blogging « Blue Daring

Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

Public Opinion

Posted By Vanessa Mentor as communications, outreach

Posted 08.25.2011

The blogosphere is a populous place. From individuals to corporations it seems almost everyone has embraced blogging. While there are many components to tracking the success of a blog, comments have always been the most immediate indicator of success. Not anymore. Commenting has decreased in favor of sharing.

The decrease in commenting can be accredited to none other then social media. More and more people are opting to share posts they find interesting rather then comment. And guess what? It’s good for business! Think of it this way… having a client tell you they are happy with the work you provided them is great, but what’s even better is having that client tell 5 friends they are happy with the work YOU provided them.

Adding a sharing tool (a widget that allows your blog visitors to easily send your link out to their social networks) is a great way to get visibility and drive your brand values. It’s also a great way to get a group of people talking about your brand who otherwise wouldn’t. Be sure to look for sharing plugins that make it easy for you to track who is sharing your link. (AddThis is the industry standard, it’s easy to install and best of all free).

As nice as it is to hear all the positive feedback you also want to be able to track down any negative issues as well (remember social networking is a great opportunity for customer service . Add sharing tools to your blog today to open the conversation… to everyone.

Tags: blog, blogging, blue daring, blue daring consulting, Creating a buzz, facebook, marketing, people, social media, social networking, twitter, vanessa, Vanessa Mentor, vanewpc, visibilty, vmentor
Posted in communications, outreach | No Comments »

Blog Traffic Down? Time to Roll Out Tumblr

Posted By Vanessa Mentor as communications, on the web, strategic planning

Posted 02.23.2011

Almost every single brand, business and freelancer I can think of has a blog. Blogs have always been the one aspect of social media that seem to click with people. They’re a great way to establish your expertise in a field, add a human aspect to a brand, and give life to a website that otherwise wouldn’t be updated too frequently. The popularity of blogging has caused the blogosphere to become quite saturated often times making it harder for blogs to gain new visibility. Enter Tumblr, social media’s new rising star.

Tumblr is a microblogging site that has been gaining popularity thanks to its super simple interface that allows users to post and more importantly share posts of interest easily. Many media outlets have started to use Tumblr as a tool to gain visibility and new traffic to their sites and blogs. Newsweek pioneered the way with many others such as NPR, Huffington Post, & the Economist jumping on the Tumblr band wagon. These companies have all been using the site to post condensed content that redirects readers to their main blogs and/or websites. This has helped them attract a newer audience almost daily.

If your blog or website views are coming to a lull you may want to look into signing up. Keep in mind as great as Tumblr is, it isn’t for everyone. Organizations that cater to mass audiences versus B2B may find more benefits to Tumblr. If you do decide to give Tumblr a whirl here are a few tips:

Your Tumblr posts should be related to the content on your main site but not as intense.
Try following Tumblr pages with similar content as yours.
The more people you interact with on Tumblr the more people will interact with you (ensuring higher visibility to your brand and message.)

Following these simple guidelines and maybe Tumblr can have the blog views rolling in.

Tags: blogging, blue daring, branding, communications, Creating a buzz, creating buzz, marketing, marketing efforts, newsweek, social media, social networking, vanessa, Vanessa Mentor, vmentor. tumblr
Posted in communications, on the web, strategic planning | 1 Comment »

Why Blue Blogs

Posted By Melissa Ballate as communications, on the web, Random Thoughts

Posted 03.16.2009

Blogging, online video, Facebook, LinkedIn… blah blah blah! It seems that everywhere you turn there is yet another technology or site that everyone tells you… “Oh my God! If you want to do anything with your business, you better <FILL IN THE BLANK>”. Let me tell you how it is. Blogs are a fancy word for simple websites that laypeople can update. Web videos were already in the 10s of millions by 2005, and Facebook and LinkedIn… well they just got great funding at the perfect time. The point is that all of these trends, technologies and “hot items” that executives and businesses have to jump to at the drop of dime have been around for years.

I’ve always said that the web has never and will never usurp a comprehensive marketing strategy… The web does not replace a phone call, a smile, trust, loyalty…(don’t get me wrong… there are plenty of lucky overnight millionaires that can be a challenge to this). The web is simply one of many tools which people use to communicate. So NEWSFLASH: Setting up a blog is not going to increase your sales overnight, having a cooler website isn’t going to better a broken organization, and using Facebook to bog down friends, semi-friends, and straight-up strangers with an irrelavant message isn’t going to make you more popular with current and potential clients.

That said however, its presence is not to be ignored. People are online. Not only are they online (as they have been since the 90s) but they are actually LIVING, SHARING, WORKING, LOVING, BUYING, WATCHING, READING, and LEARNING online! Web 2.0 (the foundation for social networking sites, collaborating tools and interactive websites), is defined as the 2nd generation of web development. Really its just more code; more indecipherable phrases that keep developers buying 5-hour Energy. What it really is is the evolution of human beings on the web and their demand for not just photos and text, but things that integrate into LIFE!

THAT’s why being online matters. Because as a businessperson who needs to market, you have to be where your customers are. (Yes! Even YOUR customers, Mssrs Conservative Construction Managers, Manufacturers, and Government Agency Directors). You have to be where they live, where they work, where they play, etc. And although being on the Internet is not a panacea for a broken organization it is a mandatory component to any marketing and business strategy… that’s the point. (If I’m wrong I’ll take you to dinner).

Tags: blogging, business, communication, marketing, people, web 2.0
Posted in communications, on the web, Random Thoughts | 1 Comment »