CT Biz Blogs

If you have a small business and you’re thinking about blogging, one big thing you need to think about is how you want your blog to look. All the blogging applications have a way of customizing the look and feel of your blog via templates or themes.

Templates and themes (which is what WordPress calls a template) are types of “skins,” or looks that you can use to customize your blog. One of the great things about modern websites is that the functionality has been separated from the look of the sites. It’s kind of like how my Toyota RAV 4 is really a Corolla. Or is it a Camry? I can never remember.

While that may or may not be ideal for cars, it’s definitely the way to go with web sites, which is what a blog is. You separate out the things you want to have on your blog — such as search, comments, trackbacks, and so on, from the way they’re displayed.

How your blog looks is one way you can make it distinctive and “branded.” As PR and Marketing folks will tell you, this is a good idea.

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Darren Rowse, over at ProBlogger, has come up with a group writing project on blogging goals. I’m taking time out from my posts about blogging risks to write my own thoughts about blogging goals — it’s just too much fun to miss out on.

I’d like to address the small business owner who’s thinking about blogging as a way to connect with customers, share expertise, and build the business. So here are the goals for people thinking about blogging, or about to start blogging. If you’ve just started blogging, it’s not too late to retroactively think about how you did on these goals.

1. Do your research
2. Make your commitment
3. Make your plan
4. Go for it!

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I’m finished with RSS (for now). Here are the posts I’ve written over the last week:

• RSS and you
• How to find and use an RSS reader
• Ways to find RSS feeds, part 1
• Ways to find RSS feeds, part 2: search engines
• Ways to find RSS feeds, part 3
• Links: Articles on RSS to read

That RSS series of posts was going to be an off-the-cuff few words, instigated by Steve Rubel’s post about how even the Kremlin now has RSS feeds. Once started, however, I found I couldn’t stop typing. Frankly, it startled me a little when I got some attention from the Greater Blogosphere.

Now that I’ve poured all this information out of my brain, my next plan is to put this into a more organized form, probably as a PDF for people to download. So I’d appreciate any feedback — what didn’t make sense, what you’d like to see clarified or expanded upon, what was omitted.

Again, it’s not going to be the be-all, one-stop-shopping place for all things RSS. That’s a target that’s that’s moving too fast. But I’m hoping that if I start with more basic information in the intro, it’ll prompt more people to check out RSS and recognize it for the great tool that it is.

And I also want to thank all the folks who found these posts (mostly through Micro Persuasion) and linked back to them. Some I found through the trackbacks, some by following links, some by my referrer stats, and some by — wait for it — RSS. Yes, I have an RSS feed from Technorati for mentions of CT Biz Blogs. That’s the first thing I did when I found out about Technorati. If you have a blog, you need to do that, too.

So thanks to:

• Micro Persuasion
• LexBlog
• Blog Smart Resources Blog
• The Language Artist
• The Agonist
• My Own Public World (who’s using the Sage RSS reader based on reading my post)

Meta tags are part of the HTML code on a web page. They allow web developers to include “metadata,” or information about the data on a page, right into the page itself. Readers won’t see the metadata, search engine crawlers will.

One type of metadata you can have is keywords. This essentially creates a list of keywords about the page, supposedly for the convenience of search engines. However, it’s been abused for a long time by spammers, and so is useless today.

Abuse of keywords happens when spammers just put in long lists of words, often repeating the same word over and over, in an effort to game the system. Search engines have figured this out.

Some web developers put keyword metadata in the code, anyway, on the principle that it can’t hurt, if done non-abusively. But from everything I’ve read, it’s not used by most search engines. However, if you are using a blog inside a company, there still may be a use for the keyword meta tag.

And, there is still some useful metadata, such as the meta tag “description.” From what I’ve seen, this isn’t abused, so it’s a good way of adding additional information about your site. for example, here’s a screen shot of the description I added to my site. You’ll need to know how to tweak the template, if you want to do this.

Search Engine Watch has an excellent article on meta tags, including examples.

There’s another article with an even more techy explanation of meta tags at Builder.com.

The short answer: Keywords are the most frequently used significant words on a web page. To a search engine, this is what the page is about.

The longer answer: When librarians come up with keywords, they are describing what the book, article, whatever, is about. That’s what keywords mean to them. Those actual words may or may not be in the text.

But on the web it’s slightly different. That’s because, while people can abstract from the text to come up with descriptive words, search engines can’t. They typically use automated programs (’bots) that crawl through your site to index the contents. Those bots can count very well, they just can’t think. (more…)

The short answer: trackbacks are like automatic comments.

The slightly longer answer: Most blogging applications have a way to send notices (pings) to any website URLs you reference in a blog post. If you write about a specific blog post you read, for example, you can “ping” that post, and your blogging software will leave, in a similar format to a comment, an excerpt of your post and the URL back to your post.

This is good because it helps keep track of the conversations about topics as they swirl around the blogosphere, and it notifies the blogger that you’ve written about his or her post. That will prompt at least one visit to your site, so the blogger can check you out.

You might see trackbacks sprinkled among regular comments (usually preceded by ellipses (…)) or you might see them in a special section after the post.

There’s more to it than that, and there are, as always, pluses and minuses to trackbacks, although the pluses outweigh the minuses in my book. And there are always slight complications.

But this is just the short and the slightly longer (but not as long as I could be once I get wound up) answer, and that’s enough for a start.

I’ll post the long answer on Monday.

Dan C. Hamilton, of Columbus, Ohio, is a realtor who just started blogging. He’s hoping that blogging will make a difference when you choose a realtor in his area.

[B]logs are going to be a critical asset to successful Realtors of the future. A blog allows readers like you to get inside my head. It is also a forum for me to provide you with tips or notices that may be important to selling or buying your home. If you’re researching which Realtor you would like to sell your house or find you the house of your dreams, you want someone you can trust and someone you think you’ll get along with. Blogging, while it doesn’t tell you exactly who I am, gives you a little more insight the type of person I am. It shows of my personality a little. You see how my mind works and you see my sense of humor. It builds a small trust between us.

Is he right? Only time will tell — it’s early days yet for Dan.

But out of curiosity, I did a little research, trying to find some numbers, just to see if blogging does actually help build business. (more…)

Scenario #1: Imagine that you are a PR and Marketing guy, and you’re really into blogging. You and your co-writer (who writes a popular blog for a large software company) have decided to write a book about why companies should embrace blogging.

You want to build some buzz for this proposed book, you want to share your ideas, and you hope you’ll get some feedback, info, and advice as you write the book. So you decide to blog the book. On the blog, you write about the initial premise and finding a publisher. As time goes on, you ask your readers for suggestions for the book’s title for names of people to interview. You post your complete notes from interviews, and full drafts of your chapters, asking for help with corrections. As the chapters approach final form, you post them as well. Finally, you ask for people who might be interested in reviewing the bound galleys of the book, for final proofing and error-checking.

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This is a problem that all small businesses that have blogs will run up against from time to time — you are already busy, and now you’re adding another thing to your hectic schedule. How can you possibly keep up the pace?

There’s no simple answer to this, but there are tactics you can use to help you when you’re stuck and just don’t have time. Here are a few:

• Get help. If you have employees, perhaps one of them would like to blog. Or ask other people — clients, vendors, family.
• Take pictures. “A day in the life” is always popular, or post pictures of your employees, workbench, or coffee pot. See Signs Never Sleep for examples on that.
• Write a link post. If you have a list of online resources that you check regularly or can recommend, share them.
• Clean out the storage room. You should keep a backlog of post “inventory” for busy days. Drag them out, dust them off, and put them on display. And you can write ahead. Just because a post is time-stamped when it’s published doesn’t mean you have to write it on that date. You can keep a draft in your blog application and quickly post it when the time comes. And many blog applications allow you to pick a date in the future, and the post will automatically publish at that time (not Blogger, Google’s blogging platform, however).

If you’re just beginning, here are a few tips to get you on the right track so that you won’t reach that no-time panic point right away:

• Start small. When you take the plunge and begin blogging, don’t start with an aggressive schedule. That will give you time to learn how you work best with blogging, and what you’ll need for support.
• Have a plan. Create a list of ideas for you to use in a crisis. Have an emergency plan and have a backup plan.
• Have a schedule. Monday - Friday, only on weekends, whatever. If readers know what to expect, they’ll be fine with it.
• “Borrow” from other collateral. Don’t just reproduce your brochures, that’s boring. But you can quote and make a comment or two about what that section means. Here’s a chance to add more depth & the personal touch.

If all else fails and disaster strikes, and you really, really don’t have time — write about that (briefly, of course). Bloggers often say things like “this will be a quiet few days — need to take care of x” and things of that sort. Don’t do it too often, but as my mother would say, “If it happens, it’s not the end of the world!”

The comment feature on blogs is the main way that readers can communicate with the blogger (and each other). I’ve written before about the amazing community that’s sprung up in the comments on Joel Achenbach’s Achenblog.

A post a few days ago on Successful Blog, about comments on posts, prompted Shirley Frazier to make the comment that bloggers shouldn’t make the assumption that readers know about the comments, and know how to comment.  So, I wanted to make sure that my readers know that comments are most welcome!

Comments are useful for a number of reasons. For the blog, they add more information or ideas to the topic. If I hadn’t read the comments on the Successful blog post, I would never have found the comment that inspired this post.  For the commenter, they represent another way to network, and get your own site linked to.  If I hadn’t read the comments, I’d have never have found Shirley’s site, which I’ve subscribed to. It looks very helpful and I recommend you check it out.

Here’s my comment policy, and a quick “how to,” if you’ve never left a comment before. (more…)

In the last two posts I’ve been talking about how bloggers know if someone is linking to them. To recap: There are 4 main ways:

1. email
2. Trackbacks
3. Blog watches/search engines
4. Referrer logs from stats

Read part 1 and part 2 for full details on items 1-3; today I’m going to talk about referrer logs.

4. Referrer logs

Referrer logs are one type of statistic you can collect about the traffic that comes to your blog. There’s a lot of different types of info you can collect – new vs. returning users (if they’ve accepted a cookie), pages viewed, pages they entered on, pages they left, type of browser (called a user agent in stat-speak). (more…)

In Part 1, I talked about two ways of finding out who’s linking to you; via email, and with trackbacks. Here’s the next installment.

3. Blog watches/search engines.

There are a number of search engines which specialize in searching blogs. The first one was Technorati. Other popular blog searches are: Feedster, Blogpulse, and Icerocket.

With the blog search engines you can search for links to your site, and then (and this is the really cool part) subscribe via RSS to those searches. That way, you’ll see any new links whenever you crank up your blog feed reader. (more…)

In a recent post about outbound links on the Naked Conversations blog, Shel Israel called links the “wampum” of blogs. (He and co-author Robert Scoble wrote a new book about blogs called Naked Conversations. They blogged the entire process, from finding a publisher, to drafts of the chapters, to notes about the research that went into the book, and much more. I’m saving my pennies for this book.)

I’ve written before about linking to others and why that’s important (part 1, part 2). The flip side of that is that bloggers who are linked to will investigate the reference, check you out, and perhaps link to you if they feel their readers might be interested. But that’s a maybe — it’s not something a blogger is obligated to do. (more…)

A blog is a collection of commentary and links on a web page, arranged in reverse chronological order. That’s the short answer. But that only tells you what a blog looks like, not what it is, or what it can do for you. A blog is also:

• a type of web site that allows you to quickly and easily create new pages: something web novices can use with a minimum of learning.
• a personal publishing system for the web: a public or private place where you can connect to people by writing small articles (posts) and publishing them on the internet.
• a site businesses can use to expand how they comunicate with their new and existing customers and clients, as well as with vendors, partners, colleagues, and other interested folks.
• a way to reach people looking for your services by providing a findable site full of resources and information on your business.

This site is a blog. It has some features most websites have, such as sidebars with links. It’s got a home page and sub-pages with info. But the main content section is organized a bit differently from regular websites — it’s arranged chronologically. That’s because the main feature of a blog is that it allows you to publish, on a regular basis, posts with news, thoughts, resources, info.

On a regular website, this would be buried somewhere, and the articles would be more formal, longer, and less frequent. That’s good for reference, but not for freqent conversations. And that’s the power of blogs — they are a way to converse with readers on a regular basis. And for businesses, conversations are a much more powerful way to connect with clients and customers than static websites can easily handle.

All the things regular websites can do, you can do with a blog, and vice versa. But blogs are designed for conversations, and markets are conversations.

Here is an article on blogs from a free, online web encyclopedia.

Here is a list of more articles from CTBizBlogs on the basics of blogs and blogging.

Enjoy, explore, engage!

In a nutshell, you should link to other blogs (and websites) because:
• it offers your readers more information or examples.
• it adds your voice to the conversation.
• it extends your network, which helps readers and search engines find you.

I touched on the first in the previous post on reasons for linking to other blogs.

Adding your voice to the conversation is important. It helps establish your expertise. When you write about other resources, examples, or even just fun stuff, you’re demonstrating your knowledge, personality, or both. This helps your customers and clients know who you are.

For example, I was very pleased by the feedback I got from the posts I wrote on examples of small business blogs. (more…)

Sending readers to other blogs.

You may be wondering, “How will linking to other blogs bring users to my blog? Aren’t I sending them away?”

The answer is yes, you are sending readers to other blogs. This is a good thing! Think of it as part of the service you provide to your readers. You’re not just blathering on about something, but showing them examples, or linking them to resources or more information that they might find useful. You’re saying in words and actions that the needs of the customer are paramount. (more…)

When you ask “Why do I need a blog?” the ultimate answer is “to build your business.”

Blogs build your business through sharing your expertise and connecting with your customers. When you post on your blog, maybe not daily, but on a regular basis, you start to build a relationship with your readers.

They might already be customers or clients who heard about your blog through your newsletter, flyer, email, business card, link from your main website, or even a sign in your shop by the cash register. They might be people who haven’t used your services yet, but are looking for information. They find you through a search engine or link from another blog, see that you are knowledgeable and friendly, and then become customers or clients.

To build your business through your blog, you need to bring people to it, and help them find it. You need to build traffic. (more…)

How do people keep up with all these blogging conversations going on all over the place? That’s where webfeeds come in. Also called RSS or syndication, webfeeds represent a convenient way to:

• gather a list of the blogs you’d like to read regularly.
• be notified when new blog posts are created.
• read the new posts in one place.

Without webfeeds, the amount of activity in the “blogosphere” would be impossible to keep up with. Well, it is already impossible to totally keep up with, although some bloggers come close — monitoring over 400 blogs daily. (more…)

You may be wondering why you should bother with a weblog, especially if you’re coming to this blog for the first time. You’ve never heard of blogs before, or you’ve only just heard of them, but never had the time to see what the fuss was all about. Who reads these things, anyway? (more…)

There are many blogging services out there, and more appearing all the time.

In the free & hosted variety, I’m most familiar with Blogger and Live Journal. But there are many more — here’s an article from About.com which lists many blogging services. Free & hosted services are the easiest and quickest way to get into blogging, but, naturally, the features are limited. (more…)

A lot of bloggers begin with a free service, and there’s nothing wrong with that (that’s how I began). The one I’m most familiar with is Blogger, Google’s free, hosted blogging tool.

I’ve created a quick demo showing just how easy it is to start a blog. You’ll need to have Flash to view it, which you can download from Macromedia, here.

It’s a 1.9 MB file, so if you’re on a slow connection and you’d rather download it to view later, off-line, I’ll have a way to do that shortly.

There’s some controversy around Blogger at the moment, (more…)

Here’s the second reason for having a weblog. (Read part one here)
Share your expertise

When you share your expertise and your ideas, you do three things:

1. Show your passion for your business and your chosen work
2. Build confidence in your readers that you know your subject and that you care about what you offer to customers or clients
3. Bring people to your business

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The main three reasons for blogging are listed at the top of this site:

• Connect with your customers
• Share your expertise and thoughts
• Build your business

What does that mean? I’ll tackle these one at a time in a series of posts. (more…)