TekkBuzz

4 Ways to Outsource Your Blog

debspag — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:31:08 +0000

Do you want a blog but are afraid you don’t have the time to put it together and keep it going? Do you have a blog but haven’t posted in a while because you don’t have the time? Have you run out of ideas for your blog? Are you afraid you don’t have the writing skills to write a blog?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to consider outsourcing your blog. Many successful businesses outsource all or part of their blog writing. They receive the full marketing benefit of a blog, but skip the hassle of having to produce new blog posts every week.

Outsourcing a blog can be done a couple different ways.

1. Outsource setup. Some of you don’t have a problem writing articles, but you don’t want to learn how to install Wordpress, customize a theme and choose the right widgets and plugins. Setting up a Wordpress blog isn’t difficult, but it does take some time. Outsourcing setup is a good investment into your business

2. Outsource editing. If you would like to write posts but aren’t confident in your spelling and grammar, an editor is a great way to ensure that the content you’ve created comes across as professional and accurate. You write the article. Your editor will worry about rewriting awkward sentences, or correcting spelling and grammar, and scheduling posts to appear two or three times a week.

3. Outsource the writing. If you’re not a confident writer, but know what kind of posts you want to see on your blog, you can find a writer who will provide all of the written content for your blog. If you have time to write a few posts, but not all of them, a freelance blog writer can write posts the weeks you just don’t have the time.

4. Outsource it all. A blog is such a good marketing tool for small business, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to reach more customers just because you don’t have the writing skills or the time. A blog writer will spend the time to become familiar with your business and your industry. Your writer can set up the blog, write the articles, post articles and handle ongoing maintenance of the blog.

I perform each of these services for various clients. Some need just a little help from time to time. Others need me to handle the entire blog. No matter what level of service they receive, all have been very happy with the feedback they get about their blog from customers and potential customers. It feels really good when a new customer says, “I read your blog and knew I needed to call you.”

Don’t miss out on the benefits of a blog just because you don’t have the time or the skills. Outsourcing your blogging is a great way to invest in your business. You will reach customers you never could with just a website.

Are you outsourcing your blog?

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2 Ways to Optimize Your Social Media Profiles

debspag — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:26:35 +0000

Social media and search engine optimization are becoming inseparable. In working with social media for some time now, I am discovering over and over how well it works to gain my business visibility. In a few short months, I’ve seen my blog go from almost invisible to a site that is gaining a larger number of visitors each and every month.

I often work with clients who want me to get them started in social media. Some of my clients want me to set up only one social network, such as only Facebook or only LinkedIn. But because of the huge SEO value, I always recommend that they set up a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube accounts, even if they don’t intend to be active on all four networks. If they decide they don’t want to put as much time on all four acccounts, and only want to update Facebook every week, their other profiles are still going to turn up in search engine results.

To gain the most value with your social media profiles and make them findable, there are a few basics you want to be sure to include in your profile.

1. Link to your website. Always include the URL to your website or blog. If I search for you on Google, and I find your Facebook profile in search results, I know I can go to your Facebook profile and find more information about you. If your URL is in that information, I can easily click on it, come to your website, read more about you, and contact you with the contact information you provide on the site. This uses social media to drive traffic to your website and ultimately to you.

2. Place keywords in key places on your profile. You probably have keywords you use in your blog or with your website to generate search engine traffic. These same keywords should appear in your profile in areas such as titles, headlines, biographical paragraph, descriptions of your business. Using keywords allows you to control what searches find you and your profiles.

Social media profiles offer more ways for potential customers to find you. By implementing these basic optimization techniques, you will maximize our impact on search engines and become more visible to searchers.

Do you have your URL on every social media profile you own?

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Facebook Business Fan Page versus Profile Page

debspag — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:44:02 +0000

I recently received the following question from a reader about Facebook profile pages and fan pages.

Q. Regarding personal and fan pages, my friends are not necessarily interested in my business and products. How do I combine the two?

A. Great question! This is a common problem that many of us have. We use the Facebook profile for friends and family, and these people may not be that interested in our business messages. That’s why the fan page is great, you can keep them somewhat separate. I do invite friends from my profile to “like” my fan page. So far, those that are not interested in my business, simply ignore the invitation and that seems to work. Those who ARE interested, “like” my fan page. They will receive business-related information.

I do tend to keep my updates very personal and friend/family oriented on my profile page. And my updates on my fan page are far more business oriented. You can also drive business traffic specifically to your fan page by using the address for your fan page on your business email signature, business cards, and link to it from your website.

Your question is very common. Facebook is trying to help us use profiles and business pages separately, but it’s not a perfect system yet. My suggestion is join some profile pages and fan pages of some other business owners and see how others are working the two areas. It might help you decide what strategy is best for you.

How are you using your Facebook Profile and Business (fan) Page?

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Tekkbuzz Podcast No. 3: Interview with Amanda Lewis

debspag — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:40:00 +0000

In this podcast we interview Amanda Lewis of Gnetworks, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Amanda tells us how she uses social networks to market her business. She shares her favorite network, how she uses it, and the amazing results she receives from her strategies.

For step-by-step instructions on how to build your own social marketing machine, check out http://mysocialmarketingclass.com. In this subscription website you will find dozens of audios and videos that will walk you through everything you need to know about using social media to pump up your profits.

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Social Media Definition: Email Customer List -v- Opt-In List

debspag — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:24:04 +0000

What is the difference between my client email list and an “opt-in” list? Are they the same thing?

Answer: No, they are not. This video will tell you the basic concept of what an opt-in list is and how you should be using it to generate leads for your business.

Aweber is the email management system I use. It’s easy to set up and easy to use. Your list will keep itself updated. You won’t have to worry about returned emails as you do with the old-fashioned email blasts.

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