While writing my last blog about event marketing, I realized that barn that I keep my horses at is infamous for event marketing to their marketing strategy.  Honey Tree Stables is located five minutes from Miami University in Oxford, OH.  This means, that a majority of its clients come from the University itself.  While this may seem beneficial to the business, it is extremely hard to capture and maintain services for these customers. 

In order to gain customers, the owner, Sarah Oelerich, and several of her employees and clients, must ban together to come up with unique marketing strategies.  Many of these ideas market her business through event marketing.  For example, at the beginning of each school year, Sarah and Honey Tree Stables put on an open house.  Rather than just having the barn open for clients and potential clients to walk through the facility, Sarah has a welcome back party with a band and game festivities.  The band, the pool, and the games allows current and potential clients to interact with each other, for them to get to know Sarah and the other staff, and to have a great experience that will make them come back year after year.  After the party, Honey Tree Stables put up pictures and video footage of the event on its website and invited clients to come and view them online.

Sarah also puts on a number of clinics throughout the year, both with her clients and the Miami Equestrian team.  This allows the community and the internal community to get a taste of what Sarah does.  She markets this through email marketing with the Miami Equestrian Team and the clients, posters throughout Oxford, and creating an experience during the event that makes the customers feel like they are at home. 

Without these events, many of Sarah’s customers would not get to experience the culture and fun at Honey Tree Stables.  Without these experiences, it would be hard for Sarah to maintain customers. Sarah and Honey Tree Stables do an amazing job at capturing their audiences through event marketing.  Companies that have a hard target marketing to capture or those that have experiences that they want to sell, should try using event marketing.  They should set up events that promote not only the services that they sell, but that capture the experience a customer has when using the services they offer.  Similar to Honey Tree Stables, companies should hone in on a certain area they would like their customers to experience and then build their event marketing around that.  They will see that event marketing does in fact capture customers and if done right, keeps them coming back for more.

 Last night I had the privilege of seeing Gary Kunath, founder and CEO of the Summit Group speak at Miami University.  While Gary is like a father figure to me, it was extremely impressive and motivational to see him up in front of a large crowd. 

Gary spoke about being marketable.  About how experience and interaction among consumers is what is driving business these days.  Rather than enticing people through advertisements and creating a brand through traditional marketing strategies, it is time for us to switch gears and build our brands based on experience. 

For small business marketing, this is especially true.  To gain the repeat customers you desire, it is important that companies create a strong in-store or online experience.  By offering interactive marketing where consumers can not only see the product or service, but can use the product/service, or talk to the employees and other consumers, consumers tend to become brand loyal.  In addition, having pages out there on MySpace and Facebook that allow consumers to engage actively in a company's interactive marketing, makes it easier for consumers to talk to one another about the product, trust one another about the benefits of the product, and it also allows them to be reminded each day that the product/service is out there and ready for them.

The same hold true with the employees within the business.  The more they interact and have fun with those they can relate to their colleagues, the more loyal they become as well.  So, as you begin to build your company's marketing strategy remember that is important to have fun, be yourself, and entertain the consumer through positive interaction and communication. 

I heard the other day that "marketing costs for small businesses are just not justifiable."  Many businesses often think that marketing is not one of the more important costs within the business--small businesses especially.  However, small business marketing is often what makes or breaks companies. 

Small businesses should have a very cost effective marketing strategy.  It should include email marketing, building a website, maintaining SEO, and blogging for sure.  While in the office, I help a lot of mainstream businesses who can afford at least a good majority of the marketing services that we provide, there are companies and groups I deal with outside of work don't or may not want to devote as much money to their marketing as they should. 

Since I am very involved in the horse world, I will use that market as an example.  As the horse world continues to grow rapidly, it is important more than ever now that riding stables, show facilities, and trainers use marketing to their advantage.  It is important to create websites and pages on MySpace and Facebook for them since their main target market is teenagers.  Especially for those barns located near college towns and major universities, SEO and website enhancement are EXTREMELY important.  High school students looking to ride after school often make sure that their university either has an equine program or has a riding facility near by. And how do they find that....the Internet of course!

So while people may think that marketing is not always worth the money put in, I'll tell you from a market that I never thought would make it online, it is! Marketing is important to all businesses--especially small businesses who think that they cannot afford it.

In addition to a strong blog and website content, one of the leading small business marketing strategies is email marketing.  Email can not only get pertinent information out to clients/customers, but it can be a personalized message to clients that make them feel like a large part of the company and its motives.  While the information that goes into the email is important to get right, it is also important to get the design of the email correct so that it is aesthetically appealing and has easy usability.  While building the template for a new client of ours, I began looking through articles that could give me email marketing tips about content and layout.  I came across the following:

8 Email Marketing Tips
Email Marketing Tips, Tricks and Secrets

Just reading through these during the email marketing design phase helped me think about what was important to candidates and to the business writing the emails.  Once I got into the mind set of what each party would like, it was a little easier to create the layout and content.  Without searching through email marketing content, I felt as though I was just building emails and learning through trial and error what works and what doesn't.  However, once I took the time to look through why email marketing was positive for companies and clients, and different email tips, email marketing became easier for me to understand.

Search Engine Optimization is becoming a vital part of small business marketing.  In order to increase the amount of visits to a website each month, businesses must focus on making their websites the best they can and add enough new content that SEO becomes easy.  While SEO seems relatively simple, there are a lot of different areas that business can focus on whether it be content, blogs, PPC, linking to other pages, etc. 

After working at a small Cincinnati marketing firm for a month and a half now, I am starting to understand why each of the areas of SEO are important to small business marketing.  Blogging for business is probably one of the most important SEO strategies that a company can implement.  By having quality content on the main pages, blogging keeps the rest of the content fresh and up-to-date. Having this constant changing content, Google then recognizes this and puts the website higher on the search rankings.  In addition, adding links within blogs to other sites will help drive referral visitors to your site. 

There are several other SEO strategies that businesses can implement as well to help their website become higher in the search ranks.  If you'd like more search engine optimization tips, contact us.  Also, check out the following articles. 

For a list of SEO tips: http://seoarticles4u.com/Tips_On_SEO_-_Search_Engine_Optimization_a4662.html

For SEO focus for Google:
http://seoarticles.seoforgoogle.com/local-search-engine-optimization.cfm

Frequently asked SEO questions:
http://www.rankforsales.com/seo-seven-most-often-asked-questions.html

After just over a month, I think I'm finally settling in.  I've begun to learn enough of the marketing strategies to begin venturing out on my own now.  Rather than having to be helped every other minute, I am finally feeling more confident in my abilities and the work that I am producing.  In fact, even client phone calls are becoming less intimidating and more fun.  I feel as though my learning curve is beginning to subside and I can finally use my learned marketing knowledge in my extra marketing activities outside of the office.  I am able to apply concepts from the office to websites that I have created and now feel more confident in measuring the success they are producing.  While I still have a lot to learn about small business marketing and different interactive marketing, email marketing, and event marketing strategies, I at least feel as though I am not in the dark as much when we do sit down with clients.

Phew! I thought this might have been a long, rough road, but the reality of the matter is, when you put your mind to it...I guess it is achievable. 

After almost a month with R.O.Why! Marketing, it is time for the fire hose to be turned on.  Rather than doing small tasks and fighting my way through piles of client information, it is now time for me to take the bull by the horns.  From acquisition marketing plans to search engine optimization, from email marketing to blog reviews, from end of the month reports to clinging to my sanity, this week has seen it all.  I never thought that a month into the work force after college I would have such an in-depth and educational work load.  Rather than being just another person in a large corporation pushing paper, I can safely say, being part of a small team, certainly allows you to learn more and take on more responsibility. it certainly makes working in the Cincinnati marketing profession entertaining and on its toes. 

We Have to Change Our Thinking



 

Taking a job with a small Cincinnati Marketing Firm has opened my eyes to a new world, a lot of information, and even more excitement.  But as I sit here and indulge myself into the world of search engine optimization and email marketing, I cannot help but wonder what my friends are doing now.  Pushing papers? Selling useless items? Still going through boring training? Or are they actually learning about the real-world? So they like it? Are they happy?

Choosing to work for an entrepreneur was one of the best decisions of my life.  Sure its a lot of work, but I already feel like I am more submerged into the marketing community than most.  I feel as though I may be able to make a difference. I'm happy. And I enjoy coming to work to learn and discover the tricks of the trade.  Now how many college graduates can say that?

Blogging...It certainly is an interesting marketing tool.  Effective...yes.  Yet, not taught often enough.

Throughout college, I learned about both traditional and nontraditional ways of marketing.  I even learned about many of the new strategies within social media tools, but yet, blogging and the importance behind it were left out of the curriculum.  Sure  professors taught students the definition of a blog and where we can find them, but they left out a lot of pertinent information about their ability to strengthen businesses. 

In the last week and a half, I have been working a lot with this concept of blogging for business.  I find the marvels behind the importance of blogs to be mind-blowing.  It is amazing to think that these small writing times allow for interactive marketing between business and consumers and to help companies with their search engine optimization. Had I known all of the benefits of blogs, I would have suggested them within small business marketing plans I have developed for the other employers I have worked for.

Blogging not only allows businesses to get a step up in internet marketing, but they allow bloggers to throw around ideas with others interested in the same areas.  This alone has the potential to create an area where new marketing ideas, concepts, or strategies can develop further.  They serve as a great way to get feedback or suggestions. And they certainly are a way to get what is in your head out on paper (figuratively speaking anyways).

Had I known what I know now about Blogs, I probably would have created one a lot sooner and I certainly would have informed other small business owners about their ability to help businesses grow.  I also, for the sake of future business owners or motivated employees, will be contacting several University professors and reminding them of the importance of a Blog.  I believe that more time should be spent teaching students about these new nontraditional and social media strategies since the wave of the future lies within technology and the importance of being unique and buying unique items within consumers.

The old phrase "you learn something new everyday," does not even come close to the amount of information that I have acquired during my first week on the job.  Coming into the office, I knew a lot about the theories and definitions of many marketing strategies, however, I had never really been able to apply them completely to the real world from a small business marketing firm's point of view.  Now, though, I am beginning to feel extremely comfortable about blending theories and applications together with a hint of creativity and a new perspective. 

Not only do I feel comfortable sharing my ideas within the office, but after a meeting with one of our clients, I feel as though my fresh ideas will spread like rapid fire with our clients as well.  While sitting in a meeting, I couldn't help but sit back and listen as to how other businesses operate and brainstorm ideas.  I really took the time to immerse myself in their culture to understand exactly who they are, how they operate, and what is important to them.  This not only allowed me to feel part of the group as we discussed new marketing strategies, but made it easier to come up with ideas that matched the positioning and brand development of the company.  While each company is ultimately unique in its processes, I found that my adaptability to create ideas or suggestions works in other settings that I am not used to.  I now realize that whatever setting I am thrown into, I feel confident enough with my ideas and intuition about the culture of the company to be able to create some solid ideas.   Whew! I was hoping this would be the case!

In addition to feeling confident within the office, I now feel confident with taking my ideas out of the office.  I have now even been able to take a majority of concepts out of the office now and apply them to the other areas of my life.  After learning more techniques regarding search engine optimization and email marketing tips, I have been able to continue creating a strong marketing tool for a local horseback riding facility.  Even the knowledge I gained from our client's perspective, has allowed me to help this same facility with its brand development and creatively sharing this positioning with its clientele. While i could do this to an extent before working with ROWhy! Marketing, I have a lot more to offer knowledge wise to other passions within my life. 

Who knew that even after one week of work and the immersion into a small business and its culture would not only tell you about the type of worker you are, but would give you enough knowledge to begin applying techniques to other areas of your life?

Several months ago I took the plunge and signed up on Twitter.  Unsure of what to expect, I started sharing what was going on at R.O. Why! Marketing, some of the email marketing, interactive marketing and blogging for business efforts we're delivering for clients.  At first, very similar to blogging for business, it feels like you're simply talking to yourself.  Few followers, not many replies, but I found that after some effort and a focus on sharing valuable information (vs. the all to common 'I'm eating a sandwich' Twitter updates,) the followers started to come in droves.  I'm several months into it now and with over 100 followers I can say that my tiny little universe seems actively engaged.

I also have a couple of very tangible benefits to share.  My efforts on Twitter have delivered big for R.O. Why! Marketing, connecting me with a contact that has since become a new client in Chicago called KeenHire (a company that does some amazing things with behavioral interviewing, assessments & targeted selection,) - thanks to CincyRecruiter & smheadhunter for the connections - and in addition, this small Cincinnati advertising agency has just found its newest employee.

A few things I've learned that are worth sharing:

-  Twitter is for business too. Think smaller & Get creative.
-  If you're going to tweet, respect the audience & deliver valuable updates.
-  Save the 'I'm in Cincinnati' updates for SMS messages for Brightkite.
-  Engage those people you'd like to attract as followers.  Read & comment on their blogs, etc.
-  Avoid the temptation to follow everyone that follows you.  It's not required, nor is it always recommended.  Make sure those you follow add value.
-  Share more than you feel comfortable sharing.  Invite the universe in & build a relationship.

Just like other social networks, you reap what you sow.  So far I have found Twitter to be a worthwhile investment of a small amount of time, and given it's recent payoffs, I think I'll keep tweeting.

Have an experience to share?

I'm excited this morning to welcome Kaitlyn Kurtz to R.O. Why! Marketing as account coordinator.  Kaitlyn comes to us from Honeytree Stables in Oxford, Ohio, where she developed marketing and public relations campaigns, including the company's website, various market research projects and print advertising.  Kaitlyn also recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing at Miami University in Ohio, where she also served as Marketing Director of her Laws, Hall & Associates team that developed an advertising campaign for Foot Locker.  After presenting to the CEO of FootLocker, her campaign was chosen to be launched into 5 major European markets and voted the best due to its through the line consistency and overall creativity.

Kaitlyn has a big job ahead of her here at R.O.Why! Marketing.  As account coordinator, she will focus on managing client projects ranging from email marketing, interactive marketing, search engine optimization and our blogging for business solution.

Please join me in welcoming Kaitlyn to the team!

I subscribe to a free service that let's me know what stories and sources reporters are looking for.  It's called Help a Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com)  You should check it out.

So this morning I get an email about a contest that an online resource for those going through divorce is holding, and they're asking for promotion ideas.  The winner receives a Kindle.  Although I think the Kindle is super cool and of course I'd like to have one, I also get totally jazzed about coming up with interactive marketing ideas.  Companies today are looking beyond email marketing, search engine optimization and other brand development strategies toward more interactive marketing approaches to involve their audiences.  No, I'm not the first to suggest a viral video marketing strategy, but I believe that this approach has a lot of merit if building word of mouth is important to you.

Here's the idea I submitted:
(Remember, this is for a website that provides resources for those who have gone through a divorce, so the strategy needs to fit.)

Potential titles:

The ‘Dear John, It’s Over’ Video Contest
The ‘I never meant to hurt you’ Video Contest
The ‘It’s Over!’ Video Contest
The ‘I’m Starting Over…I Need a Makeover!’ Video Contest
The ‘I’ve got to get something off my chest’ Video Contest

Potential promotional copy:

Hey, divorce is a difficult thing to go through, and through these tough times we could all use a little laugh, right?  [Contest sponsor] announces the ‘I never meant to hurt you’ video contest.

Is it time for a divorce?  Time to tell your significant other to take a hike?  Need to come clean about seeing ‘someone’ else?

• Have you  been burned by your PC too many times?
• Cheated on your PC with a Mac?
• Had a Miller Lite while your Bud wasn’t looking?
• Has Windows Vista taken you for granted one too many times?
• Time to say goodbye to your 3 year old’s binky when it no longer quiets your little hellion like it promised to?

Confess to your ‘significant other’ about it in a short, funny, 2 minute original video.  What counts is  humor, originality, video production quality, and the tangible metric – YouTube views.  Videos must be sent to [the contest sponsor's website] where they will be screened (for inappropriate content) and uploaded to the contest channel on YouTube.  [The contest sponsor] embeds the YouTube video code into the site and builds a quick polling feature to allow visitors to vote, and the highest combination of website visitor votes + YouTube views wins.

Here’s an example of a script for a video:  Telling your SUV that you’ve been seeing a perky little hybrid.

“Hi honey, we need to talk.  We’ve been together for a long time.  We’ve had some tough times and some really great ones too.  But over the years I feel that I’m the only one putting the effort into this relationship.  I take care of you, keep you looking great, and I will say that you’ve been pretty reliable.  But the world around us has changed.  Gas prices are skyrocketing and frankly, people think we’re unsafe.  They just look at us differently now, and as hard as I have tried to remain content, this relationship just takes everything out of me.  I fill you up with my love every week, but then I have nothing left.  No passion, no excitement, and no money.  It costs so much more now to keep this relationship going than it ever used to.  I feel taken advantage of, and I….I’m so sorry…I just can’t do this anymore.  I need to tell you that there’s someone else.  For the last few months I…God I can’t believe I’m telling you this….I’ve been seeing a hybrid.  No, it’s not someone from work, and I really wasn’t looking.  It just kind of happened.  I’m so sorry.  I never meant to hurt you, but I need to go this direction in my life right now.  It’s what I need to feel like myself again.  And you’re going to be fine, really!  I think we’ve both been pulling each other down.  You’re a smart, good looking, enormous SUV with a strong personality and a command for the road.  There are other people out there that would appreciate you, give you all the gas you need and not feel guilty about it.  You know, the wealthy elite.  I just can’t afford to give you what you need anymore.  I’m so sorry.”

We'll see if the idea wins the contest, and I'll of course post it here, but let me know what you think.  Have any viral video ideas or examples you'd like to share?

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently about the data that one of our clients, Health Force, has been collecting on its website.  Health Force is a national travel nursing and allied health staffing company.  R.O.Why! Marketing, your friendly neighborhood Cincinnati marketing firm, has been working with Health Force for over 4 years, delivering a range of interactive marketing solutions, including a new website earlier this year.

The website displays travel assignments that are available across the country, and allows visitors to search these jobs, apply online, and also register with their skill sets to receive automatic job notifications in their area of expertise.

We're now 6 months into the new site, and they've collected a lot of data.  Names, email addresses, disciplines, specialties, etc., and also data like the time they last visited and logged in.  Programmers and tech folks think about databases and architectures and linking tables, and how complicated it can be to get it all out.  Marketers, on the other hand, think about what they can do with this data.

With the data we now have available, we can send email marketing messages that invite people back to the site based on the date of their last visit.  Health Force can call them to talk about jobs they've seen on the site and that they qualify for.  We can also understand what jobs get the most searches and inquiries, and provide that data back to the company to better target future job opportunities.

The site looks beautiful and does a great job of brand development, but how about we build the brand at the cash register too?  Let's talk with visitors as individuals, using what we know to deliver custom experiences.

The creative is important to be sure, but a website should talk to you on a personal level at every opportunity.  The technology has been around for years to deliver 1:1 marketing quite well, but it all starts with the data.  Collecting it is important.  Knowing what you'll do with it and mapping out a deliberate plan is something entirely different.

I was inspired today by a great blog post by Seth Godin.  In it, he compares marketers to lawyers, charged not necessarily with telling the truth, but with arguing for the client, their product, their practices, etc.  We're paid to claim that our client's products are the best, even if they are not.  Clients hire us to build email marketing campaigns, event marketing programs, interactive marketing strategies, and other marketing strategy efforts to sell the product or the service, even if it's not the best; even if the customer would be better off with nothing at all, or heaven forbid, a competitor's product.

What about when a client hires a Cincinnati advertising agency like R.O.Why! Marketing?  They want email marketing tips and ROI marketing programs that grow their business.  They need a newsletter and they know that what they need is a newsletter.  But what if they don't?  What if they're wrong?  What if they really need something else?  What if R.O.Why! Marketing isn't right for them?

It's happened before, on each end of the spectrum.  Just this week we landed a client who felt that email marketing was what they needed.  While email marketing does need to be a part of the mix, we believed it was not the right time.  After we considered the ultimate marketing results they were looking for, their culture, the budgets and timeframes, we felt strongly that blogging for business was best for them.  We could have just sold them an email marketing program for more money and more profit.  It would have been easier, but it wasn't right.  Their audience expects more and while we were hired to serve the client, I believe we were really hired to serve their customer.

We've also had to walk away from business because the product couldn't live up to the marketing claims.  The company needed to make dramatic changes to the product itself in order to make it competitive, and good for customers, and worth buying. 

As Seth says "...marketers still have the chance to be believed. But trust belongs to statesmen, not lawyers."

I love to see a client win, and have enjoyed reviewing the statistics on the search engine optimization and blog network that R.O.Why! Marketing delivered to them. 

MDI Medical is a rehab therapy staffing firm  that works with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists, send them on assignments across the country.  Based outside of Atlanta, MDI chose R.O.Why!, a Cincinnati marketing firm, to deliver a variety of marketing programs including website enhancement, search engine optimization, email marketing and a sophisticated blogging for business platform.

Search engine optimization has produced the following stats on rolling month site visits:

• Rolling month site visits up to 2,208 (5/27/08 - 6/26/08) up from 1,952 & 1,052 for 2 previous periods
• Nearly 52% of site traffic in June is from search engines (up from 33% in May)
• 688 keywords triggered 1,040 visits in June (up from 203 keywords & 459 visits in May)

Blogging for business has produced:

• 174 visits in April
• 318 visits in May
• 509 visits in June
• 1 keyword drove traffic in April
• 41 keywords drove traffic in May
• 146 keywords drove trafic in June

Great to see the work paying off!  Have a similar story of results?  Please share it!

Ever have one of those moments when all of the clutter seemed to just fade away and you became laser focused on what was truly important?  I am enjoying a morning full of that type of focus today.

As I prepare for an upcoming vacation in a couple weeks, I spent some time this morning working through my list of priorities.  Client needs come first.

• What ROI marketing projects need to be completed before I leave and/or return?
• What loose ends can we handle now?
• What email marketing campaigns are scheduled for that week?
• Does each client understand what our next steps are and are the deliverables abundantly clear?
• What items do I NOT want to see on my list when I return?
• What search engine optimization, pay-per-click, email marketing performance, interactive marketing and blog analytics reports need to be delivered?

Then came the business development and administration side. 

• Are the bills paid?
• Are invoices current?
• What reports do I need?
• How many proposals are still out for companies looking for a Cincinnati advertising agency?
• Are any proposals due before I return?
• How many can be closed before I leave?  Wow - at least 3 can!
• Can we decide on the new hire before I leave?
• What about the office location search?

If you're like me, you often wish you could work like it's your last week (or day!) before vacation.  Isn't it amazing how quickly the clutter falls to the side and you focus all of your talents and efforts on those things that are the most important?

All of these things I'll be working on for the next 10 days or so are focused on what matters - RESULTS.  Marketing results and ROI for clients, meeting deadlines, keeping promises, delivering, delivering, delivering.

As marketers, we can learn from this and apply the same rigor to the campaigns we're running and the work we do each day.  How many of the things that are on your plate today, this week or next are truly focused on delivering results?  How many of these 'projects' are truly necessary?  How many meetings don't you need to have? 

What would happen if you got rid of all the junk that doesn't matter for just 2 weeks?

If you reduced everything you spend your time on to a bulleted list of the most important things, how much of your daily work would survive the cut?

Marketers, get focused!  Improve your email marketing campaign now.  Stop himming and hawing about the brand development efforts and the strategy.  Make a decision, act, and make some progress this week.  Cut the fluff from the ad campaign, focus on why the reader/viewer/recipient should care and create some results.

You know what's great about this?  Except for client requests, if it's not on the list, I won't be spending time on it for the next two weeks.  Like the boxes that have been in my basement since we built the house 5 years ago, if it won't get my attention in the near term, will it ever really make it back on my priority list?  Was it really important at all to begin with?

I just finished reading a great new whitepaper from Compendium CEO Chris Baggott.  (Compendium is R.O.Why! Marketing's blogging solution partner.)  Entitled Corporate Blogging and Email Marketing: Why They Work Together, the paper addresses how effective marketers (and their advertising agencies!) are using these two proven tools to acquire customers and cultivate strong relationships.

A study by the Pew Center for Internet & American Life notes that email and search are the tied as the number one online activity.  Email marketing best practices have long proved that email is ineffective for acquisition; for that we must turn to search.

But how do we fully leverage search when pay per click (PPC) advertising is costly and, as pointed out by Marketing Sherpa, captures only a small portion of the available market?  Organic search is the answer, however another problem surfaces:  the vast majority of corporate websites are not updated with enough new content frequently enough to effectively accomplish dominant search positions.

As Chris Baggott points out, "What’s needed here is an easy to execute strategy for targeting large numbers of keywords and ranking on them in the organic results. This is where organizational blogging comes in.  At the end of the day, search engines want to deliver relevant content."

He continues by explaining that the relevance of your content is driven by:
•    Page titles
•    Keywords
•    Recency and frequency
•    Humanization
•    Metrics - bounce rates, page visits, visit duration


From Chris's piece, blogging for business make sense for a few key reasons:

1. Mr. Edelman of the Edelman Trust Barometer says that "Employees are the new credible source of information. We have data that shows an employee blog is five times more credible than a CEO blog –and I say this as a CEO blogger."
2. "Widespread employee blogging presents an opportunity for many new pages of relevant and closely related content thus increasing your document collection."
3. "By organizing blog content around specific keywords and topics instead of authors, business blogs become laser focused on serving up only the most relevant content based on the searchers input."

Although the adoption of blogging for business by corporations is growing rapidly, we're clearly just at the beginning.  However, as more organizations embrace the idea of leveraging employees for content creation and integrating email marketing with it, latecomers will find it increasingly difficult to own their market via their blogs.

If you'd like a copy of the whitepaper, please contact me at blecount [at] rowhymarketing [dot] com.

Thanks to Chris for a great piece, and to Compendium for supporting R.O.Why! Marketing with a great blogging solution.  Our clients love it and we look forward to introducing many more people to the platform this year.

Fun day to be talking about blogging for business as a marketing strategy.  We have been working with a client for about a month on a blogging platform we delivered.  It can always be a little tough getting started with your blog.  What will I blog about?  When should I blog? I don't have time for this!  All familiar comments we hear, but as you progress, your blogging for business radar starts to heat up.

Our client is a rehab therapy staffing company with lots of passionate folks.  And they're busy - really busy - supporting hundreds of traveling therapy professionals and trying to fill thousands of jobs.  Along comes this guy from a Cincinnati marketing firm towing the blogging for business line.  So we get them started, slowly at first, at looking for things in their day that would make for great blog posts. The management team has also had some fun promoting the blogs internally, and today held their first blogging for business lunch.  Free lunch for anyone who's willing to eat & blog.

The results?  Happy staff and 11 new blog posts today!  Hats off to Monica, Autumn, Lindsey, Larry, Luke and Katie for creating some great new content. 

They've got blog posts on everything from how to find a great job and the Fish! philosophy, to working with recruiters and hospitals, and even a post about flying monkeys. 

They're having fun with it now, and starting to form even tighter relationships with a market that their blogs are beginning to help them grow.  This is exactly what blogging for business is all about.  Let the outside world in.  Empower your people to be positive public voices for the company.  Let the passion out. 

Here are a few quick steps to help your team develop some energy around blogging for business:

1.  Spend a little time educating your team on what a blog is and what it's for.
2.  Train the team on what to blog about, how often, and exactly how to do it.
3.  Coach them along the way with content ideas and suggestions for including keywords to get the SEO benefits
4.  Encourage candid (but appropriate) dialog on the blogs
5.  Make it fun.  Share fun stories with your audience, not just the hard facts.
6.  Provide incentives. Hold 'blogging for business' lunches, have a contest for the most frequent blogger, etc.

But the first step?  Just get started.