26 Tips for Writing Great Blog Posts
Do you blog? Feel like you’re trying to reinvent the wheel time and again?
Looking for some ideas to simplify your content creation process?
What follows are 26 tips, from A-Z, to help you create optimal blog posts every time you sit down to write.
#1: Anatomically Correct
A blog post contains several areas that require our attention and care. Pamela Seiple refers to six parts of the anatomy of a lead-generating blog post:
- Eye-catching title
- In-text links to landing pages
- Sidebar/banner calls to action
- Social sharing buttons
- Call to action at the bottom
- Relevancy—making sure the post is relevant from top to bottom
Facebook App Integration: This Week in Social Media
Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What’s New This Week?
Facebook Announces Tight Integration of 60 Apps to Timeline, More on the Way: Facebook now allows developers a tighter integration with Facebook’s Timeline. “More than 60 apps are immediately going live, including such favorites as Pinterest, eBay, Foodspotting, Airbnb and Foursquare.”
Check out the new apps to add to your Facebook Timeline.
Social Media Trends for Small Businesses
In this video I interview Anita Campbell, founder of Small Business Trends and BizSugar, and author of Visual Marketing.
Anita shares how social media impacts small businesses. You’ll discover which small businesses are slow to adopt social media and where social media brings the best results.
Be sure to check out the takeaways below after you watch the video.
Can Social Media Actually Make You Money?
If you’ve ever asked the question, “Can I make money with social media?“, you might have heard a variety of answers such as, “No!”, “Maybe” or “It depends.”
Rarely (if at all) have you heard the confident and unwavering response, “Yes, you can!”
In their book, How to Make Money with Social Media—An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business, Jamie Turner and Reshma Shah explain that there’s a big difference between people who make money with social media and people who don’t.
9 Small Business Social Media Success Stories
Are you curious what small businesses are doing to achieve success with social media marketing? Look no further.
This article highlights nine small businesses of various sizes and industries that have transformed their online presence with innovative social media marketing practices.
You’re guaranteed to find inspiration for your social media marketing efforts here.
These tactics will work for just about any business—from solopreneur to multi-employee manufacturer. So let’s dive in!
3 Successful Google+ Pages and Why They Work
Have you created a Google+ page for your business? In this article I’ll show you what three top pages are doing.
Still in its infancy, Google+ has become a very hot topic.
Amid concern that this “new kid on the block” couldn’t compete in a social media landscape owned by Facebook, some have opted to dismiss the platform entirely.
While Google+ and Google+ business pages are still in the early stages, there is growing evidence that they’re here to stay.
How an Alaskan Mom Brings Millions to Her Carpentry Blog
Just over two years ago, Ana White wasn’t quite sure what a blog was.
Today, she runs her own rapidly growing destination, drawing nearly three million page views every month.
Successful professional bloggers aren’t hard to find, but a few things are remarkable about White’s success:
- She writes a do-it-yourself carpentry blog. With White’s help, droves of women are discovering they can build beautiful, stylish things.
- She started with dial-up Internet and does it all from her home in the Alaskan interior (where record-smashing temps recently hit -40° F).
- White succeeded accidentally. She never expected that simply sharing what she loves could support her entire family.
This self-described “homemaker” has an innate knack not only for woodworking but for business as well.
Turns out, this blog Cinderella tale is all about sharing your personal story. Oh, and relentless blogging.
Google Search Adds Google+: This Week in Social Media
Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What’s New This Week?
Google Search Integrates Google+: Google transforms “into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships,” and introduces three new features: personal results, profiles in search and people and pages. This means that your Google search results will be even more personalized, thanks to information shared on Google+.
Win Free Tickets to Small Biz Success Summit 2012
**UPDATE: We have announced our two winners. The winner of the comment/blog portion of the contest, receiving two tickets to Small Biz Success Summit is Paulette Salvia, read her comment here.
The winner of the Twitter contest is Ali Goldfield. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. We look forward to seeing you all at the Summit.**
Want to win a free ticket to the largest online social media marketing event for small businesses?
Social Media Examiner has secured some of the top names in the industry to bring you Small Biz Success Summit.
And we’ve come up with a fun way to get you involved.
First, what is this event?
Small Biz Success Summit 2012 is a large online conference dedicated to helping small businesses master social media marketing.
More than 800 small businesses have already signed up—people just like you.
5 Tips for Making Your Brand More Social
What message does your brand convey to socially engaged customers?
As we enter the golden age of social media, companies can no longer afford the luxury of tightly scripted, top-down messaging (e.g., “We’re the best! Take our word for it.”).
Nor can a company simply opt out and remain silent (as epitomized in Northwestern Mutual’s “The Quiet Company” ad campaign of years past).
As social media channels have increased, so has the need to communicate effortlessly and simultaneously. Just as presidential candidates now face the constant scrutiny of a 24-hour news cycle, companies are being called on to respond in real time across multiple media platforms. This is not a time for hesitation.
To market effectively, companies need a consistent, compelling brand voice—one that doesn’t pause, mumble or clam up. Here are five ways to share your message comfortably and confidently.
