is changeable).

The Kindle concept is great but given the fact I am already weighed down with devices (cellphone, iPod, laptop…..) I am not sure if the value ad and cost entice me to buy just yet (especially considering I already get some of the blogs they provide free of charge) - just as well really since the service is not available in Canada anyway.

I am awaiting feedback from Amazon as to how to submit a blog (I’ll keep you posted on that one!).

When I meet with executives in the finance sector and talk about new media adoption I usually get the response that investors are typically old school and like to do business the “traditional” way. I always have to ask about the next generation of investors - those for whom new media adoption is the norm: have these financial organisations considered how they will attract these new investors in the future without using new media?

Steadyhand, a local financial organisation that provides mutual funds does just that. It bucks the trend both in terms of the mutual funds services it provides and its approach to new media adoption which is leading edge to say the least. The company has adopted a blogging policy that encourages all employees to contribute as well as Internet advertising and social marketing strategies that effectively reach and involve their target audience.

Traditional finance companies should take note - this is the way of the future.