This post was inspired by Daniel Scocco over at Daily Blog Tips!  If you’ve got your own blog, you’ve got until Friday August 15th to create your own “what is a blog” post and enter your blog in the contest! Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, blogs and blogging are the latest “buzz” words on the internet. The stories surrounding blogging range from it being a way to achieve fame (Perez Hilton and Matt Drudge are two bloggers whose blogs have become... Read Full Story

According to the superstitious in China, today is a VERY lucky day.  See, over in China, the number 8 is considered the luckiest number of all and since today’s date is 08-08-08, well, the superstitious are lauding this day as the luckiest day of the year. I won’t deny that luck has its part in any success story, however luck alone isn’t enough.  Not by a long shot. In the past month, I’ve had a couple of clients who “got lucky” and  have been contacted by national media. As a result, they... Read Full Story

First, let’s get something straight… marketing is merely the act of communicating with prospective customers about the solution your business offers. Effective communication skills are at the HEART of great marketing campaigns. The purpose of your business is NOT to make money. Making money is just a happy side effect when you offer a product or service that provides a way for people to achieve a Goal, satisfy a Desire or solve a Problem (GDP). With that in mind, your marketing is all about... Read Full Story

If the 1st Commandment of Blogging is Maintain Control of your blog, then the 2nd Commandment of blogging should be: Using the right keywords in your blog post title can make or break your blog. Many bloggers seem to forget that their blog is built out of words… and the most frequently used words on any blog are, from the search engine’s point of view, the building blocks of the blog. I you want to see what keywords are defining your blog, check out the tool Wordle… and for more about that... Read Full Story

Over the years, my life has been made a living hell by clients who insisted upon perfection in their websites. It’s one of the reasons I joyfully made the switch from static HTML websites to self hosted Wordpress blogs. See, in the past, the client would send me a file, usually a Word document. So, I would strip the code, then copy and paste their words into the static HTML template. (I copy and paste because I’m not anyone’s ideal secretary!) Then, the client would begin proofreading... Read Full Story

You’ve heard the hype - that blogs are the best way to market your business online.  Your blog can be, and SHOULD be the most powerful marketing tool in your marketing arsenal.   However, many companies are learning the hard way that there is the right way to run a blog… and more than a few wrong ways to use your business blog as a marketing tool. The biggest and most glaring commandment of successful blogging has to be this: 1st Commandment of Blogging:  Thou Shalt Begin by Being in Control... Read Full Story

Blogs can be a GREAT marketing tool for your business when used properly. One of the key elements to blogging success is to view each post as a part of the “whole” that is your blog. Each post is a building block, a structural element of your blog and your blog’s overall structure affects its ability to act as a marketing tool. In order for your blog to act as a powerful marketing tool, it has to focus on essential keywords that your prospective customers are using to find the information... Read Full Story

I’m a blog pusher by trade. As such, it’s expected that I would know how to do basic things like correctly formatting my posts and setting up my RSS feed so it works. If you saw I couldn’t do that on my blogs, you’d have GREAT reason to suspect that I’m not who I claim to be. I’m in the middle of developing a course called “The 8 Week Blog Power Launch“. To be honest, I’m developing the course as a way to relieve some of the “customer service” I’m providing to my blog clients. When it’s... Read Full Story

Blogs are communication tools, pure and simple.  A blog allows you to easily communicate with a large audience and to build a relationship with potential clients/customers. One very successful blogger is David Airey.  He launched his blog to promote his graphic design practice and he offers tips to other graphic design artists along the way.  Those helpful tips not only helped other graphic designers to learn how to better practice their craft, but they also served to demonstrate David’s... Read Full Story

The word of the day over at Dictionary.com is Cockaigne (\kah-KAYN\).  It’s a noun and it means an imaginary land of ease and luxury. A lot of my web development clients come to me with the idea that the internet is a Cockaigne for marketing and advertising.  Business owners imagine that their magical, mystical website is going to naturally attract visitors.   People will be compelled to buy just because there’s a buy button in front of them.   These business owners ignore or forget the fact... Read Full Story