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Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business PDF

201 Pages·2006·4.35 MB·English
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Chapter 1 Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business DL Byron and Steve Broback Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business DL Byron and Steve Broback New Riders 1249 Eighth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 510/524-2178 800/293-9444 510/524-2221 (fax) Find us on the Web at www.newriders.com To report errors, please send a note to [email protected] New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education Copyright  2006 by DL Byron Acquisitions Editor: Michael Nolan Project Editors: Kristin Mellone Kalning, Ted Waitt Development Editor: Davina Baum Production Editor: Tracey Croom Copyeditor: Joanne Gosnell Compositor: Diana Van Winkle, Van Winkle Design Indexer: Jack Lewis Cover Design: Aren Howell Interior Design: Diana Van Winkle, Van Winkle Design Notice of Rights All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected]. Notice of Liability The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the authors nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it. Trademarks Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. ISBN 0-321-39538-7 987654321 Printed and bound in the United States of America DL Byron: This book is dedicated to my family: Pam, Ryan, Angela, Cap’n the Pug, and my parents, who always knew I’d write a book someday. Steve Broback: To Vicky, Dalton, Emma, and Brody for being so patient with a distracted daddy. Acknowledgments DL Byron: The book was authored with much help from Teresa Valdez Klein, Davina Baum, Kristin Kalning, Michael Nolan, Kim Larsen, Erin Kissane, and the rest of the staff at Peachpit. Due props to Scott Benish and Wesley Pierce for their work on Clip-n-Seal and to all the fact-checking, idea discussions, and general instant messaging conversations with Timothy Appnel, Eric Rice, Cameron Barrett, Drew McLellan, Mike Davidson, Anil Dash, Lenn Pryor, Jason Fried, Jim Coudal, Doug Manis, Shaun Inman, Toby Malina, Matthew Oliphant, Frank Steele, Jason Swihart, Mie Yaginuma, Jeremy Wagstaff, D. Keith Robinson, Nick Finck, and Shel Israel. Special thanks to Jeffrey Zeldman for starting me on the book path and to the rest of the Blog Business Summit co-founders Brian Alvey, Glenn Fleishman, Molly E. Holzschlag, Robert Scoble, and Dave Taylor. Also thanks to Chris Brownrigg, Dave Weitz, Jim Condoles, Shannon Fowler, and Fritz Johnston at Boeing. Of course, the book wouldn’t have happened without my co-author Steve Broback and the blogosphere. For all those hours I spent in the Richland Public Library as a kid, reading books randomly from the shelves and studying obscure words in the Oxford English Dictionary, I’m grateful. Steve Broback: Special thanks to Robert Scoble, Glenn Fleishman, and Molly E. Holzschlag for bringing me into the wonderful world of blogging. My writings would never have been conceived without their gracious tutoring. The Blog Business Summit team: Kim Larsen, DL Byron, Maryam Scoble, Krista Carreiro, Jason Preston, Eric Anderson, David Lake, and Teresa Valdez Klein. Summit speakers and blogging gurus who have taught me so much: Jeffrey Zeldman, Buzz Bruggeman, Debbie Weil, Halley Suitt, Dave Taylor, Biz Stone, Mary Hodder, Matt Mullenweg, Lenn Pryor, Janet Johnson, Eric Rice, Dori Smith, Jeff Angus, Anil Dash, and Mie Yaginuma. Supporters of our blogs and events: Shannon Fowler, Fritz Johnston, Jason Swihart, Tom Peters, Margaret Cobb, Dean Hachamovitch, Alan Nusbaum, and dozens of other people and organizations that have helped us along the way. Long time co-conspirators and family: My parents, Julie and Kip Myers, Jim Heid, Toby Malina, Steve Roth, Jon Fitch, and Larry Westfall. The production and editorial team at Peachpit: Marjorie Baer, Michael Nolan, Kristin Kalning, Erin Kissane, Rebecca Ross, Davina Baum, Tracey Croom, Ted Waitt, Diana Van Winkle, and Joanne Gosnell. Thanks to my co-author DL Byron whose insights and knowledge made this book an effort I am proud to be associated with. Last and far from least, special production and editorial kudos to Teresa Valdez Klein, who worked so hard and contributed so much toward making this book (and our many blog sites) a reality. This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents vii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Meet the Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 What .Exactly .Is .a .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 How .Did .We .Get .Here? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Enter .the .Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Types .of .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Why .Should .You .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Blogging .Is .Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Add .and .Update .Content .in .a .Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Get .High-Power .Features .on .a .Low-Level .Budget . . . . . . . . . 13 Broadcast .Your .Content .Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Blogs .Are .a .Marketer’s .Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Readers .Like .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 A .Genuine .Conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Search .Engines .Love .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Why .Shouldn’t .You .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A .Blog .Choice .for .Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 What’s .Your .Blog .Focus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Chapter 2 . Determining Your Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 A .Marketing .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Encouraging .an .Interactive .Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Raising .Awareness .and .Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Closing .Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Driving .More .Traffic .to .Your .Current .Web .Site . . . . . . . . . . 29 A .Public .Relations .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Dealing .with .Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Reputation .and .Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 A .Customer .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 viii Table of Contents Measuring Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Start Blogging Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 You Go Out, You Get Better. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Chapter 3 How Much Blog—and How Often? . . . . . . . . . . 43 What’s It Going to Take? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 A Basic Blog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 A Full-Time Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 A Sponsored Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 A Companywide Blog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Assessing Resources, Barriers, and Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Regular and Ongoing Posting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Staff Availability and Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Culture of Openness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Financial Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Fostering Corporate Buy-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Get a Champion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Simple Sells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Chapter 4 Designing for Readers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Essential Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Meta Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Organizing Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 RSS and Syndication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Other Features to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Trackbacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Table of Contents ix Design Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Page Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Fonts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Usability and Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Iterative Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Chapter 5 Tools and Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Assessing Your Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 How Many Blogs?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 How Many Bloggers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 What Kind of Technical Resources Are Available to You?. . . . . .85 How Much Control Do You Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Selecting a Software System or Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Hosted Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Installed Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Custom-Built Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Enterprise-Level Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Publishing Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Pinging and Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Posting from Your Desktop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Podcasting and Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Enhancements and Add-ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Adding Features to Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Plug-ins and Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 RSS and Syndication Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Ads on Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Ad Services for Bloggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 How Ads Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Ad Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

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While personal blogs take up much of the blogosphere, blogs are quickly gaining popularity in business as an inexpensive and amazingly effective marketing tool. It’s time for a practical book about business blogging: this is the first book to demonstrate how businesses are blogging and how you can
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