ContentRobot

Chris Garrett, one of our favorite bloggers from across the pond, posted a story today about why WordPress is gaining a foothold in the business community.

Here are some of the highlights of this article:

• … The growing use of WordPress as a platform rather than as a blog. Many people are now looking to WordPress as a CMS or as a framework. (He note that even The Number 10 Downing Street new website is going to be 100% WordPress.)
• Companies are looking for a lower cost tactical solution. Rather than a long, drawn out, expensive project, they want something quick, nimble, efficient and effective. They know with a WordPress site they can be up and running, fast, and making sales in weeks rather than months.
• The charge is being led by sales and marketing functions, consciously avoiding official channels and especially the IT dept
• They are looking for “right now” solutions, but as most of us have seen, quick fixes tend to stick around, especially when the solution is found to be proven and beats other more complicated ones.
• WordPress isn’t just being used because it is cheap, it is growing in favor because it works.

With a few weeks of a-listers expressing their disillusionment with blogging, this is a refreshing piece. Like Chris, ContentRobot happily has not seen any downturn of interest for our WordPress expertise, even with the horrible economy. The business community will take over the next wave of blogging - hurray to that!

ContentRobot is pleased to offer our first ebook, which is an excerpt of our collaboration on  The Secret Power of Blogging.

You’ll see:

• Karen’s foreword of the book
• ContentRobot case studies featuring our clients (BazaarVoice, Beneath the Cover / Push the Key, Bite of the Best, GrokDotCom, New School Selling, Shop.org, and Team Timex)
• Outsourcing Versus In-House Blog Development (including design, technical, and marketing issues)
• Benefits of working with a blog development company
• Finding a reputable blogging vendor

We hope you enjoy the ebook - your’s free for the taking! Click here for your copy.

Today, Jason Calcanis mused that Corporate Vlogs are the future of PR .. Why? He cites his experience with adding Mahalo Daily videos.

Since they started, the videos have gotten four million views. Of those four million, say two million people, have come in contact with the Mahalo brand. And don’t discount the archival value of the shows, where you can add another 2-4m views over their lifetime of the video.

He expects that the videos can pay for itself easily after one year. Consider if you were to pay for four million 15 second spots on the web, the cost would be $25 for each 1,000 views–or $100,000. Their initial $250,000 investment in the Mahalo Daily a year will bring in–if the growth continues–somewhere between 15-30M viewers a year.

Why did they add a video component? The Mahalo team wants to:

1. Entertain people
2. Inform people
3. Represent and build the brand
4. Be a creative outlet for the team

Finally, Calcanis projected that in another three years, every company will have not only a corporate blog but a corporate vlog. The New York Times, JetBlue, American Express, and Apple will communicate with their leading customers with regular videos.

Do you agree with Jason? Will you develop a video-based strategy?

What do blogs do for small businesses that websites do not? Here are 10 benefits …

1. Give a personal face onto the brand.
2. Allow you to position yourself as an expert, or trusted adviser, who strives to educate first and sell second.
3. Provide fresh, focussed content without the PR-speak.
4. Steady content sets the table for natural rankings and search engine visibility.
5. Reduced web content costs because you can produce and manage it yourself.
6. Enhanced reach opportunities via blog ping, RSS, and email.
7. Via conversation and feedback you can get prospect and customer engagement.
8. Point visitors to relevant posts of information that, in turn, can act as a closing tool.
9. Cultivate a “warm” market from with your online community by continuing to publish valuable content.
10. Create networking with your prospects and industry contacts (who may or may note be your competitors).

How to get those benefits? Here are 5 ways …

1. Commit to regular postings, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t.
2. Be authentic and open, so forget about hiring writers / ghost bloggers.
3. Encourage conversation by asking questions and eliciting feedback.
4. Answer any email and respond to comments generated from the blog.
5. Spend time to read others’ blogs as well as commenting and participating in the blogosphere.

Most of all have fun and don’t give up! Because you are passionate about your business, it is important to share your knowledge and perspective with others.

Business blogging has been around for a couple of years now, but it seems that the same concerns are still prevent among the corporate crowd. So, what continues to hold businesses back from blogging:

• Not knowing who will write for the blog (tip: find company evangelists who are passionate about your product and service and the posts will be unique and interesting)
• Afraid they’ll run out of things to say (be anecdotal, tell stories, share experiences, there’s always a new angle to what you are writing about)
• Not understanding what resources are required, especially how much time blogging takes (it is time consuming it and requires a commitment, just like any other marketing communications project)

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As we head into the final quarter of 2007, we offer a variety of ways to get your blog noticed.

1. Start with a Great Design

Your mother was right — first impressions do count. An eye-catching professional design will go a long way toward:

• Showing you are serious about your blog (and care about your readers)
• Branding you (and your company) properly
• Attracting new and repeat visitors (who may be encouraged to subscribe to your content)

Read the Entire Post >

Seth Godin’s blog has a nifty post today about Push and Pull. Basically, it describes how RSS feeds offer push marketing on blogs.

By encouraging visitors to subscribe to your blog, each post is then “pushed” to them. No longer are they required to hunt (or pull) for this information daily because it shows up in their news readers each day automatically.
Read the Entire Post >

Quick … name one of your favorite memories of summer camp? We bet that quite a few of you would say the stories (scary and otherwise!) that you listened to around the campfire.

Why do we remember those stories? It could be becasue you were sharing something together or that you were so fully entertained. Just as those stories engaged you, your business blog’s more personal stories can be particularly powerful for your readers.

So what kinds of stories can you tell?

Company or Business Stories - Every company has its own story.

• How did it start?
• What paths has it taken?
• What were some of its major successes (and/or failures)?
• What lessons have you learned?
• How does it interact within its industry?

Product Stories - Each product or service within a company has a story as well.

• How was the idea born?
• What need was it was designed to meet?
• What versions and/or evolutions has been through?
• How do your customers use it?
• How does it stack up with your competitions?

Employee Stories - Your company has its particular personality because of its employees - and every one of them has their own story.

• What experiences do your employees have?
• What passions and skills make them successful?
• What projects have they worked on that they have enjoyed?
• Who have they worked with that made a difference to them?
• How have they made a difference to the company?

Customer Stories - By telling the stories of customers (with permission of course) can be a very powerful thing both internally and externally for a business.

• How do they use your products and services?
• What has their experience been with your company?
• What is their favorite (or least favorite) thing about your company?
• How long have they been a customer?
• Why are they your customer?

Readers will find stories, tips, and personal experiences valuable - and maybe inspiring. Ditch the corporate spinning and start sharing.

Starting a business blog? Do you know why you are? Don’t do it because it’s cool, do it because it will add something to your brand. Ask these 10 questions:

1. What will the blog achieve?
2. What are your expectations for the blog?
3. How does it fit in with your current communications / marketing plans?
4. Does your team have a combination of writing, technical, marketing, and strategy skills? Do they understand the blog space and the trends of the blogosphere
5. Who are your bloggers? How much freedom are they given when blogging?
6. Are you willing to forgo the company ’spin’ and and blog in a transparent way?
7. Are you ready to get honest interaction (whether it includes positive or negative comments)?
8. Are you willing to be patient and let the blog readership grow as you nuture it along?
9. Do you have a plan to drive traffic?
10. Do you have a content strategy?

ContentRobot asks these questions, among others, to help plan and position your blog for short and long-term success.

Found this gem at the Robert Scoble blog: Big conferences are dead…

So, why does anyone need to go to a big conference to hear the news again? Simple: you don’t. It’s not worth doing.

Not when a CEO can write a blog, get more people to visit it in 36 hours than would probably visit his booth at the Detroit Auto Show.

How do you get news out? Invite a blogger over for lunch. It doesn’t matter who the blogger is. If the news is interesting it’ll spread and spread fast.

ContentRobot thinks that business blogs should routinely offer timely stories that feature announcements and analysis. Blog readers will tend to go online first to find out information about any products and services that interest them.

Why hold back your news for the next big conference? Let people check it out on your blog rather than having to spend the time and the money to travel across the country to jostle with a bunch of other people all trying to find out the same thing.

It’s a win-win for everyone. So, save your conference bucks and pour them into thoughtfully-written blogs.