Blogging Made Easy Four tips for those of you who aren't Web geeks, starting with the basics. For all of you who aren't Web geeks, let's start with some blogging basics -- and then talk about how having a blog on your Web site can increase your customer base. What exactly is a blog and how do you start one? A blog is a "Web log," or a running account of information and ideas published on the Web. How do you publish a blog? Blogging is important because it provides a simple way to continually communicate with your customer base. A good blog can increase traffic to your site by 30 percent, according to research conducted by MerchantCircle, a network for small-business owners. Anyone can have a blog, but not everyone has a good blog or one that attracts attention. Malik first started blogging back in 2001, when few people even knew what a blog was. Now you know enough to get started -- so enter the blogosphere and let me know if your Web traffic starts to grow.
How to Start a Podcast – Pat’s Complete Step-By-Step Podcasting Tutorial Starting a podcast has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Ever. In this complete tutorial, you’re going to learn, step-by-step, how to start a podcast. Thank you to the thousands of people who have emailed me and also those who have let me know in person that this is the very tutorial that helped you get started. Since starting The Smart Passive Income Podcast in July of 2010: The show has surpassed 23,000,000 total downloads (as of May 2016)The podcast has become the #1-way people who read my blog found out about me – that’s above search, social media and links from other websites. Most importantly, the podcast has enabled me to build a stronger relationship with my audience – much stronger than I could ever do with just my blog alone. “Thanks for keeping me company while I was…”“I was scrambling, taking notes while you were talking about…”“Pat, I feel like I know you.” It’s incredible. Do you really need me to convince you any further? This Tutorial Commit. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6 Essential Websites to Help you Get your Blog Noticed I often get a lot of emails and instant messages from people looking to start their own blogs. Typically the questions run along the lines of “how do I get started?” and “how do I get my blog noticed?”. Well folks, it isn’t as difficult as you might think. Once you have the blog set up, there are some sites you should register with and participate in to start getting the site “out there” and noticed. Now OK, your blog pages will be indexed by the search engines eventually but these days you need to go further than the search engines and you have to target other places such as the social networks. So here’s six essential sites that will help you to get your blog noticed if you’re setting up a blog for the first time or you want to resurrect a dormant blog : Google Webmaster Tools Google Webmaster Tools is definately the site to target to get your blog kick-started. Del.icio.us MyBlogLog I’ve heard differing opinions about MyBlogLog , both good and bad, but I personally like it. Digg
Community Building: How to Grow With the Power of People Does your business have an active community? Would you like to build a community to support your business? To explore these topics, I interview John Jantsch for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing. The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting). In this episode, I interview John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing and author of several books including The Commitment Engine. John shares insights into how content and community connect. Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below! Listen Now Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry. Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show: Community-Building What is community? Hot tip Discovery of the Week
MetaFilter | Community Weblog A bias for trust Two very simple truths: a. Don't waste your time initiating relationships that aren't going to thrive and benefit both sides. b. Productive connection requires mutual trust. If you enter an engagement filled with wariness, alert for the scam, the inauthentic and the selfish, you'll poison the relationship before it even starts. Instead of seeking and amplifying the sharp edges, consider focusing on the dignity and goodwill of the people you're working with. Sure, there are people out there who will disappoint you. An open mind and an open heart usually lead to precisely that in those that you are about to deal with. MyBlogLog 7 Content Marketing Strategies For 2013 Yes, that’s right… it’s already major planning season for 2013. I’ve been thinking about next year a lot lately, especially as I’ve been traveling from show to show doing keynotes and mini workshops. At almost every event, content marketing sessions are standing-room only. Marketing professionals are hungry for any way that they can continue their content marketing journey and attract and retain customers with compelling content. To help, I’ve dissected my last few presentations and put together seven critical strategies that I believe all marketers need to consider as they head into next year. 1. Every time I present at an event, I give the attendees a homework assignment: to watch Coca-Cola’s two-part Content 2020 whiteboard video series. 2. I’ve surveyed about 1,000 people over the past month, asking each if they have developed an editorial mission, or content marketing mission statement, for their content strategies. This is a major problem. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.