Tech Lab

BY PAMELA BIR

Blogging: The Next Big Thing, Part 2

In the July/August issue's edition of "Tech Lab," we introduced you to the marketing value of blogging. Here's more on the topic.

Okay, so you've decided to start a blog. Now what?

Blog Creation

The two leading software programs for creating blogs are free. Yes, as in no cost. You can download WordPress or Blogger and get started. TypePad is only $4.95 a month for one blog. I wouldn't say that the software is totally intuitive. It takes some research and experimenting, but the menus and tasks are familiar enough to let you learn. You can hire a designer to set up your blog. That's what did. I don't need to know the intricate details of the blog structure. I don't have hours to sit around and learn technology that I won't use again. I need a structure set up so I can make posts.

Write!

In a business setting, people won't expect multiple daily navel-gazing postings, as found on some blogs, but they will expect regular postings. You determine the schedule—then stick to it. One very nice benefit of my blog is that I can write a series of articles/posts and schedule them to be published at a later date.

RSS

Really Simple Syndication is a tool that can be included in your blog to allow your readers to receive your new posts automatically. For example, a piece of my new blog will be a RSS feed for clients and visitors who want a reminder to do their backup and computer maintenance. When I post the week's reminder memo, everyone who has subscribed will get the message.

RSS subscriptions can be fine tuned. At www.moviegeekout.com, you can subscribe to owner Paul Sucharski's Posts Only, or you can also receive the comments he receives in response to his posts. At www.digg.com, you can subscribe by subject (yes to world and business, no to entertainment). Within a subject, you can further customize what info you want to receive (yes to movie reviews, no! to Britney sightings).

If you're interested in it, there's a blog about it. Blog Explosion has 2,130 art and culture blogs, 1,663 on books/literature/writing, and 1,609 photo blogs. Technorati, a directory of the most popular blogs, lists Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide (no. 3), and Lifehacker, the Productivity and Software Guide (no. 6). My Google search for "blog directories" had 840,000 responses.

RSS Readers

Information overload is definitely a possibility with blogging. It feels like the Furr's all-you-can-eat buffet in my hometown. My tray would be loaded down with food for 30 by the time I made it through the entire smorgasbord. There are tools available to help. A blog reader organizes your blog subscriptions and brings them to you so you don't have to go visit all the blogs to read the latest posts. Internet Explorer 7 and Outlook 2007 come with blog readers; for older versions of Outlook, there are free readers from intraVnews and Attensa. Attensa will "learn" your reading habits and organize by priority; the blog that you subscribed to but never actually read will work its way to the bottom of the list. Google's Web-based reader offers the advantage of storing your blog subscriptions online. You have to remember to go read them, but they never come onto your computer, so you don't have to worry about hard-disk space. You also have the advantage of reading your favorite blogs from any computer with Internet access (or from your new iPhone!).

Once people have subscribed to my blog, I can send info to them instead of waiting for them to come back to my Web site. To gain their subscription, I have to offer them content that they want and need. We're back to that "Write!" thing again.

Show and Tell

On a blog, I can show pictures of my projects and services just as I can on a Web site. But the immediacy and human touch of the blog allows—in fact, encourages—me to tell the story behind the photo. What was the biggest challenge of this job? How did I overcome it? Why am I proud of the completed project? I'm not only showing you the solution, I'm describing the problem, explaining the solution and critiquing the results. And all of this is open for comment by my clients, prospects and strategic partners. (As I mentioned in Part 1, you control which comments are published!)

Pingbacks and Trackbacks

Consider this scenario:

1. Interior designer writes something on his blog.
2. Architect wants to comment on interior designer's blog, but wants her own readers to see what she had to say and be able to comment on her own blog.
3. Architect posts on her own blog and sends a trackback to interior designer's blog.
4. Interior designer's blog receives the trackback and displays it as a comment to the original post. This comment contains a link to architect's post.

The automated version of a trackback is called a pingback. It's valuable to you in many respects. Your site has more posts, comments, opinions and information, so it is more interesting and more valuable to your readers. They come back more often or subscribe to your RSS feed. Readers on the other site learn about you and your blog. The traffic generated by both trackbacks and pingbacks attracts the attention of search engines, which come to visit your site more often, therefore moving you up in the search results.

Remember that the blog can be part of your regular Web site. It can be part of your regular marketing campaign. Do you e-mail newsletters? Include links to the blog posts. Do you mail hard-copy newsletters? Include articles from the blog and encourage readers to visit for additional information. Do you hand out business cards at networking events? Print the blog URL and point it out to your new contacts as a way for them to learn more about you and your company.

People do business with people. Blogging is a powerful way to become a person to your clients and prospects.

This article is posted on my blog on my Web site, www.YourComputerLady.com. I hope you will visit and comment.

Pamela Bir is principal of Your Computer Lady, a Phoenix, Arizona–based firm that handles PowerPoint presentations, Spanish translations, Web site development and maintenance, marketing literature and more. For more information, visit www.YourComputerLady.com or reach her at Pamela@YourComputerLady.com.