Blogging For Business Wordpress 1

transcript

Blogging for Business

Setup and Connecting

Featuring

WordPress

Blogging for Leads

• Founder and CEO of Forward Progress• Over 25 years in business Coaching and Consulting• Campaign Development in Social Media• Call Center, Internet, eMarketing, Event Management, • Intense Lead Generation, Web Seminars, eSelling• Over Billion Dollars Sales, 25 Million Leads, Coach and

Trained Thousands of People using Internet Based Lead Generation

• Financial Services, Real Estate, Professional Services, Legal, Accounting, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Technical, Insurance, Agencies, Auto, Retail, Banking and Channel Sales…..

Dean DeLisle – Social Media Specialist

Why Blog?A Blog can be an incredible

tool for sharing information and expertise.

A Blog can be used to directly promote products, services and events.

A Blog can assist in promoting company vision and developments.

A Blog can foster customer loyalty, build relationships with clients and customers.

Why Blog?A Blog can garner

feedback and suggestions from clients

A Blog can give customers information on how to use products, services and how to buy.

A Blog can develop client community around a product.

Weaving Your Own Web

• The Magic Thread…..Activity!

Bob Joe Karen Beth

Kim Bev

Dave SamPat

Why Blog?

Writing Content

Survey customers, look a lot at other blogs on a topic (especially the comments section to see what types of questions people are asking) and particularly look hard in forums and discussion groups on topics where there is usually a lot of question asking going on.

As you do this you’ll begin to put your finger on what people are wanting and what you might be able to provide to meet these needs.

Researching

Search for BlogsWriting Content

Writing Content

EverywhereOther blogsKeep a listWhen you learn something,

flesh it outCheck your email outboxAsk your readers/friendsGreat speech’sHot relevant news

Hidden Areas

Writing Content

Study your website, content and target and list an effective set of keywords that are “Relevant” to your objective.

This how people would search for your target!

Emphasize keywords

Writing Content

• What would your ideal customer use to find you?• Make a list of 5-7 key words or phrases that they would use.• If you have a campaign – work these into the campaign.• Match your website and social network sites for the same keywords and phrases used!

Emphasize keywords

It’s about getting found!

Writing Content

Put Effort into Your Headings250 words (or shorter!)Use your keywordsLists are OK (just not too many)1 idea per postDon’t over engineer

Couple of Simple Rules

Best Practices

Make your opinion known Link like crazy Write less 250 Words is enough Make Headlines snappy Write with passion Litter the post with keywords

Include Bullet point listsEdit your postMake your posts easy to

scan Be consistent with your

styleCreate a system

Blogging with WordPress?Creating a WordPress Blog

Important!

The Username will appear as your Blog title.

For example:

http://WrightLeadership.WordPress.com

Blogging with WordPress?

The Dashboard

The Dashboard allows for quick access to stats, comments and other Blog management/research tools.

The Dashboard

The Posts section is for managing, editing and adding various forms of media to your Blog.

The Dashboard

The Appearance section controls the look and feel of your Blog as well as setting up administrative control and settings.

The Dashboard

Right Now gives you up-to-date statistics on Posts, Comments, Categories and Tags within your Blog posts.

The Dashboard

QuickPress allows you to write very quick posts to your Blog. This is used for fast news items, short Blog posts, and when you just need to getting something out fast.

The Dashboard

Stats will show you activity on your Blog, as well as which posts were your top posts, what are some of the top search terms that were used to find your Blog, as well as the most active posts.

The Dashboard

If another Blog links to your Blog or Blog posts, the Incoming Links section will display the referring sites.

The Dashboard

Your stuff provides a log of current activity on your Blog. This includes new posts, page updates, added pages, comment moderation and more.

Blogging with WordPress?Setting your Appearance (Themes)

WordPress has 76 themes to choose from. Themes are the look of your Blog. You can change themes at anytime, but it is good to establish an identity and stick with it. Some themes are more customizable than others.

Blogging with WordPress?Setting your Appearance (Widgets)

Widgets are little interactive tools that you can add to your Blog to increase functionality. For example, you can add a Flickr widget for links to your albums, an RSS widget so that visitors can subscribe to your posts, and more.

Blogging with WordPress?Setting your Appearance (Custom Header)

Some themes (not all) will allow you to create and upload a customer Header Image for your Blog. This can aid in establishing your brand on the Blog page.

Blogging with WordPress?User Access

The users panel is for setting up people on your team that will be contributing to your Blog at various levels.

Blogging with WordPress?General Settings

In the General Settings section, you can set-up your Blog Title, language, Time Zone and Date format.

Blogging with WordPress?Reading Settings

Reading Settings are used to control the visitor's first look into the Blog. What they see on the home page, how many past Blog posts can they see, etc.

Blogging with WordPress?Discussion Settings

The Discussion preference are important for your Blog. They assist in comments and comment moderation. We have highlighted the best practice settings in this area.

Blogging with WordPress?Media Library

The Media Library is used to upload images and resources that you will link to in a Blog post.

Blogging with WordPress?Links

Links can be used to send visitors to other blogs (Blogrolling), or back to your website. Linking back to your website, or other Social Media Networks increases your SEO ratings.

Where can you Post in Social Network Sites

1. Twitter Posts – HootSuite

2. Facebook Status Updates

3. Facebook Group Discussions

4. Facebook Event Postings

5. LinkedIN Status Updates

6. LinkedIN Group Article Post\Discussions

7. LinkedIN Answers Section

Blogging with WordPress?Pages

The Pages Section allows you to set-up additional information pages on your Blog. Best practices are to at least create an About page that gives information about your company, your Blog and a general feel for what you are writing about. – Use Add New

Blogging with WordPress?About Page

There are four main questions that readers want answered on your About page:

1.who you are…2.your expertise and how it addresses…3.their problem or goal, and how they can…4.contact you

Blogging with WordPress?Categories and Tags

Categories and tags are ultimately the same thing. They are used to organize your posts. Tags can be used for identifying keywords in your posts, while categories are specific to topics on posts.

Creating A Post (review)

First step is to create a title for your post. Make sure that it is interesting and is rich with keywords.

Clients Taking the Wind Out of Your Sales?

Now you can enter your body text. When you are finished always make sure that you proof your work before posting.

Work your keywords in here also – must sound

natural! Don’t overplay…

WordPress blogs come with robust tools for formatting and editing posts.

WordPress also supplies tools for adding pictures to your Blog as well as videos, music, polls, etc.

Creating A PostUsing Word Press

Additional tools allow you to schedule posts, or preview them. You can also set categories or tags for each post.

1. Create a WordPress Blog2. Select an appropriate theme for your Blog3. Customize the theme with your specific brand4. Set-up team members with access and assign there

duties/levels of access.5. Tweak all of your Blog settings to match best

practices given in this session6. Create your “About” page, and any additional pages

that will add credence to your Blog.7. Add any widgets, images, categories or tags that will

be used in future Blog posts.8. Start writing and posting!

Assignment

NEXT CLASSThis Friday, October 16th at 1PM Central

TimeYou will get an email later today

Access to today's recordingLink to slides

You will get a confirmation email with Fridays class

Send us your Blog Link! joekern@forwardprogress.netdeandelisle@forwardprogress.net

Blogging For Business Wordpress 1

Education