» Blog Marketing

Where Does Blogging Fit into the Big Picture of Your Business?

Michelle Salater — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:30:10 +0000

Are you confused about the purpose of your blog in the grand scheme of your business success? This is an extremely common situation that many business owners find themselves in, and it’s often stressful and frustrating. Even if you spend hours upon hours researching proper blogging practices and tools, somehow you become even more confused and lost. For this reason, we wrote this blog post to provide you with clarity on where blogging fits into your overall marketing strategy.

Online business success combines a variety of essential marketing tools including your blog, social media platforms, and your website. Think of your marketing materials as the foundation of your brand image. The combination of these materials creates an image in the prospect’s mind that enables him or her to perceive your brand in a certain light. If you are active on a platform that you are not using correctly, your brand image will be perceived differently than you intend.

Only when each of these tools is utilized effectively will you see stellar business success. That is not to say that every business needs to have a blog or be on the most popular social media platforms. But, if you do have a blog or are on some of the popular social media sites, do it right.

In terms of blogging, there is no point in creating a blog that reflects your company in an inaccurate light. Therefore, if you’re not willing to put the effort into blogging and harness its viral power, you shouldn’t create a blog for your business.

What a blog really is . . .

A peer- and client-attraction tool.
A place to illustrate that your attitude is compatible with your target audience.
A place to share your business personality.
A resource for industry information.
An extension of your brand message.
A place to engage and connect with others.

But what does that mean? It means, don’t use your blog as . . .

*A direct-selling tool. To understand this concept, we must first analyze the origins of the blog. Born in the mid-90s, the blog was created to reflect personal-life accounts and interests and to build conversations and relationships from the sharing of that information. Today, the blog has evolved but has still kept its same purpose: to share valuable information with others in hopes of starting a conversation and building relationships. Can you see now why selling a product on a blog would not be compatible with the delicate nature of the blog?

And, when we refer to “blogging for business,” we’re not saying “blogging for sales.” Rather, blogging for business requires you to form opinions, inform the public on current industry events, share industry tips without being paid (yes, it’s called sharing), and have conversations and fun with your blog target audience.

When your blog readers get to know the person behind the blog (you) and begin to like and trust that person, they’ll associate the company behind the blog with the person writing it.

In a nutshell, your blog positions your company in the market as an industry expert; it does not sell.

*A business-formal and rigidly professional resource for clients. Touching on what I said in the previous bullet point, a blog is not a sales tool; it’s a positioning tool. Therefore, it doesn’t act like other sales tools such as brochures, advertisements, pamphlets, and commercials. Those sales materials should have a business formality and professionalism to them. Your blog should not have the same tone as these sales materials.

In order to keep your readership’s attention, your blog should be engaging, fun, interactive, and personable. This will also help position your company in the market.

*An information base that’s all about you. No one cares about what you’re trying to sell or what your company is doing 24 / 7. Save that for the sidebar and the About Us page on your website.

Now, I must tell you that there is a fine line between telling a story that involves you and talking about yourself. When you can apply your personal story to valuable information or tips, that’s when you connect with your target audience. For example, you might say something along the lines of “I’ve made this mistake before, and I’ve learned a lot from this mistake. Here are five tips to avoid this same mistake.”

But when you’re simply talking about your company and how great you are, how does that benefit your readers? It doesn’t. So why would they care to visit your blog again?

*A useless information hub. What else is there to say but that your blog would be a boring, useless site, and a waste of your time?

Now that you know what a blog is and what it isn’t, it’s time to understand how components of your blog interact with each other.

There are two main elements to a blog that shape the way readers perceive you as an expert: the design / layout and the content. If one of these elements is missing from your brand image, you risk losing valuable readership.

Below are some tips to ensure that your blog’s main elements remain at their best:

Make sure your blog content is one of the below:

Interesting to your audience.
Engaging (whether through captivating words, interactive elements, or photos).
Written so that it speaks directly to your market’s needs / desires.
Truthful and authentic.
Consistently stimulating.

Make sure your blog design is all of the below:

In line with your brand image.
Visually pleasing.
Organized properly so that readers can easily find contact information and navigate your blog.
Quick to load.

Do you now have a better understanding of how a blog fits into the overall picture of your business success? Let us know in our comments section.

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Why You Should Be Blogging for Your Travel Company

Michelle Salater — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:30:53 +0000

As part of our newest blog series, Blogging for Travel, where we interview and spotlight travel companies who are successfully blogging for business, this post focuses on the successes of travel company, Adventurous Wench.

Offering a wide variety of women-only trips and tours, Adventurous Wench provides the perfect vacations for single women and solo travelers.

In the below interview with Deanna Keahey, founder of Adventurous Wench, Deanna shares her effective blogging for business strategies.

Below is the interview:

1. What is the purpose of your blog? Specifically, who is it for and what does it provide to readers?

There are multiple audiences for our blog and various benefits for each of them.

For our previous travelers, our blog provides an on-going occasional stream of interesting tidbits about the places they’ve visited. This reminds them of their vacation and feeds their interest in that place. For instance, when I recently wrote an article about the Blasket Islands, I got responses from people who had been there on our Ireland trip, remembering how much they had enjoyed hiking around the island.

For future and prospective travelers, the blog provides a couple of different things. First, it gives them some concrete information about the destination, and what we do on our trips there. For instance, if you’re thinking of going to Sedona, on our blog you’d find a number of articles about the region and about our past trips there. This can give people a better idea of whether this destination and trip are what they really want to do. Second, less concrete but equally important, the blog gives them a sense of our company, approach, personality, and values. Reading our articles on a variety of topics can help convey these intangibles better than a sales page about “our values.”

For anybody, whether they’ll ever become a customer of ours or not, it can provide the same informational benefits, if they have questions about a place that we cover.

Also for anybody, I use this as another way to share my general philosophy of life, adventure, exploration, and fun. Along with informational posts, I include some inspirational thoughts and topics. These aren’t about promoting our company, but they are about the ideas behind the company.

2. Why did you decide to blog for business?

I was getting more and more involved in reading other people’s blogs at the time, and I saw a lot of value in it as an informal and flexible means of communication. It gives me a medium to write about anything that catches my interest, rather than having to fit into a structured website. I also like the informal, conversational feel of it. After seeing the benefits on other blogs, I decided to go for it myself.

3. Do you believe that blogging for business has helped you to express your brand message? If so, how has your blog helped you?

Yes, it has definitely helped. I think it helps in a couple of very different ways. The first is simply offering another communication channel to share pieces of that message, which combine to convey an overall impression of the brand. I think people are more likely to read material that is interesting and beneficial to them, with the brand personality and values communicated in a tangential way, than they are to read an obviously self-serving “this is our company” page on a website. It’s less direct but can come across as more honest, if you consistently convey a certain brand personality across many articles.

Second, writing the blog has helped me to clarify some of my own thoughts and develop my voice. Just sitting down and doing it makes a difference. Answering these questions for this very post is helping me to clarify some of my thoughts that were a bit hazy. And the more I write, the more I develop my own style and voice—which ends up being the voice of the company and voice of the brand.

4. How do you come up with your topic ideas?

I get topic ideas from a variety of sources:

Some posts are about an experience I just had. If I’m in Greece, I might write something about the island I’m on.

Some are related to a favorite photo. I’ve got thousands of trip photographs, and many of them have a story that goes with them.

Some are related to a recent event. When swine flu fears were rampant, I wrote about travel insurance and swine flu.

Some are related to a post on a different site—something I found interesting and wanted to link to and add my own comments.

Some are “behind the scenes” posts—something about my life and running the business.

Some are related to an inspirational quote—something I find meaningful and want to share.

5. How does blogging fit into your overall online marketing strategy? Where does your blog rank in terms of the most successful marketing strategy you have?

Blogging isn’t a stand-alone strategy; it ties other things together. One example is our monthly email newsletters. If we have a newsletter about the San Juan Islands, I’ll link it back to various interesting blog posts about trips to the San Juan Islands. The newsletter becomes more multidimensional, while the blog posts get new readers.

Another example is our Facebook page. Our blog posts also show up on Facebook, and we often have more interaction on Facebook than we do on the blog itself. The Facebook page benefits from the content in the blog, and the blog benefits from the exposure on Facebook. Because the blog is so intertwined with our other efforts, I really can’t separate it out for a ranking. I can say that if we cut out the blog, it would have wider ramifications than just the blog itself.

Deanna Keahey

About Deanna Keahey and Adventurous Wench:

Deanna Keahey is the founder of Adventurous Wench, a company with the mission of inspiring and facilitating adventurous travel experiences for women. Find adventurous trips, travel-related products, and, of course, Deanna’s blog, at www.AdventurousWench.com.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in our comments section?

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Battle of the Wordpress Themes

Michelle Salater — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:00:27 +0000

Whether you’re in the market for a fresh blog design or need to start a blog from scratch, there are many blog themes and platforms to consider. Many clients come to us in a quest to find the best blogging theme to fit their needs. Although we always suggest Wordpress as the blogging platform they should use, we do recommend different Wordpress themes based on specific business needs and personal lifestyles.

This post’s sole purpose is to act as your guide to help you make your Wordpress theme decision quick and easy.

Let’s start with the basic elements of what your blog needs in order to work for your business:

1. SEO capabilities that will enable you to rank in search engines.

2. A look and feel compatible with your brand message.

3. Design that is in line with your blog purpose and what you’re trying to achieve with your blog—in terms of generating business.

4. Backend features that work for your specific lifestyle.

Below I have outlined the features and benefits, as well as the ideal users for three types of Wordpress themes: Thesis, ProPhoto, and premade Wordpress themes.

See the highlights below:

Thesis

**Little Disclaimer: We’re probably a little biased to Thesis as we use it for our own blog and LOVE it! But, that’s not to say it’s perfect for every type of business blogger.

Features and Benefits:

1. Great support: Thesis’ support forum is a collaborative community of other thesis users who use the forum as a place to ask and answer questions. Thesis also has a support and development team who is just a click away if an issue arises.

2. Easy-to-use design panel and font controls: The ultimate in user-friendly design controls, Thesis Design Options enables you to control most of your blog design without any knowledge of code. For example, you can easily add videos and pictures to your sidebar, change sidebar layout and width, and play with font types, sizes, and colors—all without having to know any code.

3. Faster page load times: Search engines look at page load time as an essential factor in page rankings, which is why having a blog that loads quickly is a must in terms of page rank. It’s also important when it comes to your blog visitors who don’t want to wait a few seconds for each item to load on your blog. They’ll leave without waiting. Trust me.

4. Built-in SEO framework: The Thesis creators prefer to call Thesis an SEO-Optimized Wordpress Framework rather than a Wordpress Theme. I would agree with them, and here’s why:

Unlike other Wordpress themes, Thesis has phenomenal, built-in SEO capabilities. No need to find an extra SEO plug-in to optimize your blog. And what’s even better is that Thesis design code is completely separate from HTML code. To understand the benefit of this separated code, you must first understand the basics of blog coding.

Most blog themes don’t separate HTML coding from the design coding. When these themes are used, too much added coding can puff up the code that search engines read. This type of inflammation disables search engines from understanding what your blog is about, and, in turn, deters your blog from ranking.

Because Thesis separates the design code from the HTML code, Google can easily read the clean HTML code and rank your blog. This way, you can do whatever you want in terms of design, and it won’t gunk up the code that Google reads. Also, whenever you want to change the design of your blog, you don’t have to worry about it affecting your hard-earned blog rankings.

5. Affordable: Thesis offers users two options: Personal Option and Developer’s Option. The Personal Option is a onetime fee $87.00 and provides users with the use of Thesis on one live website and one localized development server, access to members-only Answers and Forums, lifetime Thesis upgrades, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The Developer’s Option is a onetime fee of $164.00 and provides users with unlimited use of Thesis on sites owned by the user, access to all-new beta versions of Thesis before they’re released, access to Client Site Options, which allows users to deploy Thesis on sites for clients, access to members-only Answers and Forums, lifetime Thesis upgrades, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Great for business owners who . . .

Want a customizable design and the ability to change the design and most layout components of their blog without the help of a developer.
Use their blog as a main component of their online marketing strategy.
Want an online area to showcase their videos and photos and provide additional resources.
Desire to decrease the amount of time they have to spend finding SEO plug-ins.
Are looking for excellent technical support.

ProPhoto

Features and benefits:

1. Easy-to-use design panel and font controls: Changing the look and feel of your blog is super easy with ProPhoto. Similar to Thesis, ProPhoto enables you to control most of your blog design without any knowledge of code. For example, you can easily add flash images to your header and slideshows to your posts, change sidebar layout and width, and play with font types, sizes, and colors—all without having to know any code.

2. Slideshows and Flash: ProPhoto acts as a flash portfolio. Because ProPhoto has a variety of flash features, the tone and design of your blog can have a sophisticated and highly engaging feel. Whether you want slide-out pages, drop-down contact menus, a flash header, or a stylish slideshow, ProPhoto lets users customize their blog flash components easily without having to know code.

3. Faster page load times: As mentioned above in the Thesis description, search engines look at page load time as an essential factor in page rankings, which is why having a blog that loads quickly is a must in terms of page rank.

Great for business owners who . . .

Are in the field of photography or need to showcase high-resolution photographs in bulk.
Want to feature slideshows and flash videos within blog posts and / or in the header of their blog.
Want a customizable design and the ability to change the design and most layout components of their blog without the help of a developer.
Use their blog as a main component of their online marketing strategy.
Want to use their blog as an extension of their visual portfolio.

Premade Wordpress Themes

** Although premade Wordpress themes don’t have as many bells and whistles as Thesis, ProPhoto, and other enhanced and customizable themes, they are still a great blogging platform to use.

Features and Benefits:

1. Customizable Style Sheets (CSS): Most premade Wordpress themes allow for design and template changes using a customizable style sheet. A developer is required for changing the CSS and other types of blog coding such as PHP and HTML.

2. Customizable sidebars: Similar to all other Wordpress themes (including Thesis and ProPhoto), premade Wordpress themes enable users to activate widgets on their sidebars to post videos, pictures, and other engaging features. But unlike the Thesis and ProPhoto, you need to have some background in HTML coding to post these features to your sidebar.

3. Plug-ins: When using a premade Wordpress theme, consider getting an SEO plug-in to ensure your posts are ranked by search engines. Also, consider using a Share plug-in that allows your blog readers to share your post automatically with friends on their social media networks.

Be careful not to cram your blog with plug-ins as they can bloat your coding. And as mentioned earlier in this post, because code has a direct connection to the design and layout of your blog, too many extra plug-ins can bulk up your code and prohibit search engines from ranking your blog.

Great for business owners who . . .

Want to test the waters of blogging before committing to a more advanced theme.
Have an on-staff developer or designer who can customize the blog.
Want a minimalistic and more basic look and feel to their blog.
Don’t wish to use their blog as a main component to their online marketing strategy.
Don’t have the time or energy to devote to proper blog posting and marketing.

Did you find this post helpful? If so, we’d love to hear what platform you think would be best for your business. Let us know in our comments section.

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Effective Online Marketing Strategy: Building Blogger Relations

Michelle Salater — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:00:28 +0000

Blogging for business requires much more than posting two to three times a week on important industry information. If you want your business to benefit from blogging, you must look at the whole picture of online marketing and discover where a blog fits into your marketing strategy.

Promoting your blog on social media platforms and ensuring all posts offer valuable information and are properly optimized are merely a small portion of gaining exposure for your blog and your business. In order to use your blog to its fullest potential, you must build blogger relations.

Below are five tips to build blogger relations and increase blog and business exposure online:

1. Comment on influential blogs: Search for blogs related to your interests and your industry, and comment on these blogs at least once a week.

Comments should offer additional valuable advice, compliment the post, or provide constructive criticism—with respect.

Also, do not put your website or blog URL in the body of your comment. This often shows up as spam and will not be accepted as a comment. There is a designated area in the comment section that asks for your blog or website URL, as well as your name and email address. This is the only place you should place your blog or website URL.

2. Mention other bloggers on your blog: Mentioning other bloggers on your blog is a great way to illustrate to your readers that you are always staying on top of industry information and building connections with other industry professionals.

Mentioning other bloggers on your blog also shows these bloggers that you are reading their blog and that you put great importance on their knowledge, tips, and advice.

Illustrate your appreciation for bloggers by commenting on their blog and saying, “Hey, just wanted to let you know that I loved this post so much that I mentioned it on my blog. Thanks for the great tips!” This puts you in front of the blogger and is merely a friendly alert that you mentioned them on your blog.

3. Post articles from influential blogs on your social media profiles: When you mention bloggers on your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter, and / or StumbleUpon, it not only adds diversity to the content on your page, but it also shows that you seek out valuable information and find it important enough to share with your followers.

4. Ask bloggers to guest blog: When you tie the blogging community into your blog, you are helping to build a name for yourself in this online community. This encourages other bloggers to visit your blog and mention you on their own blog.

Also, guest bloggers will often promote their featured spot on other blogs. This means, you are getting exposure to their list and vice versa. You are helping to promote each other.

5. Become friends with your favorite bloggers on social media: Friending bloggers on social media platforms is another way to stay in front of your peers and target audience. Blogs often have an area on the sidebar that features direct links to the bloggers’ profiles on social media. Take advantage of this by visiting their profiles, adding them as your friend, and leaving a friendly message for them on these profiles.

Do you have any other tips for building blogger relations? Let us know in our comments section.

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What a Successful Blogger Looks Like: Interview with Stagetecture

Michelle Salater — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Continuing with my successful blogger interview series, I am honored that I had the chance to interview Ronique Gibson, founder of Stagetecture blog.

Stagetecture combines Ronique’s passion for home staging and love for architecture to find great solutions for her readers and their families. Packed full of organization tips, home décor and furniture reviews, and home staging ideas, Stagetecture always provides interesting reading content.

I met Ronique on LinkedIn in a blog discussion forum, and within the first two emails, we’ve really hit it off. I’ve been impressed with her enthusiasm to see her blog grow and her willingness to reach out to other bloggers.

Many of you know I am an avid proponent of building blogger relations and reaching out to bloggers and helping them in return. Ronique understands and believes this as well, and I have no doubt her blog will continue to gain readership and a following.

Here is my interview with Ronique:

Why did you decide to start Stagetecture?

Stagetecture grew from an idea of combining my passion for home staging and my love of architecture. It started off being strictly a home staging business blog that would help everyday homeowners stage their homes to sell. However, as the housing market grew worse, everyday homeowners were already losing money on their properties, and the thought of adding on home staging was daunting. Instead of giving up, I expanded to my everyday hobby of home organization and helping families come up with solutions to everyday tasks.

When did you start your blog? How has your readership grown since then?

I started my blog June 2009, mostly with a few of my friends and family members as readers. Then, I began connecting on social media sites, and my readership grew. Now, the search engines are starting to find me, which is very exciting! Today, my readers are subscribers, social media fans, search engine finds, and still my loyal friends and family.

How did you promote your blog and attract readers when you were starting out?

When I started my blog, my readership was mostly through word of mouth and my Facebook business page. First, I started only putting my posts on Facebook, but realized readers wanted to read about a wide area of home topics. So, I started branching off into décor, do-it-yourself, green living, and other interesting topics.

You have used LinkedIn to build better blogger relations and increase blog readership. What tips would you give other business bloggers on how to use LinkedIn to advance their blog?

LinkedIn is a great tool. I first got hooked through the LinkedIn groups. The concept of reading discussions, news, and other information was exciting and new. In my everyday life, I didn’t know how to reach a target audience with my blog. Through LinkedIn, I have a community of people with like-minded interests, and we feed off of each other.

Recently through LinkedIn, I’ve had great guest bloggers on my site and have even become a contributor on an Architectural / Engineering industry social media site. The best way to start is to jump into some groups of interest, then post some discussions, and link back to your site. Interact with your peers, and visit others discussions. It’s a great place to meet, greet, network, and learn.

Has the design or format of your blog changed since you started? What prompted these changes?

Yes! Originally, my blog was just a gallery of photos of my home staging. Then, I started visiting other blogs and realized mine was boring. I also noticed that I would stay on blogs longer if they had pretty pictures. I adapted the same logic. I began to bring in photos to explain my posts, and then started linking to resources to help readers find what they needed. I’m getting ready to launch my new website in a few weeks, and it is totally different! It will still have the great photos, but instead of only my blog, it will feature navigation through my site By Room, Inspiration, Services, and eventually, downloadable E-books that readers can take to the store with them!

What two pieces of advice would you give to bloggers?

Passion: Choose your area of blogging that you have a passion for, but that also has depth. One mistake bloggers make in the beginning is choosing a topic that they don’t know a lot about, or a topic that is too narrow in scope, and they get burned out. Spend some time going through your daily life and figuring out which subjects you are insanely passionate about, that have enough growth for you and your readers for years to come.

Also, be your own pep squad: This tip is a fundamental one of life, and it’s essential to be able to motivate yourself. If you enjoy what you blog about, keep it up, and don’t lose the drive because no one is leaving comments on your blog. If you are lucky enough to receive comments, but they aren’t as favorable as you would have liked, keep writing. Blogging can be both exciting and lonely, in the same day. Remember, you are your best and worst reader. Motivate yourself to reach deeper, grow stronger, and most importantly . . . have fun doing it!

Where do you see your blog going?

I eventually hope to have more reader interaction. I would love for readers to send in their photos of their homes and ask questions, and for other viewers to rate them. I’d also like to eventually have podcasts that readers could listen to, and do interviews with select readers in their homes. My blog has been a baby for this last year, and it’s getting ready to become a teenager. I want it to reflect me, but also to help the consumer. At the beginning of each day, I want readers to say, “I can’t wait to see what’s on Stagetecture today!”

About Ronique:

Ronique Gibson is an Associate Architect and LEED Accredited Professional based out of Jacksonville, Florida. She uses her background in architecture, home staging, organization, and her unique style of helping families with everyday issues. Ranging from home staging, décor, and organization to helping mom and dad get out of the house on time in the morning! Ronique loves helping you make your home more livable, functional, and beautiful. Ronique and her husband, Garrick, live with their three children Andre, Demetri, and Avrielle.

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A Wedding Photographer’s Success with Building Blogger Relations

Michelle Salater — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:00:06 +0000

I’m excited to announce that Copy Doodle is starting a How Did They Do It? series, where I’ll be interviewing and spotlighting companies who are successfully marketing their brands online.

This post focuses on the recent successes of wedding photographer, Chris Leary, owner of Weddings by Chris Leary Photography. One of our Life after Launch clients, Chris has not stood idly by while we promote his company. He has been proactively working to rebuild his business blog (with Miss Brittany’s help) and engage with prospects and key influencers.

Below is a case study showcasing the challenges, solutions, and results of a specific 5-week campaign we ran for Chris’s company.

Customer Profile:

Weddings by Chris Leary Photography specializes in capturing weddings for couples who desire creative photography that transcends the standard-posed approach. Located in New York, NY, the goal of Weddings by Chris Leary Photography is to capture a creative portrait that defines the essence of every wedding day and every couple. Chris Leary’s photographs paint the couple’s big day in a candid documentary style of wedding photojournalism.

Challenge:

When Chris Leary came to us for Life after Launch help to promote his annual wedding photo contest, we had less than six weeks to produce results. Chris had tried to market and promote it on his own—writing and distributing a press release and emailing key bloggers—with no results. Another challenge was that he had so much going on in his business, that he did not have the time necessary to promote the contest.

Solution:

Sumèr created an online promotion plan, our goal being to generate a buzz in the blogosphere. Reaching out to key wedding bloggers was essential due to the deadline of the contest, as well as these wedding bloggers’ sphere of influence. In addition to writing and submitting a press release to PRWeb and targeted media outlets in the New York area, we also ran two niche-focused blog campaigns to create a buzz about the wedding photo contest, as well as generate additional exposure for Weddings by Chris Leary Photography.

Results: In a four-week period, we placed Chris Leary on one business blog and six key wedding blogs, including, The Bloggers’ Bulletin, DIY Bride, Weddingistas, The Broke-Ass Bride, The Relentless Bride, and Snippet & Ink. In addition to these efforts, the press release was pulled into numerous photography blogs and was featured on Yahoo News.

As a result of our blog-pitching efforts, Chris has since been asked to be in an upcoming book on wedding photography.

Benefits of Life after Launch – In the client’s words:

“After years of being a one-man show, it was such a relief to be able to work with Sumèr on Life after Launch. I never realized that a small company, such as mine, could benefit from ongoing PR campaigns.

You understood my company’s needs in an increasingly competitive online market and went the extra mile to generate online exposure for my business. I admired that you looked beyond the actual contest promotion and thought about how this type of contest promotion could generate other topics of interest, thus providing me additional exposure.

Working with the Sumèr team, I received targeted and professionally written promotion materials for my company’s annual bridal photography contest and was able to spend my time doing what I do best: photographing weddings. My advice for anyone considering Sumèr’s Life after Launch services—don’t be afraid to take off one of your hats and let an expert help you run your business. It’s a relief having a service you don’t have to manage.”

If you have a success story and want to be featured on Copy Doodle, please send an email to info@writtenbysumer.com and tell us your story.

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Who Says You Can’t Make Money with Your Blog?

Michelle Salater — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:00:53 +0000

Many bloggers, whether they are part-time or full-time bloggers, would like to receive some form of profit from their blogging efforts. In order to receive money for blogging, you must first establish a strong and semi-large following. This can sometimes take years, so don’t be discouraged if you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you’d like.

Below is a video from WebProNews that covers the important factors associated with creating a profitable blog. In this video, WebProNews interviews Darren Rowse of ProBlogger on his tips for making your blog profitable.

More WebProNews Videos

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Vlog Your Way to More Clients

Michelle Salater — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:00:38 +0000

Video marketing has proved to be a powerful client attraction tool. Blogging is one of the most effective ways to gain exposure, build relationships with key influencers and prospects, and be seen as an industry expert.

As more and more businesses and consumers turn to the Internet for research, news, relationship building, and entertainment, video marketing and blogging will continue to grow in popularity. And it will continue to deliver results.

Combine these two powerful social media marketing strategies and you get vlogging, which is a video form of blogging.

On Tuesday, February 23, Michelle Salater will interview Erica Bennett on “How to Vlog Your Way to More Clients.” As video production expert and co-owner of Docent Prodigy, Erica Bennett works closely with clients to create videos that attract and engage prospects. She also helps companies with their vlogging efforts—from the creation to the marketing of vlogs.

During this call, you will discover . . .

The true power of vlogging for business.
The different types of vlogs and which ones are right for your business.
The information you need to know before you record a vlog.
Tips on shooting, lighting, sound, and location.
Tips on uploading your vlog to the web.
Ways to promote your vlog on the Internet.

Join us for this free vlogging call on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 8 – 9 p.m. EST / 5 – 6 PST.

Sign up today: http://www.writtenbysumer.com/vlogcall

This call will be recorded, but if you don’t register, you’ll never hear it.

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Michelle Salater Interviewed on The Power of a Blog Alliance

Michelle Salater — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:55:55 +0000

Marketing blogger and owner of DSC Web Services, Inc., Doug Stewart, interviewed Michelle Salater on how participating in a blog alliance group can benefit your blog. To view the interview, visit The Bloggers’ Bulletin.

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Congratulations to Our Online PR Bootcamp Winner

Michelle Salater — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:00:41 +0000

Congratulations to our blog contest winner, Susanne Scaldino, who has just landed a free spot on Sumer’s bootcamp, Influence Your Online Market: Engage, Connect, and Grow Your Business.
http://www.marketingonlinebootcamp.com/ Our winner was chosen by Random.org.

How valuable is this exclusive bootcamp?

Over the course of six weeks, participants will discover how to attract clients and grow their company by creating markets and reaching key influencers who attract customers for them. They will gain clarity on how to locate and engage their target audience online, create a focused plan, and easily implement what they learn. This bootcamp will not be offered again until late 2010.

How can you participate?

All you need to do is visit www.marketingonlinebootcamp.com, take a look at the call outline, view what previous participants have to say, then purchase. It’s that easy!