Our first article in today's newsletter states that soon, every person in the world will be part of a global small business. As we have recently seen, the world has become much more flat and small. That is, it is now much easier to connect with someone who is further than a short car ride away from you. Additionally, all around the world, more people than ever before have access to the Internet and other technological tools. So, while it has become easier to compete, there is more competition than ever before.
If there is more competition than ever before, what can you do to differentiate your business? One step your business could take is building a blog and strengthening your company's internet strategy. Through building a blog, you can prove to prospective customers that you are an expert in your industry or niche, while promoting your company on the Internet.
We have written about the many ways a blog can help your company connect with industry leaders and customers, and how they can build your company's brand. But how can you quickly, yet effectively, take advantage of that technology to integrate it into your businesses' operations?
Some of our recommendations in our webinar included setting goals for your company's blog, surveying the Internet to see the different kinds of blogs available, and using other social media sites to promote your own blog. You can learn more about all of these strategies by reading the newsletter, which can be found here.
When reading the newsletter, try to record your thoughts on the various topics. Record strategies and ideas that could help your business, and write down anything that comes to your mind. Develop strategies and a plan, and start writing.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Does Your Company Have a Blog?
As we mentioned in our webinar earlier this week, blogs are now an important marketing strategy. Blogs are inexpensive, they help companies to connect with other leaders in their industry and current and prospective clients, make them a trusted leader, build your company's brand, and help with search engine optimization.
Yet, many companies, especially small businesses, do not have blogs, and they do not know of their Return on Investment. They are missing out on tremendous opportunity. In fact, a recent study concretely shows how blogs can improve a business' operations. In the study, businesses that had blogs experienced:
Yet, many companies, especially small businesses, do not have blogs, and they do not know of their Return on Investment. They are missing out on tremendous opportunity. In fact, a recent study concretely shows how blogs can improve a business' operations. In the study, businesses that had blogs experienced:
- 55% more visitors to their website
- 97% more links to their website
- 434% more indexed pages
Continue reading our blog and newsletter for more tips on how your company can build or improve its blog.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Webinar: Top 10 Tips to Build and Improve Your Company's Blog
Top 10 Tips Webinar Series
Top 10 Tips to Build and Improve Your Company's Blog
Tuesday, October 27th 2:00PM – 2:45PM ET
Top Ten Tips is a series of practical, fact-based webinars using the Path To Success methodology developed at IntellaCore. The webinars are short, hard-hitting, and are always combined with a whitepaper. Each webinar breaks down an important way that a company can increase revenue, reduce costs, and become a sustainable, competitive business.
You probably know what a blog is. You may even have one for your business. But you may not be aware that blogs can enhance your company's marketing capabilities by attracting a larger audience to your company and its website. Attend this webinar to learn how to set up your company's blog, and how to start using it to effectively reach new customers and engage current customers.
This webinar will be held on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 2:00 ET. Click here to register (http://actevarsvp.com/event/
The top ten tips you will learn about in the webinar are:
- Set goals for your company's blog
- Survey the Internet and other blogs
- Decide on a blogging platform
- Customize your company's blog
- Add web analytics to the blog
- Start writing
- Market your company's blog
- Build your blog's personality
- Increase the traffic to your company's blog
- Build participation on your company's blog
While there are many international experts or technology experts, we are both. IntellaCore has a unique point of view because we are positioned at the critical crossroad where very few are -- that place where the global economy meets the Internet. Based on decades of experience in both International business and Internet-based activity, Path to Success aligns technology to the business plan, internally transforms the operations of the business, and expands their market presence into new domestic, international, and virtual markets.
Friday, September 18, 2009
5 Easy Steps to Build a Blog for Your Business
By now you have probably heard about blogs and somewhat of what they entail. What you may not know is how it can help your business. Many businesses have found that blogs are a great way to express your company's opinions, keep your company in your customers' minds, and create discussion among your readers. Blogs are a social media that can enhance your company's marketing capabilities.
Blogs can attract a larger audience to your business. When used in combination with other social media strategies, like Twitter and LinkedIn, visitors who are attracted to your products or services may be able to find your website more easily. Most blogs are constructed to offer a high degree of search engine access, creating even more chances for consumers to come across your business.
We have compiled five easy steps to start building your own blog. Read them below and start writing!
1. Set Goals for your Blog
First, you need to pick out what you are blogging about. If you do not determine what you are blogging about, your blog will soon die. Find your blog's niche and then go from there. Choose a topic you have a lot to talk about, pick something that interests you, and pick something that will further your career.
Then, you need to set goals for yourself and determine what you are trying to accomplish with your blog. Ask yourself questions like: Do I want to start a blog to complement my business, products, and services? For notoriety? To open doors to other opportunities? To help others? After you have answered these questions, develop a mission statement outlining what the blog is meant to achieve and how it will benefit your company as well as your readers.
Next, you need to create an interesting title, one that will spark curiosity in its viewers and intrigue them to click the link and read on. Humor is always the best way to catch a viewer's eye, but your title does not have to be funny as long as it remains alluring to readers. Consider the title an extension of your company's branding.
2. Decide on the Platform You Will Host Your Blog on
You will have to choose if you want your blog to be on a hosted or non-hosted platform. There are pros and cons to each. More serious bloggers use non-hosted blogs, while some less experienced bloggers use hosted blogs. With a hosted platform like Blogger or Type Pad, your blog will be housed on the platform’s server. Choose this option if you do not have a website, or if you are unsure of how to host the blog on your own website. Also, if you are a beginner, hosted blogs are definitely easier to use. On the other hand, these types of blogs usually look less professional.
A non-hosted blog, like Wordpress, is housed on your server. Use this option if you or someone in your company can easily determine how to host a blog on your website. Non-hosted blogs do give you more control over the way your blog works, but you should be comfortable with HTML, CSS, and PHP.
3. Customize Your Blog
Once you have your blog set up, you will want to begin customizing it. You definitely want your blog to be unique and stand out from other blogs in both voice and style. If you are experienced with HTML and CSS, you can probably build your own template, or build off other available templates. However, if you are a beginner, you will want to first start with a template that appeals to you.
Once you have a template, start changing it to your own specifications. You can add a new banner at the top of the page. This could be your company's logo. Change the color scheme if you would like to. And add some widgets, but not too many because you don't want to drag a reader's attention away from your content. Add your company's Twitter feed or a custom RSS newsfeed to a sidebar. And definitely add photos. Whether the pictures are of you, your business, or pictures that pertain to the content of your blog, they will catch a reader's eye and draw them in. If you are using Wordpress, install some plugins for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking, and plugins that enhance the performance of the blog.
4. Add Web Analytics to Your Blog
Who is reading your blog? What are the most popular posts? How are visitors finding your blog? Web analytics can show you this. When web analytics are installed on your blog, you can see which posts are your most popular, and then write more like them to keep people coming back to your website.
You can also analyze referring links - the links on other websites that people click on to get to yours. Figure out which sites are linking to yours, and then build a relationship with those sites so they will continue to link to your site. You can also see what visitors are typing into search engines to get to your site. If there are some keyword searches that show up many times, focus on those. If there are some keywords that don't see in the results, focus on them and write more posts about them.
5. Start Writing
To start off, make an interesting first post about you and your blog. You want to catch the reader's attention, so tell a little bit about what makes your company and your blog unique and why this blog will interest them.
Once you have the first post done, start to focus on writing actual content for your blog. This may be the biggest challenge. Make sure you are writing about something that intrigues you, that way you will have more to say and will avoid the common blogger dread of getting "burned out." In order to stay true to your audience, research and be sure about your facts to maintain your blog's credibility. However, your content does not have to remain heavy and packed with pure information. Write in your own voice and provide interesting thoughts and opinions. Your readers should enjoy reading your blog, find value in it, and want to stay tuned to see what is to come.
Finally, socialize with other bloggers. Begin by fraternizing with bloggers like you. Be yourself but be warned not to give out any personal data, passwords, or even your analytics report.
Blogs can attract a larger audience to your business. When used in combination with other social media strategies, like Twitter and LinkedIn, visitors who are attracted to your products or services may be able to find your website more easily. Most blogs are constructed to offer a high degree of search engine access, creating even more chances for consumers to come across your business.
We have compiled five easy steps to start building your own blog. Read them below and start writing!
1. Set Goals for your Blog
First, you need to pick out what you are blogging about. If you do not determine what you are blogging about, your blog will soon die. Find your blog's niche and then go from there. Choose a topic you have a lot to talk about, pick something that interests you, and pick something that will further your career.
Then, you need to set goals for yourself and determine what you are trying to accomplish with your blog. Ask yourself questions like: Do I want to start a blog to complement my business, products, and services? For notoriety? To open doors to other opportunities? To help others? After you have answered these questions, develop a mission statement outlining what the blog is meant to achieve and how it will benefit your company as well as your readers.
Next, you need to create an interesting title, one that will spark curiosity in its viewers and intrigue them to click the link and read on. Humor is always the best way to catch a viewer's eye, but your title does not have to be funny as long as it remains alluring to readers. Consider the title an extension of your company's branding.
2. Decide on the Platform You Will Host Your Blog on
You will have to choose if you want your blog to be on a hosted or non-hosted platform. There are pros and cons to each. More serious bloggers use non-hosted blogs, while some less experienced bloggers use hosted blogs. With a hosted platform like Blogger or Type Pad, your blog will be housed on the platform’s server. Choose this option if you do not have a website, or if you are unsure of how to host the blog on your own website. Also, if you are a beginner, hosted blogs are definitely easier to use. On the other hand, these types of blogs usually look less professional.
A non-hosted blog, like Wordpress, is housed on your server. Use this option if you or someone in your company can easily determine how to host a blog on your website. Non-hosted blogs do give you more control over the way your blog works, but you should be comfortable with HTML, CSS, and PHP.
3. Customize Your Blog
Once you have your blog set up, you will want to begin customizing it. You definitely want your blog to be unique and stand out from other blogs in both voice and style. If you are experienced with HTML and CSS, you can probably build your own template, or build off other available templates. However, if you are a beginner, you will want to first start with a template that appeals to you.
Once you have a template, start changing it to your own specifications. You can add a new banner at the top of the page. This could be your company's logo. Change the color scheme if you would like to. And add some widgets, but not too many because you don't want to drag a reader's attention away from your content. Add your company's Twitter feed or a custom RSS newsfeed to a sidebar. And definitely add photos. Whether the pictures are of you, your business, or pictures that pertain to the content of your blog, they will catch a reader's eye and draw them in. If you are using Wordpress, install some plugins for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking, and plugins that enhance the performance of the blog.
4. Add Web Analytics to Your Blog
Who is reading your blog? What are the most popular posts? How are visitors finding your blog? Web analytics can show you this. When web analytics are installed on your blog, you can see which posts are your most popular, and then write more like them to keep people coming back to your website.
You can also analyze referring links - the links on other websites that people click on to get to yours. Figure out which sites are linking to yours, and then build a relationship with those sites so they will continue to link to your site. You can also see what visitors are typing into search engines to get to your site. If there are some keyword searches that show up many times, focus on those. If there are some keywords that don't see in the results, focus on them and write more posts about them.
5. Start Writing
To start off, make an interesting first post about you and your blog. You want to catch the reader's attention, so tell a little bit about what makes your company and your blog unique and why this blog will interest them.
Once you have the first post done, start to focus on writing actual content for your blog. This may be the biggest challenge. Make sure you are writing about something that intrigues you, that way you will have more to say and will avoid the common blogger dread of getting "burned out." In order to stay true to your audience, research and be sure about your facts to maintain your blog's credibility. However, your content does not have to remain heavy and packed with pure information. Write in your own voice and provide interesting thoughts and opinions. Your readers should enjoy reading your blog, find value in it, and want to stay tuned to see what is to come.
Finally, socialize with other bloggers. Begin by fraternizing with bloggers like you. Be yourself but be warned not to give out any personal data, passwords, or even your analytics report.
Monday, July 27, 2009
What We Are Reading
Everyone has an opinion about something on the Internet. People have opinions on topics from what ice cream topping they prefer to which politician they will be voting for in the next election. But many people have blogs and Twitter accounts, and there are many interesting articles published daily. There is too much content published each day to keep up with. All of the opinions can be overwhelming. Who should you pay attention to?
We decided to sort through some and find the best sources that we use that relate to business and technology. IntellaCore has put together a list of some writers we like and some magazines and newspapers that offer blogs from their writers that we find value in. We hope you can take a minute and review their blogs. Many of them offer advice and excellent tips for business and technology issues.
Chris Brogan
In this blog, Chris Brogan takes a closer look at social media and the effect is it having on popular culture and the business world.
Copyblogger
This blog helps you become a better blogger and gives tips to help you write more effectively.
Problogger
This is a blog to review if you are interested in starting your own blog. There are tips for
Global EDGE
The blog, created by International Business Center at Michigan State University, provides readers with information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities.
Harvard Business Review
The Harvard Business Review Blog is one of the top sources for business information and resources.
CNN International Business
CNN International Business' anchors and correspondents blog with the issues affecting world of business.
Freakonomics
This is one of the more interesting blogs. If you read the book "Freakonomics" and you enjoyed it, read the author's blog on the New York Times website. They claim there is a hidden side to every story, and they try to explain what that hidden side is.
Business Week
There is a lot of blogs on this page to pick from. The topics cover almost anything business related from the auto industry to management to stocks. Business week is one of the premier magazines devoted to business and management.
Global Business Perspectives
This blog's authors are series of people who write on different international topics ranging from business to cultural understanding. The blogs focus on globalization and how it affects businesses and individuals. Their writers are professional business leaders and senior managers at U.S. and international companies.
The Counterintuitive CEO
As founder and CEO of Forrester Research, George F. Colony is one of the most influential thought leaders in the world of business and technology. This blog focuses on CEOs and contains ideas, research, observations, and analysis pointed at increasing the success of CEOs.
EveryDay CIO
This blog, written by IntellaCore's CIO Ian Rudy, discusses how to take this ever changing world of technology and apply it practically to your everyday life to truly improve it and empower yourself and others to accomplish great things.
Wired - Epicenter
This blog is Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene. Explore Wired's other blogs for Wired's thoughts on other topics.
Information Week
This magazine is one of the best when it come to technology and information. The blogs cover many different topics such as but not limited too: cell phones, Google, cloud computing, IT issues, security, analytics, and tech stocks.
This list covers what we look to daily for interesting opinions and breaking news, but this list does not cover all of the sources we read. We will list more in the near future.
If there is a blog that you read or write, let us know and post the link in the comments.
We decided to sort through some and find the best sources that we use that relate to business and technology. IntellaCore has put together a list of some writers we like and some magazines and newspapers that offer blogs from their writers that we find value in. We hope you can take a minute and review their blogs. Many of them offer advice and excellent tips for business and technology issues.
Chris Brogan
In this blog, Chris Brogan takes a closer look at social media and the effect is it having on popular culture and the business world.
Copyblogger
This blog helps you become a better blogger and gives tips to help you write more effectively.
Problogger
This is a blog to review if you are interested in starting your own blog. There are tips for
Global EDGE
The blog, created by International Business Center at Michigan State University, provides readers with information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities.
Harvard Business Review
The Harvard Business Review Blog is one of the top sources for business information and resources.
CNN International Business
CNN International Business' anchors and correspondents blog with the issues affecting world of business.
Freakonomics
This is one of the more interesting blogs. If you read the book "Freakonomics" and you enjoyed it, read the author's blog on the New York Times website. They claim there is a hidden side to every story, and they try to explain what that hidden side is.
Business Week
There is a lot of blogs on this page to pick from. The topics cover almost anything business related from the auto industry to management to stocks. Business week is one of the premier magazines devoted to business and management.
Global Business Perspectives
This blog's authors are series of people who write on different international topics ranging from business to cultural understanding. The blogs focus on globalization and how it affects businesses and individuals. Their writers are professional business leaders and senior managers at U.S. and international companies.
The Counterintuitive CEO
As founder and CEO of Forrester Research, George F. Colony is one of the most influential thought leaders in the world of business and technology. This blog focuses on CEOs and contains ideas, research, observations, and analysis pointed at increasing the success of CEOs.
EveryDay CIO
This blog, written by IntellaCore's CIO Ian Rudy, discusses how to take this ever changing world of technology and apply it practically to your everyday life to truly improve it and empower yourself and others to accomplish great things.
Wired - Epicenter
This blog is Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene. Explore Wired's other blogs for Wired's thoughts on other topics.
Information Week
This magazine is one of the best when it come to technology and information. The blogs cover many different topics such as but not limited too: cell phones, Google, cloud computing, IT issues, security, analytics, and tech stocks.
This list covers what we look to daily for interesting opinions and breaking news, but this list does not cover all of the sources we read. We will list more in the near future.
If there is a blog that you read or write, let us know and post the link in the comments.
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