Work.com Small Business Community Blog

Eve's Top Tips from BlogWorld '08 in Vegas!

On September 19-21, I attended the BlogWorld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas.

It was hands-down the best conference I’ve ever been to. BlogWorld (or BWE08) was a three-day conference with dozens of seminars and panels on new media ideas and case studies. Some of the most prestigious large businesses were presenters, including Intel, Southwest Airlines and Shopzilla. There were hundreds of small business owners, too.

Everyone in attendance -- geeks, thinkers, leaders and decision makers -- was there to learn about blogging for business and using social media to increase ROI.

Seminars and panels included: 

• Corporate Blogging Myths & Realities
• How to Track, Measure & Adjust Corporate Blogs for Maximum ROI
• Finding Your New Media Voice

Here are the top things I learned about how to use blogs and social media for small business:

1. Blogs are GREAT for SEO! More traffic means more clients! 

2. Don't be afraid of negative comments your company might receive on your small business blog. After all, if they're not saying it on your blog, they're saying it somewhere else! Better on your blog, where you have the chance to make things right.

3. Implement social media platforms like ShareThis so your clients, prospects and employees can share your company's valuable products and services. 

4. Business blogging should be done by employees with the most passion. You don't have to hire a pro or have a PR dept. blog for you -- if you've got the excitement needed to generate buzz, go for it! An employee is 5 times more credible than a C-Level blogger!

5. Above all, remember that people buy from PEOPLE, not corporations. By allowing your clients and prospects to see a human face behind the product you're selling, you can increase your chances of closing that next deal.

You can see the archive of "tweets" (on the microblogging site Twitter) from BlogWorld: and follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/evelopez to see my live tweets from the conference seminars and ask for advice on small business blogging.

Some businesses that have incorporated blogging into their companies with great success include Zappos, The Franchise King, Tribal Seduction, eBillme, Chris Brogan, New Media Chatter and Small Business Trends.

Tell us about your success stories with your business blog!

BWE08, business blogging, blogworld

How to Make Your Corporate Blog More Popular

How do you get people to read your corporate blog? First of all, you of course must be providing something of use to your audience, and that probably is not promotion of your own company in every blog post. So sit down and think about what your customers need. For example, if you are a plumber, instead of talking about your speedy service and special promotions all the time, try blogging about useful home maintenance tips, such as how homeowners can keep their pipes healthy or how to use a snake.

But that will cut into our business, you protest. Don't worry. I just had a bathtub clog where the plumber had to insert the snake from an outside pipe and had to snake six times and go thirty feet before he snagged the hairball in the old, rusty pipes. I couldn't have done that myself, but the plumber created a lot of goodwill and trust with me by whispering home remedies to keep the water flowing better and teaching me how to turn off the main water main in case of an overflow. I will certainly call him next time my snaking abilities are challenged!

Important in drawing people to your blog is linking to other useful resources that are not your own. You will be establishing a robust web presence as the resources you link to become aware of you and perhaps may link back one of these days. Keeping abreast of current and popular news for your industry or audience and writing about it will help new people to find you. For example, going back to the plumbing blog, maybe there's some hot news about toilets? joy ninja quotes new media consultant Marshall Kirkpatrick about how to make your business blog more popular. He suggests following TechMeme and writing posts about what's popular, thus joining the conversation.

"The theory is that by responding to popular waves of interest in the online conversation in your chosen industry, you get to be part of the conversation while it's hot."

Consistency is also important. If you're busy running or operating a business, finding time to blog at regular intervals can be difficult, but it really helps build your traffic if visitors can depend on fresh and relevant posts. Blogger Rohit Bhargava has some great tips on finding time to blog when it's not your day job.

Mogulettes-in-the-Making

I love discovering new blogs devoted to supporting people who are starting or running their own businesses! I was in Technorati today checking out new links to Work.com, which is how I find out about many interesting business blogs I didn't know about before.

Mogulettes-in-the-Making is a blog for women who give each other feedback and support in "launching their own business empires, no matter the size."

"What Would you Try If You Could Not Fail?" reads the blog tagline. I have seen that trait over and over in the entrepreneurs I encounter - a strong sense of bravery, which fuels their determination to implement their vision.

P.S. Check out Mogulette-in-the-Making author Carmina Perez's Work.com profile.

Tags: entrepreneur, startup